It's not necessary to know wikitext in order to edit a page: you can use the VisualEditor, or visual mode in the classic editor, to avoid it. However, users who learn it may appreciate the additional control they have over page content.
Wikitext can be used via 'source mode' in either editor. To access an article's wikitext:
- Classic editor: click the 'Source' tab at the top right of the edit area.
- VisualEditor: click the menu button towards the right side of the toolbar, and choose 'Source Editor'.
Below is an outline of basic wikitext that you can use while editing. Many of the options listed below have shortcut buttons in the editor toolbars.
Text formatting
| Description | You type | You get |
|---|---|---|
| Italicise text | ''italic''
| italic |
| Bold text | '''bold'''
| bold |
| Bold and italic | '''''bold & italic'''''
| bold & italic |
| Internal link (within a wiki) | [[Help:Contents]]
| Help:Contents Displayed text |
| Redirect to another page | #REDIRECT [[Help:Contents]]
|  Help:Contents
|
| External link (to other websites) | [https://www.example.org]
| [1] |
| Sign your posts on talk pages | ~~~~ (4 tildes)
| Your username 16:02, 18 July 2019 (UTC) |
| Insert the current date and time (UTC). Generally only used on talk pages. | ~~~~~ (5 tildes)
| 16:02, 18 July 2019 (UTC) |
| Display wikitext code as typed | <nowiki>[[This is not a link]]</nowiki>
| [[This is not a link]] |
| Description | You type | You get |
|---|---|---|
| Headings A Table of Contents will automatically be generated when four headings are added to an article. |
|
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Level 5
Level 6
|
| Indented paragraph or line |
|
No indent
|
| Bulleted list |
|
|
| Numbered list |
|
|
| Preformatted text with working links |
" "Color Text (note space at start, remove quotation marks) |
Color Text |
| Preformatted text that shows underlying wikitext |
<pre>[[Color]] Text</pre> |
[[Color]] Text |
Image formatting
Further wikitext examples
For more complex content that is sometimes more easily managed with wikitext editing, see:
- Help:Galleries, Slideshows, and Sliders/wikitext
- Help:Main page column tags
- Help:Templates
- Help:Signature
- Help:Tables
- Help:Magic words
See also
- Help:Editing
- MediaWiki.org's thorough reference on image formatting
- For print cheatsheets, see the MediaWiki reference card or the poster-size cheatsheet (available in many languages).
Further help and feedback
- Browse and search other help pages at Help:Contents
- Check Fandom Community Central for sources of further help and support
- Check Contacting Fandom for how to report any errors or unclear steps in this article
- Learn how to use Fandom in Fandom University: short how-to videos for all levels of experience
