Help:Wikitext

Wikitext is the main markup language used to format content on Fandom. It can be used to add photos, tables, bold styles, links, and many other visual changes.

It's not necessary to know wikitext in order to edit a page: you can use the Visual Editor to avoid it. However, users who learn it may appreciate the additional control they have over page content.

Wikitext can be used via source editor in either editor. To access an article's wikitext:

Visual Editor: click "VisualEditor" in the top middle, above the edit bar, which will open a menu where you can select "Source editing".
Before editing, you can go right to source mode by clicking the arrow next to the edit button, and clicking "edit source" from the drop-down menu.
When editing a section of an article, click "edit source" to edit that section in source.

On both platforms, you can also choose your preferred editor in preferences, and it will open by default when you click the edit button.

Below is an outline of basic wikitext that you can use while editing. Many of the options listed below have shortcut buttons in the editor toolbars.

Text formatting[]

Inline wikitext: code you can use anywhere in the page
Description	You type	You get
Italicize text	`''italic''`	italic
Bold text	`'''bold'''`	bold
Underlined text	`<u>underline</u>`	underline
Bold and italic	`'''''bold & italic'''''`	bold & italic
Strikethrough	`<s>strikethrough</s>`	~~strikethrough~~
Superscript	`1<sup>st</sup>`	1^st
Subscript	`O<sub>2</sub>`	O₂
Small Text	`small <small>text</small>`	small text
Big Text	`big <span style="font-size:larger;">text</span>`	big text
Internal link (within a wiki)	`[[Help:Contents]]` `[[Help:Contents\|Displayed text]]`	Help:Contents Displayed text
Colored link	`[[Help:Contents\|<span style="color:dodgerblue;">Help:Contents</span>]]`	Help:Contents
Redirect to another page	`#REDIRECT [[Help:Contents]]`	Help:Contents
External link (to other websites)	`[https://www.example.org]` `[https://www.example.org displayed text]` `https://www.example.org`	[1] displayed text https://www.example.org
Cite link	`<cite>https://www.fandom.com/</cite>`	https://www.fandom.com/
Sign your posts on talk pages (username only)	`~~~`	Your username
Sign your posts on talk pages	`~~~~` (4 tildes)	Your username 17:30, 10 December 2025 (UTC)
Insert the current date and time (UTC). Generally only used on talk pages.	`~~~~~` (5 tildes)	17:30, 10 December 2025 (UTC)
Display wikitext code as typed	`<nowiki>[[This is not a link]]</nowiki>`	[[This is not a link]]
Display text as source code	`<code>Source Code</code>`	`Source Code`

Code that works only at the start of a line
Description	You type	You get
Headings A table of contents will automatically be generated when four headings are added to an article. (Skip level 1; it's used for the page name.)	`== Level 2 ==` `=== Level 3 ===` `==== Level 4 ====` `===== Level 5 =====` `====== Level 6 ======`	Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6
Horizontal rule	Text before ---- Text after	Text before Text after
Indented paragraph or line	`No indent` `: One indent` `:: Two indents`	No indent One indent Two indents
Bulleted list	`* One` `* Two` `** Two point one` `* Three`	One Two Two point one Three
Numbered list	`# One` `# Two` `## Two point one` `# Three`	One Two Two point one Three
Mixed list	`* bulleted item` `# numbered item 1` `#: indented item a` `#: indented item b` `# numbered item 2`	bulleted item numbered item 1 indented item a indented item b numbered item 2
Definition list	;item 1 : definition 1 ;item 2 : definition 2-1 : definition 2-2	item 1 definition 1 item 2 definition 2-1 definition 2-2
Preformatted text with working links	`" "[[Help:Color\|Color]] Text` (note space at start, remove quotation marks)	Color Text
Preformatted text that shows underlying wikitext	`<pre>[[Color]] Text</pre>`	[[Color]] Text

Image formatting[]

Description	You type	You get
Image	`[[File:SeaOtter.png]]`
Sized image (width change with aspect ratio maintained)	`[[File:SeaOtter.png\|100px]]`
Thumbnail image	`[[File:SeaOtter.png\|thumb\|Caption text]]`	Caption text
Aligned image	`[[File:SeaOtter.png\|thumb\|100px\|left]]` `[[File:SeaOtter.png\|thumb\|100px\|center]]` `[[File:SeaOtter.png\|thumb\|100px\|right]]`
Linked image	`[[File:SeaOtter.png\|link=Help:Contents]]`
Changed alt text	`[[File:SeaOtter.png\|alt=A sea otter]]`
Direct link to image	`[[Media:SeaOtter.png]]`	Media:SeaOtter.png

Paragraphs[]

MediaWiki ignores single line breaks. To start a new paragraph, leave an empty line. You can force a line break within a paragraph with the HTML tag <br>.

	You type	You get
Without `<br>`	Don't break lines	Don't break lines
With `<br>`	Do break<br> lines	Do break lines

HTML tags[]

While wikitext is the primary markup used to write and format pages, some basic HTML elements are also supported. These apply anywhere you insert them.

Description	You type	You get
Inserted (Displays as underline in most browsers)	`<ins>Inserted</ins>` or `<u>Underline</u>`	Inserted or Underline
Deleted (Displays as strikethrough in most browsers)	`<s>Struck out</s>` or `<del>Deleted</del>`	~~Struck out~~ or ~~Deleted~~
Fixed width text	`<code>Source code</code>` or `<code>Fixed width text</code>`	`Source code` or `Fixed width text`
Blockquotes	Text before <blockquote>Blockquote</blockquote> Text after	Text before Blockquote Text after
Comment	<!-- This is a comment --> Comments are only visible in the edit zone.	Comments are only visible in the edit zone.
Completely preformatted text	<pre> Text is '''preformatted''' and ''markups'' '''''cannot''''' be done</pre>	Text is '''preformatted''' and ''markups'' '''''cannot''''' be done
Customized preformatted text	<pre style="color: red"> Text is '''preformatted''' with a style and ''markups'' '''''cannot''''' be done </pre>	Text is '''preformatted''' with a style and ''markups'' '''''cannot''''' be done

You can also insert symbols and other special characters not available on your keyboard through a special sequence of characters. Those sequences are called HTML entities.

Further wikitext examples[]

For more complex content that is sometimes more easily managed with wikitext editing, see:

Further help and feedback[]

Browse and search other help pages at Help:Contents
Check Fandom Community Central for sources of further help and support
Check Contacting Fandom for how to report any errors or unclear steps in this article