Help:VisualEditor/User guide

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Help with the launch

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If you would like to try VisualEditor without editing an article, here is a page where you can freely test it. You don't need an account to use VisualEditor on that page.

Opening VisualEditor

To edit a page using VisualEditor, click on the "Edit" tab at the top of the page. It can take a few seconds for the page to open for editing, and longer if the page is very long. Clicking on the "Edit source" tab will open the classic wikitext source editor.
You can also open VisualEditor by clicking on the "edit" link on each section.

Getting started: the VisualEditor toolbar

The VisualEditor toolbar appears at the top of the screen when you begin editing. It includes some familiar icons:
	Undo and Redo the changes you have made.
	Headings pull-down menu: allows you to change how the paragraph is formatted. To change the style of a paragraph, put your caret in the paragraph and select an item in this menu (you don't have to highlight any text). Section titles are formatted "Heading", and subsections are "Heading 2", "Heading 3", and so on. The normal format for text is "Paragraph".
	Formatting: Clicking the "A" opens a menu. For any item to have an effect, you must have first selected (highlighted) some text. The "Bold" item (B) bolds the selected text. The "Italic" item (I) italicizes the selected text. The "Superscript" item (x2) causes the selected text to appear smaller than surrounding text and to be slightly higher than the surrounding text. The "Subscript" item (x2) causes the selected text to appear smaller than surrounding text and slightly lower than the surrounding text. The "Strikethrough" item (S) adds a solid bar through the selected text. The "Computer code" item (a set of curly brackets: {}) changes the font of the selected text to a monospaced font, which sets it apart from surrounding (proportionally spaced) text. The "Underline" item (U) adds a solid line beneath the selected text. The "Language" item (Aあ) allows you to label the language (for example, Japanese) and direction (for example, right-to-left) of the selected text. The final item (), called "Clear styling", removes all character formatting from the selected text, including links
	Linking tool: The chain is the linking tool. Clicking on it (usually after selecting some text) opens the link dialog.
	Cite menu: The "Cite" menu is used to add inline citations (also called "footnotes" or "references"). All projects have access to "Basic" reference formatting and the ability to "Re-use" citations, using this menu. This menu also gives you quick access to local citation templates, if these are enabled on your wiki. (Instructions for adding local citation templates to the Cite menu at a specific wiki are available at VisualEditor/Citation tool.)
	Cite button: If the citoid service is enabled on your wiki, then you will see a "Cite" button instead of a Cite menu. The citoid service tries to fill out citation templates automatically.
	Lists and indentation: The first two items allow you to format text as either a "Bullet list" or a "Numbered list". The last two items allow you to decrease or increase the indentation level of list items.
	Insert: The "Insert" menu may be different on some projects. Below is a list of all options that may appear. The "Media" icon (a picture of mountains) opens the media dialog. The "Gallery" icon (a set of photos) allows you to insert a gallery to the page. The "Template" icon (a puzzle piece) allows you to edit templates. The "Comment" item (a speech balloon) allows you to insert comments that are not visible to readers; these comments can be seen only when in edit mode and are then indicated by an exclamation mark icon. The "Formula" icon (Σ) opens the formula inserter dialog. The "References list" icon (three books) opens a dialog in which you can specify where will references be displayed to the reader. Usually this only needs to be done once on every page. The "Hieroglyphs" icon (an ankh symbol - ☥) allows you to enter the hieroglyphics inserter. (See below.)
Special character insertion: The "Special character" (Ω) icon on the "Insert" menu, when clicked, displays a dialog showing many special characters. By clicking on a specific character, you place it into the text. These special characters include some standard symbols, accents, and mathematical symbols. (This list may be customized locally. See VisualEditor/Special characters for instructions.)

The Page options menu is to the left of the Save page button. On this menu there are options to adjust page settings, such as whether the page is a redirect, or how it is indexed; to add, edit, or delete categories; and to see, using the "Language" item, the list of articles on the same subject that are in other languages. You can also switch (one-way only) from VisualEditor to the classic wikitext source editor without losing the editing work you've done.

Saving changes

When you're done editing, click the blue "Save page" button in the toolbar. If you have made no changes, the button will be disabled (grayed out). To cancel all your editing changes, just close your browser window.
Pressing the green "Save page" button opens a dialog. You can then enter a brief summary of your actions, mark your edit as minor, and add the page to your Watchlist. The box for the summary is the equivalent of the Summary: field in the wikitext editor. You can also review your changes using the "Review your changes" button to be sure they will work as intended before saving your changes. This is similar to the "Show changes" button in the wikitext editor. The "Cancel" button returns you to the page you were editing. You can save all of your changes later.

