Help:VeesualEediter/Uiser guide

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eedit · owerset

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.

Opening the visual editor

To edit a page using the visual editor, click on the "Eedit" tab at the top of the page. It can tak ae few seiconts fer the page tae apen fer eeditin, n langer gif the page is awfa lang. Clicking on the "Eedit soorce" tab will open the classic wikitext source editor.
You can also open the visual editor by clicking on the "eedit" link on each section.

Getting started: the visual editor's toolbar

The VeesualEediter tuilbaur kiths at the tap o the screen whan ye begin eeditin throoch VeesualEediter. It incluids some fameeleear icons:
	Ondae and Redae the changes you have made.
	Headings pull-down menu: allows you to change how the paragraph is formatted. To change the style of a paragraph, put your cursor in the paragraph and select an item in this menu (you don't have to highlight any text). Section titles are formatted "Heidin", and subsections are "Heidin 2", "Heidin 3", and so on. The normal format for text is "Paragraph".
	Formatting: Clicking the "A" opens a menu. The "Baud" item (B) bolds the selected text. The "Italeec" item (I) italicizes the selected text. The "Superscreept" item (x2) causes the selected text to appear smaller than surrounding text and to be slightly higher than the surrounding text. The "Subscreept" item (x2) causes the selected text to appear smaller than surrounding text and slightly lower than the surrounding text. The "Cross-oot" item (S) adds a solid bar through the selected text. The "Computer code" item (a set of curly brackets: {}) changes the font of the selected text to a monospaced font, which sets it apart from surrounding (proportionally spaced) text. The "Unnerline" item (U) adds a solid line beneath the selected text. The "Leid" item (Aあ) allows you to label the language (for example, Japanese) and direction (for example, right-to-left) of the selected text. The final item (), called "Clear stylin", removes all character formatting from the selected text, including links. If you have not selected any text, then when you click the "A" to open the menu, and then select an item, that formatting will apply to the text that you start typing, from wherever your cursor is located.
	Linking tool: The chain icon is the linking tool. Clicking on it (usually after selecting some text) opens the link dialog.
	Soorce menu: The "Soorce" menu is used to add inline citations (also called "footnotes" or "references"). All projects have access to "Baseec" reference formatting and the ability to "Re-uise" citations, using this menu. This menu also gives you quick access to local citation templates, if these are enabled on your wiki. (Instructions for adding local citation templates to the Soorce menu at a specific wiki are available at VisualEditor/Citation tool.)
	Soorce button: If the citoid service is enabled on your wiki, then you will see a "Soorce" button instead of a Soorce menu. The citoid service tries to fill out citation templates automatically.
	Lists and indentation: The first two items allow you to format text as either a "Bullet leet" or a "Nummert leet". The last two items allow you to decrease or increase the indentation level of list items.
	Insert: The "Insert" menu may be different on some projects. Below is a list of all options that may appear. The "Media" icon (ae pictur o moontains) apens the media dialog. The "Template" icon (a puzzle piece) allows you to edit templates. The "Mak jottin" item (a speech balloon) allows you to insert comments that are not visible to readers; these comments can be seen only when in edit mode and are then indicated by an exclamation mark icon. The table item allows you to insert a table. The "Gallery" icon (a set of photos) allows you to insert a gallery to the page. The "Formula" icon (Σ) opens the formula inserter dialog. The "Hierigleephs" icon (an ankh symbol - ☥) allows you to enter the hieroglyphics inserter. (See below.) The "Referances leet" icon (three books) opens a dialog in which you can specify where will references be displayed to the reader. Usually this only needs to be done once on every page.
Special character insertion: The "Byordinair chairacter" (Ω) icon on the "Insert" menu, when clicked, displays a dialog showing many special characters. By clicking on a specific character, you place it into the text. These special characters include some standard symbols, accents, and mathematical symbols. (This list may be customized locally. See VisualEditor/Special characters for instructions.)

