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TWiki Text Formatting

Working in TWiki is as easy as typing in text - exactly like email. You don't need to know HTML, though you can use it if you prefer. Links to topics are created automatically when you enter a WikiWord. And TWiki shorthand gives you all the power of HTML with a simple coding system that takes no time to learn. It's all laid out below - refer back to this page in a pop-up window from the Edit screen.

TWiki Editing Shorthand

Formatting Command:	Example: You write:	You get:
Paragraphs: Blank lines will create new paragraphs.	1st paragraph 2nd paragraph	1st paragraph 2nd paragraph
Headings: At least three dashes at the beginning of a line, followed by plus signs and the heading text. One plus creates a level 1 heading (most important), two pluses a level 2 heading; the maximum is level 6. Note: A Table of Content can be created automatically with the %TOC% variable, see TWiki Variables. Any heading text after !! is excluded from the TOC; for example, write ---+!! text if you do not want to list a header in the TOC.	---++ Sushi ---+++ Maguro	Sushi Maguro
Bold Text: Words get bold by enclosing them in * asterisks.	*Bold*	Bold
Italic Text: Words get italic by enclosing them in _ underscores.	_Italic_	Italic
Bold Italic: Words get bold italic by enclosing them in _ double-underscores.	__Bold italic__	Bold italic
Fixed Font: Words get shown in fixed font by enclosing them in = equal signs.	=Fixed font=	Fixed font
Bold Fixed Font: Words get shown in bold fixed font by enclosing them in double equal signs.	==Bold fixed==	Bold fixed
Note: Make sure to "stick" the * _ = == signs to the words, that is, take away spaces.	_This works_, _this not _	This works, _this not _
Verbatim Mode: Surround code excerpts and other formatted text with <verbatim> and </verbatim> tags. Note: Use <pre> and </pre> tags instead if you want that HTML code is interpreted. Note: Each tag must be on a line by itself.	<verbatim> class CatAnimal { void purr() { <code here> } } </verbatim>	class CatAnimal { void purr() { <code here> } }
Separator: At least three dashes at the beginning of a line.	-------
List Item: Three spaces and an asterisk.	* bullet item	bullet item
Nested List Item: Six, nine, ... spaces and an asterisk.	* nested stuff	nested stuff
Ordered List: Three spaces and a number.	1 Sushi 1 Dim Sum	Sushi Dim Sum
Definition List: Three spaces, the term, a colon, a space, followed by the definition. Note: Terms with spaces are not supported. In case you do have a term with more then one word, separate the words with dashes or with the &nbsp; non-breaking-space entity.	Sushi: Japan Dim&nbsp;Sum: S.F.	Sushi Japan Dim Sum S.F.
Table: Optional spaces followed by the cells enclosed in vertical bars. Note: | *bold* | cells are rendered as table headers. Note: |  spaced  | cells are rendered center aligned. Note: |  spaced | cells are rendered right aligned. Note: | 2 colspan || cells are rendered as multi-span columns. Note: In case you have a long row and you want it to be more readable when you edit the table you can split the row into lines that end with a '\' backslash character.	| *L* | *C* | *R* | | A2 | 2 | 2 | | A3 | 3 | 3 | | multi span ||| | A4 | next | next |	L C R A2 2 2 A3 3 3 multi span A4 next next
WikiWord Links: CapitalizedWordsStuckTogether (or WikiWords) will produce a link automatically. Note: In case you want to link to a topic in a different PodWiki web write Webname.TopicName.	WebNotify Know.ReadmeFirst	WebNotify? Know.ReadmeFirst?
Forced Links: You can create a forced internal link by enclosing words in double square brackets. Note: You can also refer to anchors.	[[PodWikiFormatterTWiki]] [[PodWikiFormatterTWiki#SquareBrackets]]	PodWikiFormatterTWiki PodWikiFormatterTWiki#SquareBrackets
Specific Links: Create a link where you can specify the link text and the link reference separately, using nested square brackets like [[reference][text]]. Internal link references (e.g. WikiWord) and external link references (e.g. http://TWiki.org/) are supported. Note: The same Forced Links rules apply for internal link references. Note: For external link references, you can simply use a space instead of ][ to separate the link URL from the descriptive text. Note: Anchor names can be added as well, like [[WebHome#MyAnchor][go home]] and [[http://gnu.org/#Action][GNU Action]].	[[PodWikiFormatterTWiki][TWiki Formatter]] [[http://gnu.org][GNU]] [[http://xml.org XML]]	TWiki Formatter GNU XML
Anchors: You can define a link reference inside a PodWiki topic (called an anchor name) and link to that. To define an anchor write #AnchorName at the beginning of a line. The anchor name must be a WikiWord. To link to an anchor name use the [[MyTopic#MyAnchor]] syntax. You can omit the topic name if you want to link within the same topic.	[[WebHome#NotThere]] [[#MyAnchor][Jump]] #MyAnchor To here	WebHomeWebHome?" href="podwiki?page=WebHome&state=edit&inherit=PodWikiFormatterTWiki#NotThere">? Jump To here
Prevent a Link: Prevent a WikiWord from being linked by prepending it with the <nop> tag.	<nop>SunOS	SunOS
Disable Links: You can disable automatic linking of a WikiWord by surrounding text with <noautolink> and </noautolink> tags. Note: Each tag must be on a line by itself. Note: This also works for TWiki tables, but only if you add a blank line between the end of the table and the closing </noautolink> tag.	<noautolink> RedHat & SuSE </noautolink>	RedHat & SuSE
Mailto: Links: To create 'mailto:' links that have more descriptive link text, specify subject lines or message bodies, or omit the email address, you can write [[mailto:user@domain descriptive text]].	[[mailto:a@z.com Mail]] [[mailto:?subject=Hi Hi]]	a@z.com ?subject=Hi

