Help:Formatting

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This page contains general information on formatting wiki articles with MediaWiki markup language. For specifics on formatting Gentoo-related articles on this Wiki visit the Wiki project's Guidelines article.

You can format your text by using wiki markup. This consists of normal characters like asterisks, single quotes or equal signs which have a special function in the wiki, sometimes depending on their position. For example, to format a word in italic, you include it in two pairs of single quotes like ''this''.

Text formatting markup

Description	You type	You get
character (inline) formatting – applies anywhere
Italic text	''italic''	italic
Bold text	'''bold'''	bold
Bold and italic	'''''bold & italic'''''	bold & italic
Escape wiki markup	<nowiki>no ''markup''</nowiki>	no ''markup''
section formatting – only at the beginning of the line
Headings of different levels	== Level 2 == === Level 3 === ==== Level 4 ==== ===== Level 5 ===== ====== Level 6 ====== Note Do not use a Level 1 heading, since it is used for the page title. An article with 4 or more headings automatically creates a table of contents.	Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6
Horizontal rule	Text above ---- Text below	Text above Text below
Bullet list	* Start each line * with an [[wikipedia:Asterisk|asterisk]] (*). ** More asterisks gives deeper *** and deeper levels. * Line breaks<br>don't break levels. *** But jumping levels creates empty space. Any other start ends the list.	Start each line with an asterisk (*). More asterisks gives deeper and deeper levels. Line breaks don't break levels. But jumping levels creates empty space. Any other start ends the list.
Numbered list	# Start each line # with a [[wikipedia:Number sign|number sign]] (#). ## More number signs gives deeper ### and deeper ### levels. # Line breaks<br>don't break levels. ### But jumping levels creates empty space. # Blank lines # end the list and start another. Any other start also ends the list.	Start each line with a number sign (#). More number signs gives deeper and deeper levels. Line breaks don't break levels. But jumping levels creates empty space. Blank lines end the list and start another. Any other start also ends the list.
Definition list	;item 1 : definition 1 ;item 2 : definition 2-1 : definition 2-2	item 1 definition 1 item 2 definition 2-1 definition 2-2
Indent text	: Single indent :: Double indent ::::: Multiple indent Note This workaround may be controversial from the viewpoint of accessibility.	Single indent Double indent Multiple indent
Mixture of different types of list	# one # two #* two point one #* two point two # three #; three item one #: three def one # four #: four def one #: this looks like a continuation #: and is often used #: instead<br>of <nowiki><br></nowiki> # five ## five sub 1 ### five sub 1 sub 1 ## five sub 2 Note The usage of #: and *: for breaking a line within an item may also be controversial.	one two two point one two point two three three item one three def one four four def one this looks like a continuation and is often used instead of <br> five five sub 1 five sub 1 sub 1 five sub 2
Preformatted text	Start each line with a space. Text is '''preformatted''' and ''markups'' '''''can''''' be done Note This way of preformatting only applies to section formatting. Character formatting markups are still effective.	Start each line with a space. Text is preformatted and markups can be done
Preformatted text blocks	<nowiki>Start with a space in the first column, (before the <nowiki>). Then your block format will be maintained. This is good for copying in code blocks: def function(): """documentation string""" if True: print True else: print False</nowiki>	Start with a space in the first column. (before the <nowiki>). Then your block format will be maintained. This is good for copying in code blocks: def function(): """documentation string""" if True: print True else: print False

Paragraphs

MediaWiki ignores single line breaks. To start a new paragraph, leave an empty line. You can force a line break within a paragraph with the HTML tag <br />.

HTML tags

Some HTML tags are allowed in MediaWiki, for example <code>, <div>, <span> and <font>. These apply anywhere you insert them.

