Editing the Wiki

This article will cover the steps necessary to create and edit wiki pages. Creating and editing articles requires the appropriate permissions to be enabled on your account. If you are unable to edit the wiki, check with IT to ensure your account has permission.

Note that this article should be read alongside the Syntax article which contains all the formatting information you may require.

To create an article, just make a link to it somewhere else on the wiki (most likely the sidebar or a category overview/hub page). Remember to use the title you want, as renaming articles is a hassle.

Per Syntax, the syntax for creating links is as follows:

[[Article Name]]

Save the page, and you'll see that the link shows up red. This means the link leads to an article which doesn't exist.

Click the link to be taken to an empty page. Where the edit button on the right side of the article usually is, there is a button which allows you to bring the article into existence. Click it.

You now have a blank article and are ready to start writing.

Article Name links to the Article Name article.

When linking to a wiki article, use the full name of the article (the article's title). When linking to a section within the article, go to that section, copy the link and create a shorter link text like this:

In the first example below we have described the link with different words (in order to fit nicely into a narrative), and in the second example we have written the name of the section of the article.

[[http://reportex.ca/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=numbers#dates|Click here]]

[[http://reportex.ca/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=numbers#dates|Dates]]

When linking a Reportex sample or template document, ensure the correct name of the document is used in the article and it is stored in the correct location. Check with either Christy or Ari if unsure about which is the current version.

Right-click on the document (without opening it), click “create a link” (or “share a link” if the link already exists) and the link to the document will automatically be copied to your clipboard to be pasted.

The right-click menu should look like this:

Navigate to the document in question in the Sync web interface and click the blue Share button that pops up when hovering over it. A button labeled “Share as link” (or “Manage link” if a link already exists) will appear below. Click this button and the Manage Link window will open as seen below:

Click “copy link” and the link to the document will be copied to your clipboard to be pasted.

In the “edit” section of the wiki article, paste the address within double square brackets, followed by a vertical bar (“|”, shift+backslash), followed by the identical name of the document. Here is an example with the Non-Appearance Form Template:

[[PASTE LINK HERE|Non-Appearance Form]]

To edit an article, click the pencil icon on the right side of the screen.

You can also click the “edit” buttons embedded within articles. This feature only allows you to edit the section of the article between the edit button you clicked and the previous one (or the top of the page). This is useful for editing specific sections in a very long article.

You may occasionally make an error when editing wiki articles. While there is no such thing as “Control+Z” for the wiki, there is the ability to revert to a previous version.

When you hit “save” and update the article, the system stores a backup of your changes. Clicking the clock icon (Old Revisions) on the right side of the article will allow you to restore from a backup.

Note that this is only for use in an emergency. Edit thoughtfully, as the backup system is not infallible.

When you edit an article, it will open in plaintext. The code for any formatting in the article will be revealed as ASCII characters surrounding the text. For purposes of formatting text you can use keyboard shortcuts, you can use the editing buttons that appear at the top of the edit window or you can simply type in the ASCII formatting codes manually.

The codes which create formatting are part of a simple system called “markup.” Basically, the engine which turns plain text into formatted text knows that if it sees two slashes in a row, it should start formatting the text as // italic // until it sees another two slashes. If it sees two asterisks in a row, it should start formatting text as ** bold **.

The following is a list of basic markup syntax. Again, you will want to read the Syntax article for more detail.

**Bold Text**
//Italicized Text//

  * Unordered List Item - (first level) (and note the two spaces before the *)
    * Unordered List Item - (second level)

====== Level 1 Headline ======
===== Level 2 Headline =====
==== Level 3 Headline ====
=== Level 4 Headline ===
== Level 5 Headline ==

Use manual line breaks (\\) to force new lines in order to effect better spacing.

((text)) footnoted text

> indicate a multi-line text example (first level)
>> indicate a multi-line text examples (second level)

Using %% around coding will allow you to show the code details.

In order to create a shaded text box, type <code> at the top and then type 
<code> at the bottom but insert a / between the < and the c. You will want 
to use the %% when writing %%(r)%% or %%(c)%% in order to not get the
registered trademark or copyright symbols like ® or ©.

