It is easy to collaborate; just type your text. You don't need to know HTML at all, though you can use it if you prefer. Links to topics will be created automatically, as long as you follow these simple Text Formatting Rules. TextFormattingFAQ has answers to frequently asked questions about text formatting.

LINKS

The Collaborative Work Area is a bunch of related links that are editable through your web browser.

The TWiki web has the following types of internal links:

• GoodStyle is a WikiWord that links to the GoodStyle topic located in the current TWiki web.
• NotExistingYet? is a topic waiting to be written. You could create that topic by clicking on the question mark. (Do not create that topic; you would wreck this example!)

External links:

• http://..., https://..., ftp://... and mailto:...@... are linked automatically.
• Email addresses like name@domain.com are linked automatically.

EDITING

• CapitalizedWordsStuckTogether (or WikiWords) will produce a link automatically. In case you want to link to a topic in a different TWiki web write Web.TopicName, i.e. write Know.ReadmeFirst to link to ReadmeFirst located in the Know web.
• You can create a forced internal link by enclosing words in double square brackets, i.e. write [[text formatting FAQ]] to get text formatting FAQ that links to topic TextFormattingFAQ. Text within the brackets may contain optional spaces; the topic name is formed by capitalizing the initial letter and by removing the spaces. You can also refer to a different web, i.e. [[Main.TWiki users]] points to TWikiUsers in the Main web.
• Blank lines will create new paragraphs.
• Words get bold by enclosing them in * asterisks
• Words get italic by enclosing them in _ underscores
• Words get bold italic by enclosing them in __ double-underscores
• Words get shown in fixed font by enclosing them in = equal signs
• Words get shown in bold fixed font by enclosing them in == double equal signs
• Note for bold , italic , bold italic and fixed font text:
  • Make sure to "stick" the * _ = signs to the characters, e.g.
    • This works
    • _This does not get italic because there is a space between the last word and the underline character _
  • Example text to enter:
    • Writing *bold text* , _italic text_ and =fixed== monospaced text
  • Example text gets rendered as:
    • Writing bold text , italic text and fixed= monospaced text
• Separator: at least four dashes at the beginning of a line: <-------->
• List Item: 3 spaces and an asterisk: <   *>
• Nested Item: 6 spaces and an asterisk: <      *>
• Ordered List: 3 spaces and a number: <   1>
• Definition: 3 spaces, the term, a colon, followed by the definition: <   term: definition>
  Note that 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 non-breaking-space entity, i.e. write Character Set: to get Character Set:.
• Table: Optional spaces followed by the cells enclosed in vertical bars: <   | cell 1 | cell 2 | cell 3 | ... |>

HTML

Most HTML tags will work, but it's almost always preferable not to use HTML, so that the markup remains easy for everyone to edit.

• Overview of all HTML elements at http://www.htmlhelp.com/reference/wilbur/overview.html
• HTML 3.2 Reference Specification at http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html32.html

WIKI VARIABLES

Variables are names that are enclosed in percent signs; they get expanded on the fly.

• %WEB% : The current web, is TWiki .
• %TOPIC% : The current topic name, is TextFormattingRules .
• %ATTACHURL% : The attachment URL of the current topic. Example usage: If you attach a file to a topic you can refer to it as %ATTACHURL%/image.gif to show the URL of the file or the image in your text.
• %INCLUDE{"SomeTopic"}% : Server side include, includes another topic. The current TWiki web is the default web. Example: %INCLUDE{"TWiki.TWikiWebsTable"}%
• There are many more variables, see TWikiVariables.