Editing links

	Links can be added through the "Link" icon (links in a chain) in the toolbar, or by using the shortcut ⌃ Ctrl+K (or ⌘ Command+K on a Mac). If you select (highlight) text and then press the "Link" button, a link will be inserted using that text. For single-word links it's enough to just do it while the caret is on that word.
	When you use either the button or the shortcut, a dialog will open in which you may type the link. VisualEditor will try to help with internal links by looking for likely matches as you begin to type.
	Once you have entered or selected the link, you complete the linking process by pressing ↵ Enter, pressing the "Done" button, or just clicking outside of the box. Your link will immediately appear on the VisualEditor page, but it will not be saved until you save the entire page.
	To link to a web page on another website, the process is the similar: Choose the "External link" tab, and enter a URL in the box.
	External links without labels look like this: [1]. You can add these by placing your cursor away from any word (e.g., after a space). Open the link tool by clicking on the button or pressing the shortcut keys. Type the URL in the box, and click the "Done" button to insert the link.
	To change or remove an existing link, click within the text for that link, then press the "Link" icon that appears near it. The dialog will appear, for editing. (You can also get to the dialog with the ⌃ Ctrl+K keyboard shortcut.) In the dialog, you can then change where the link goes. You can also remove the link altogether by pressing the "Remove" button in the lower left corner of the dialog. You can also open the link's target in another window by clicking on the "Open" button. (You might want do this to check if an external link is valid.)

Editing references

For further information, see Help using citation templates or Help using citoid's Cite button

Determine which system you use
Your wiki may use one of three footnote systems. This one is the simplest system. This Cite drop-down menu does not use citation templates. If your wiki uses this system, then everything you need to know about footnotes is on this page.
This one is the same type of Cite menu, but with several popular citation templates set up for quick access. If your wiki uses this system, then you will find more details at Help:VisualEditor/User guide/Citations-Templates
Finally, this one is a Cite button.
The Cite button leads to a dialog box. It offers an automatic citation system through the citoid service. If your wiki uses this system, then you will find more details at Help:VisualEditor/User guide/Citations-Full
Editing an existing reference
	To edit an existing reference, click on it where it appears in the text (usually as a bracketed number). You will see either a "Basic" icon (bookmark) or an icon (and name) for the template that was used to create this reference. Clicking on this icon will open a dialog where you can edit the reference.
	If what appears is the "Basic" icon, clicking on it opens the Reference dialog, where you can edit the reference's contents. Many wikis use templates to format references. If a template is used in your reference, then all the text in the template will be highlighted when you click on the reference information. If a template was used and you've clicked on information in that template, then the Template icon (puzzle piece) will appear. Click on that icon to edit the content of the template in the template mini-editor dialog.
	If, instead of the "Basic" icon (bookmark), what appears when you click on a reference is an icon for a standard template for citations, then clicking on that icon will take you directly to the template mini-editor dialog.
	Inside the template mini-editor, you can add or remove types of information or change current content. Only fields (template parameters) that have content are supposed to be shown initially. To add fields, click on "Add more information" at the bottom of the mini-editor.
	Click on "Apply changes" when you're done.
Re-using an existing reference
	If the page already contains a citation that applies to the text you want to source, then you can choose to re-use the existing citation. To re-use an existing reference, place your cursor in the body of the text where you want to add a new reference (number) for that citation. Then click on the "Re-use" item from the "Cite" menu.
	In the Reference dialog, look at the list for the reference you want to reuse, and select it. If there are many references, you can use the search box (labeled "Search within current citations") to list only those references that include certain text.
Adding a new reference
	To add a citation using the "Cite" menu, place your cursor where you want to add it in the text. Then select the appropriate citation type in the menu.
Using the "Basic" citation
	Shown here is what you will see if you select the "Basic" item. In the Reference editor, you can add your citation, including formatting. You can make the reference belong to a given group, although normally this is left blank. (This option is used to display groups of references with the "References list" tool.)
	In the Reference dialog, if you want to include a template in your new reference, click the Template icon (puzzle piece) in the "Insert" toolbar menu within the Reference editor.
	Then, look for the template you want to use, add it and edit it as you would any other template. (See the Editing templates section, below, if you need more information about templates.) After you're done editing your new template, click on "Apply changes" to return to the Reference editor, and "Apply changes" again to return to the page you're editing.
	If there isn't already a list of references on the page (for example, if you're adding the first reference for the page), you need to specify where the list of references, and their text, will be displayed to the reader. Place the cursor where you want to display the references list (usually at the bottom of the page), open the "Insert" menu and click the "References list" icon (three books).
	If you are using several groups of references, which is relatively rare, you can specify the group in this dialog. Only the references that belong to that group will be displayed here. The final step in the References list dialog is to click "Insert".
Using standard cite templates
	Your local wiki may have added extra citation templates to this menu. This offers quick access to the most-used citation templates. (Instructions for adding extra citation templates to your local wiki are available at VisualEditor/Citation tool.)
	Clicking on a template icon such as "Cite book" will take you into the template mini-editor for that template. Important information fields may be marked with an asterisk. While the most common fields will be shown, not all of them are required.
	To add more parameters, scroll down in the template mini-editor and click on the "Add more information" option. Click on "Insert" when you're done.

