Help:VisualEditor/User guide

 If you would like to try the visual editor without editing an article, [ here is a page] where you can freely test it. You don't need an account to use the visual editor on that page.

Getting started: the visual editor's toolbar
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Editing references
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Determining which system is in place

 * Your wiki may use one of three footnote systems. The one shown on the right is the simplest system, where the "" menu does not include any citation templates.  If your wiki uses this system, then everything you need to know about footnotes is on this page.
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 * The second system has the same type of "" menu, but with several popular citation templates set up for quick access. If your wiki uses this system, then you will find more details at 
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 * In the third system, you again start by pressing the Cite button. Then a dialog box opens, which includes an automatic citation process using the citoid service.  If your wiki uses this system, you will find more details at 
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 * In the third system, you again start by pressing the Cite button. Then a dialog box opens, which includes an automatic citation process using the citoid service.  If your wiki uses this system, you will find more details at 
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 * In the third system, you again start by pressing the Cite button. Then a dialog box opens, which includes an automatic citation process using the citoid service.  If your wiki uses this system, you will find more details at 
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Editing an existing reference
For the "</>" icon, pressing "Edit" opens the Reference dialog. To start changing the reference information, press on it.
 * To edit an existing reference, press on it where it appears in the text (usually as a bracketed number). You will see either a "<tvar|ref></>" icon (bookmark) or an icon (and name) for the template that was used to create this reference. In either case, pressing on the "Edit" button will open a dialog where you can edit the reference.
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Many wikis use templates to format references. If a template is used in your reference, then when you move your pointer over the reference information, all the information in that field will be highlighted.

If a template was used and you press on the reference information, then the <tvar|template></> icon (puzzle piece) will appear with some information. Press on the "edit" button to edit the content of the template in the template mini-editor dialog.
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 * If what appears when you press on a reference is an icon for a standard template for citations (an example is at right), then pressing "Edit" will open the template mini-editor dialog.
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 * Inside the template mini-editor, you can add or remove types of information or change current content. Only fields (template parameters) that have content will show, initially. To add fields, press on "<tvar|add-param></>" at the bottom of the mini-editor.
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 * Press on "<tvar|apply></>" when you are done.
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 * Press on "<tvar|apply></>" when you are done.
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Re-using an existing reference
If the page already contains a citation that applies to the text you want to source, then you can choose to re-use that existing citation.

To re-use an existing reference, place your cursor in the body of the text where you want to add a new reference (number) for that citation. Then press on the "Re-use reference" item from the "<tvar|cite></>" menu.

(Note: If your wiki has the third footnote system described above, you'll see a "Re-use" tab, in a dialog, instead of a "Re-use" item on the "<tvar|cite></>" menu.)
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 * In the <tvar|reference-title></> dialog, look at the list for the reference you want to reuse, and select it. If there are many references, you can use the search box (labeled "<tvar|input></>") to list only those references that include certain text.
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Adding a new reference

 * To add a citation using the "<tvar|cite></>" menu, place your cursor where you want to add it in the text. Then select the appropriate citation type in the menu.
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Using the "Basic" citation

 * Shown here is what you will see if you select the basic references item. In the Reference editor, you can add your citation, including formatting.
 * Shown here is what you will see if you select the basic references item. In the Reference editor, you can add your citation, including formatting.

You can make the reference belong to a given group, although normally this is left blank. (This option is used to display groups of references with the "<tvar|referencelist></>" tool.) Then, look for the template you want to use, add it and edit it as you would any other template. (See the 1>#Editing templates</>|Editing templates section, below, if you need more information about templates.)
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 * In the Reference dialog, if you want to include a citation template, or any other template, in your new reference, press the <tvar|template></> icon (puzzle piece) in the "<tvar|insert></>" toolbar menu within the Reference editor.
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After you are done editing your new template, press on "<tvar|apply></>" to return to the Reference editor, and "<tvar|apply></>" again to return to the page you are editing. If there isn't already a list of references on the page (for example, if you are adding the first reference for the page), you need to specify where the list of references, and their text, will be displayed to the reader.
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Place the cursor where you want to display the references list (usually at the bottom of the page), open the "<tvar|insert></>" menu and press the "<tvar|referencelist></>" icon (three books). If you are using several groups of references, which is relatively rare, you can specify the group in this dialog. Only the references that belong to that group will be displayed on the page at the location where you are placing the group.
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The final step in the References list dialog is to press "<tvar|insert-button></>".
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Using standard cite templates
To add more parameters, scroll down in the template mini-editor and press on the "<tvar|add-param></>" option.
 * Your local wiki may have added extra citation templates to the "<tvar|cite></>" menu. If so, you have quick access to the most-used citation templates for your wiki. (Instructions for adding extra citation templates to your local wiki are available at <tvar|1></>.)
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 * Pressing on a template icon such as "Cite book" will take you into the template mini-editor for that template. Important information fields may be marked with an asterisk. While the most common fields will be shown, not all of them are required.
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 * Pressing on a template icon such as "Cite book" will take you into the template mini-editor for that template. Important information fields may be marked with an asterisk. While the most common fields will be shown, not all of them are required.
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Press on "<tvar|insert-citation></>" when you are done.
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Editing images and other media files
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Editing images
Pressing the "<tvar|media></>" icon opens a dialog that automatically searches Wikimedia Commons and your local wiki for media files related to the title of the page you are editing.
 * To add a new image (or another type of media file) to the page, press the "<tvar|dialog></>" icon (a picture of mountains) in the "<tvar|toolbar></>" menu. The image will be added wherever your cursor is.
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You can change the search by changing the text in the dialog's search box.

