Do Basic Wiki Code for VisiHow.com Writers

Just as there are different ways of creating any website, wikis have their own language. It may look a little confusing at first, but it's easy to learn and easy to use if you know what you're doing. It doesn't take a lot to accomplish creating a wiki page that will shine.

You may want to try using the advanced editor to give you a little more control when you are creating your new wiki. For some of the simple basic codes that you will use to create your new wiki, see the various sections found below.

In order to create a main header and sub-headers in VisiHow. Use the following code:

== This is to show the main head ==

=== This is to show the sub-header ===

Above will render as follows in VisiHow

This is to show the sub-header

In order to create a list in VisiHow. Use the following code:

# This is the first item in a numbered list.

# This is the second item in a numbered list.

## This is the first sub-numbered list.

## This is the second sub-numbered list.

### This is the first sub-sub-numbered list.

# This is the third item in a numbered list.

Above will render as follows in VisiHow

1. 1
   This is the first item in a numbered list.

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2. 2
   This is the second item in a numbered list

   .

    

   1. This is the first sub-numbered list.
   2. This is the second sub-numbered list.  
      1. This is the first sub-sub-numbered list.

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3. 3
   This is the third item in a numbered list.

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Important Note: Placing an empty line between subsequent numbered lines will break the sequence of numbering. So do not press [Enter] to jump to a new line with in the same numbered item in the list, just keep typing and let the line flow downwards when end of line is reached.

At times it's useful to add bullet points to your article when you are making points that you want to stand out, but that aren't necessarily steps in a sequence. The Tips, Tricks and Warnings section is a good example of where you could use bullet points. To add bullet points, insert a * symbol directly in front of your text. Bullet points aren't sequential.

So it's possible to have spaces between them but they make the best impression as an unbroken group.

• Bullet points look best when unbroken.
• They can be useful for listing requirements, ingredients or tips and tricks.
• Bullet points won't add any additional formatting to your text.

Sometimes to emphasize a word or sentence, or to make a word easily noticed by the reader (like a command or a setting) you will need to format your font. You can put words in bold, italics or even combine the two.

• Bold. To make your font bold, format the font like this: '''bold'''
• Italics. To italicize your font, follow this formatting: ''italics''
• Bold and Italic. To combine the two you can add extra apostrophes to format it like the following: '''''bold+italics'''''

Every article needs a good image to help grab the attention of the reader. On VisiHow, the image adding app not only allows you to upload your own images (make sure it's yours or that you have permission to use it) but also to choose from freely available and pre-licensed images from Flickr and Wikimedia Commons.

1. 1
   Uploading Your Images

   .

   

   To upload an image click on the "Image Button" from the editor and then click on Choose File. You can now choose the image file from your computer and upload it to VisiHow.

   

   You will need to specify the type of license you have for the image. Some images can be used under fair use like company logos and product advertisements but other images on the internet can be subject to copyright, so make sure you have permission or fair grounds to use the image before uploading it. If you're ever unsure, check with an admin before uploading the image.

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2. 2
   Once an image is uploaded you can choose the size, it's orientation and then you will be given a wiki code for the image as well as having that code automatically added in to your article.

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3. 3
   Generally, images should be aligned to the right to fit in nicely with your text

   .

   If the article will only have one or two landscape orientated images, it's OK to center these. The idea is to maintain an eye catching article that has substance to match the images.

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• [[image:example.Jpg|630px]] which makes an embedded image
• [[image:canstock5990469.Jpg|right]] for a regular image.

Once the image is uploaded and the wiki text is in your article, you can realign or re size the image from the editing window. You can experiment with alignment and sizes then preview your changes before settling on the final image layout.

• [[Image:Editing and proofreading.jpg|right|180px]] this text will align the image to the right with a base size of 180pixels.
• [[Image:Editing and proofreading.jpg|center|240px]] this text will align the image to the center with a base size of 240pixels.
• [[Image:Editing and proofreading.jpg|left|300px]] this text will align the image to the left with a base size of 300pixels.

Sometimes you need to add links to your article for internal or external sites. Adding links is easy and can be done with some quick wiki code.

• Internal Wiki Links. Sometimes you might want to link off to another of our articles that has some relation to what you're currently writing about. This article could be linked to Categorize a VisiHow Article simply by adding this code [[Categorize a VisiHow Article]].

All you need to do is put the page title in double square brackets as shown. Make sure you take note of the capitalization, which should match the target page and don't add the 'How To' part.

• External Links With Alternate Text. At times you will need to link to an external source. This should never be another wiki type article but can be something that adds value to the reader. For example if you are writing about surfboards and you want to link to a product page for a beginners surfboard that you are recommending. To make the external links more appealing to the reader, you should use an alternate text. As an example, you could link to Gmail when writing an article about Google mail.
  • To create the link with alternate text. Put your link in single square brackets, followed by a space and then the text that you want the reader to see. Here's what was used for the Gmail link [http://www.gmail.com Gmail].
  • Make sure that you have the full URL for the page you want to link to, including the http:// part or else the external link won't work.

ogg videos can be embedded into a wiki page if you have the right code. Because ogg is one of the few video formats that is open source and legal anytime, most wikis encourage the use of ogg. In order to use other types of video very often the user will need to transfer them to ogg format.

To embed an ogg video into your wiki it requires that the video format be .Ogg and that you use the right embed code.

A tilde (pronounced TILL-duh or TILL-day) looks like this: ~ It's a special typographic character found on most keyboards.

If you add four of these in a line when logged in to VisiHow you will produce a signature that will include your username and a time, date and year stamp.

This quick signature can be used anywhere on site. Some examples are the Talk page and the Discuss page.

It will look similar to this (your username here 19:30, 15 November 2013 (UTC))

~ ~ ~ ~ Use exactly like this but without the blank spaces between.

If you write the code like this:

Beating Eggs the Easy Way <ref>The Best Way to Beat Eggs, June 2001</ref>

Obesity Research in Teenagers <ref>Obesity research in adolescence: moving object-hard to target Am J Clin Nutr 2013 98: 1147-1148; </ref>

It will render like this:

Beating Eggs the Easy Way^[1]

Obesity Research in Teenagers ^[2]

1. ↑ The Best Way to Beat Eggs, June 2001
2. ↑ Obesity research in adolescence: moving object-hard to target Am J Clin Nutr 2013 98: 1147-1148;

If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

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