Editing images and other media files

Editing images

To add a new image (or another type of media file) to the page, click the "Media" icon (a picture of mountains) in the "Insert" menu. The image will be added wherever your cursor is.
Clicking the "Media" icon opens a dialog that automatically searches Wikimedia Commons and your local wiki for media files related to the title of the page you're editing. You can change the search by changing the text in the dialog's search box. To choose a file, click on its thumbnail image. This places the image onto the page you are editing.
After the image you selected is inserted into the page, another dialog will open. This dialog allows you to add and edit the caption of the image. The caption can contain formatting and links.
The media dialog also allows you to add alternative text captions, to help users who use screen readers, or who have disabled image display.
You can also set various parameters for the image in the "Advanced settings" window. These include the alignment, the type, and size of the image.
When you're done, click "Apply changes" to close the dialog and return to editing the page.
For an existing image, you can add or edit a caption or other settings by clicking on the image, then clicking on the "Media" icon that appears below the picture. You can resize an existing image by clicking on it, then moving the resize icon (the two-headed arrow on the bottom left). You can also drag and drop an image to a place higher or lower on the page.

Editing media galleries

To edit an existing gallery in VisualEditor, click that gallery. Then, near the bottom of the gallery, click the gallery icon (a set of photos). This brings up the gallery editor, with the full list of images included in the gallery.
The gallery editor is currently a simple box that allows you to edit existing galleries using wikitext markup. To add a new image to an existing gallery, type the file name, followed by a bar (|) and the caption for that image. You must put each image in the gallery on its own line. You can also edit this list to remove or rearrange images or to change captions. When you click the "Done" button, you will exit the gallery editor. You should then see your changes, with the gallery as it will now appear to readers. Remember that exiting the gallery editor does not save your changes. As with other changes made using VisualEditor, you must save the entire page in order to save your work.

Editing templates

To add a new template to a page, place your cursor where you want the template to be inserted, and click on the "Template" icon (puzzle piece) in the "Insert" menu.
Start typing the name of the template you want to insert. When you see it on the list, click on its name. Then click "Add template".
You can also edit a template that is already on the page. When you click on the template to select it, it turns blue, and a box appears with an "Template" icon (puzzle piece). Then click on the "Edit" link.
Some templates are not visible to someone reading a page. In VisualEditor, such hidden templates are shown as puzzle icons.
When you select the icon, the context menu is displayed, and you can edit the template.
When you add a new template, what you see depends upon whether there is TemplateData for that template.	This template has no TemplateData.
This template has TemplateData. Putting information within a template is easier when TemplateData has been set up for the template.
Adding a new template or opening an existing one opens the "Transclusion" dialog. If the template has been updated to contain TemplateData information, then the dialog will show a list of individual (named) parameters. If the template doesn't contain TemplateData, then a link to documentation for the template will be shown in the dialog. Use numbers as the name for each nameless parameter. The first un-named parameter is named 1, the second is named 2, and so forth.
For an existing template, you can edit the parameters already listed in the dialog, and you can add parameters by clicking "Add more information", at the very bottom of the dialog.
When a template embeds other templates, these sub-templates will appear inside the parameters that display them. They can be edited or removed inside the parameter field. New sub-templates are added by following the steps for adding a parameter. You may need to check the template documentation to make sure that the sub-template is supported.
When you have finished editing a template, click "Apply changes" to close the dialog and return to editing the main page.
Substituting templates
When a template must be substituted, type subst: (colon included) before the template's name. Autocompletion doesn't work with subst:; if you need the autocompletion, add subst: only after finding the template you're looking for. Then, click the green "Add template" button.
Add any parameters as usual and "Apply changes".
You will see the template expand on the page after you click "Apply changes". When you're ready save the page.

