How to Edit a Wiki Page

Welcome to our community history wiki! If you can write an email or type a document in Microsoft Word, you have all the skills you need to contribute here. You do not need to be a programmer or a computer expert to help us preserve Clare County history.

To change or add information to any page, look at the right-hand side of your screen.

• Click the “Edit this page” button (it looks like a small pencil icon).
• The page will transform into an editable text box containing the page's current text.

Just like Microsoft Word, this wiki has a visual Formatting Toolbar directly above the text box. You do not have to memorize any code to edit a page.

• To make text bold or italic, highlight the words with your mouse and click the B or I buttons on the toolbar.
• To create bullet points, click the list icon on the toolbar.
• To add a heading, highlight your section title and select a heading level from the toolbar dropdown menu.

If you prefer typing over clicking toolbar buttons, see Formatting Syntax page for a comprehensive guide.

You can wrap your text in these simple codes:

• Bold text: Put two asterisks on each side: **your text**
• Italic text: Put two forward slashes on each side: //your text//
• Creating Bullet Points: Press the spacebar two times, type an asterisk, press spacebar again, and type your text: * Your bullet point text here
• Headings: Put five or six equal signs on each side: ===== Your Title =====

Linking pages together is what makes this a wiki. You can create a link using the toolbar or by typing:

• Toolbar Method: Highlight the words you want to turn into a link, click the Internal Link icon on the toolbar (it looks like two chain links), and select the page you want to connect to.
• Typing Method: Wrap the exact name of the destination page in double square brackets, like this: [[Clare City Bakery]].
• Red Links: If you link to a historical topic that does not have a page yet, the link will appear red. Clicking a red link allows you or another volunteer to start that new page from scratch!

Scroll down below the text box when you are finished typing.

1. Summary Box: Find the small text box labeled “Summary.” Type a very brief note about what you changed (e.g., “Fixed a spelling mistake” or “Added paragraph about the 1930 oil boom”). This works just like the subject line of an email.

2. Preview Button: Click the Preview button to see exactly what your text will look like before submitting it.

3. Save Button: If everything looks correct, click the Save button.

• Administrative Approval: To protect our historical data from spam, all edits enter a moderation queue. Your changes will not show up on the public website immediately. An administrator will review and approve your submission before it goes live.
• Do not worry about mistakes: The wiki automatically archives every single old version of a page. If you make an error or accidentally delete text, an administrator can roll the page back to exactly how it looked before you touched it.
• Capitalization Matters: When creating links, remember that [[clare city bakery]] and [[Clare City Bakery]] are treated as two entirely different pages. We prefer to format pages as [[clare-city-bakery]], all lowercase with dashes instead of spaces.