How to edit
From eoswiki.co.uk
Contents |
Introduction
The software that is used to create the eoswiki website allows users to insert comments, links, and so on, even insert whole articles. If you have done any editing on the Wikipedia website much of this will be familiar to you, but, if not, the following material will help you. The most fundamental point is that the text that as displayed on the Wikipedia and in our EOSWIKI sites cannot, as with Word and most modern word processing programs, be edited directly. Rather, as was the case for all word processing packages prior to the advent of what came be referred to as WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) programs, specific control characters have to be inserted into what is essentially an ASCII character set, in this case known as HTML, that lies behind it. But the task is not difficult (witness the way in which millions of people contribute to the Wikipedia) and is greatly facilitated by the availability of a series of shortcut buttons, or tabs, at the top of the wiki/HTML screens that can be clicked to produce most commonly desired formats: bold, italics, paragraph indent, etc. To edit material in our website, you first need to log in. Then you need to click the Edit tab at the top of a page or the blue “edit” link at the right of the section heading you wish to edit. This will open the text in wiki/HTML (instead of pre-formatted) format. This wiki/HTML text can be edited using many of the standard instructions for formatting HTML text or those specific to wikis (see below). But, as just mentioned, it can, for most purposes, be edited using any one (or a combination of) the shortcut “editing tabs” which appear at the top of the “edit” window in the edit toolbar (shown below).
Once the appropriate control characters have been inserted into the wiki/HTML version of the document, the text should show up in the desired format when it is restored to the normal viewing or “edited” format. To check that the control characters (or “formatting instructions”) are having the desired effect, please click “preview” before “saving” your work. This will display the material in whatever format you have intentionally or unintentionally created and enable you to modify it to produce the desired effect before finally saving it. To make more extensive alterations, make longer comments, or drop in whole articles, it is often more convenient to work off line and then cut and paste the material back into the eoswiki. However, remember you will need to have inserted the correct wiki/HTML formatting into the text before you paste it back into the eoswiki edit window or do that after you have done so to get the formatting you want.
Trouble shooting
If the formatted material fails to display blue “edit” tabs or to convert to HTML (with buttons to click first to edit and then to insert standard formatting instructions) the chances are that you have failed to obtain a user name and password, log in, and then transfer the material to the “discussion” page (as distinct from the original main page, which is protected. If you feel you should be able to edit a main page but are unable to do so, please contact us at webmaster@eoswiki.co.uk. Having logged in as a user to the Eyeonsociety Forum /eoswiki website click the Edit tab in the top right hand corner of the section you wish to amend or any of the Edit section headings listed down the right hand side of the page. These headings are placed at the points where new section Headings are inserted into the text. This makes it easier to edit the wiki/HTML text of a particular part of a page without than having to scroll through the whole document to find the particular point you want to comment on or edit.
Shortcuts to main control characters for wiki/HTML formating
Once you have displayed the section into which you want to insert comments in wiki/HTML format, you will see a series of buttons clicking on which insert control characters to produce the desired effects:
These enable you to perform various common editing tasks. First highlight the wiki/HTML version of the text you wish to format or link to or from (etc.), and then click the appropriate button in the shortcut editing toolbar to produce the desired effect (eg bold, large type, link). The options available are shown below.
List of shortcut symbols and their functions
You can use these to perform many of the common tasks you may wish to perform - such as making text bold or adding a link. All you need to do is highlight the text you wish to format or make a link (etc.) from and then click the appropriate button on the editing bar. These are shown below for reference.
If you are familiar with html coding, you may also be able to use some html coding within pages you create or edit. However we would ask you to keep what you do simple so that the text can later easily be edited by others who may not be familiar with the commands you use. We do not discuss how to write html code in detail here, but we would welcome any suggestions you may have regarding additional simple html markup language that you feel it would be useful to have on this website.
Should you wish to read in more detail about any of the wiki markup code listed below please see the Help section in the Navigation panel to the left of each page. There is also a brief, one page, eoswiki markup code summary chart of the wiki markup code described below.
Changing the appearance of text
It can be useful to make text more distinctive on a wiki page to draw attention to it and the eoswiki will allow you to do this in a few simple ways eg. making text bold or italic.
Adding headings
To make sections of text more distinct or to create a mini table of contents at the beginning of a eoswiki page relating to the content of the page it is possible to make particularly pieces of text headings. This will make them stand out on the page and allow information to be grouped hierarchically under these heading within the page.