To choose a file, press on its thumbnail image.

This places the image onto the page you are editing. For an existing image, you can add or edit a caption or other settings by pressing on the image, then pressing on the "<tvar|media></>" icon that appears below the picture.
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 * After the image you selected is inserted into the page, another dialog will open. This dialog allows you to add and edit the caption of the image. The caption can contain formatting and links.
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 * The media dialog also allows you to add alternative text captions, to help users who use screen readers, or who have disabled image display.
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 * You can also set various parameters for the image in the "<tvar|advancedsettings></>" window. These include the alignment, the type, and size of the image.
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 * When you are done, press "<tvar|apply></>" to close the dialog and return to editing the page.
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 * You can also set various parameters for the image in the "<tvar|advancedsettings></>" window. These include the alignment, the type, and size of the image.
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 * When you are done, press "<tvar|apply></>" to close the dialog and return to editing the page.
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You can resize an existing image by pressing on it, then moving the resize icon (the two-headed arrow on one or both bottom corners).

You can also drag and drop an image to a place higher or lower on the page.
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Starting
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 * To add a new template to a page, place your cursor where you want the template to be inserted, and press on the "<tvar|template></>" icon (puzzle piece) in the "<tvar|insert></>" menu.
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 * Start typing the name of the template you want to insert. When you see it on the list, press on its name. Then press "<tvar|add-transclusion></>".
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 * You can also edit a template that is already on the page. When you press on the template to select it, it turns blue, and a box appears with an "<tvar|template></>" icon (puzzle piece). Then press on the "<tvar|edit></>" link.
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 * Some templates are not visible to someone reading a page. In the visual editor, such hidden templates are shown as puzzle icons.  The name of the template will be shown next to the puzzle icon.
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 * When you select the icon, the context menu is displayed, and you can edit the template.
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 * Some templates are not visible to someone reading a page. In the visual editor, such hidden templates are shown as puzzle icons.  The name of the template will be shown next to the puzzle icon.
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 * When you select the icon, the context menu is displayed, and you can edit the template.
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Template parameters
When a template embeds other templates, these sub-templates will appear inside the parameters that display them. They can be edited or removed inside the parameter field.
 * When you add a new template or open an existing one, the "<tvar|transclusion-title></>" dialog is shown. The contents depends upon whether the template has been documented using the new <tvar|TemplateData></> system or not.
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 * The template shown here has no TemplateData set up for it. The dialog therefore provides a link to documentation for the template.  By visiting the documentation you should be able to figure out if the template has any parameters (fields), and what goes in each field. Use numbers as the name for each nameless parameter.  The first un-named parameter is named , the second is named  , and so forth.
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 * If a template has been updated to contain TemplateData information, then the dialog will show a list of individual (named) parameters.
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 * For an existing template, you can edit the parameters shown in the dialog, and you can add parameters by pressing "<tvar|add-param></>", at the very bottom of the dialog.
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 * If a template has been updated to contain TemplateData information, then the dialog will show a list of individual (named) parameters.
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 * For an existing template, you can edit the parameters shown in the dialog, and you can add parameters by pressing "<tvar|add-param></>", at the very bottom of the dialog.
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New sub-templates are added by following the steps for adding a parameter. You may need to check the template documentation to make sure that the sub-template is supported.

Nested templates can currently be edited as wikitext only, without the facility offered by VisualEditor (see T52182).
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Finishing

 * When you have finished editing a template, press "<tvar|apply></>" to close the dialog and return to editing the main page.
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Substituting templates
When a template must be substituted, type  (colon included) before the template's name.

Autocompletion doesn't work with. If you want to use autocompletion, first find the template you are looking for, and then add  in front of the template name.

Then, press the blue "<tvar|add-transclusion></>" button.

Add any parameters as usual and press "<tvar|apply></>".
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 * You will see the template expand on the page after you press "<tvar|apply></>".
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Keyboard shortcuts
Many editors are used to entering wikitext directly, especially bold, italics and wikilinks. Keyboard>mw:VisualEditor/Portal/Keyboard shortcuts</>|Keyboard shortcuts allow to quickly insert similar formatting without having to use toolbar items. Here are the common general shortcuts in the visual editor: