Markup

The markup language is a core aspect of any wiki system. Wiki markup consists of normal characters like asterisks, apostrophes or equal signs which have a special function in the wiki, sometimes depending on their position. For example, surrounding text with two pairs of apostrophes like italics here makes it display as italics here.

The MediaWiki documentation ironically does not seem well organized to help new users find information on this key topic.

General Notes

 * The purpose of a wiki markup language is to provide a easier way to generate HTML code. But in the end what displays on the web browser is the result of HTML.  Many issues with spacing between text is the result of settings in HTML and especially CSS files (style sheets).
 * MediaWiki treats links to internal pages (pages in the wiki) differently from links to external pages. The treatment appears inconsistent and not completely 'baked' to me.

Wiki Markup Language: References
Some references to consult.

Good places to start:
 * The Help button on the wiki editor.
 * Help:Wikitext_examples. See especially the extensive Links to other help pages near the end.
 * Help:Editing. This is a mix of how to use the wiki editor and wiki markup.  Sub-sections of this document are repeated below.

General & Introductory Guides

 * Help:Formatting
 * Help:Wikitext_examples
 * Help:Advanced_editing
 * Questions and answers culled from the talk pages of the various editing-related Help: pages. Help:Editing_FAQ
 * Help:Tables
 * Help:HTML_in_wikitext. HTML tags that may be used.
 * FAQ for all of MediaWiki Manual:FAQ
 * WikiBooks.org -- Examples of wiki books

MediaWiki Fonts: Size, Color, Backgrounds

 * http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User_talk:Ob.helm/Banner_and_style_sheets_for_your_wiki

Quotes

 * 

Your quote here &mdash; Annon

 Your quote here &mdash; Annon

The QUOTE template probably has to be installed https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Template:Quote
 * Template?
 * Example: "phrase"

- person

Links
Hyperlinks allow users to easily move between pages. With MediaWiki it is not possible to code hyperlinks using HTML. Instead there are three general types of hyperlinks, each with associated CSS formatting to distinguish them: internal links, interwiki links, and External Links.
 * Help:Link

Internal Links to other Wiki Pages
Syntax: [[ link | text-to-appear-on-page


 * Example. Linking to External Images



Links to External Web Pages
Links to external (non-wiki) URLs.

NOTE: The syntax for internal and externals links is different! Do not use the bar "|" symbol in external links. Use a space after the URL instead. Worse, the bar symbol has has no special meaning in external links yet the symbol may not be displayed. Neither the wiki or the wiki editor issues warnings when the bar symbol is used.


 * Linking to External Images


 * https://app.smartsheet.com/b/publish?EQBCT=9b2490ca372d46a8ace0fbe6e2e76e15


 * Link to cool smart sheet
 * Note: Do not use the bar symbol ("|") to separate the URL from the descriptive text.
 * Note: Do not use the bar symbol ("|") to separate the URL from the descriptive text.

Internal Links to PDF files

 * Example: [[Media:SQLServerRAMPerformance.pdf | SQL Server Performance and RAM]]

Links to Category Pages

 * Example: Topic: DataSelf Analytics (DSA)
 * The full URL to the category page is http://dataself.com/wiki/Category:DataSelf_Analytics_(DSA)

Images
Internal images are image files (and links to same) that are stored on a MediaWiki server. External images are image files store on web pages outside the wiki. The links to external images reference web sites 'on the web'.


 * MediaWiki treats internal image files differently from external images and the markup language supplied for each is different. External images seem to be treated as 'second class' objects. By default, MediaWiki will not link to external images, the default had to be overridden by a couple of setting in a configuration file.

Internal Images (stored on the wiki)

 * MediaWiki Help:Images. Internal images are image files are stored on a MediaWiki server.
 * Nice quick guide on the formatting options for images: http://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/mediawiki/adding-content-mediawiki/formatting-images-wiki-code


 * See also: [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Managing_files Help:Managing_files.

Examples of Displaying Images in wiki pages





 * -- thumbnail. Image can be expanded.
 * -- float = none. Text will not wrap around image.  Float options are left, right, center, and none.
 * -- text that will appear below the image.
 * -- image size

External Images

 * Manual:Linked_images#External_image_syntax. Difficult to understand

Recommendation for External Image Links

 * For external image links recommend using the HTML  tag.  For example:  

Links to ETL Glossary
A glossary of terms that apply to DataSelf's ETL is found at DataSelf_ETL_Glossary.

The egx template is the designated, standard method for creating links / references to entries in the glossary.


 * Where:
 *   is the name of a heading on the ETL Glossary wiki page
 *     is the text of the link that will appear on the referring page.

Mixed Numbers and Bullet Points
Wiki code: 
 * 1) Item 1
 * 2) Item 2
 * 3) * Bullet point under Item 2
 * 4) Item 3
 * # Item 1
 * # Item 2
 * #* Bullet point under Item 2
 * # Item 3



Multi-leveled Numbered Lists
Wiki code: 
 * 1) Item 1
 * 2) Item 2
 * 3) Item 2.1
 * 4) Item 2.2
 * 5) Item 3
 * # Item 1
 * # Item 2
 * ## Item 2.1
 * ## Item 2.2


 * # Item 3



Section
 This text is collapsible.

data-expandtext="Illuminate" data-collapsetext="Deluminate"

Mixed
This text is not collapsible; but the next is collapsible and hidden by default:


 * Collapsible Elements

Color
Set text color:
 *  your text 
 *  your text 

Set background color:
 * TEXT

Set both text and background:
 * TEXT

Standard HTML color names
The HTML 4.01 specification defines sixteen named colors, as follows:

RGB Colors

 * http://www.w3schools.com/colors/colors_picker.asp
 * http://www.w3schools.com/colors/colors_names.asp  Color Names Supported by All Browsers.   All modern browsers support these 140 color names.

Cross References
Uses the CrossReference extension http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:CrossReference

Identify the image as "Figure n".


 *  
 * myfile.png
 * 

Insert a reference to the figure above in the text.


 *  See   

Text would display something like:
 * See Figure 1

Displaying Code
Display code, file names, and other literals inside   ... </tt> </tt> tags. For example
 *  your text here</tt> </tt>      is displayed as     your text here</tt>


 * The wiki markup language shown on this page were marked by  tags.
 * To display wiki markup use the   </tt>tags.  See examples in the markup for this page.
 * The   --  Non-Breaking SPace.  Browser should not break (or wrap) a line of text at this point.

Re-using Text a.k.a Include files/Macros/Snippets
Media wiki calls this transclusion - the inclusion of the content of a document into another document by reference; the use of the template functionality of MediaWiki to include the same content in multiple documents without having to edit those documents separately.

Template transclusion is the common way to use template messages, and is implemented by using a template tag, with the form:

See:
 * MediaWiki Templates


 * https://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=Transclusion

Magic Words
Magic words are strings of text that MediaWiki associates with a return value or function, such as time, site details, or page names. There are at least six types of magic words. Examples of some include:
 *  </tt>.  (Determines the placement of the Table Of Contents).
 *  </tt> Custom template for TOC that floats right.  | List of templates defined for this wiki
 * XML/HTML style tags   ...  </tt>
 * Parser functions & Templates enclosed in double curly braces -  </tt>.
 * Variables. A all uppercase word delimited by double curly braces   </tt>.
 * For example  28 </tt>.

Magic Word References

 * http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Variables
 * http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Magic_words#Template_modifiers
 * http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Magic_words More technical.

Editing: Using the built-in MediaWiki editor

 * Help:Editing_FAQ
 * There are other editors available as extensions.

Wiki Pages

 * Mediawiki Page Rename & ReDirect