Wikitext cheatsheet
The Stylecards website runs on MediaWiki, which is the same software used in running Wikipedia. When creating or editing pages in MediaWiki, understanding how to use wikitext is a good idea.
Wikitext is a way of formatting text on a wiki, hence the name. There are two ways of creating wikitext; one is to manually type in the characters, and the other is to use the toolbar in the MediaWiki editor. The instructions below are for those who are typing manually, but everything described can also be done using the toolbar. Stylecards encourages its web editors to experiment with both methods before deciding which works best for them.
Formatting
To create italic text, use two apostrophes (') before and after the words to be italicized.
To create bold text, use three apostrophes (') before and after the words to be bolded.
To create bold italic text, use five apostrophes (') before and after the words to be bolded and italicized.
Be sure to read the Stylecards style guide to get a better idea about when bold text and italic text should be used.
| Description | What you type | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Italic text | ''italic text'' | italic text |
| Bold text | '''bold text''' | bold text |
| Bold and italic text | '''''bold & italic''''' | bold & italic |
Links
In MediaWiki, there are two types of links: internal and external. Each type of link can be formatted in different ways.
Internal links will create a link to another page on this website. If the page exists, the text will turn blue, but if the page doesn't exist, the text will turn red. The long-term goal of the Stylecards website is to have many blue links and very few red ones.
Internal links are created by adding two square brackets ([[]]) before and after the link. If you want to link to a specific page, but have different text, add a vertical bar/pipe (|) between the name of the page being linked and the text you wish to show.
External links will create a link to a different website. All external links will be blue, as the MediaWiki software doesn't know whether the pages being linked exist or not.
External links are created by adding one square bracket ([]) before and after the link. To show specific text rather than a URL, add a space after the URL then type the text you wish to show. The MediaWiki software will also recognize a URL on its own and turn it into a link.
| Description | What you type | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Internal links | [[Stylecards]] [[Gaya Nakamura|Gayachan]] |
Stylecards Gayachan |
| External links | [https://secondlife.com Second Life] [https://secondlife.com] https://secondlife.com |
Second Life [1] https://secondlife.com |
