Help:Quick guide to editing

This page provides basic instructions for editing on SourceWatch and its Congresspedia component. For the full set of guidelines, policies and help, see the main SourceWatch:Help page. For Congresspedia articles see the Congresspedia help page.

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 Wikipedia)	[[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] [http://www.example.org display text] http://www.example.org	[1] 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 or Congresspedia 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.

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