Help:Editing

The most basic wiki feature is the 'edit' tab. With a few exceptions, you can edit every page on Wikisource. By the nature of Wikisource, original texts should not be changed, except for correcting transcription errors. However, you are encouraged to help in the proofreading process and to add new primary source texts. The Sandbox exists solely for tests, so feel free to use it to experiment.

Editing a file on Wikisource showing the text and original side by side

Basic editing

When you click edit at the top of a page, you'll find yourself in the 'edit view'. The box contains the text and code of the page in the Wiki markup format explained below; make any changes you think improve the page. Above the edit box are buttons which will emphasize selected text and other shortcuts. Below the box, you'll find the insert box. Click on a symbol inside this box to automatically insert it into the edit box where you last placed your cursor.

A very useful feature to use before saving is the Show preview button. This will show you the page exactly as it will appear after you save, so it's a good way to make sure everything is working correctly. Once you're done, please write a brief summary of your changes in the edit summary box. The summary can be very descriptive or very terse, as you see fit; for example, other editors will understand that the edit summary "typo" means you are correcting a minor spelling or punctuation correction. Accurate edit summaries are considered good etiquette.

If it's a very minor change, you can mark it as minor by checking the appropriate box below the edit summary. This feature is only available to registered users. It's possible to hide minor edits in the recent changes list. Note that marking an obviously major edit as minor is widely considered bad behaviour. If you accidentally mark a major edit as minor, make a trivial edit to the page (like changing one space) and write "the previous edit was not minor" or some such in the edit summary. The Show changes button will provide a side-by-side comparison of your revision with highlighted differences.

Once you're done, click the Save page to save your edits. The new version of the page will be visible immediately.

Wiki markup

Wikisource uses a special syntax called Wikitext or Wiki markup to format and link text. Wiki markup is specially designed to be easy to use.

In the boxes below, you can read the finished version on the right, and what you type is on the left.

what you type in Wikitext	how Wikisource renders it
Paragraphs are produced simply by leaving a blank line between them. There is no need for any additional markup but all text within a paragraph wraps as normal depending on the size of the window. Vary the width to see what happens.	Paragraphs are produced simply by leaving a blank line between them. There is no need for any additional markup but all text within a paragraph wraps as normal depending on the size of the window. Vary the width to see what happens.
spaces at the start of the line produce an emphasis box so be very careful about them	spaces at the start of the line produce an emphasis box so be very careful about them
For font emphasis, use ''double apostrophes'' for italic	For font emphasis, use double apostrophes for italic
and '''three apostrophes''' for '''bold'''	and three apostrophes for bold
You can even do '''''bold''' within italic'' or '''bold with ''italic''''' but they only apply within the text line	You can even do bold within italic or bold with italic but they only apply within the text line
* '''Lists''' are easy to do: * start every line * with a star ** more stars mean *** deeper levels	Lists are easy to do: start every line with a star more stars mean deeper levels
# '''Numbered lists''' are just as easy # Start with a hash ## and use more of them for embedded lists # and come back to continue	Numbered lists are just as easy Start with a hash and use more of them for embedded lists and come back to continue
'''Indented texts''' such as poems or different styles of numbered lists can also be made to any level. :Simply start with colons ::The more you use the more indentation there is.	Indented texts such as poems or different styles of numbered lists can also be made to any level. Simply start with colons The more you use the more indentation there is.

Templates for other effects

For more complex layout, templates are normally the favored approach in Wikisource. These are indicated by a pair of braces {{ }}, with a name and other information following a | character inside.

what you type in Wikitext	how Wikisource renders it
If you want {{larger|a bigger font size}}, or a {{smaller|smaller size}}, that's easy.	If you want a bigger font size, or a smaller size, that's easy.
We don't use absolutes like "large", so as to make reading text easier whatever the size of the device, but there are {{x-larger|even bigger}} and {{xx-larger|huge}} size available, as well as {{x-smaller|even smaller}} and {{xx-smaller|tiny}}.	We don't use absolutes like "large", so as to make reading text easier whatever the size of the device, but there are even bigger and huge size available, as well as even smaller and tiny.
{{center|'''A centered title'''}} Note that you can use any normal formatting within the template. In this case "center" is often abbreviated to "c".	A centered title Note that you can use any normal formatting within the template. In this case "center" is often abbreviated to "c".
You can also do {{right|'''right aligned''' text}} and the normal is {{left|'''left aligned'''.}} {{justify|But if you want to use '''justified text''', this is also available in a similar way. Note in these examples that the template may introduce a new paragraph implicitly.}}	You can also do right aligned text and the normal is left aligned. But if you want to use justified text, this is available in a similar way. Note in these examples that the template may introduce a new paragraph implicitly.
The '''rule''' template {{rule|5em}} uses its argument to govern the length of the rule: "em" is the width of a single wide character whereas "px" stands for pixels.	The rule template uses its argument to govern the length of the rule: "em" is the width of a single wide character whereas "px" stands for pixels.

