Wiki: How to Use the Editor

Wiki: How to Use the Editor

The only thing between you and contributing content to this Wiki is the Editor. Well, that and joining, but this article assumes you have already joined, because you cannot see the Edit tab unless you have joined and signed in.

To access the TNWiki Editor, click the Edit tab above the article:

Click here to watch a video with most of the information from this topic, watch it below, or read the written instructions below the video.


Editor Basics

Functions are for the most part basic. Wiki editing, as in all things Wiki, should be kept simple.

The editor provides basic text, image, video and link control. In the diagram below, these elements are identified with a unique id and explained in the list that follows. Avoid #13, "paste from Word". Read more to learn why.

You can do the following with the editor:

  1. Change Font to something other than the default. Consistent text is easier to read so use sparingly (prefer Paragraph and other styles in the style selector, see #3 below).
  2. Font Size for calling out significant or hiding insignificant text. Again, consistency is best so use sparingly.
  3. Apply Style to blocks of text including headers and the paragraph style.
  4. Make Lists using bullets or numbers. Tables can be embedded with practice.
  5. Indent and Unindent blocks of text.
  6. Justify text: left, centered, right, or full.
  7. Insert a Horizontal Rule, a horizontal line with a width and thickness you can control.
  8. Insert a Table with custom settings. Keep it simple!
  9. Apply Bold, Italic, Underline, Strike-Through, Subscript, Superscript to blocks of text.
  10. Chage Background Color for a block of text. Use this to highlight text.
  11. Change Text Color to call attention to a block of text. Consistency is best, use sparingly!
  12. Cut, Copy, Paste text from other sources.
  13. DO NOT Paste from Word! The button is tempting, but it will lead to formatting problems.
  14. Spellcheck Toggle to set spell check language.
  15. Fullscreen Edit Mode Toggle provides a larger editing surface.
  16. Drop a Named Anchor that you can link to (see #17) within the document
  17. Link, Break Link to articles, external web sites, and internal anchors.
  18. Insert Media like pictures, videos and sound.
  19. HTML Edit for tweaking the HTML behind the topic. This is for advanced users. Note that risky HTML is automatically ignored by the system

Most editing tasks can be done simply using only a handful of functions provided.

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Linking

Links to other content can be included in article text directly or by using the insert link command on the Wiki editor.  The quickest way to insert a link is to use Wiki text (for links within the Wiki) or the url (for links outside of the Wiki).

Using the Insert/edit link Button

The Insert/edit link button is in the toolbar at the top of the editor:

To use the Insert/edit link button:

  1. Highlight text that you want to add a link to.
  2. Click the Insert/edit link button in the editor's toolbar.
  3. Select all the text in the Link URL or Page field.
  4. Paste in your URL.
  5. Click Insert.
  6. Save the article page.

You can do this for any URL, including a TechNet Wiki link.

If you are linking to an external URL (not to another page on TechNet Wiki), please specify where you are sending people or see the section below, Linking to External Content.

Linking to a Topic in the Wiki

To link to a topic in the TechNet Wik:

  1. Edit or create a new topic.  You must be signed in.
  2. Move the cursor to the spot you want to insert the link.
  3. Type a double bracket + "articles:" -- [[articles: -- Then type your topic title. See the template below.  You must provide a topic title, but the display title is optional. Close with double brackets. The brackets and "articles:" parts are required. 

      

     For example:

  4. Save the article page!

NOTES:

  • You don't need the "displaytitle" part. You can just have the topic title like this (inside the double brackets): articles: topictitle
  • You must start and close with double brackets. It won't work if you don't!
  • You must include the "s" in "articles:" -- It won't work if you don't!
  • Make sure the topic title is perfect. If you don't get the topic title spelled EXACTLY like the actual topic title, then the link won't work.

Linking to External Content

To link to external content, simply drop the URL inline in the text. When rendered, it will be clickable.

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Creating Lists

You can create numbered, bulleted lists or a combination of numbered and bulleted lists using the editor.

Simple List

To create a simple list:

  1. Create a new topic or edit an existing topic. You must be signed in.
  2. Click the bulleted list   or numbered list   icon.
  3. Provide list content.
  4. To create sub-items, click indent  . The sub-item list will be in the same style as the parent so numbered list sub-items are themselves numbered with the first item beginning at 1. To return back to the parent level, click unindent  .
  5. Click enter a couple of times to exit the list.
  6. Make sure you save your edits!

Combination List

Embedded lists contain a combination of bulleted and numbered lists.

To create a combination list:

  1. Create a new topic or edit an existing topic. You must be signed in.
  2. Click the bulleted list   or numbered list   icon.
  3. Provide list content.
  4. Click indent   to create a sub list.
  5. Click the bulleted list   or numbered list   icon to change the list type.
  6. To return back to the parent level, click unindent  .
  7. Click enter a couple of times to exit the list.

You can repeat steps 3-5 to create lists of essentially unlimited depth. Why you would want to do so is another matter!

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Adding a Picture

You can upload and embed illustrations and other relevant pictures in your Wiki article. 