Using HTML

You can use just about any HTML tag without a problem - however, there are a few usability and technical considerations to keep in mind:

• On collaboration pages, it's preferable NOT to use HTML, and to use TWiki shorthand instead - this keeps the text uncluttered and easy to edit.
• X NOTE: PodWiki is designed to work with a wide range of browsers and computer platforms - adding raw HTML, particularly browser-specific tags (or any other mark-up that doesn't degrade well) will reduce compatibility.
• PodWiki converts shorthand notation to HTML for display. To copy a fully marked-up page, simply view source in your browser and save the contents.
• X NOTE: The opening and closing angle brackets - <...> - of an HTML tag must be on the same line, or the tag will be broken.
  • This feature allows you to enter an unclosed angle bracket - as a greater than or less than symbol - and have it automatically rendered as if you had entered its HTML character, &lt;, ex: a > b
  • idea If you're pasting in preformatted HTML text and notice problems, check the file in a text processor with no text wrap. Also, save without hard line breaks on text wrap, in your HTML editing program.

Hyperlinks

Being able to create links without any formatting required is a core wiki feature, made possible with WikiWords. A few simple extensions of the syntax provide a set of flexible options.

Internal Links

• PodWikiHelp is a WikiWord that links to the PodWikiHelp topic.

• NotExistingYet? is a topic waiting to be written. Create the topic by clicking on the ?. (Try clicking, but then, Cancel - creating the topic would wreck this example!)

External Links

• http://..., https://..., ftp://..., gopher://..., news://..., file://..., telnet://... and mailto:...@... are linked automatically.

• Email addresses like name@domain.com are linked automatically.

• [[Square bracket rules]] let you easily create non-WikiWord links.
  • You can also write [[http://yahoo.com Yahoo home page]] as an easier way of doing external links with descriptive text for the link, such as Yahoo home page.

TWiki Variables

Variables are names that are enclosed in percent signs % that are expanded on the fly.

• %TOC% : Automatically generates a table of contents based on headings in a topic - see the top of this page for an example.

• %WEB% : The current web, is Main.

• %TOPIC% : The current topic name, is PodWikiFormatterTWiki.

• %ATTACHURL% : The attachment URL of the current topic. In TWiki, attachments are made to an individual page, but in PodWikithey are global to the wiki. For PodWiki, this variable is expanded to the value of the configured PodWikigraphics URL prefix, which is currently /images. Example usage: If you attach (upload) a file you can refer to it as %ATTACHURL%/image.gif to show the URL of the file or the image in your text. Example: /images/ok.png

• %INCLUDE{"SomeTopic"}% : Server side include, includes another topic. Example: %INCLUDE{"PodWikiAbout"}%

• Some standard TWiki preference variables are mapped to PodWikiequivalents:
  • Line break: Write %BR% to start a new line.
  • Colored text: Write: %RED% Red %ENDCOLOR% and %BLUE% blue %ENDCOLOR% colors to get: RED Red END and BLUE blue END colors.
  • Documentation Graphics: Write: %H% Help, %T% Tip, %X% Alert to get: help Help, idea Tip, X Alert.

• Other variables may be available in the wiki; see PodWiki Variables.

TWikiPlugin Formatting Extensions

TWiki plugins are not supported under PodWiki. A plugin is called with a code sequenece such as:

%PLUGINNAME{"Parameter1","Parameter2",...}%

If such a call is encountered in a page, it will be rendered as plain text.

Common Editing Errors

TWiki formatting rules are fairly simple to use and quick to type. However, there are some things to watch out for:

• The '<' and '>' characters have a special meaning in HTML, they define HTML tags. You need to escape them, so write '&lt;' instead of '<', and '&gt;' instead of '>'.
  Example: Type 'prog &lt;filename&gt;' to get 'prog <filename>'.

• The '&' character has a special meaning in HTML, it starts a so called character entity, i.e. '&copy;' is the © copyright character. You need to escape '&' to see it as it is, so write '&amp;' instead of '&'.
  Example: Type 'This &amp; that' to get 'This & that'.

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