	The Edit notices button displays any notices for the page.
	The Page opties menu is to the left of the Hain page button. On this menu there are options to adjust page settings, such as whether the page is a redirect, or how it is indexed; to add, edit, or delete categories; and to see, using the "Leid" item, the list of articles on the same subject that are in other languages. You can also switch (one-way only) from the visual editor to the classic wikitext source editor without losing the editing work you've done.
	The Switch til soorce eeditin button is next to the Hain page button. It allows you to switch to the wikitext editor.

Saving changes

When you're done editing, click the blue "Hain page" button in the toolbar. If you have made no changes, the button will be disabled (grayed out). To cancel all your editing changes, just close your browser window.
Pressing the green "Hain page" button opens a dialog. You can then enter a brief summary of your actions, mark your edit as minor, and add the page to your Ma watchleet. The box for the summary is the equivalent of the Ootline: field in the wikitext editor. You can also review your changes using the "Luikower yer chynges" button to be sure they will work as intended before saving your changes. This is similar to the "Shaw chynges" button in the wikitext editor. The "Conteena makin chynges" button returns you to the page you were editing. You can save all of your changes later.

Editing links

	Links can be added through the "Airtin" icon (links in a chain) in the toolbar, or by using the shortcut Ctrl+K (or ⌘ Command+K on a Mac). If you select (highlight) text and then press the "Airtin" button, that text will be used in creating the link. For a link that involves just one word, you can either select that word or just put the cursor within that word.
	Whather ye uise the button or the shortcut, ae dialog will apen, whaur in ye can type the airtin. VeesualEediter will ettle tae heelp wi internal airtins (airtins til ither pages o Wikipædia) bi seekin likelie matches aes ye begin tae type. VisualEditor will try to help with internal links by looking for likely matches.
	Once you have entered or selected the link, you complete the linking process by pressing ↵ Enter or by pressing the "Duin" button. Your link will immediately appear on the page, but as with other changes to the page, it will not be saved until you save the entire page.
	To link to a web page on another website, the process is similar: Choose the "Ootby airtins" tab, and enter a URL in the box.
	External links without labels look like this: [1]. You can add these by placing your cursor away from any word (e.g., after a space). Open the link tool by clicking on the button or pressing the shortcut keys. Type the URL in the box, and click the "Duin" button to insert the link.
	To change or remove an existing link, click within the text for that link, then press the "Airtin" icon that appears near it. The dialog will appear, for editing. (You can also get to the dialog with the Ctrl+K keyboard shortcut.) When a link is selected, it appears as blue framed. In the link editing dialog, you can then change where the link goes. You can also remove the link altogether by pressing the "Remuiv" button in the lower left corner of the dialog. You can also open the link's target in another window by clicking on the link in the context menu. (You might want do this to check if an external link is valid.) If you want to exit the link label (the text displayed as a link) or continue to write after this link, you can press →: press it once will escape the link editing dialog and put your cursor at the end of the element linked (blue framed, to edit this element) press it twice will put the cursor after the element linked, ready to type the rest of your text To edit the link label of an existing link, click within the link label and type the new one. But if you want to replace the entire label, please note: If you have selected (highlighted) the entire link label, the link will be deleted by typing any key. You may link it from start. To keep the link directly, you may click within that link label, use backspace and delete key without pressing it once more than necessary, and a narrow blue link area will remain there. Now you may type in the new label for the kept link.