Adding links
Text may be linked to either another page within the eoswiki, an external website, an image or another file such as a pdf. Not all levels of User Registration will however allow you to be able to upload a file to link to however. If you feel this is important to the page you are adding or the comment you are making in the discussion page then please email the Editor to discuss it.
You may also add a Category link to a page to enable it to be listed and retrieved against that Category.
What you want to do |
How you do it |
What the Wiki Markup Code will look like |
How it will be displayed on the eoswiki page |
Add a link to a page within the eoswiki website without using a label to identify it, i.e. by only using the title of the page within the text. |
Highlight the text you wish add a link to and click the internal link button on the editing bar at the top of the editing box. The text must exactly match that of the eoswiki page title you wish to match to for the link to work. If it does not or the page has not been created yet the text will appear in red once the edit has been saved. If the text is correct and the page is already there the text will appear in blue. You may also enclose the text within double brackets to create a link from the words included within the brackets. |
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The text you wish to link from |
Add a link to a page within the eoswiki website but use a label to describe it or text that is different to the title of the page you wish to link to. |
Click a point within the eoswiki page or a particular piece of text where you wish to create an internal link to another eoswiki page and click the internal link button on the editing bar at the top of the editing box. A dummy link will then be created within the page at that point for you to edit and enter the required eoswiki page title and the text or label you wish to be displayed on the page at that point which will be associated with that link. You can do the same thing manually without using the editing bar icon by putting double brackets round the eoswiki webpage title and the text you wish to use for users to click on separate by a pipe. As with adding a link without a label to distinguish it if the link is incorrect or the page being linked to has not been created yet it will appear in red, if the page has been created and the page title has been entered correctly it will appear in blue. Also note there are no spaces on either sides of the pipe symbol or between the square brackets and the text. i.e. the text you want to link from The text you wish to link from |
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[[1]] |
Add a link to a page on an external website by directly entering the website address within the text. |
Enter the full website address you wish to link to within the text on the web, ensuring you have included the http:// at the beginning and any individual page reference within the external website address if you do not wish the link to just go to the external website home page or highlight the full website address if it is already on the eoswiki page and click the external link button on the editing bar at the top of the editing box. You may also enclose the text of the full website address within double brackets to create a link from the words included within the brackets without using the external link button. |
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How to create a link to an image |
The image must first be uploaded to the eoswiki website. Once this is done linking to the image is the same is if linking to an internal eoswiki page. Highlighting the text you wish the link to link to and then clicking on the Embedded file link button on the editing bar at the top of the editing box will create a dummy link of the imagefile.extension and the alternative text to be used for the image link separated by a pipe symbol. All of which is included within square brackets. Alter the text to ensure the correct full filename that the image file was downloaded as and the text which you want the link to be linked from to create the link. |
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Alternative text for image |
How to create a link to an image with a border |
To create image with a frame round it do as above but without the alternative text. Add frame after the pipe symbol. |
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How to create a link to a thumbnail of an image |
To create a thumbnail image do as above but without the alternative text. Add thumb after the pipe symbol. |
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How to create a link to a downloadable file |
The file must first be uploaded to the eoswiki website. Once this is done linking to the file is the same is if linking to an internal eoswiki page. Highlighting the text you wish the link to link to and then clicking on the File Link button on the editing bar at the top of the editing box will create a dummy link of the file.extension and the alternative text to be used for the file link separated by a pipe symbol. All of which is included within square brackets. Alter the text to ensure the correct full filename of the file to be downloaded and the text which you want the link to be linked from to create the link. |
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The text I want the link to be associated with |
How to add a Category link to a particular page. |
At the end of the page add the following |
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Creating lists
Creating bulleted or numbered lists within a website page can aid to the readability of the page. It is possible to create simple bulleted or numbered lists. Increasing the number of asterisks or hashes will create a further level of bullet or sub number to the list.
Identifying your comments
It is particularly useful to have comments being left on discussion pages attributable to particular eoswiki users to enable other users to contact them should they wish to pursue a particular line of discussion with them further and to make it easier to follow the “conversation” on a particular topic that is being generated. This can be done by either adding only a link to your eoswiki “identity” or eoswiki users page or also to additionally add the date and timestamp of when the comment was made. This is particularly helpful for users of the site to pick out new comments added since their last visit to a particular page. If you are adding comments on any of the discussion pages please ensure you finish each comment with your “Signature” and Date and Timestamp.