Editing lists

	You can use VisualEditor to create lists, or to change the format of an existing list. There are two types of lists: unordered (bullet) and ordered (numbered). To start a new list, just click on one of the two menu items shown here. Or, if you already have typed the list (on separate lines), select (highlight) the list you have typed, then click on one of the menu items.
	Shown here are examples of the two types of lists: unordered (bullet) and ordered (numbered).
	If you want to change the indentation level of part of an existing list, select the part of the list that you want to change.
	Then use the menu, or press the Tab key. (The Tab key increases indentation; use the shift key plus the Tab key to decrease indentation)
	Here is the result of increased indentation.
	You can even mix ordered (numbered) and unordered (bullet) lists, if the list items have different indentations.

Editing tables

	You can use VisualEditor to insert and change tables. You can even import a table by dragging a comma-separated value (.csv) file from your computer into an open editing window.
VisualEditor inserts a blank four-by-four table.
To select a cell, click it once.
To edit the contents of the cell (for example, to add content or to correct a spelling error), double click in the cell, or select the cell and then press Return.	|-
	You can add or delete a column or a row.
You can merge cells.
The text in the second cell is deleted when you merge it. To get that text back, use the Undo button.
You can also split cells that were previously merged. All content will remain in the first cell.

Editing categories

	To edit categories, on the "Page options" menu, click the "Categories" item.
	Clicking on "Categories" opens a dialog that lists existing categories and allows you to add new ones, and to delete existing categories. You also have the option of setting or changing the general (default) sorting key, which determines where the page appears when listed with other pages in the same category. For example, the default sorting key for the article "George Washington" is "Washington, George". In the category "Presidents of the United States", the article is listed under the letter "W", not the letter "G".
	To add a category for a page, type the name of the category into the field "Add a category". As you type, VisualEditor will search for possible matching, existing categories. You can either select an existing category, or you can add a category that doesn't yet have its own category page. (Until that category page is created, your new category will show as a red link after you save all your editing changes.)
	To remove an existing category, click on it and click on the "Remove" icon (trash can) in the dialog that opens. Clicking on a category also allows you to specify a sorting key for that specific category. Such a sorting key overrides the default sorting key.
	Click "Apply changes" when you're done editing categories to return to the page editor.

Editing page settings

	To edit a page's settings, click to open the "Page options" menu, in the toolbar, and select the "Page settings" button.
	The "Page settings" button opens a dialog that shows several options.
	You can make a page a redirect to another page by checking the "Redirect this page to" checkbox, and then typing the name of the page to which you want to send the reader who tries to go to the page that you're editing. At the bottom is the option to prevent page renames from updating this redirect. This is very rarely used.
	You can change whether the page shows a Table of Contents by selecting one of these three buttons. The default option is "If needed", which shows a Table of Contents if there are three or more headings.
	You can make a page not show edit links next to each section header by checking this checkbox.
	Click "Apply changes" when you're done editing the Page options to return to the page editor.

Editing mathematical formulae

To add a new mathematical formula to the page, place your cursor where you want it to be inserted, and click on the "Formula" icon ("Σ") in the "Insert" menu on the toolbar.
A window will open in which you can type the formula, using LaTeX syntax. VisualEditor will update the formula as you type it, so you can see how it will look as you make changes. Once you are happy with the formula, click the "Done" button.
To edit an existing mathematical formula on the page, click on it and then click on the "Σ" icon that appears. This will open up the formula window, where you make changes.
Mathematical formulae can be placed inline or centered as a block.

Editing poems and other special items

Some items, such as association lists, poems, and musical scores, are not yet fully supported by VisualEditor.
In most cases, the existing items can be edited, but new ones cannot be inserted in VisualEditor.
You can not add an automatic signature or datestamp to a page in VisualEditor. Until they are fully supported, you can copy an existing one from another page, or edit the source wikitext directly.

Keyboard shortcuts

Many editors are used to entering wikitext directly, especially bold, italics and wikilinks. Keyboard shortcuts allow to quickly insert similar formatting without having to use toolbar items. Here are the common general shortcuts in VisualEditor:

PC shortcut	Action	Mac shortcut
⌃ Ctrl+B	Bold	⌘ Cmd+B
⌃ Ctrl+I	Italics	⌘ Cmd+I
⌃ Ctrl+K	Insert link	⌘ Cmd+K
⌃ Ctrl+X	Cut	⌘ Cmd+X
⌃ Ctrl+C	Copy	⌘ Cmd+C
⌃ Ctrl+V	Paste	⌘ Cmd+V
⌃ Ctrl+Z	Undo	⌘ Cmd+Z