Editing references

For further information, see Help using citation templates or Help using citoid's Cite button

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 "Soorce" 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.
The second system has the same type of "Soorce" 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 Help:VisualEditor/User guide/Citations-Templates.
In the third system, you again start by clicking 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 Help:VisualEditor/User guide/Citations-Full.
Eeditin aen exeestin referance
To edit an existing reference, click on it where it appears in the text (usually as a bracketed number). You will see either a "Baseec" icon (bookmark) or an icon (and name) for the template that was used to create this reference. In either case, clicking on the "Edit" button will open a dialog where you can edit the reference.
For the "Baseec" icon, clicking "Edit" opens the Reference dialog. To start changing the reference information, click on it. 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 click on the reference information, then the Template icon (puzzle piece) will appear with some information. Click on the "edit" button to edit the content of the template in the template mini-editor dialog.
If what appears when you click on a reference is an icon for a standard template for citations (an example is at right), then clicking "Edit" will open the template mini-editor dialog.
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, click on "Eik mair information" at the bottom of the mini-editor.
Click on "Applie chynges" when you're done.
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 click on the "Re-uise" item from the "Soorce" 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 "Soorce" menu.)
In the Referance 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 "Rak in current soorces") to list only those references that include certain text.
Adding a new reference
To add a citation using the "Soorce" menu, place your cursor where you want to add it in the text. Then select the appropriate citation type in the menu.
Using the "Basic" citation
Shown here is what you will see if you select the "Baseec" 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 "Referances leet" tool.)
In the Reference dialog, if you want to include a citation template, or any other template, in your new reference, click the Template icon (puzzle piece) in the "Insert" toolbar menu within the Reference editor.
Then, look for the template you want to use, add it and edit it as you would any other template. (See the Editing templates section, below, if you need more information about templates.) After you're done editing your new template, click on "Applie chynges" to return to the Reference editor, and "Applie chynges" again to return to the page you're editing.
Gif thaur's na awreadie ae leet o referances oan the page (fer example, gif ye'r addin the first referance o the page), ye need tae eik it in order fer the tex o yer referance tae be displeyed. Place the cursor where you want to display the references list (usually at the bottom of the page), open the "Insert" menu and click the "Referances leet" 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. The final step in the References list dialog is to click "Insert".
Using standard cite templates
Your local wiki may have added extra citation templates to the "Soorce" 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 VisualEditor/Citation tool.)
Clicking 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.
To add more parameters, scroll down in the template mini-editor and click on the "Eik mair information" option. Click on "Insert" when you're done.

Editing images and other media files

Editing images
Tae eik ae new eemage (or anither type o media file) til the page, clap the "Media" icon (ae pictur o moontains) in the "Insert" puldoon menu. The eemage will be eikit whaurever yer cursor is.
Clicking the "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're editing. Ye can seek ither media files bi chyngin the tex in the dialog's rake kist. Clap oan ae thummnail tae chuise ae file. This places the image onto the page you are editing.
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.
The media dialog permits ye tae eik alternateeve tex captions aes weel, this heelps uisers that uise screen readers, or that hae disabled eemage displey.
You can also set various parameters for the image in the "Advanced settins" window. These include the alignment, the type, and size of the image.
Whan ye dun, clap "Apply changes" tae claise the dialog n return til the page eediter.
For an existing image, you can add or edit a caption or other settings by clicking on the image, then clicking on the "Media" icon that appears below the picture. You can resize an existing image by clicking 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.

Uploading images

You can upload images from a tab in the media dialog.
Click the "Upload" tab and select an image from your computer. You can type the file name, or drag an image into the box.
You need to describe the image and add categories to it so that other people can find it.
The image will be inserted into the page when you are done.

Editing media galleries

To edit an existing gallery in the visual editor, click that gallery. Then, near the bottom of the gallery, click the gallery icon (a set of photos). This brings up the gallery editor, with the full list of images included in the gallery.
The gallery editor is currently a simple box that allows you to edit existing galleries using wikitext markup. To add a new image to an existing gallery, type the file name, followed by a bar (|) and the caption for that image. You must put each image in the gallery on its own line. You can also edit this list to remove or rearrange images or to change captions. When you click the "Duin" button, you will exit the gallery editor. You should then see your changes, with the gallery as it will now appear to readers. Remember that exiting the gallery editor does not save your changes. As with other changes made using the visual editor, you must save the entire page in order to save your work.

