This has been extracted from the TextFormattingRules of WardsWiki (the original wiki) to serve as a permanent "baseline" for the comparison of wikis without preventing further development of WardsWiki (see WikiEngineReview). (In fact, it's an exact copy except for the note on headings, below.) -- Randy Kramer
Headings
Many clones support a special markup for headings, the original wiki does not. Headings can be simulated in the original wiki by applying multiple single quotes to provide emphasis (see "Emphasis", below).
Paragraphs
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Do not indent paragraphs
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Words wrap and fill as needed
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Use blank lines as separators
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Four or more hyphens at the beginning of a line make a horizontal rule
Lists
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tab-* for first level (See TipForTypingTab)
- tab-tab-* for second level, etc.
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Use * for bullet lists, 1. for numbered lists (mix at will) -- always use 1., it will be renumbered automagically.
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tab-Term:-tab-Definition for definition lists
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One line for each item
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Other leading whitespace signals preformatted text, changes font (see below).
Horizontal Line
- Four dashes at the left margin: ----
Fonts
- Indent with one or more spaces to use a monospace font:
This is in monospace
This is not
Indented Paragraphs (Quotes)
- tab-space-:-tab -- often used (with emphasis) for quotations. (See SimulatingQuoteBlocks)
Sample:
This is quoted.
This isn't.
- If you are going to ConvertSpacesToTabs, you need to type nine spaces, a colon, and then eight spaces before the text.
Emphasis
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Use doubled single-quotes ('') for emphasis (usually italics)
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Use tripled single-quotes (''') for strong emphasis (usually bold)
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Use five single-quotes (***), or triples within doubles, for some other kind of emphasis (*Bold Italic'), but be careful about the bugs in the Wiki emphasis logic...
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Use SixSingleQuotes, or triples within triples, to BreakUp LongBumpyWords so that they do not become WikiNames. You can also use them to separate suffixes (like 's') from WikiNames. TextFormattingExperiments has more examples.
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Emphasis can be used multiple times within a line, but cannot cross line boundaries
References
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JoinCapitalizedWords to make local references
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Use SixSingleQuotes to AvoidMakingLocalReferences, or separate suffixes (like 's') from WikiNames.
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[1], [2], [3], [4] refer to remote references. Click EditLinks on the edit form to enter URLs
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Or precede URLs with "http:", "ftp:" or "mailto:" to create links automatically as in: http://c2.com/
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URLs ending with .gif are inlined if inserted as a remote reference
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ISBN: 0-13-748310-4 links to a bookseller. (The pattern is: "ISBN", optional colon, space, ten digits with optional hyphens, the whole thing optionally in square brackets. The last digit can be an "X".) We are an AmazonAssociate.
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I S B N: 0123456789 becomes ISBN: 0123456789
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[I S B N 0123456789] becomes ISBN: 0123456789
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[I S B N: 123-456-789-X] becomes ISBN: 123-456-789-X
Mark-Up Language
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Don't bother
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< and > are themselves
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The & characters will not work
Notes
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When a rule says "tab," it wants a tab character without extra spaces around it. See TipForTypingTab if you have trouble entering tabs.
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The actual TextFormattingRegularExpressions that implement these rules are available for those who can read them.
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I've been able to see what's going on by opening the edit window as a new window in the browser. That way, I can link (in my mind) the text formatting rules with what you finally get displayed. Not that the rules are difficult!
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Inserting lines with the LynxBrowser presents a special challenge. For help with that, see UsingWikiWithLynx.
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Use italics sparingly when possible, as it's harder to read (especially at low resolution) than non-italics.