User:Proteins/Introduction to the editing toolbar buttons

At the top of every editing box is a set of 22 buttons that can be used to make editing easier. If you know what the buttons do, you won't have to remember how to format things on Wikipedia; the buttons will do it for you! The buttons have a "hovering tooltip" feature, which means that their actions are described in a pop-up if you place the mouse over the button without clicking on it. In this tutorial, we describe what each of these buttons does.

Screenshot of the 22 editing buttons.

Boldface and italics buttons

These buttons change the formatting of the text to italics or boldface type, by enclosing the text in two or three single quotes, respectively. Tp use these buttons, highlight the text and click on the appropriate button. However, the reverse does not work; if you highlight text that is already enclosed between single quotes, clicking on the button does not remove them.

Internal and external link buttons

These buttons create internal and external links, respectively. If you highlight text and click on the first button, the text will be enclosed in double square brackets, forming a link to the article of that name. If you click on that latter button, the basic form of an external link will appear.

Major section heading button

This button creates a major section heading for the article. You need only highlight the desired section heading text and click the button, which will enclose it in two equal signs.

Image and media buttons

Clicking on these buttons gives you the basic form for incorporating images and media, respectively, into a Wikipedia article.

Math formatting button

On Wikipedia, users have the option of using LaTeX to format mathematical equations. LaTeX provides one of the richest repetoires of mathematical symbols available, and is used frequently in scientific and mathematical publishing. To incorporate LaTeX formulae into a Wikipedia article, it need only be enclosed between a <math> tag and a </math> tag. For example, you might write

• <math alt="A squared plus B squared equals C squared">A^{2} + B^{2} = C^{2}</math>

to produce the following

• $A^{2}+B^{2}=C^{2}$

If you highlight a LaTeX formula and click on this button, that will enclose the formula between the <math> tags.

Nowiki button

This button is usually used by more advanced editors. It allows you sandwich text between two tags that turn off the interpretation of Wiki markup language. For example, if you wish to discuss how to get a formatting effect on Wikipedia, you might want to post your markup without having it interpreted, so that others can see it and evaluate it. This button adds <nowiki> and </nowiki> tags to the beginning and end of the text, respectively.

Signature button

Talking is very important on Wikipedia, and all messages should be signed and dated so that people know whom they're talking to! This button is a fast way to add your signature, along with a time stamp, to any message you leave. It adds four tildes, which is the shorthand for "signature with time stamp".

Horizontal line button

Horizontal lines are almost never used in articles, so you'll use this button rarely. It adds four hypens at the start of a line, which means "horizontal line" in wiki markup.

Redirect button

This button reminds you of the wiki-markup for redirect pages, synonym pages that whisk you away to another article. For example, if a concept goes by two names, you can make one the main article and use a redirect page for the synonym.

Strike text and line break buttons

If you want to unsay something on Wikipedia, it's customary not to delete it, but rather to strike it, that is, to draw a line through it. This button does that by enclosing the stricken text between <s> and </s> tags.

The line-break button merely adds a line break, which you could also do by hitting return/enter. Not commonly used.

Superscript, subscript and small text buttons

Superscripts and subscripts are commonplace in scientific and mathematical articles. If you highlight text and click on these buttons, the text will be rendered super-scripted, sub-scripted or small. You'll see that the text is enclosed int he corresponding tags. For example, in creating a superscript or a subscript, the text will be enclosed in <sup></sup> or <sub></sub> tags, respectively. For example, the symbol UⁱV<sub>i is created by the code UⁱV_i</sup>.

Hidden comment button

On rare occasions, you'll want to leave a hidden message buried in the article. For example, if a consensus on how to present a controversial topic has been worked out over months, a hidden comment might be added to alert the casual reader (who might be a newcomer to the article) of that consensus.

Image gallery button

Clicking on this button gives you the basic form for incorporating an image gallery into a Wikipedia article. An image gallery is an orderly array of images of constant size.

Blockquote button

Clicking on this button gives you the basic form for incorporating a blockquote into a Wikipedia article. Blockquotes are quotations that are indented to set them apart from the surrounding text.

Table button

Clicking on this button gives you the basic form for incorporating a table into a Wikipedia article.

Reference button

The last button of the toolbar adds a pair of reference tags.