This page introduces Wikitext. Wikitext is used to write all of the pages in Wikibooks and is the markup language used for all of the sister projects as well. Wikitext is intended to be simpler to use than other alternatives. This simple markup script is translated into the web's HTML language by the software before sending it to each browser.
Wikitext can bemixed with HTML, and users can add CSS in-line styles, as well as the usual complement of images, tables and other structures.
Templates can be produced to make the workeasier, and there is a large store of these already available. Templates described in these pages work only withinWikibooks pages; the template set forWikipedia does not necessarily include these features.
Work iscredited to users in their user-names, and log-in names can be chosen with the link at the top-right of any Wikibooks page.
Wikibooks is anopen system. It is used free of charge. Any user can edit pages in Wikibooks, and its mandate is to encourage collaboration in producing written work. This arrangement does not suit everyone, so the matter needs consideration before making a heavy work commitment. Some core textsare protected against editing, though these are comparatively few.
Stable good-quality versions of some pages are presented to casual surfers, while other versions of each, to edit, are available to logged-on users. Reviewers patrol the edits from day to day and update the stable copies of such pages after approving them. Many pages however, can be edited directly, without review.
How a Page is Made
The general method inediting a page is fairly simple. In summary, the user signs on with a free password and user name, then, on the page of interest, selects theedit this page tab. The user is then presented with an editing window that resembles a fairly ordinary word processor. The text is edited to change the wording, to add images or tables, and at times to introduce additional styles for text and layout.
The method for making anew page is also simple. A summary of the methods to use for starting a new page can be found atHelp Pages.
The work can bechecked for its appearance by selectingShow preview. The preview page is then redrawn with an up-to-date version for the user's approval. When the work is to the user's satisfaction, the new page is saved by pressingSave page. Ifmore than one user is changing the same parts of the page, screens are presented to allow the conflict to be resolved.
Saved versions of the page arestored and can be viewed via thehistory tab on each page. Previous versions may be restored from these lists. In addition, there are various pages dedicated to each user for notes, preferences, and so on.
More General Points
There is a housestyle. At the most general level, there areguidelines on writing style. The web-page styles however, are provided by Wiki's style sheets, of which there are several. Within these are to be found the style rules for all Wiki work. The usercannot modify these, since changes would affect everybody, but on an optional basis, each usercan have a style sheet of their own that affects onlytheir own browsers. Most find no need for it. Although the house style sheets cannot be user-modified,in-line styles can still be applied within the Wikitext itself.
There is no housefont. as such Pages are displayed with entirelyrelative font-sizing, and asans-serif font. As such, pages can be scaled with browser zoom and font settings.
There is anautomatically made table of contents (TOC). Each page has a table of contents (TOC) that is updated automatically using the typed section headings. The markup code is used to identify certain text as headings, and the software does the rest. The TOC also lists headings created with HTML code, though its use is optional. An example of listed headings can be seen on this page.
The white-space around words and punctuation isparsed. This means that it is filtered so that it conforms with the browsers' rules. At a practical level, it makes sure that there is never more than one space following a comma or a full stop. It ignores a single carriage return, requiring two of these to signify a new paragraph. The software will do all of the wrapping of text on the page. This is calledun-formatted text.
There are HTML-like tags thatpreserve white-space. Text that benefits from their use is calledpre-formatted text and is fairly heavily set with spacing and line breaks. Examples are lyrics, poetry, and code listings. The aptly namedpoem tags or thepre tags can be used to display text exactly as it is typed. To display a pre-formatted code module, there aresource tags that also color the code.
Refer to the links in the top panel for the variousEditing Wikitext pages.
Refer to the links below for additional sources on editing.
