TWiki Shorthand Basics

If you can enter text, you're ready for TWiki. With a few simple, intuitive TextFormattingRules, you'll be able to use plain text to create well-styled postings, instantly. Here's a fast-track guide to shorthand basics...

• Separate each paragraph with a blank line.

• To display a word or phrase in bold type, put it in asterisks: *bold type*.

• To display a word or phrase in italic, put it in underscores: _italic_.

• To display a word or phrase in bold italic, put it in double underscores: __bold italic__.

• To link to another Wiki topic, type the WikiWord for that topic. To link to a Wiki topic in another web, type the name of the web, and a dot, first: Sandbox.WebHome.

• If you enter a WikiWord for a topic that doesn't exist, it'll appear highlighted, with question mark at the end, prompting you (or someone else) to start off the new topic by clicking the ? - NewTopic (click the ?, but don't save, to preserve the example!).

• When entering WikiName signatures - like, guest - include "Main." as a prefix, since all TWiki member pages are in the Main web: Main.YourName.

• For an external link, type the full URL: http://twiki.org/.

• To prevent a WikiWord from becoming a link, type <nop> or an exclamation point first: <nop>NoLinkPlease or !NoLinkPlease.

• To indent with a bullet, enter [space][space][space][asterisk][space].
  • Use multiples of 3 spaces to start nested bullets.
    • That's 3-6-9-...

• To create a numbered list:
  1. Start items in a numbered list with [space][space][space][1][space].
  2. The "1" (or any number) will be replaced by the correct number, in order.
  3. To add a new paragraph without restarting list numbering, use the %BR% variable, like below:
     Text added (in new paragraph)
  4. and list numbering continues.

• Always start counting spaces for bullets and such from the beginning of a new line.

• To include an image, type its URL. You also can Attach an image to the page and display it with text
  %ATTACHURL%/yourimagefilename.jpg

• To display a word or phrase in MONOSPACED TYPE, put it in equal signs: =like this=.
  Use ==two== for bold: bold mono.

• Use <verbatim> to enclose code excerpts, filenames, and other unformatted text:
  <verbatim>
unformatted text!
</verbatim>
  
  NOTE: VARIABLES can be set within verbatim tags, that is, they are not disabled

• Use <literal> to enclose anything that TWiki must not touch under any circumstances, such as in-line HTML code.

• Follow GoodStyle recommendations when editing topics.

• See TextFormattingRules for the complete set of formatting rules.