Help:Quick guide to editing

SourceWatch Help

Start here: The basics on contributing FAQ for writers and editors How to start an article Quick formatting tips How to cite sources Tips for style and consistency Advanced tools: Researching tools Detailed formatting tips Making articles easy to find Advice on structuring articles Adding a badge to an article More info: Policy and ground rules About SourceWatch FAQ for readers Disclaimer Other help: Wikipedia help (for reference)

This page provides quick tips on editing. You may also wish to review the more detailed formatting guide. Before you can edit, you'll need to quickly register with a valid email address, which is done to deter spammers and vandals. Once you've registered, editing a page is as easy as clicking the "edit this page" tab at the top of the window."

Editing cheatsheet

See SourceWatch:How to edit a page for more detailed explanations and advanced syntax.

Description	What you type	What you get
Applies anywhere
Italicise text	''italic''	italic
Bold text	'''bold'''	bold
Bold and italic	'''''bold & italic'''''	bold & italic
Internal link (within SourceWatch)	[[name of page]] [[name of page|display text]]	name of page display text
Redirect to another page	#redirect [[Target page]]	1. redirect Target page
External link (to other websites)	[http://www.example.org display text] http://www.example.org	display text http://www.example.org
Sign your posts on talk pages	~~~~	Username 06:59, 3 April 2025 (UTC)
Applies only at the beginning of the line
Headings of different sizes	== Level 1 == === Level 2 === ==== Level 3 ==== ===== Level 4 ===== ====== Level 5 ======	Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
Bullet list	* one * two ** two point one * three	one two two point one three
Numbered list	# one # two ## two point one # three	one two two point one three
Thumbnail image	[[Image:Sourcewatch.png|thumb|Caption text]]	Caption text

Sourcing an article

See SourceWatch:References for more detailed explanations and tips on sourcing.

Every assertion made on SourceWatch should have an outside source. In most cases this should be a webpage or online document that can be linked to (see SourceWatch:References for help on referencing offline sources). The easiest way to cite a source is to put a link between two square brackets after the sentence or paragraph that draws from it, which automatically turns it into an auto-numbered footnote (see the first "external link" example in the chart above). You should then add a citation to the source in the "Articles and resources" section at the bottom of the article, which serves as a bibliography in SourceWatch articles. To add the citation you will generally need this information:

• Name of the author (or organization that produced the source)
• URL of the site where the information was taken
• Name of the source
• Name of the publication
• Date the information was published

You generally want to put the citation in a bullet and format it like this:

• Author, "Title," Publication, Date.

To get this format, you enter

What you type

* Jonathan Weisman, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/17/AR2006051701779.html "Ethics Panel Starts 3 Probes,"] ''Washington Post,'' May 18, 2006.

What you get

Jonathan Weisman, “Ethics Panel Starts 3 Probes,” Washington Post, May 18, 2006.

If editing someone else's writing, leave a note

If you are editing or deleting someone else's writing, it's a common courtesy to leave a note on an article's discussion page (found by clicking the "discussion" tab at the top of the article) explaining your reasons why. It would probably then be a good idea to check back a little later to see if other editors responded. Remember: be cool, be collaborative and talk things out. "Edit wars" are never fun and rarely productive.

Creating a new page

See SourceWatch:How to start a page. Remember to follow the naming conventions in titling the page.

Acknowledgment: The first chart on this page was originally copied from Wikipedia's Wikipedia:Cheatsheet.