Help:Contents
From www.entrepreneurstoolkit.org
Welcome to the help page of the Entrepreneur's Toolkit!
This page provides instructions and tips on how to create and edit pages in this wiki.
Anyone can contribute to this wiki. However, before being able to create and edit you must click "create account" (located at top right of the wiki); or Log in if you already have an account.
- Before you start adding pages, be sure to browse the wiki to see what is already there. Also, be sure to read the Editorial policy.
- To add a new page, simply enter the title of the page you would like to create in the search box at left, then click "Go" (do not click "Search").
- NOTE: If your page is specific to a country, then be sure to put the name of the country in the title of the page: For example, Access to finance: South Africa; or Pollution prevention in Canada.
- If the page does not already exist, a link will be provided asking you if you would like to create the page. Click on this link.
- Then, create your page by clicking the "edit" tab near the top of the window. Do not feel apprehensive about making any "undoable" edits as the original version you create will saved within the history tab (it can always be restored). Just make sure to save!
- NOTE: Pages can be written in any language; and new categories can be established in any language.
Once in edit mode, you will see an empty window with some icons along the top. The text to follow describes the function of these icons. It also describes the types of coding you need to apply to your page in order to format text, add links, categories, and organize the page.
Automatic coding
Good news: You don´t have to manually type in any codes to format your page. Just above the edit window (below the heading "Editing Test page} you will see a row of icons. Simply select the text you would like to code and click on the appropriate icon. By sliding your mouse over each option, text will appear which lets you know the function of each icon. As an example using "abc", the following table shows what each icon looks like in edit mode, and the result once you have saved the page (or are previewing it):
| Icon | Function | What it shows when editing | What it shows on the page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bold or strong emphasis | '''abc'''
| abc |
| Italic or emphasis | ''abc''
| abc |
| Internal link | [[abc]]
| abc |
| External link | [http://abc.com]
| [1] |
| Section heading | == abc ==
| 
|
| Insert image | [[Image:abc.png]]
| 
|
| Insert media | [[Media:abc.ogg]]
| Media:abc.ogg |
| Mathematical formula | <math>abc</math>
| <math>abc</math> |
| Ignore wiki formatting | <nowiki>abc '''[[Bold text]]'''</nowiki>
| abc '''[[Bold text]]''' |
| Sign talk comments (with time stamp) | ~~~~
| Gareth Aus 22:49, 11 February 2006 (UTC) |
| Horizontal line | ----
|
|
Internal Links and External Links
You will frequently see different combinations of square brackets used in wiki code.
- Double brackets indicate internal links - links to pages created within this wiki. Select the text you want to indicate as an internal link, and click on the internal link icon. For example, this link [[Main Page]] displays as Main Page and will take you to the Main Page of the wiki. After saving the page, any internal links will appear in blue if the page already exists in the wiki, and will appear in red if it does not. For example, this page does not exist.
- Single brackets indicate external links - links to pages outside of the wiki. Select the text you want to indicate as an external link, and click on the external link icon. The wiki automatically links your text and adds a small arrow to the end of all external links. Note that all external links will make users leave the wiki, so please use them sparingly!
There are several different formats for coding and displaying external links.
- Type the website address (URL), followed by a space before the name of the website, then select this text and click on the external link icon. The name of the website will appear, but not the URL: [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links Mediawiki help page on links] displays as Mediawiki help page on links.
- Encase only the URL in single brackets. The link will appear as a number: [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links] displays as [2]
- Write out a website address (URL) as is, without adding the "external links" command or use of []. The wiki will automatically transform it into the external link - e.g. http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links.
Linking to and adding categories
Be sure to read about the Toolkit structure before adding categories to your pages.
