Wiki Style

This wiki uses standard, simple wiki formatting. You can click the "view page source" link in the footer to see how this page is formatted.

 

Wiki Style Text formatting Lists Character Formatting Sections Other Links Pictures Uploaded Files Tables Table of Contents Use WikiStyle Characters Normally Basic Guidelines Avoid Excessive Linking Be bold in editting pages (or, The editorial policy) Perfection not required

 

Text formatting

 

Lists

• One * (asterisk) + a space at the beginning of a line makes a bullet point, like this.

1. Use # + a space at the beginning of a line to make a numbered list, like this.
1. Nested lists like this one are made by doubling the * or # for subpoints

 

Character Formatting

Character formatting is quite easy:

 

• To make something bold, put 2 * (asterisk) before and after it: **word**
• To make something italicized, put 2 ' (apostrophe) before and after it: ''word''
• By using 2 _ (underscore) before and after, text can be __underlined__: __word__
• Strikethrough is done with (space +) 1 - (dash) before and 1 - (dash) (+ space) after: -word-

 

Here it is at a glance:

Effect	Preceding	Text	Following
Bold	**	word	**
Italic	''	word	''
__Underlined__	__	word	__
Strikethrough	-	word	-

 

Sections

• One ! at the beginning of a line makes a huge headline (like "Text formatting" above)
• Two !! make a big headline (like "Sections" over the Sections section right here)
• Three !!! and more--up to 6--make successively smaller headlines

 

Other

• 1 | (vertical bar) before and after something puts a box around it
• 3 - (hypen) on a line by themselves make a dividing line (horizontal rule) like the one below the boxed text below this

 

 

 

Links

• If you use two capital letters in a word with lowercase letters in between, PBwiki will automatically recognize the word as a link to a page. For example, LookFunny and SandBox link to pages, but sandbox and Sandbox don't. If you use a word like FunnyWord but don't yet have a page called FunnyWord, you can create that page just by clicking on the word. (Until the page is created, the link will have a dashed underline decoration. This way you can tell at a glance which pages have been created and which haven't.) On the other hand, to prevent the word from becoming a link, add ~ in front of it.
• You can also just type or paste in URLs like http://pbwiki.com/ or put [ ] brackets around a word. Brackets will force the word to become a link even if it isn't in the FunnyWord style.
• You can beautify links by using [ ] brackets and |, like [http://pbwiki.com/|PBwiki] to get PBwiki.
• Just type in email addresses like support@pbwiki.com.
• Or type them in and beautify them by adding brackets: [support@pbwiki.com|help!!] gives help!!.
• A special "top" link (to return a user to the top of the page) can be made with Top. The top link can be customized by inserting your own link description inside the angle brackets: link description.

 

 

Pictures

• You can also show pictures in your wiki. Just add the link to the picture in [ ] brackets! For example, [http://pbwiki.com/sandwch2.jpg] gives:

 

 

Uploaded Files

 

• Uploaded files can be linked to in the same way as everything else--you'll just need the file's location (URL). You can find a list of all the files you have uploaded to your wiki by selecting the 'Files' link at the top or bottom of the page. While there, right-click on a file link to copy its URL.

 

Tables

 

• Table rows can be made by beginning and ending a line with | (vertical bar). The content of the row is placed between the bars. If more than one cell is desired for any particular row, an additional | is used as the separator.

 

Look Mom!

A table!!

 

• Adjacent table rows will be automagically combined into a single table.

 

a	b
c	d

 

 

Table of Contents

• A table with links to all the (!, !!, and !!!) sections on that page can be made by inserting

  Wiki Style Text formatting Lists Character Formatting Sections Other Links Pictures Uploaded Files Tables Table of Contents Use WikiStyle Characters Normally Basic Guidelines Avoid Excessive Linking Be bold in editting pages (or, The editorial policy) Perfection not required

  
  wherever you'd like the table. See the top of this page for an example.
• To make the table only link to the largest (!) headlines, use

  Wiki Style Basic Guidelines

  
  .
• To make the table only link to the largest and second-largest headlines (! and !!), use

  Wiki Style Text formatting Other Links Pictures Uploaded Files Tables Table of Contents Use WikiStyle Characters Normally Basic Guidelines Avoid Excessive Linking Be bold in editting pages (or, The editorial policy) Perfection not required

  
  .

