Difference between revisions of "User's manual"

Revision as of 17:31, 25 May 2009

Introduction

This is a very brief summary of the most basic functionality of the Mediawiki platform, the same that powers Wikipedia. A more through description can be found here

http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:FAQ

Section 4.1, is particularly useful for the first steps:

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Editing

Basic text editing

These are the basic formating options for writing in bold or italic

''this text should appear in italic''
'''This text should appear in bold'''
''''This is bold and italic''''

Create a new page

There are 2 basic ways:

1. Search for the new page in the search box (in the left of the page) – if the term does not exist it will allow the creation of this page, by pressing the link "You can create this page"
2. When editing a page, inserting a link to a specific definition (see below, even if the page does not exist, will allow the creation of this new page by following the link.

Editing a page

These are some of the more common formatting issues

Section headings

To define a heading for a section just use the "=" sign to specify the heading level

= Heading 1 =  (best not to use it)
== Heading 2 ==
=== Heading 3 ===
...

Bullets and numbered lists

The basic syntax involves the use of "*" and "#"

*  a bulleted item
** a bulleted item in another level
# - an item in a numbered list
## an item in a numbered list in level 2

Tables

Each table begins with "{|" and ends with "|}" in separate lines. Columns are separated with "||" and a new row starts with "|-" in a new line. Table headings start with “!” for the first column or "!!" for the remaining columns . To add a border, the first line should be "{| - border ="1" ". Here’s a simple example:

{| border ="1"
!Letter !! Number
|-
|Aleph || 1</nowiki>
|-
|Beth ||2
|}
>

Links

Internal links

Links to the internal wiki can be specified by enveloping the relevant words with "[[" and "]]". If an alternate text is to be presented it appears separated by a "|". Example:

The [[fast | quick]] brown [[fox]] jumps over the lazy [[dog]]s

Outer links

Links to outside pages. Just typing the full http link is enough for an outside link. If alternate text is required, It is enough to use simple square brackets and whaite space as as a separator. Example

You can use [http://www.google.com this search engine] to find the information requested

Sub-pages

Several systems may be composed of subsystems. Sub-pages allow for a given topic to be subdivided in several independent sections that automatically ling to the parent. To add a sub page, the procedure is similar to adding a link, including a slash to indicate the sub-page. Example

The Caribbean system is divided into two main modules: 
* [Caribbean/SHRIMP | SHRIMP], for growth and yield prediction;
* [Caribbean/OYSTER OYSTER] for management modeling

Categories

Pages can be grouped into Categories. A page can have several categories and a category can include several pages. To add a Category it is just necessary to include the tag [[Category:my_category]] anywhere on the text. Categories will appear in the bottom of the page. Inserting a non-existent Category, will link to a page allowing for its definition

Categories can be further grouped into super categories, by inserting another Category tag into the text of a Category. Examples:

Example:

In the Caribbean System ™ the Optimization process uses Simulated Annealing a Meta heuristic ([[Category:Simulated Annealing]]<nowiki>), To categorize Simulated annealing as a meta-heuristicjust add this super category in the text that defines imulated annealing (<nowiki>[[Category: Optimization meta-heuristics]])