To embed a picture:

  1. Create a new topic or edit an existing topic. You must be signed in.
  2. Click insert media  . This will bring up the Insert Media dialog box shown below.

  3. Click the From Computer tab if it is not already selected.
  4. Click Browse and locate the image you wish to upload and embed from your local machine.
  5. Adjust the max width and height settings if you have special requirements. A maximum width of 650 will still fit.

    NOTE: If your image (such as a screenshot) is wider than the maximum width, then it will likely appear blurry and be hard to read. Try taking smaller screen captures or make the image smaller in a photo-editing application.
  6. NOTE: Images you upload onto the wiki cannot be deleted from the wiki. You can of course, edit your article to delete or modify the image. However, the original is still on the server, and may be seen in the history. As with all things, do not upload images that contain information you should not share publicly, such as server names, user names, and other personally identifiable information. KEEP THIS IN MIND when you create your screenshot.
  7. Click Insert to insert the selected image or Cancel to exit without embedding.
  8. Make sure to save your edits!

Check to make sure the image looks good and fits the context.

More Options

You can then right-click an image (while still in the Edit tab) to add a description, title, image swap option, to resize the image, format the text around the image, and even to link the image to another page!

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Embedding a Video

To embed a link to a video from YouTube or other compatible site:

  1. Create a new topic or edit an existing topic. You must be signed in.
  2. Click insert media  . This will bring up the Insert Media dialog box shown below.

  3. Click the From URL tab if it is not already selected.
  4. Paste the URL for the media you would like to use in the text box. For example, to embed one of the TechNet Edge videos from YouTube, fnd the video then copy and paste the URL string (circled below):

  5. Override max width and max height if needed.
  6. Click Insert to embed the media or Cancel to exit without embedding.

Make sure the material is appropriate!

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Inserting Code

Inserting code into the editor can be a little tricky if you want syntax formatting. See Wiki: How to Insert a Formatted Code Snippet and Code Block on TechNet Wiki.

Follow the steps below to get code inserted, including scrollbars when needed:

General language code formatting

  1. Click here to go to http://tohtml.com/ web site (opens in a new window)
    NOTE: This site does not include a setting for PowerShell scripts. See instructions below for PowerShell scripts.
  2. Copy and paste your code into the "Source Code" section of the tohtml.com web site.
  3. Select the Style of "White".
  4. Select the type of code to be formatted.
  5. Click the Highlight button.
  6. Copy the resulting HTML code and return back to the Wiki editor.
  7. Click the HTML button in the toolbar and paste the HTML code into the window in the appropriate location.
  8. If the lines of code are long, you may need to wrap the code in an additional <div> tag. For example:

    <div style="width: 620px; overflow: scroll;>

    <!-- Pasted HTML Code Goes Here -->

    </div> 
  9. The result should be something like this:
    public Form1()
    {
       InitializeComponent();
       Graphics dc = this.CreateGraphics();
       this.Show();
       Pen BluePen = new Pen(Color.Blue, 3);
       dc.DrawRectangle(BluePen, 0,0,50,50);
       Pen RedPen = new Pen(Color.Red, 2);
       dc.DrawEllipse(RedPen, 0, 50, 80, 60);
    }

PowerShell code formatting

To insert formatted PowerShell code follow instructions that are described in the following article: How to insert a formatted PowerShell code to TechNet Wiki.

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See Also


External Links

Other Languages

   

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Comments
  • yottun8 edited Revision 57. Comment: Added ja-JP version.

  • tonysoper_MSFT edited Revision 58. Comment: tonyso

  • Ed Price - MSFT edited Revision 60. Comment: Only the cleverest edit EVER.

  • Richard Mueller edited Revision 64. Comment: Replace RGB values with color names in HTML to restore colors

  • Carsten Siemens edited Revision 65. Comment: fixed typo

  • Richard Mueller edited Revision 66. Comment: Table of Contents did not work, so replaced with TOC feature, added tag

  • Richard Mueller edited Revision 67. Comment: Fixed "Back to Top" link

  • Richard Mueller edited Revision 69. Comment: Replace RGB values with color names in HTML to restore colors

  • Eric Battalio MSFT edited Revision 1. Comment: filled in basic section

  • Eric Battalio MSFT edited Revision 3. Comment: lists, links

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Comments
  • yottun8 edited Revision 57. Comment: Added ja-JP version.

  • tonysoper_MSFT edited Revision 58. Comment: tonyso

  • Ed Price - MSFT edited Revision 60. Comment: Only the cleverest edit EVER.

  • Richard Mueller edited Revision 64. Comment: Replace RGB values with color names in HTML to restore colors

  • Carsten Siemens edited Revision 65. Comment: fixed typo

  • Richard Mueller edited Revision 66. Comment: Table of Contents did not work, so replaced with TOC feature, added tag

  • Richard Mueller edited Revision 67. Comment: Fixed "Back to Top" link

  • Richard Mueller edited Revision 69. Comment: Replace RGB values with color names in HTML to restore colors

  • Thanks Eric.

  • Good

  • good article

  • Quite informative content. Thanks