Editing templates

Starting

To add a new template to a page, place your cursor where you want the template to be inserted, and click on the "Template" icon (puzzle piece) in the "Insert" menu.
Start typing the name of the template you want to insert. When you see it on the list, click on its name. Then click "Eik template".
You can also edit a template that is already on the page. When you click on the template to select it, it turns blue, and a box appears with an "Template" icon (puzzle piece). Then click on the "Eedit" link.
Some templates are not visible to someone reading a page. In the visual editor, such hidden templates are shown as puzzle icons.
When you select the icon, the context menu is displayed, and you can edit the template.
Template parameters
When you add a new template or open an existing one, the visual editor opens the "Transclusion" dialog. What you see depends upon whether the visual editor knows extra information about that template, called TemplateDataExtension:TemplateData.
The template shown here has no TemplateData set up for it. The dialog shows a link to documentation for the template. You can read the documentation 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 1, the second is named 2, and so forth.
If a template has been updated to contain TemplateData information, then the dialog will show a list of individual (named) parameters.
For an existing template, you can edit the parameters shown in the dialog, and you can add parameters by clicking "Eik mair information", at the very bottom of the dialog.
Whan ae template embeds ither templates, thir sub-templates will kith inside the boondins that displey thaim. Thay can be eedited or remuived inside the boondin field. New sub-templates ar eikit bi follaein the steps o addin ae boondin. Ye micht need tae check the template documentation tae mak sair that the sub-template is supported.
Finishing
When you have finished editing a template, click "Applie chynges" to close the dialog and return to editing the main page.
Substituting templates
Whan ae template maun be substitutit, type subst: (colon incluidit) afore the template's name. Autocompletion doesn't work with subst:. If you want to use autocompletion, first find the template you are looking for, and then add subst: in front of the template name. Then, click the green "Eik template" button. Add any parameters as usual and click "Insert".
You will see the template expand on the page after you click "Applie chynges".

Editing lists

	You can use the visual editor to create lists, or to change the format of an existing list. There are two types of lists: unordered (bullet) and ordered (numbered). To start a new list, just click on one of the two menu items shown here. Or, if you already have typed the list (on separate lines), select (highlight) the list you have typed, then click on one of the menu items.
	Shown here are examples of the two types of lists: unordered (bullet) and ordered (numbered).
	If you want to change the indentation level of part of an existing list, select the part of the list that you want to change.
	Then use the menu, or press the Tab key. (The Tab key increases indentation; use the shift key plus the Tab key to decrease indentation)
	Here is the result of increased indentation.
	You can even mix ordered (numbered) and unordered (bullet) lists, if the list items have different indentations.

Editing tables

	You can use the visual editor to insert and change tables. You can even import a table by dragging a comma-separated value (.csv) file from your computer into the main editing window.
When you click on "Table", in the "Insert" menu, the visual editor inserts a blank four-by-four table. Now the "Table" menu is available. From that menu, you can add a caption to the top of the table.
To select a cell, click it once.
To edit the contents of the cell (for example, to add content or to correct a spelling error), double click in the cell. Or you can select the cell and then press Return. To end your editing of a cell, just click elsewhere.	|-
	You can add or delete a column or a row.
You can merge cells: Select them, then from the Table menu, click on "Merge cells".
If you merge cells, only the text in one cell is kept; any text in the other cells is deleted when you merge the cells. If you decide that you wanted some or all of the text that was deleted, use the Undo button, move or copy the text you want, then merge the cells again.
You can also split cells that were previously merged. All the content that was in the merged cell will remain in the first cell when you do the split. You can then cut and paste text to other cells, if you want.