• See also {{hanging indent}}, {{drop initial}}, {{gap}}, etc., in Category:Formatting templates. The use of {{running header}}, {{Hyphenated word start}}, etc., is explained at Help:Proofread

Footnotes

Footnotes found at the bottom of the scanned page denoted with ¹ * †, etc., are replaced by inline versions which are normally rendered at the end of a chapter or article. They introduce a third notation used in Wikitext, that of the underlying html used for web pages, which has been extended for the purpose. These use a pair of matching brackets, in this case <ref> and </ref> to enclose the footnote and an unpaired version <references /> to indicate where any accumulated references are to be printed.

what you type in Wikitext	how Wikisource renders it
Here is some text<ref>in a footnote</ref> which will not be seen immediately. Footnotes are commonly used for explanations and citations.<ref>This isn't a citation.</ref> {{smallrefs}}	Here is some text[1] which will not be seen immediately. Footnotes are commonly used for explanations and citations.[2] in a footnote This isn't a citation.
Footnotes often appear in books in a smaller type. Although it is possible to use CSS styling<ref>the normal method of styling in html</ref> in wikitext to achieve this, the common uses are provided by templates in Wikisource, in this case {{smallrefs}}, used here. {{smallrefs}}	Footnotes often appear in books in a smaller type. Although it is possible to use CSS styling[1] in wikitext to achieve this, the common uses are provided by templates in wikisource, in this case {{smallrefs}}, used here. the normal method of styling in html
''One caution''. Some authors use long footnotes with several paragraphs.<ref>Here is an example. There is a paragraph break in this footnote but it didn't appear.</ref> Unfortunately the breaks will disappear if you use the normal wikitext conventions. See the footnote below. {{smallrefs}}	One caution. Some authors use long footnotes with several paragraphs.[1] Unfortunately the breaks will disappear if you use the normal wikitext conventions. See the footnote below. Here is an example. There is a paragraph break in this footnote but it didn't appear.
The solution is to use more html notation to replace the breaks.<ref>This is a similar example.<br />This sentence will start a new line.</ref> You can use either a line break, <br /> or new paragraph <p>. {{smallrefs}}	The solution is to use more html notation to replace the breaks.[1] You can use either a line break, <br /> or new paragraph <p>. This is a similar example. This sentence will start a new line.
When footnotes extend over 2 or more pages, they need to be linked by name.<ref name=first>The first part of the footnote will be printed on the first page in the page space. </ref> For the second page there is a special attribute called "follow". These will be joined up in the main transclusion.<ref follow=first>Here is the second part which eventually joins up.</ref> {{smallrefs}}	When footnotes extend over 2 or more pages, they need to be linked by name.[1] For the second page there is a special attribute called "follow" These will be joined up in the main transclusion. The first part of the footnote will be printed on the first page in the page space. Here is the second part which eventually joins up.

Links

See also: Meta:Help:Link and Style Guide: links

It is possible to create links to a page on Wikisource, on another wiki, or on the Internet.

• Wikilinks: [[The Tragedy of Julius Caesar]] displays an internal link to the Wikisource page The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by using double square brackets. You can also create a piped link, which displays text that differs from the target: [[The Tragedy of Julius Caesar|Julius Caesar]] displays as Julius Caesar.
• Author links: A link to an author uses a prefix for that Wikisource namespace, as in Author:Gaius Julius Caesar. You can suppress the display of the prefix by using a 'pipe' without anything after it: Gaius Julius Caesar.
• Subpage links: Sections of text, such as chapters in a novel, are arranged as subpages separated by "/", and these links can be piped for labelling.
• Within a document you can use relative links such as:
  • [[/Chapter 1/]] to refer to a subpage, or
  • [[../Chapter 2/]] to refer to a sibling page, or
  • [[../]] for one level to a parent page, or [[../../]] for two levels to a parent page.
• Other language links: To link an existing Wikisource page in another language requires using the site's prefix. [[fr:Jules César (Shakespeare)]] will show a link to this French translation by displaying "Français" in the sidebar. To link a work within the text, use a colon before and after the prefix and a pipe. [[:fr:Jules César (Shakespeare)|Jules César]] will display Jules César. Common prefixes include fr: (French), de: (German), and la: (Latin).Other prefixes can be found in the url (e.g. es: in http://es.wikisource...). A link back to this site would be en:.
• Interwiki links: Link to a Wikimedia project (i.e. Wikipedia article) by prefixing (for Wikipedia, with "w:"): [[w:The Tragedy of Julius Caesar]]. A list of sister projects may be found here. For advanced help concerning interwiki, interlanguage (and interwiki-interlanguage) links, see interwiki linking on the Meta-Wiki.
• External links: [http://example.org] Link to a page on the Internet by surrounding the URL with single square brackets. Doing so will create a bracketed number resembling [1]. You can link using text by adding a space after the URL followed by the desired text: [http://example.org click here] produces click here. Linking to the source of a text on the talk page, or in the notes section, is uncontroversial, but other external links may be discouraged. (Caveat on accessibility)

Categories

• It's important to add a new page to one or more categories by placing a wikilink in the page in the form [[Category:Category name]]. See Help:Categories. The top of the tree is at Category:Categories and you can find the others from there.
• If you want to create a link to a category, use the following format [[:Category:Category name]]. Note that there is a colon (:) before the word "category."
• For advanced Category help, see Help:Category on the Meta-Wiki.

Tables

The basic form of a table to produce the result on the right-hand side is shown below.

{|
| column 1
| column 2
|-
| row 2 c1
| row 2 c2
|}

column 1	column 2
row 2 c1	row 2 c2

For details, see Help:Tables.

Headings

Headings (Such as "Headings" above) are sometimes used to divide a page into sections. This markup is used on Author and other Wikisource pages, it is not recommended for headings and sections in main pages (that is to say: not in actual published texts hosted on Wikisource).

• = First-level heading = (Should almost never be used, equivalent to the page title at the top of this page.)
• == Second-level heading == (The most common heading level, equivalent to "Wiki markup" above.)
• === Third-level heading === (A subsection – the word "Headings" above this passage is a third-level heading.)
• ==== Fourth-level heading ==== (A sub-subsection.)
• ===== Fifth-level heading =====

Genealogy diagrams

These can be produced using the {{familytree}} or {{chart2}} templates. Here is an example:

Grandma

Grandpa

Mom

Dad

Aunt Daisy

My brother Joe

Me!

My little sister

Advanced

See mw:Help:Editing_pages for advanced help. (The instructions there are general, not specific to Wikisource.)