WardsWikiOriginalTextFormattingRules

This has been extracted from the TextFormattingRules? of WardsWiki? (the original wiki) to serve as a permanent "baseline" for the comparison of wikis without preventing further development of WardsWiki? (see WikiEngineReview?). (In fact, it's an exact copy except for the note on headings, below.) -- Randy Kramer

Headings

Many clones support a special markup for headings, the original wiki does not. Headings can be simulated in the original wiki by applying multiple single quotes to provide emphasis (see "Emphasis", below).

Paragraphs

    Do not indent paragraphs

    Words wrap and fill as needed

    Use blank lines as separators

    Four or more hyphens at the beginning of a line make a horizontal rule

Lists

    tab-* for first level (See TipForTypingTab?)

tab-tab-* for second level, etc.

    Use * for bullet lists, 1. for numbered lists (mix at will) -- always use 1., it will be renumbered automagically.

    tab-Term:-tab-Definition for definition lists

    One line for each item

    Other leading whitespace signals preformatted text, changes font (see below).

Horizontal Line

    Four dashes at the left margin: ----

Fonts

    Indent with one or more spaces to use a monospace font:

 This is in monospace

This is not

Indented Paragraphs (Quotes)

    tab-space-:-tab -- often used (with emphasis) for quotations. (See SimulatingQuoteBlocks?)

Sample:

    This is quoted. 

This isn't.

    If you are going to ConvertSpacesToTabs?, you need to type nine spaces, a colon, and then eight spaces before the text.

Emphasis

    Use doubled single-quotes () for emphasis (usually italics)

    Use tripled single-quotes () for strong emphasis (usually bold)

    Use five single-quotes (), or triples within doubles, for some other kind of emphasis (Bold Italic'), but be careful about the bugs in the Wiki emphasis logic...

    Use SixSingleQuotes?, or triples within triples, to BreakUp? LongBumpyWords? so that they do not become WikiNames?. You can also use them to separate suffixes (like 's') from WikiNames?. TextFormattingExperiments? has more examples.

    Emphasis can be used multiple times within a line, but cannot cross line boundaries

References

    JoinCapitalizedWords? to make local references

    Use SixSingleQuotes? to AvoidMakingLocalReferences?, or separate suffixes (like 's') from WikiNames?.

    [1], [2], [3], [4] refer to remote references. Click EditLinks? on the edit form to enter URLs

    Or precede URLs with "http:", "ftp:" or "mailto:" to create links automatically as in: http://c2.com/

    URLs ending with .gif are inlined if inserted as a remote reference

    ISBN 0-13-748310-4 links to a bookseller. (The pattern is: "ISBN", optional colon, space, ten digits with optional hyphens, the whole thing optionally in square brackets. The last digit can be an "X".) We are an AmazonAssociate?.

    I S B N: 0123456789 becomes ISBN 0123456789
    [I S B N 0123456789] becomes ISBN 0123456789
    [I S B N: 123-456-789-X] becomes ISBN 123-456-789-X

Mark-Up Language

    Don't bother

    < and > are themselves

    The & characters will not work

Notes

    When a rule says "tab," it wants a tab character without extra spaces around it. See TipForTypingTab? if you have trouble entering tabs.

    The actual TextFormattingRegularExpressions? that implement these rules are available for those who can read them.

    I've been able to see what's going on by opening the edit window as a new window in the browser. That way, I can link (in my mind) the text formatting rules with what you finally get displayed. Not that the rules are difficult!

    Inserting lines with the LynxBrowser? presents a special challenge. For help with that, see UsingWikiWithLynx?.

    Use italics sparingly when possible, as it's harder to read (especially at low resolution) than non-italics.