Toolbox

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This page offers examples of formatting code for common tasks

Deciding where to create your page

Many people choose to draft a page on their own Talk page, then move the result to the desired site. Sometimes there is a good reason for preferring to do it in the final location. If that is the case, consider using before your content {{Construction}} which will display

Under Construction

This is a new page, currently under construction!

Directory Structure

Try to avoid creating a structure more than three levels deep. For most purposes, the following guide will suffice:

Application
Application/Troubleshooting
Application/xxx-How-To
Application/Manual
Application/Manual/Introduction
Application/Manual/Section_1
Application/Manual/Section_xxx

Do not add an i18n language bar

New pages should not have this language bar. It related to the old style of translation and will not work with page translation extension. The new style language bar will be added by the software when the first translation is made.

Add an introductory screenshot and description

Whenever possible we begin an application's top-level page with this. The code to achieve it is

{|
|[[Image:YourScreenshot.png|250px|thumb]]
|Your descriptive text
|}

Format your text

Use Headings

Headings automatically form part of your Table of Contents, so need to be structured. Their place in the tree is governed by multiple '=' characters at each end of the heading. Avoid using a single one - that denotes a page heading, and the automatic page heading should be used. Your major headings will use '==text goes here==', the next level, '===more text===' and so on.

Use bold and italic

Blips are used to specify bold and italic words.

Use '''bold text''' to specify bold text and ''italic text'' to specify italic text.

In order to ensure we get easy and accurate translations, please adhere to the typographical guidelines.

Add a code snippet

We distinguish code that the user inputs from terminal output by the use of templates. {{Input|1=this piece of code is input by the user}} displays

this piece of code is input by the user

Code output by a terminal is shown similarly, using {{Output|1=the user would read this in konsole}} which displays as

the user would read this in konsole

Be aware that very long lines can be problematic. Wherever possible display the code in reasonably short lines.

You can also combine input/output areas with GeSHi syntaxhiglighting. An input area like this

{{Input|<syntaxhighlight lang="php" line> # Initialise common code $preIP = dirname( __FILE__ ); require_once( "$preIP/includes/WebStart.php" ); </syntaxhighlight>}}

will result in

# Initialise common code
$preIP = dirname( __FILE__ );
require_once( "$preIP/includes/WebStart.php" );

Add indents

":" is used for an indent, and was used in multiples in some old pages. This is deprecated, and causes some problems, so the multiples will be removed as they are found. A single ":" indents by four characters.

Lists, numbered and bulleted

* is the symbol to use for bulletted lists. ** gives a second level:

 :* One star

 :* Next point

 :** Sub-point

 :* Third point

produces

One star
Next point
- Sub-point
Third point

Numbered lists are produced in the same way, using '#'.

 :# A single hash

 :# Second point

 :## A sub-point

 :# Third point

produces

A single hash
Second point
1. A sub-point
Third point

This is less useful than the bulletted list.

Add a link

There are two kinds of links to learn, internal ones, to another userbase page, and external URL links.

For an internal link the format [[PageLayout]], where you want to display the name of the page, does work, but it is not ideal, particularly for translation to docbook. It is better to use the form [[PageLayout|Page Layout]], as it avoids problems at the translator stage. You often need to include the link in a sentence, so in that case you would use

[[PageLayout|this page]]

which displays

this page

External links are slightly different so

[http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules our road map]

displays

our road map, which would take you straight to the techbase page.

One last thing to note - when you preview your page, the links are live. This gives you two benefits. You can check (by hovering) that your links are set up as you expected, and you can use a red link to create a new page.

Illustrate your text

Add a single image, centered

[[Image:KMail-kde4.png|250px|center]]

Note that you can change the position of the image, but the default is left. The size of the image depends on the circumstances, but for screenshots I recommend no less than 250px and no more than 500px.

Make the image clickable, and add a caption

Where you need to show more detail, create a moderately sized image, clickable, so that the full-size can be seen. Simply add the parameter '|thumb' within the image parentheses.

A caption can also be added as a parameter, but will only show if '|thumb' is present.

Use tables to precisely place multiple images

{|class=tablecenter
|[[Image:Desktop-config-customized.png|230px|center]]||[[Image:Desktop-settings-rightclick.png|230px|center]]
|-
|[[Image:Desktop-theme-details-dialog.png|230px|center]]||[[Image:Plasma-multiple-themes.png|230px|center]]
|}

displays

Note that all the parameters for one image are contained within [[...]], and cells are separated by '||'. To start a new line, insert '|-' on an otherwise-empty line, then '|' at the start of the next one.

Add Notes and Warnings

Where a note or warning is relevant within your text, use a table, like these:

:{| |[[Image:Im-status-message-edit.png]]||'''Note'''||Some important information |}

Note

Some important information

:{| |[[Image:help-hint.png]]||'''Tip'''||Something useful to remember |}

Tip

Something useful to remember

:{| |[[Image:dialog-warning.png|32px]]||'''Warning'''||This is dangerous |}

Warning

This is dangerous

Where a note or warning is important enough to need to stand out strongly there are two useful templates, Info and Warning. Use

Information

This is another way to display your information

or

Warning

This is a very dangerous thing to do

KDE3 and KDE SC 4 versions of applications

By default, KDE SC 4 is assumed. If the KDE SC 4 version is not yet ready for release it may be necessary to document the KDE3 version. In this case you should add an icon {{KDE3}} which displays . Should you be writing about a KDE3 version and KDE SC 4 version on the same page, use icons for both - {{KDE4}} which displays

Useful Templates

Community Applications

The final consideration concerns those applications which are not distributed as core KDE applications. These need to be indicated by an icon, placing {{Community-app}}

See footnote

at the end of your sentence or line, just as you would to denote a footnote in general writing. You then need to add {{Community-app-footnote}} which will create a footnote, like this:

Support for this application can be found from the project's home page

Making major edits to Existing Pages

If a page is likely to be open for editing for some time there is a danger of conflicts - someone else may edit at the same time, and saving your edit will cancel out theirs, or vice versa. The way to avoid that is to make a temporary entry, directly under the language bar, using {{Being_Edited}} which will display

Currently Being Edited

This page is currently being edited.
If this notice persists for an unreasonable time, please either notify irc.freenode.org #kde-www or report on Claus chr's Talk page

Note: Pages should not normally be marked for translation while they are being actively worked on

Don't forget to remove it when you have finished!

Adding a new complex page

If you need to be able to work on a page for quite some time, over several days, for instance, you may like to use the Construction template - {{Construction}}, which displays

Under Construction

This is a new page, currently under construction!

Adding a List of Sub-Pages

== Subpages of {{FULLPAGENAME}} ==
{{Special:PrefixIndex/{{FULLPAGENAME}}/}}

is very useful when you want to list subpages with active links, such as

Subpages of Toolbox