Help:Editing
The idea of making sure that what is written is formatted correctly can be one of the most intimidating prospects about editing a wiki for a new user, but most of what you will need to know is no more difficult than, say, BBCode. On a wiki, certain characters or sequences of characters behave differently to how they would in any other context. For example, to format a word in italic, you include it in two pairs of apostrophes like ''this''.
The scope of this article is to list the most common of these "tricks". It is useful as a reference, but the best way to learn is by doing. Most wiki users get their start fixing typos or other small things until they get a feel for the software, but there is nothing stopping you from creating a page straight away. There is also absolutely no reason why you cannot, if you wanted to create a new NPC page for example, simply copy and paste the source code from another NPC page and adapt it as necessary, as long as that code is from this wiki! There is, however, a list of guidelines for formatting different types of pages, most of which also contain templates to make the article creation process easier still.
For formatting experiments, getting to grips, etc., the sandbox is a good place to go.
Creating a page
A red link such as Help:Non-existent page indicates that the page does not exist. Clicking on it will bring you to a page where the first version of it can be written and saved.
A second option to create a new page is to type the full name of the page you wish to create into the Search box. This will bring you to a page that says Create the page "Search term here" on this wiki! See also the search results found. With red link to the searched page. If you click on the red link it will take you to a form where you can create the page.
Another way to create a new page is to navigate to the URL directly. For example, typing out https:/archive.guildofarchivists.org/wiki/Help:Non-existent page onto the browser's URL address bar and hitting the enter button will achieve the same effect as clicking on the red link above.
Editing syntax
| Desired Effect | Input | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Applies anywhere | ||
| Italicise text |
''Anything between double apostrophes will show up italicized.'' |
Anything between a double apostrophe will be italicized. |
| Bold text |
'''Anything between triple apostrophes will show up in bold.''' |
Anything between triple apostrophes will show up in bold. |
| Bold and italic text |
'''''Anything between quintuple (triple and double together) apostrophes will show up in bold and italicized.''''' |
Anything between quintuple (triple and double together) apostrophes will show up in bold and italicized. |
| Internal link (within the Archive) |
Anything between double square brackets will become an internal link: |
|
| Internal link to an image or category |
To link to an image uploaded on the wiki, prefix the location with a colon. Without the colon, the actual image is displayed. |
|
| Interwiki link (to Wikipedia, for example) |
Interwiki links are much like internal links, except they are prefixed with their external destination: |
|
| Redirect to another page |
To redirect an article, put the following line with your target destination of choice (see "Internal link") on any page you want to redirect from: |
↳ Wahrk |
| External link (to other websites) |
Single square brackets (or none at all) are used for external links: |
|
| Sign your posts on talk pages |
Signing your posts is required for other users to see who left the comment. Unregistered users' comments are signed with their IP. To sign, put 4 tildes after your comment: |
Your comment. Your username 15:01, 21 November 2024 (UTC) |
| Image |
To display an image, treat them as internal links, suffixed by a fixed width if required: |
 |
| Thumbnail image |
To display a thumbnail of an image (usually only seen on articles and their talk pages), treat them as internal links, suffixed by "|thumb" and a caption text. Links can also be present in the caption text: |
 Riven village |
| Image link | To display a link to an image without displaying it, prefix the link with a colon: [[:File:Stub.jpg]] [[:File:Stub.jpg|Link text]] |
File:Stub.jpg Link text |
| Applies only at the beginning of a line | ||
| Headings A Table of Contents will automatically be generated when four headings are added to an article. |
Headings are used to divide an article or page into sections. Headers of a higher number will sort themselves under headers of a lower number in the Table of Contents if there is one: |
Level 2Level 3Level 4Level 5Level 6 |
| Indented lines and paragraphs |
Indenting lines and paragraphs is usually limited on articles. Most common use of indenting is in discussions and conversations on talk pages. Indenting creates a flow between comments and makes reading generally easier. To indent, simply prefix your comment with an appropriate amount of colons: |
|
| Definition lists |
To list and describe definitions, prefix the term with a semi-colon and the description with a colon: |
|
| Bullet list |
A bulleted list can be generated by prefixing each line with an asterisk, or multiple asterisks: |
|
| Numbered list |
A numbered list can be generated by prefixing each line with a number sign, or multiple number signs: |
|
Moving a page
You can rename a page by moving it to another more appropriate name. The "Move" link at the top of the page allows you to move it. You must be logged in to be able to see the "Move" link. You cannot move a page to a name that already exists.
After successfully moving a page, the old name will contain a redirect to the new name, allowing all the old links to continue to work properly. It is not necessary to purposely change all existing links to the old name to the new name, unless the old name was misleading.
Notes
- Always use "Show preview" when editing before saving the final version of your edit. This avoids a big list of minor edits in the Recent changes.
- Leaving an edit summary allows other users to quickly identify what you've changed with an edit.
- How templates behave when they are edited can only be checked after saving the edits.
See also
- Use a sandbox such as GoArch:Sandbox for experimentation with editing, do not use live pages to do so.
- GoArch:References for help on citing sources.
- Special:Interwiki for a list of available interwiki prefixes.
External links
- Image help on MetaWiki
- Table help on MetaWiki
- Template help on MetaWiki
- Cheatsheet for Editing Pages on Wikipedia
- Monobook editing shortcuts on Wikipedia
Content in this section is based on the help documents for Wikipedia and the Guild Wars 2 Wiki. In accordance with the Guild Wars 2 Wiki's licensing terms, the material on this page is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) 1.2.