Articles are organized by headlines. Headlines are a way of formatting text that will allow you to edit only the section below them (handy for organization) and create a link in the automatically generated table of contents for each article.

Headlines are formatted like this:

%%====== Level 1 Headline ======%%   (Article Title)
%%===== Level 2 Headline =====%%     (Major Heading)
%%==== Level 3 Headline ====%%       (Subheading under Level 2 Headline)
%%=== Level 4 Headline ===%%         (Subheading under Level 3 Headline)
%%== Level 5 Headline ==%%           (Subheading under Level 4 Headline)

Articles should be organized by headline level, almost like a bulleted list uses different levels of indentation.

Sections of text that are delineated with headlines can be edited separately from the rest of the article, making editing efficient.

Level 1, 2 and 3 headlines will automatically generate a link that will appear in the table of contents for each article at the top right corner of the article. Level 4 and 5 headings will simply appear as bolded headings in the article and will not appear in the table of contents.

Use sub-headlines as you would different levels of indentation in a bulleted list. The following example will show you how to organize an article about picnics:

• Choosing a location
  • Finding an ant-free zone
  • Using Google Maps to plan your drive
• Picnic food
  • Sandwiches
  • Salads
    • Potato salad
    • Greek salad
  • Vegetarian dishes

You would use ====== Level 1 Headline ====== for the article title.

“Choosing a location” and “Picnic food” would both use ===== Level 2 Headline =====.

Subcategories like “Finding an ant-free zone” and “Salads” would use ==== Level 3 Headline ====.

For further sub-categories (“Potato salad” and “Greek salad” under “Salads,” for example) you would use === Level 4 Headline === and so on.

Use bullet points for lists of single items and instructions. Using the following example of searching for Canadian spellings in a US deposition transcript, you'll see how the two levels of bullet points works:

• Open the transcript
• Search for the following spellings:
  • colour, favour, neighbour
  • centre, theatre
• Do the following format checks:
  • no question numbers
  • no reference to Reportex (if it's a networking job)
• Check include files
  • appearances
  • exhibits
  • proceedings
• Prepare accompanying documents:
  • billing sheet
  • errata page

Use quoted text when you have something
which is a single thing but takes up
multiple lines.

An extremely long list may be put into a table as follows:

| Thing\\ Thing\\  | Thing\\ Thing\\  | Thing\\ Thing\\  |
| Thing\\ Thing\\  | Thing\\ Thing\\  | Thing\\ Thing\\  |
| Thing\\ Thing\\  | Thing\\ Thing\\  | Thing\\ Thing\\  |
| Thing\\ Thing\\  | Thing\\ Thing\\  | Thing\\ Thing\\  |
| Thing\\ Thing\\  | Thing\\ Thing\\  | Thing\\ Thing\\  |
| Thing\\ Thing\\  | Thing\\ Thing\\  | Thing\\ Thing\\  |

Lists with explanatory text for each thing should be in a table with headers:

^ Thing ^ Explanatory Text ^
| Thing 1 | NOT thing A |
| Thing 2 | NOT thing B |
| Thing 3 | NOT thing C |

The code used for wiki articles does not allow for tabs. Sometimes, however, the reader's attention must be called to a prominent tab.

We have decided to use the → symbol (Unicode U+2192 and HTML →) in these places.

To enter this code, either copy and paste it from this page, enable numpad unicode entry in your Windows registry¹⁾, or enter the following code:

<html>&rarr;</html>

For the sake of consistency, use the following wording when making a reference to another article:

• See [[Article Name]] for more information.

If you would like to create a link to a specific section of an article, right-click on the heading you want and select “copy link.” Create a link in the article using double square brackets as usual, but after the link place a vertical bar followed by the text you want the reader to see:

• See [[(url)|Section Name]] for more information.

Footnotes are easily missed and should not be used to impart vital information. A good use of footnotes is to link other articles with further optional information.²⁾

Footnotes can be hovered over to show their contents, or clicked on to move the web browser's focus to the footnote at the bottom of the page.³⁾

To create a footnote, insert the footnoted text between double brackets ((like this)).

