Help:Editing

From Motorious

Edit a page

TIP! To try editing without altering any of the real site content, please edit the sandbox. What should the article contain? Read the Motorious style guide.

1. To start editing a Motorious page, click the edit link at the top of the page. This brings you to the edit page: a page with a text box containing the wikitext (the editable source code from which the server produces the webpage). If you just want to experiment, please do so in the sandbox, not here.
2. Type your changes to the article.
3. Write a short edit summary in the small field below the edit-box.
4. When you have finished, click Show preview to see how your changes will look -- before you make them permanent. Repeat the edit/preview process until you are satisfied, then click Save page and your changes will be immediately applied to the article.

NOTE! The items below are the basics of what you need to know to edit Motorious pages. For a more detailed guide on wikitext syntax, please see http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Wikitext_examples.

Syntax basics

Internal links

To make an "internal link" to a page on the same site, use double brackets. Like this: Main_Page. By default, the link will appear as the name of the linked page. If you want, you can provide alternate text by using the "pipe" separator |.

[[Main_Page]]
Same link with [[Main_Page|different text]]

There are a few interwiki links set up on this site. For example, to link to Wikipedia, use an internal link with the wikipedia: prefix. To link to a page on the root motorious.org site, use the mot: prefix. For example, in a page on http://demo.motorious.org, you would use the mot: prefix to point to a page on http://motorious.org. For page links within the same subdomain (demo.motorious.org in this example), just use the normal internal link syntax with no prefix.

[[wikipedia:Internal_combustion_engine]]
[[mot:Main_Page]]

External links

External links to pages outside of this site only use one bracket with a space to separate the link from the text (as opposed to the pipe for internal links). If you want the whole link to be shown, just type the link straight like this http://google.com.

[http://google.com outside]
http://google.com

Text formatting

Text can be made italicized or bold by surrounding the text with 2 or 3 apostrophes, respectively. You can also highlight the text and click the "B" or "I" button above the edit window.

''italicized''
'''bold'''

Tables

For information about creating tables, please see http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Table.

Templates

This site makes heavy use of templates for maintainability and consistency. A template is just one page inserted into another. For example, each step in a repair procedure is actually a template called Template:ProcedureStep. Look at the template itself for an example of how to use it in a page, but in general a template is used in this way:

{{raw:mot:ProcedureStep}}

The raw:mot: part is specific to this website because all the common templates come from a shared database on http://motorious.org.

The "pipe" character | is used to separate template parameters. For example, mot:Template:ProcedureStep has three parameters: Text, Image, and ImageCaption. When using a template, set those parameters to the desired values. It's ok to break the lines so that the wikitext is easier to read.

 {{raw:mot:ProcedureStep
 | Text = This is the text which explains the details of this step.
 | Image = Motorious_logo.gif
 | ImageCaption = This is the caption text.
 }}

The result would look like this:

This is the caption text. This is the text which explains the details of this step.

Editing FAQ

Editing basics

What is all the gibberish that I see when I try to edit a page?

That's the code which is used to render the page. It's called wikitext. Read the rest of this page to learn how to use it.

Is there any other way to edit articles without having to learn wikitext syntax?

Not at this time. Motorious is set up in a way that minimizes the amount of syntax you need to learn, but still it can be tricky. Print out this page and you'll have all the answers you need to 90% of your wikitext syntax questions.

Where can I find more examples of how to use wikitext syntax?

You don't need to know much wikitext to edit Motorious articles. Help:Editing has the necessary basics. If you find that you need more information about wikitext, please see http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Wikitext_examples.

I still don't know how to make the wikitext do XYZ...what next?

Find a MediaWiki (like Wikipedia or Wikia) page which has the layout that you want. Click "edit" to see how it's done. Other sites probably use templates and CSS which are not in use on Motorious, but with enough creativity, you can figure it out.

Style guidelines

What should the article contain?

Read the Motorious style guide.

Is style important?

Yes...and simple, too. Have a quick read of the Motorious style guide.

Syntax questions about wikitext

What do {| and |} mean?

Beginning or end of a table. Read http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Table for more details.

What do |- and || mean?

New row or column in a table. Read http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Table for more details.

What do the two squiggly brackets {{ }} mean?

This is used to insert a template. Templates are used heavily on this site for maintainability and consistency. For example, each step in a repair procedure is actually a template called Template:ProcedureStep. Look at the template itself for an example of how to use it in a page.

What does | mean inside of a template call?

| is used to separate template parameters. For example, Template:ProcedureStep has three parameters: Text, Image, and ImageCaption. When using a template, set those parameters to the desired values. Again, more information about the syntax for doing this can be found from the template page itself.

What do three squiggly brackets {{{ }}} mean?

That's used inside of a template (not in the calling page) to say "display the contents of the named parameter here". For example, in Template:ProcedureStep, the parameter Text is inserted in place of {{{Text}}}. Some templates specify default values in case the parameter is not specified. That looks like this: {{{Text|This is the text to be displayed in the '''Text''' parameter is empty.}}}.

What's the syntax for creating one of those monospaced, blue boxes with the dotted border?

Leave a space in front of the line(s) like this:

Here is an example of preformatted text in a box.  Note that
templates can still be used here.  Text won't wrap
automatically, so be sure to type it exactly the way
it should appear on the page.

What do semicolons (;) and colons (:) do?

A semicolon at the beginning of a line makes the whole line bold (used for the questions on this page).

A colon at the beginning of a line indents it. More colons gives more indenting.