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--- doc:different_editing_techniques [2026/03/28 15:51] – [Different editing techniques] Simon Grant
+++ doc:different_editing_techniques [2026/04/04 18:27] (current) – [For those who know MediaWiki (including Wikipedia)] Simon Grant
@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 This is likely to depend on your past experience editing wikis and similar, if any.
-Unlike systems like Google Docs, which allows you to edit things just as you see them,((this is called WYSIWYG: what you see is what you get)) DokuWiki and many other similar systems use what is called a "[[wp>lightweight markup language]]" for editing, and you switch between viewing and editing. Unfortunately, different lightweight markup languages are different though similar, so you need to take care.
+Unlike systems like Google Docs, which allows you to edit things just as you see them,((this is called WYSIWYG: what you see is what you get)) DokuWiki and many other similar systems use what is called a "[[wp>lightweight markup language]]" for editing, and you switch between viewing and editing. Different lightweight markup languages are different, though similar, so you need to take care.
-===== DokuWiki editing =====
+All lightweight markup languages are designed to help us write in plain text what can be translated into a nicely formatted web page (in HTML). Trouble is, there isn't just one way of doing this.
-If you don't have any experience, we suggest you make use of the editing toolbar, which appears just above the edit window when you have opened a page to edit. Using the edit toolbar will give you native DokuWiki markup. The notes on following pages will have a section "Menu bar". As you become familiar, you may find it quicker simply to write in the DokuWiki code.
-If you are already experienced with DokuWiki, go right ahead as you are used to!
+===== DokuWiki editing with the toolbar =====
+If you don't have any experience, we suggest you make use of the editing toolbar, which appears just above the edit window when you have opened a page to edit. Using the edit toolbar will give you native DokuWiki markup. The notes on following pages will have a section "Using the toolbar".
-If this is your preferred approach, skip the rest of this page and you are good to go: see the following pages.
+===== DokuWiki syntax editing just typing =====
-===== Markdown =====
+As you become familiar, you may find it quicker simply to write in the DokuWiki syntax.
-If you are familiar with Markdown, but not DokuWiki, we have included a plugin to allow many things to be written in Markdown. On each page below we include a section for people familiar with Markdown, on what you can use and what not.
-===== MediaWiki including Wikipedia =====
+If you are already experienced with DokuWiki, go right ahead as you are used to!
-Only read this if you are familiar with MediaWiki syntax.
+If you are happy using DokuWiki, with or without the toolbar, skip the rest of this page and you are good to go: see the following pages.
-If you are familiar with using a MediaWiki system, including Wikipedia, again the lightweight markup language is different. If you are also familiar with Markdown, see above; if not, here is a table of the equivalents in MediaWiki and DokuWiki. You can come back here, or see the notes on each of the following pages.
+===== Editing using Markdown syntax =====
+If you are familiar with Markdown, but not DokuWiki, we have included a plugin to allow many things to be written in Markdown. On each page below we include a section for people familiar with Markdown, on what you can use and what not.
-^ **Syntax Examples** ^ MediaWiki ^ [[doku>DokuWiki]] ^ result ^
+===== For those who know MediaWiki (including Wikipedia) =====
-^ Internal Link | <code>[[a link]]
-[[a link|with title]]
-</code> | <code>[[start]]
-[[ints:start]]
-[[ints:start|a long list]]
-</code> |[[start]]\\ [[ints:start]]\\ [[ints:start|a long list]] |
-^ External Link |<code>
-[http://example.org The title]
-</code> |<code>
-[[http://example.com]]
-[[http://example.com|With a Title]]
-</code> ||
-^ Headlines | <code>==Section (level 2)==
-===Subsection (level 3)===
-====Sub-subsection (level 4)====
-</code> | <code>====== Level 1 ======
-===== Level 2 =====
-==== Level 3 ====
-=== Level 4 ===
-== Level 5 ==
-</code> ||
-| Bold Format |```'''bold'''``` |```**bold**``` |**bold** |
-^ Italics Format | ```''italic''```|```//italics//``` |//italics// |
-^ Underline Format |```<u>underlined</u>``` | ```__underlined__``` |__underlined__ |
-^ Monospace Format |```<tt>monospace</tt>``` |```''monospace''```|''monospace'' |
-^ Strikethrough Format|```<s>strikethrough</s>```|```<del>strikethrough</del>```|<del>strikethrough</del>|
-^ Superscript Format |```<sup>superscript</sup>``` |```<sup>superscript</sup>``` |<sup>superscript</sup> |
-^ Subscript Format |```<sub>subscript</sub>``` |```<sub>subscript</sub>``` |<sub>subscript</sub> |
-^ Images |```[[Image:wiki.png]]``` |```{{local.jpg}}, {{http://foo.bar/baz.jpg}}``` |
-^ Aligning Text |```<center>Centered</center>``` |Plugin |
-^ Text Indentation |```: indented line``` |N/A |
-^ Bulleted Lists |<code>* Item 1
-** Item 1.2
-* Item 2
-</code>|<code>
-  * item 1
-    * item 1.1
-  * item 2
-</code> |
-^ Numbered Lists|<code>
-# Item 1
-## Item 1.2
-# Item 2
-</code>|<code>
-  - item 1
-    - item 1.1
-  - item 2
-</code> |
-^ Horizontal Rule |```----``` |```----``` |
-Note the spaces in front of the * or - characters in DokuWiki syntax for lists. Top level list items have two spaces in front of the list item character; next level have 4 spaces, etc.
+If you are familiar with using a MediaWiki system, including Wikipedia, again their lightweight markup language is different. If you are also familiar with Markdown, you can use that; if not, get to know DokuWiki, with the help of a table of the equivalents on the page [[MediaWiki and DokuWiki]]. See also the notes on following pages.