- Category links - automatically link your page to all other pages within its category. In order for your page to be found easily from other related pages within the wiki, you should link it to a category. You can link to existing category names by using double square brackets around the word Category followed by a colon, then the category name. For example, to add a page to the "Tourism" category, the following coding should be added at the end of the page: [[Category:Tourism]]. Note that category names are case sensitive - and you should be careful not to add any spaces before or after the colon in the category command. This coding can be included anywhere in the page, but it would be best to have it right at the bottom, as that is where it will appear.
You can see a list of all categories in the wiki by clicking on the link "All categories" at left (under Browse by). To link to an existing category, type the name of the category exactly as it already appears in the wiki. For example, [[Category:Business planning]]; NOT [[Category:Business Planning]]. Remember, categories are case sensitive. If you do not type in a category name exactly as it is written, you will accidently create a new category.
Every page must be linke to at least one category. If the page is relevant to a specfic country, be sure to add [[Category:Country name]].
Creating a new category: in order to add your page to a new category that doesn't exist yet in the wiki, simply add the category to the bottom of your page: [[Category:new category name]].
Note: When you add a new page, please do not add [[Category:Topic]], [[Category:Sector]] or [[Category:Country/Region]] to the bottom of your page. Do add more specific categories, such as [[Category:Financing]], [[Category:Health]] or [[Category:South Africa]]. If your category is new (ie, a country, topic or sector that hasn't been added to the wiki before), the wiki managers will ensure that these new categories are linked into the three general categories. For more information, see Toolkit structure.
How to set up your page in the classic wiki style
The "classic wiki style" referred to is exemplified in this page. It starts with the page title in very large text, followed by a horizontal line and an introductory paragraph. Then, there is a box called "contents" which contains links to all the content sections of the page. Each of these links goes to a subsection with an [edit] link to the right of it, followed by a horizontal line and corresponding text. At the bottom of the page, there is a categories section which organizes and links the page within the larger context of all pages in the wiki.
Happily, "classic wiki style" is a template. If you create at least 4 subheadings in your text, and follow other basic instructions below, the wiki will automatically format your page this way.
Creating the contents list
Simply enter your text (without worrying about creating a box of contents - it will be created automatically). Break your text up with subheadings. Select each subheading and click on the "A" icon.
NOTE: In order to create the "contents" list, you must use at least 4 content subtitles.
Formatting Text: Bold, Italics and Bullets
Note that Bold and Italics are the only options with coding icons for formatting text within the wiki. Select the text you want to bold and click on B. Same for Italics.
You can also add indented bullet points to your text by simply typing an asterix * beside the beginning of each bullet point.
- Point a
- Point b
- Point c
Adding a shaded box to highlight text sections
The easiest and quickest way to highlight a text section with a shaded box is to insert a space before the first word in any paragraph.
Note that your text will not automatically break in this paragraph, so you will have to hit enter in the appropriate place in order for the text not to run over the right margin of the page.
| If you would like more control over the colors of shading and text in the box, you will have to use a simple table to highlight your text. For this, you will have to type in the wiki table commands manually. In this yellow box with green, the coding looks like this:
{| class="wikitable"; style="background:yellow; color:green" |- |the text in the box goes here |} |
More on tables is discussed below.
Formatting elements in the page: using tables, placing images
If you like a challenge, then using wiki code to set up a table is for you! Setting up tables in a wiki is similar to the logic that html uses - see the complete instructions here: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Tables
For those who prefer life a little simpler, the best solution to inserting a table may be to save it as an image (must be .png,.jpg or .gif) and then upload it to the wiki. An easy way to save a table as an image is to save your document as a .pdf and then take a snapshot of the table using the picture icon in Adobe Acrobat Reader. Save this picture into a file. Then, go back to the wiki, upload your file by clicking on the "Upload file" link at left. It will help if you remember exactly what you named the file, because in order to insert it into your wiki page, you must then click on the picture icon, and type in the exact name of the picture you have uploaded.
Further help
- WikiMedia Quick reference card: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Reference_card
- Mediawiki help with Tables: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Tables
- Mediawiki help with Images: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Images]
