Revision as of 19:31, 25 May 2011

Note that Wiki is a general name for this type of collaborative software, or editable website. There are many different Wiki sites and products out there, and some use different types of "markup" (coding) than others. AboutUs.org uses a version of MediaWiki software, same as Wikipedia.org, so the markup is very similar.

Basic Text

Most text does not require any special changes for wiki form. A few basic rules are:

• Do not indent paragraphs.
• Leave a single blank line between paragraphs.
• There is no need to encode HTML characters like , or &.

Bold and Italic Text

To mark text as:

bold, use three single quotes - ''' bold ''',

italic, use two single quotes - '' italic '',

bold+italic, use five single quotes - ''''' bold+italic '''''.

Note that MediaWiki (like most Wikis) processes pages line-by-line, so if you want three bold lines of text, you will need to start each with '''. Also note that unclosed or unmatched tags are not removed from the page.

Headings

Headings are delimited by 1-7 equal signs (=). They basically correspond to HTML's <h1> through <h7> tags. These are also called section headers and simply place whatever text you want to be a headline between the equal signs. (Note: Most headings on AboutUs are size 2, although this page is using size 3 primarily.)

= Headline size 1 =
== Headline size 2 ==
==== Headline size 4 ====
===== Headline size 5 =====

produces:

Headline size 1

Headline size 2

Headline size 4

Headline size 5

Linking

To create an internal WikiLink to another AboutUs page simply place the name of the page (in the URL it will be everything after the aboutus.org/) in double brackets.

[[AboutUs.org]]

will produce: AboutUs.org

You can also change what the link will say using a pipe.

[[AboutUs.org|AboutUs]]

will produce: AboutUs

To create an external link to another website, place the entire URL in single brackets, then add a single space to name the link.

[http://www.google.com/ Google]

will produce: Google

Our Linking Guide helps you understand when an external link is appropriate here at this website.

Bulleted and Numbered Lists

Bulleted lists:

* Text for a bulleted list item.
** Text for second-level list.
*** Text for third level, etc.

...which looks like:

• Text for a bulleted list item.
  • Text for second-level list.
    • Text for third level, etc.

Numbered lists:

# Text for a numbered list item.
# Normal numbered list.
## Text for second-level list.
### Text for third level, etc.
## Another Text for the second level.

...which looks like:

1. Text for a numbered list item.
2. Normal numbered list.
   1. Text for second-level list.
      1. Text for third level, etc.
   2. Another Text for the second level.

Indented Text

Simple indented text:

: Text to be indented (quote-block)
:: Text indented more
::: Text indented to third level

...which looks like:

Text to be indented (quote-block)

Text indented more

Text indented to third level

Uploading, Posting, and Modifying Images

Website profile pages on AboutUs.org have a built-in logo section at the top left, but you can add more images, photos and graphics to the Wiki section.

See the Image Help page for assistance with:

• Uploading and adding images, photos, or logos to a page.
• Modifying a picture or logo on your page, such as changing the placement and size of your image, putting a frame around it, using a thumbnail that can be enlarged, or creating a gallery of images.

Wiki Editing with Templates

A template is a wiki page whose contents are specially intended to be inserted into another wiki page by the "transclusion" process. When you use a template, the template name is surrounded in double curly braces: {{NameOfTemplate}}.

Pretty Social Media Templates

{{Facebook|url=http://www.facebook.com/YOURINFOHERE}}

creates: : [}}} Facebook]

{{Twitter|YOURINFOHERE}}

creates: : @AboutUs

{{LinkedIn|url=http://www.linkedin.com/in/YOURINFOHERE}}

creates: : [}}} LinkedIn]

{{YouTube|url=http://www.youtube.com/YOURINFOHERE}}

creates: : [}}} YouTube]

For more, see Business Templates for AboutUs Website Profiles.

Large, Stand-Out Quotes

mett.in

Type {{Pullquote|left|Type your quote here.|Attribution}} You can substitute left or right to position your quote on the page, and text will wrap around it.

Or type {{Pullquotewide|Type your quote here.|Cite your quote here.}} to get a quote that is full-width, like this:

Make your quote spread out across one or more lines on the page, like this.AboutUs

Colors

Use sparingly.

For colored text, use:

{{color|name of the color OR hex code|your text here}}

For example, for blue text use the following code:

{{color|blue|your text here}}

The text would look like this: your text here

Linking Images

To create a link to a page from an image (i.e., clicking on an image to take you to another web page).

[http://foo.com http://imageURL.jpg]

Posting Videos

You can embed a YouTube video in a page by:

• Copying the relevant identification number from the YouTube video URL (starting after the '=' sign)

• Pasting this identification number from YouTube (between tags) into the Wiki section of the AboutUs page.

Example: <YouTube>U-shZs2I4E4</YouTube>

• Save your edits and play the video.

For more information, see our AboutUs Video Support page.

Questions?

We're happy to help. Just choose a way to contact us.