Description	You type	You get
Inserted (Displays as underline in most browsers.)	<ins>Inserted</ins> or <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Underline</span>	Inserted or Underline
Deleted (Displays as strikethrough in most browsers.)	<del>Deleted</del> or <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">Deleted</span>	Deleted or Deleted
Fixed width text	<code>Source code</code>	Source code
Blockquotes	text above text above <blockquote>blockquote</blockquote> text below text below	text above text above blockquote text below text below
Comment	<!-- This is a comment --> Comments are only visible in the edit window.	Comments are only visible in the edit window.
Completely preformatted text	<pre> Text is '''preformatted''' and ''markups'' '''''cannot''''' be done</pre> Note For marking up of preformatted text, check the "Preformatted text" entry at the bottom of the previous table.	Text is '''preformatted''' and ''markups'' '''''cannot''''' be done
Customized preformatted text	<pre style="color:red"> Text is '''preformatted''' with a style and ''markups'' '''''cannot''''' be done </pre> Note A CSS style can be named within the style property.	Text is '''preformatted''' with a style and ''markups'' '''''cannot''''' be done

Unicode characters

Unicode characters which are not available on the keyboard can be entered indirectly by copy'n paste or, if one knows the unicode numbers, be written as numeric character references. As an example, the unicode character ✔ which has unicode number U+2714 can be written as ✔, being rendered as ✔.

HTML symbols

An HTML symbol entity is a sequence of characters that produces one particular character. For example, → produces a right arrow "→" and — produces an em dash "—". HTML symbol entities are allowed in MediaWiki and are sometimes used in advanced editing for two main reasons: to insert characters not normally available on keyboards:

© → ©

δ → δ

and to prevent the parser from interpreting and displaying HTML tags and symbols:

€ → €

€ → €

&lt;span style="color:green;">Green&lt;/span> → <span style="color:green;">Green</span>

<span style="color:green;">Green</span> → Green

The following is a list of characters (including spaces, denoted with a dotted border:  ) that can be produced using HTML symbols. "Hover" over any character to see the HTML entity that produces it (you can also refer to the official list). Some symbols not available in the current font will appear as empty squares that produce nothing when hovered over. (If you see many of these in the table below you may want to check out our recommendations on choosing good fonts).

HTML Symbol Entities
Á	á	Â	â	´	Æ	æ	À	à	ℵ	Α	α	&	∧	∠	Å	å	≈	Ã	ã	Ä	ä	„	Β	β	¦	•	∩	Ç	ç	¸	¢
Χ	χ	ˆ	♣	≅	©	↵	∪	¤	†	‡	↓	⇓	°	Δ	δ	♦	÷	É	é	Ê	ê	È	è	∅			Ε	ε	≡	Η	η
Ð	ð	Ë	ë	€	∃	ƒ	∀	½	¼	¾	⁄	Γ	γ	≥	>	↔	⇔	♥	…	Í	í	Î	î	¡	Ì	ì	ℑ	∞	∫	Ι	ι
¿	∈	Ï	ï	Κ	κ	Λ	λ	⟨	«	←	⇐	⌈	“	≤	⌊	∗	◊	‎	‹	‘	<	¯	—	µ	·	−	Μ	μ	∇		–
≠	∋	¬	∉	⊄	Ñ	ñ	Ν	ν	Ó	ó	Ô	ô	Œ	œ	Ò	ò	‾	Ω	ω	Ο	ο	⊕	∨	ª	º	Ø	ø	Õ	õ	⊗	Ö
ö	¶	∂	‰	⊥	Φ	φ	Π	π	ϖ	±	£	′	″	∏	∝	Ψ	ψ	"	√	⟩	»	→	⇒	⌉	”	ℜ	®	⌋	Ρ	ρ	‏
›	’	‚	Š	š	⋅	§	­	Σ	σ	ς	∼	♠	⊂	⊆	∑	⊃	¹	²	³	⊇	ß	Τ	τ	∴	Θ	θ	ϑ		Þ	þ	˜
×	™	Ú	ú	↑	⇑	Û	û	Ù	ù	¨	ϒ	Υ	υ	Ü	ü	℘	Ξ	ξ	Ý	ý	¥	ÿ	Ÿ	Ζ	ζ	‍	‌	(empty)

Other formatting

Beyond the text formatting markup shown above, here are some other formatting references:

• Links
• Images
• Tables