Help:Wikitext

File:Location Source.png

How to access source mode in the classic editor

Wikitext is the main markup language used to format content on wikias. It can be used to add photos, tables, bold styles, links, and other visual changes.

It's not necessary to know wikitext in order to edit at Wikia. You can use the visual mode in the classic editor, or the new VisualEditor (where enabled), to avoid it. However, users who learn it find that they have more control over their editing experience. It can be used in 'source mode' in either editor.

To access an article's wikitext...

• Classic editor: click the 'Source' tab at the top right of the edit area
• VisualEditor: click the menu button towards the right side of the toolbar, and choose 'Source Editor'

Below is a cheat sheet for basic wikitext that you can use while editing. Many of the options listed below have shortcut buttons in the visual editors' toolbars.

Wikitext cheat sheet

Text

Description	You type	You get
Italicise text	''italic''	italic
Bold text	'''bold'''	bold
Bold and italic	'''''bold & italic'''''	bold & italic
Internal link (within a local wiki)	[[Help:Contents]] [[Help:Contents|Displayed text]]	Help:Contents Displayed text
Redirect to another page	#REDIRECT [[Help:Contents]]	http://images.wikia.com/common/skins/common/images/redirectltr.png Help:Contents
External link (to other websites)	[http://www.example.org] [http://www.example.org displayed text] http://www.example.org	[1] displayed text http://www.example.org
Sign your posts on talk pages	~~~~	Your username 18:53, 7 June 2024 (UTC)
The following work only when used at the start of a line of code
Headings A Table of Contents will automatically be generated when four headings are added to an article.	==Level 2== ===Level 3=== ====Level 4==== =====Level 5===== ======Level 6======	Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6
Bulleted list	*One *Two **Two point one *Three	One Two Two point one Three
Numbered list	#One #Two ##Two point one #Three	One Two Two point one Three

Images

Description	You type	You get
Image	[[File:SeaOtter.png]]	File:SeaOtter.png
Sized image	[[File:SeaOtter.png|150px]]	File:SeaOtter.png
Thumbnail image	[[File:SeaOtter.png|thumb|Caption text]]	File:SeaOtter.png Caption text
Aligned image	[[File:SeaOtter.png|thumb|150px|left]] [[File:SeaOtter.png|thumb|150px|center]] [[File:SeaOtter.png|thumb|150px|right]]	File:SeaOtter.png File:SeaOtter.png File:SeaOtter.png
Linked image	[[File:SeaOtter.png|link=Help:Contents]]	File:SeaOtter.png

Further examples

For more complex content that is sometimes more easily managed with wikitext editing, see:

• Help:Wikitext/more examples
• Help:Wikitext/link examples
• Help:Wikitext/table examples
• Help:Galleries, Slideshows, and Sliders/wikitext
• Help:Main page column tags
• Help:Templates
• Help:Infobox
• Help:Tables
• Help:Magic words

See also

• Editing
• MediaWiki's thorough reference on {{#NewWindowLink:http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Images%7Cimage formatting}}
• For print cheatsheets, see the {{#NewWindowLink:m:Help:Reference card|MediaWiki reference card}} or the {{#NewWindowLink:m:Cheatsheet|poster-size cheatsheet}} (available in many languages).