Keep the following in mind when writing and editing articles:

• Use ampersands (&) in article titles to save space. When writing in complete sentences, use the word “and.”
• Use double quotes (“), not single quotes (').
• Use simply “Catalyst” when referring to Case Catalyst.
• When providing directions for using software, use quotes when referring to something the user selects or clicks, but not when referring to a window, tab or view. For example:
  • Click the “Normal View” button to enter Normal View, then in the Settings toolbar, click “Exit to Windows” to close the program.
• Unless directly quoting something, the word “okay” should be spelled out as okay and not as OK.
• Keyboard input instructions should be styled as follows:
  • Ctrl, not CTRL or Control
  • Shift, Enter, Alt, etc. are all initial capped
  • Keyboard combinations use a plus sign (+) and are separated by spaces; letters are uppercase
    • For example: Ctrl + Shift + P
  • Non-simultaneous keyboard sequences should be indicated as such
    • For example: Ctrl, then T (Ctrl + T executes a different function entirely)
  • Use “click” to refer to clicking a button, and “press” to refer to a keyboard key or keystroke combination ⁴⁾
  • Use “dialog” to refer to dialogue boxes in software.
  • Use the right arrow (>) to show a series of top menu commands
    • For example: Click on “View” > “Panes” > “Hidden Text.”

When linking to a wiki article, use the full name of the article. When linking to a heading within the article, you can use shorter link text like this:

[[http://www.reportex.ca/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=Sample_Article#Sub_Headline|Click here]]

Use manual line breaks (\\ ) to force new lines wherever it makes the page flow better.

All scanstops (# and ##) and careted notes (^) should be bold and coloured using #0033cc blue. The code for this is as follows:

<color #0033cc>**TEXT GOES HERE**</color>

All indexed text should be bold and coloured using #cc0000 red. The code for this is as follows:

<color #cc0000>**TEXT GOES HERE**</color>

Note: Remember to use the American spelling of “colour”, i.e., “color.”

To delete an article, edit the article, delete all of the text and then hit “Save.”

Note: Be extremely careful with this feature, as you do not want to inadvertently delete an article.

Renaming articles is very difficult and should be avoided wherever possible.

To rename an article, you must create a new article with the new name and paste the content of the article into it.

The following is the least painful way to do this. In this example, we will be changing the name of the “Cheese & Crackers” article to “Cheese, Crackers & Dips.”

1. Open the article you want to rename (“Cheese & Crackers” in this case)
2. Ctrl + click on the “Backlinks” button on the right side of the page
3. This will open a list of all articles containing a link to the article in a new tab
4. Ctrl + click on each article to open it in a new tab, leaving several (possibly dozens of) tabs open in your browser
5. In the tab with the original article, click “Edit”
6. In the edit window (viewing code, not the rendered article), press Ctrl + A to select all text and then Ctrl + C to copy it
7. Still in the edit window, press Backspace to delete the entire contents of the article
8. In the now-empty edit window, create a link to a new article named “Cheese, Crackers & Dips”
9. Save the changes, leaving you with a rendered article with only a link to “Cheese, Crackers & Dips” on the page
10. Click the link and create the new article, pasting in the text you copied earlier
11. Click “Save”
12. Go through each of the browser tabs you have open, replacing broken (red) links and closing the tab once you've finished
13. Once all the tabs are closed, you know you're done fixing links to the article

Note: Article names do not incorporate punctuation, so this article name:

Cheese, Crackers & Dips

Is different from this article name:

Cheese, Crackers and Dips

But functionally identical to this article name (note Oxford comma):

Cheese, Crackers, & Dips

Remember, it is Reportex wiki style to use an ampersand (&) instead of the word “and” in article names, and we never use the Oxford comma.

Remember to check both the legal and medicolegal wiki for an article when updating it. It should be obvious where an article “lives,” but if you are unsure, do a quick search to ensure you are updating the article everywhere.

Do not simply paste an edited article from the legal wiki over the one in the medicolegal wiki (or vice versa) as there are often small differences in the articles. For example, the legal wiki may refer to “reporters” while the medicolegal wiki does not.

If you create an article relevant to setup, ensure you place a link to it in the appropriate setup article. Also ensure that you create a link in the relevant hub area (“Catalyst Articles,” “Procedural Articles,” etc).