Editing categories

	To edit categories, on the "Page opties" menu, click the "Categeries" item.
	Clicking on "Categeries" opens a dialog that lists existing categories and allows you to add new ones, and to delete existing categories. You also have the option of setting or changing the general (default) sorting key, which determines where the page appears when listed with other pages in the same category. For example, the default sorting key for the article "George Washington" is "Washington, George". In the category "Presidents of the United States", the article is listed under the letter "W", not the letter "G".
	To add a category for a page, type the name of the category into the field "Eik ae categerie". As you type, the visual editor will search for possible matching, existing categories. You can either select an existing category, or you can add a category that doesn't yet have its own category page. (Until that category page is created, your new category will show as a red link after you save all your editing changes.)
	To remove an existing category, click on it and click on the "Remuiv" icon (trash can) in the dialog that opens. Clicking on a category also allows you to specify a sorting key for that specific category. Such a sorting key overrides the default sorting key.
	Click "Applie chynges" when you're done editing categories to return to the page editor.

Editing page settings

	To edit a page's settings, click to open the "Page opties" menu, in the toolbar, and select the "Page settins" button.
	The "Page settins" button opens a dialog that shows several options.
	You can make a page a redirect to another page by checking the "Reguide this page til" checkbox, and then typing the name of the page to which you want to send the reader who tries to go to the page that you're editing. At the bottom is the option to prevent page renames from updating this redirect. This is very rarely used.
	Ye can chynge whather the page shaws ae Buird o Contents bi selectin yin o thir three buttons. Bi defaut, pages will shaw ae Buird o Contents gif thaur's three or mair heidin, this is whit "Gif needit" will dae.
	Ye can mak ae page na shaw eedit kists nex til ilka section heider bi checkin this checkkist.
	Click "Applie chynges" when you're done editing the Page opties to return to the page editor.

Editing mathematical formulae

Tae eik ae new mathemateecal formula til the page, steid yer curser whaur ye want it tae be inserted, n clap oan the "Formula" icon ("Σ") in the "Insert" puldoon menu oan the tuilbar.
A window will open in which you can type the formula, using LaTeX syntax. the visual editor will update the formula as you type it, so you can see how it will look as you make changes. Once you are happy with the formula, click the "Duin" button.
To edit an existing mathematical formula on the page, click on it and then click on the "Σ" icon that appears. This will open up the formula window, where you make changes.
Mathematical formulae can be placed inline or centered as a block.

Editing poems and other special items

Some items, such as association lists, poems, and musical scores, are not yet fully supported by the visual editor.
In most cases, the existing items can be edited, but new ones cannot be inserted in the visual editor.
You can not add an automatic datestamp to a page in the visual editor. Until they are fully supported, you can copy an existing one from another page, or edit the source wikitext directly.

Switching between the visual and wikitext editors

To switch from the visual editor to the wikitext editor, click the [[ ]] button on the far right of the toolbar.
If you've done any editing, you'll be asked whether you want to keep your changes. Normally you'll click on "Keep changes".
You'll see a diff. (If you clicked on "Discard changes", you'll just see wikitext, ready to edit with the wikitext editor.) Scroll down, and you'll see the wikitext editing area.
You can also switch from the wikitext editor to the visual editor. To do that, click the pencil icon on the far right of the toolbar.
After you click the pencil icon, if you've done any editing you'll be asked whether you want to keep your changes. If you click "Keep changes", you'll go to the visual editor. If you click "Discard changes", you'll be asked to confirm that is what you want to do (click on "Leave Page" to confirm) before the visual editor will start.

Keyboard shortcuts

Many editors are used to entering wikitext directly, especially bold, italics and wikilinks. Keyboard shortcuts allow to quickly insert similar formatting without having to use toolbar items. Here are the common general shortcuts in the visual editor:

PC shortcut	Action	Mac shortcut
Ctrl+B	Baud	⌘ Cmd+B
Ctrl+I	Italeecs	⌘ Cmd+I
Ctrl+K	Insert airtin	⌘ Cmd+K
Ctrl+X	Cut	⌘ Cmd+X
Ctrl+C	Copie	⌘ Cmd+C
Ctrl+V	Paste	⌘ Cmd+V
Ctrl+Z	Ondae	⌘ Cmd+Z