Banri at 10:32, 14 January 2021

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	This guide is a step-by-step process on more '''advanced editing in VisualEditor''', covering four more complex things: headings, tables, references, and templates.		This guide is a step-by-step process on more '''advanced editing in VisualEditor''', covering four more complex things: headings, tables, references, and templates.

	This guide is made from the perspective of a logged-out user (or a logged-in user with default preferences). It also assumes you have read [[Help:Editing/Your first edit\|the first]] and [[Help:Editing/VisualEditor ~~basics~~\|second guide]]; if you haven't, please do so first!		This guide is made from the perspective of a logged-out user (or a logged-in user with default preferences). It also assumes you have read [[Help:Editing/Your first edit\|the first]] and [[Help:Editing/VisualEditor Basics\|second guide]]; if you haven't, please do so first!

	==Walkthrough==		==Walkthrough==

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This guide is a step-by-step process on more '''advanced editing in VisualEditor''', covering four more complex things: headings, tables, references, and templates.

This guide is made from the perspective of a logged-out user (or a logged-in user with default preferences). It also assumes you have read [[Help:Editing/Your first edit|the first]] and [[Help:Editing/VisualEditor basics|second guide]]; if you haven't, please do so first!

==Walkthrough==
===Headings===
Headings are fairly simple. They're added from the dropdown at the top:

[[File:VE advanced - insert heading.png|x275px|border|center]]

In general each subheading is smaller than the previous - below 3 and it starts getting comical, so stay away from those.

===Tables===
Tables are a common way to display information compactly. We're just going to cover basic tables here - more advanced ones are better done with source mode, or may already have a template.

====Inserting and edting====
To insert a table, select "Table" from the "Insert" menu at the tip of the page.

[[File:VE advanced - insert table.png|x275px|border|center]]

This inserts a blank, 4 by 4 table, with the top row as header cells.

[[File:VE advanced - table inserted.png|x275px|border|center]]

You can type into a cell by simply clicking it and typing; you can add other things like links, images, bold, etc. as normal. Here's a filled-in version that we can work on.

[[File:VE advanced - table filled out.png|x275px|border|center]]

There's a few things to do to this table for demonstration:
* Add some extra rows for the lava whip
* Make the leftmost column header cells
* Merge the cells in the degradable column

====New rows and columns====
Clicking any cell adds an arrow to the top and left, outside the table.

[[File:VE advanced - cell selected.png|x275px|border|center]]

Clicking these gives the option to add (and remove) rows and columns.

[[File:VE advanced - insert row.png|x275px|border|center]]

Two rows added and filled.

[[File:VE advanced - table filled out 2.png|x275px|border|center]]

====Header cells====
Header cells can be added and removed using the dropdown in the toolbar. Much like a spreadsheet, we can select multiple cells by clicking and dragging, so we can do the entire column at once.

[[File:VE advanced - cell type changed.png|x275px|border|center]]

Headers can be removed in the same way.

====Merging====
Click and drag to select the cells to merge, then click the merge icon that appears in the toolbar under the table. (This is where you can delete the table or add a table caption too, using properties.)

[[File:VE advanced - merging cells.png|x275px|border|center]]

And we're done with this table.

[[File:VE advanced - cells merged.png|x275px|border|center]]

===References===
References cover two types of things: citations and footnotes. Citations are used to back-up statements with a source; footnotes add an addendum to a statement.

We have a variety of citation templates which properly format citations, so those won't be covered here. We do prefer those to be used for citations, but if you aren't sure how to use them, you can just use a normal footnote and someone else can fix it later.

====Inserting====
Basic references are inserted using the ''cite'' option.

[[File:VE advanced - insert reference.png|x275px|border|center]]

This opens the insert reference dialogue.

[[File:VE advanced - reference text.png|x275px|border|center]]

In the dialogue we can set the text of the reference or assign it a group. For now we're just going to set some text and click the "Insert" button.

====References list====
Inserting the reference is half of the process, we now need to add the references list - the place where we want all the references to be listed out.

The list for citations should go at the end of the page, under any trivia sections and above navboxes. Footnotes should go at the end of the relevant section - use common sense on where to place it.

References lists are added from the "Insert" menu in the toolbar.

;Tips
* References lists will list all references (for the selected group) '''above it''' on the page up to the previous references list (for the same group) or the top of the page
* If there are no references, the references list will be an error and should be removed
* If there are references, but no references list (for each group), there will be an error at the bottom of the page, so a list should be added
* Templated references (citation templates) won't show up as references in the VisualEditor until the page is saved

===Templates===
Templates are the last thing we're going to cover in the VisualEditor, as they really show the problems with it. But first, a quick introduction.

Templates implement a process called '''transclusion'''. Transclusion is the inclusion of part or all of one page inside of another page. This allows a number of benefits:
* The same information can be on every relevant page without having to type it each time
* Any time the information needs updating, it can be done so to all pages at once
* It can lend a consistency of style over all pages making them easier to extract key information

In MediaWiki, transclusion is actually more advanced, as you can pass data into the page being included, and it can change itself as a result. This can be as simple as passing a value and that value being displayed, or the entire visual design changing to something completely different.

Templates are made up of two parts:
* One name, which determines which template we are using
* Parameter-value pairs, which define the data passed in to the template. There may be none, one, or many pairs, depending on what is needed by the template

====Using existing templates====
Click on a template - for example, the large table on the right of a page (Infobox Item) - and click the popup to open the template editor.

[[File:VE advanced - template editing 3.png|x275px|border|center]]

Here we have a list of parameters and the corresponding values; you can edit them as you like. Click "Apply changes" to finish editing the template, or "Cancel" to revert the edits to the template.

[[File:VE advanced - template editing 4.png|x275px|border|center]]

==See also==
* This guide concludes the VisualEditor guide. There's really nothing more to learn about it, and to do more you need source mode. Luckily, the next guide is [[Help:Editing/Source mode basics]].
* [[GSWiki:Style guide]]
* [[GSWiki:Style guide/References and citations]]
* [[GSWiki:Template policy]]

{{Editing help}}

{{Editing guides}}

Help:Editing/VisualEditor advanced - Revision history

Banri at 10:32, 14 January 2021

Banri: Created page with "This guide is a step-by-step process on more '''advanced editing in VisualEditor''', covering four more complex things: headings, tables, references, and templates. This guid..."