 

Use WikiStyle Characters Normally

 

• The tags and <verbatim> can be used to prevent PBwiki from interpreting special characters like <raw>** before and after a word, which normally would make the word bold. For shorter sections of text (a few words), use ; for longer sections, use <verbatim>. * These tags act like HTML tags in that there is both an opening tag and a closing tag, the opening before the text and the closing after the text: <raw><raw>**words that aren't bolded**.

---

 

Basic Guidelines

Avoid Excessive Linking

We can easily link to lots of stuff but there may be cases where it's better not to. I'm thinking of two cases,

 

you're writing a page and mention something which you know has it's own page (eg zwiki). It may be better not to link, especially if this is narrative or introductory documentation, since links are distracting for readers (there's a subtle "oh, I need to click on this" feeling).

you're writing a page and mention something that has a natural wiki name and you think "yeah, this is on topic for the site so give it a page". This may have the same problem as above (unnecessary distracting links) but also adds to the number of pages in the wiki. On experimental wikis like WikiWikiWeb (and this one, to an extent) this is usually no problem. On task-focussed wikis whose purpose is to communicate information clearly (also this one, to an extent), all else being equal, less is more. Fewer pages means less work to keep the site clear and well-organized, less possibility of readers getting lost, less chance of duplicating information better described on other sites, less use of server resources and less chance of performance problems, etc.

Naturally this should be balanced against the value of adding useful pages to the wiki, how you want it to grow, the value of chaotic serendipitous creation, etc.

 

Copied from a General Wiki Discussion by SimonMichael, 2003/01/21 02:32 GMT

 

Be bold in editting pages (or, The editorial policy)

 

Most Wiki communities exhort users to be bold in updating articles. Wikis develop faster when people fix problems, correct grammar, add facts, make sure the language is precise, and so on. It's okay. It's what everyone expects. So you should never ask, "Why aren't these pages copyedited?" Amazingly, it all works out. It does require some amount of politeness, but it works. You'll see.

 

If someone writes an inferior page, or outright absurd nonsense, don't worry about their feelings. Correct it, add to it, and if it's a total waste of time, just replace it entirely. That's the nature of a Wiki.

 

For the most part, the instinctive desire of an author to "own" what he has written is counterproductive here, and it is good to shake up that emotional attachment by making sweeping changes at will when it improves the result. And of course, others here will boldly and mercilessly edit what you write. Don't take it personally. They, like you, just wish to make our Wiki the best it can possibly be.

 

 

Perfection not required

It is a wonderful thing when someone adds a complete, well-written, final draft to the Wiki. This should always be encouraged. However, one of the great advantages of the Wiki system is that incomplete, poorly written first drafts of documents can evolve into polished, presentable masterpieces through the process of collaborative editing. This gives our approach an advantage over other ways of producing similar end-products. Hence, the submission of rough drafts should also be encouraged as much as possible.

 

One person can start a document by entering just an overview or a few random facts. Another person can add a minority opinion. Someone else can round off the article with additional perspectives. Yet another can play up an angle that has been neglected, or reword the earlier opinions to a more modern point of view. A following person might have facts and figures or a graphic to include. As all this material is added, anyone can jump in and refactor to turn it into a more cohesive whole. Then, more text will be added; then, more refactoring, and the article will gradually evolve ever closer to the ultimate final draft.

 

During this process, the article might look like a first draft—or worse, a random collection of notes and factoids. Rather than being horrified by this ugliness, we should rejoice in its potential, and have faith that the editing process will turn it into brilliant prose. Of course, we don't have to like it; we even, occasionally, criticize really substandard work, in addition to simply correcting it. The most important thing, though, is to correct it if it can be corrected. For text that is beyond hope, we always have the option of deleting it entirely. Hopefully, that won't happen very often!

 

If, in your considered judgment, a page simply needs to be rewritten or changed substantially, go ahead and do that. But preserve any old contents you think might have some discussion value on a seperate page, along with a comment about why you made the change. Even if you delete something that's just plain wrong, odds are that it got there because someone believed it was true, so preserve a comment that it is in fact wrong to inform later editors.