doc:different_editing_techniques [Knowledge Commons]

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//part of the [[start|GtC documentation]]//

====== Different editing techniques ======

We want you as a contributor to be able to edit pages most comfortably.
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. Different lightweight markup languages are different, though similar, so you need to take care.

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.

===== 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". 

===== DokuWiki syntax editing just typing =====

As you become familiar, you may find it quicker simply to write in the DokuWiki syntax.

If you are already experienced with DokuWiki, go right ahead as you are used to!

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.

===== 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.

===== For those who know MediaWiki (including Wikipedia) =====

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.