Help:Syntax highlighting

Syntax highlighting is a feature designed to improve readability of code on Wikia. It is currently being beta tested - you can read more about the progress of this here.

Essentially, syntax highlighting takes what is written in the editor and highlights the various types of code in different colours to help a reader identify what part does what.

It exists in two main forms - wikitext highlighting and CSS/JS/Lua highlighting.

Wikitext highlighting
Wikitext is the main building block of articles across Wikia, but it can often be hard to comprehend what you're seeing at a glance, especially on more complex pages.

Syntax highlighting takes this code and adds blocks of colour behind the text.

The main colors involved:
 * blue-violet = section headings, bold and italic text
 * light blue = internal links
 * red = general wikitext
 * red-violet = tags
 * grey/brown = templates

If you do not wish to use wikitext highlighting, simply visit the 'Editing' tab in your preferences, and tick the "Do not show syntax highlighting in Source mode" option.

CSS/JS/Lua highlighting
CSS, JS and Lua module pages are also affected, much like currently seen on Special:CSS. It is active on user-specific CSS and JS pages, too - such as Special:MyPage/global.js.

Beyond simple readability, these updated pages will also help you spot code issues, helping to prevent you from ending up with broken JavaScript, for example.

Further Help and Feedback
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