Help:Editing

For more detail, see mw:Help:Editing.

Don't be afraid to be bold when editing. It's impossible to mess anything up permanently; as long as your edit is constructive, any issues can easily be cleaned up. Additionally, nothing is set in stone - if you think something could be improved or easier to use, feel free to suggest changes. For large or complex changes, it's best to discuss them before making any changes. Wiki-wide discussion takes place on the wiki forum.

Wikicode

• '''bold text''' produces: bold text; ''italic text'' produces: italic text
• To create a heading, use multiple equals signs: ==Heading== (this is the highest level of heading). The number of signs on each side must match, and they determine the level of the heading; more signs means a smaller heading, sorted under higher headings. Headings on a page automatically create a table of contents.
• To create a link to another page on the wiki: [[page name]] or [[page name|display text]]
  • If the second portion is omitted, the display text will be the same as the first portion. Spaces are automatically converted to underscores, so use spaces.
  • Note that the first character of a page's title is not case sensitive; this can be used to make it lowercase if necessary for grammar without having to use a piped link.
  • Any letters placed immediately after the link will automatically become part of the display text. For example, [[toaster]]s will link to "Toaster" but display "toasters" as a link.
  • To link to a non-main namespace, add the namespace prefix before the link. [[Template:Main]] produces: Template:Main. To link to a category, you must put a colon : at the beginning of the link, or it will actually add the category to the page.
• To link to Wikipedia or other wikis, you can often use a prefix. [[wikipedia:Main Page]] produces: wikipedia:Main Page
  • To link to Wikia (Fandom), the format is "wikia:w:c:<wiki name>:<page name>". So [[wikia:w:c:cybernations:NPO]] produces: wikia:w:c:cybernations:NPO.
• For external links, use a single bracket. [http://www.google.com/ Google] produces: Google.
  • If you leave out the link text, e.g. [http://www.google.com/], the displayed text will be a number in brackets, which is automatically generated from the sequence of numbered links on the page.
• To link to a specific section of a page, add a number sign # to the link followed by the section title (as shown in the table of contents, generated from wikicode headings on the page). For example, [[New Pacific Order#Existing Branches]] produces: New Pacific Order#Existing Branches. Note that if a heading is changed, links to it will no longer work.
• The basic code to include an image in an article is [[File:Filename.png]]. For more information, see mw:Help:Images. You can add additional parameters preceded by a pipe to change the displayed size, position, and formatting.
• To use a template: {{CN|Lord of Darkness}}
  • This template uses an unnamed parameter. To use a named parameter, place the name after the pipe ( | ) followed by an equals sign: {{Template|param=value}}.
  • Templates can combine any number of named and unnamed parameters. The order of unnamed parameters matters, but named parameters can be specified anywhere, including between unnamed parameters. Some templates might have no parameters at all. Parameter names are case-sensitive and can contain spaces (but usually shouldn't).
  • Template pages contain explanations of their parameters and intended usage.
• To create a list, put each item on a new line preceded by an asterisk * (unordered list, bullet points) or a number sign # (order list, numbered). Use multiple of the symbol to create a sub-list; list types can be mixed. Putting an extra line break in between lines will create a separate list.
• To create a redirect, create a page with the code: #REDIRECT [[Page Title]]. Note this must be the first line of the page and there should be no other content, as it will not be displayed. However, redirects can still be added to categories.
• MediaWiki is very sensitive to whitespace (spaces and line breaks). A line starting with a space will be displayed as a code box instead of as text or formatting. Using too many line breaks will create excessive space - use only two line breaks (i.e. one blank line) in between paragraphs.
  • However, white space surrounding template parameters and the like is stripped, so this can be used for formatting that is easier to read.
• To create a reference: include <ref>Content of the reference</ref> after the text, then include <references /> in a References section at the bottom of the page. To reuse a reference, give it a name like <ref name="name">Content</ref> then reuse it: <ref name="name" />. See mw:Help:Cite for more information. Also see NPOWiki:Policies#References for guidelines on references on this wiki.

Templates

Commonly used templates on the wiki:

• Infoboxes:
  • Template:CN alliance infobox, Template:NS region infobox, Template:Torn faction infobox
  • Template:CN officeholder infobox, Template:NS officeholder infobox, Template:Torn officeholder infobox
  • Template:Person infobox
  • Template:Treaty infobox, Template:War infobox

• Linking:
  • Internal links: Template:CN/Template:CNp, Template:NS/Template:NSp, Template:Torn/Template:Tornp (for players and groups, respectively)
  • External links:
    • Forums: Template:Forumlink
    • Games: Template:CNlink, Template:NSlink, Template:Tornlink
    • Wikis: Template:Wikipedia, Template:Wikia, Template:CNwiki

• Page notices:
  • Template:Stub, Template:Expand, Template:Delete
  • Template:Disambiguation

• Text formatting:
  • Template:Main, Template:For
  • Template:Citation needed, Template:Sic

Advanced

• See mw:Help:Contents for a list of all available help on the central MediaWiki wiki.
• See mw:Manual:FAQ for help with managing the wiki installation (mw:Category:Manual has more).
  • All configuration options are described at mw:Manual:Configuration settings.