Help:VisualEditor

Help desk / Start here · Create · Edit · Manage · Style · Get unstuck

The visual editor lets you work on the page as it appears to readers. Use Edit on supported article pages. Help pages, templates and some specialised pages use the source editor instead.

Make a small change

1. Click in a paragraph and type. Select words to format or link them.
2. Use the toolbar's paragraph/heading menu for section titles. The page already has its own title: start article sections at Heading 2, then Heading 3 for subsections.
3. Use the list controls for bullet points or numbered steps. Press Enter twice to finish a list.
4. Use Undo in the toolbar if the result is wrong. Ctrl+Z / Command+Z also undoes an unsaved change.

Links, pictures and references

• Link: select the words, choose the link control (or Ctrl+K / Command+K), then search for a wiki page or enter an external URL. Check the destination before applying it.
• Picture: use Insert → Images and media, search for an existing upload, and add a useful caption and alternative text. Uploading new files needs access and a source/rights record; see Help:Images and files.
• Reference: use Cite to add source details. Put the reference list in a Sources section using the reference-list item under Insert if it is missing. See the source guide for the equivalent code.

Menu wording can vary slightly with screen size. On a phone, some toolbar controls sit inside an overflow menu.

Edit a character panel or template

Click the panel and choose Edit. The template dialog shows its fields; a character's fullname is separate from the page title. Fill only the fields you know, then apply the change. For an image field, use the uploaded filename, not a website URL.

To add one, use Insert → Template and search for Character Panel or another documented template. Some blocks are generated by templates, Lua or queries; edit their inputs rather than deleting the block because you cannot type inside it.

Review, save or leave

Save changes (or Save page on a new page) opens a dialog. Review your changes, add a short edit summary, then confirm to save. Until that confirmation, your work is unsaved.

Use the ✕ at the start of the toolbar to stop; its tooltip is Cancel editing. The editor asks before discarding changed text when its edit warning is enabled. Choose to keep editing if you want to retain it. Copy valuable unsaved writing somewhere safe before reloading or switching modes.

The pencil/editor-mode menu switches between visual and source editing where supported. Follow any conversion warning; complex markup is often easier to handle in source mode.