---# TWiki Shorthand Basics

If you can enter text, you're ready for TWiki. With a few simple, intuitive TextFormattingRules, you'll be able to use plain text to create well-styled postings, instantly. Here's a fast-track guide to shorthand basics...

%STARTINCLUDE%

	* Separate each *paragraph* with a blank line.

	* To display a word or phrase in *bold type*, put it in asterisks: =*bold type*=.

	* To display a word or phrase in _italic_, put it in underscores: =_italic_=.

	* To display a word or phrase in __bold italic__, put it in _double_ underscores: =__bold italic__=.

	* To link to another Wiki topic, type the WikiWord for that topic. To link to a Wiki topic in another web, type the name of the web, and a dot, first: =Sandbox.%HOMETOPIC%=.

	* If you enter a WikiWord for a topic that doesn't exist, it'll appear highlighted, with question mark at the end, prompting you (or someone else) to start off the new topic by clicking the *?* - NewTopic (click the *?*, but don't save, to preserve the example!).
	
	* When entering WikiName signatures - like, %USERNAME% - include "%MAINWEB%." as a prefix, since all TWiki member pages are in the %MAINWEB% web: =%MAINWEB%.YourName=.

	* For an external link, type the full URL: =http://twiki.org/=.

	* To prevent a WikiWord from becoming a link, type =<nop>= first, ==<nop>NoLinkPlease==.

	* To indent with a bullet, enter =[space][space][space][asterisk][space]=.
		* Use multiples of 3 spaces to start *nested bullets*.
			* That's 3-6-9-...
	1 Start items in a *numbered list* with =[space][space][space][1][space]=.
	1 The "1" (or *any number*) will be replaced by the correct number, in order.
	1 To add a new paragraph without restarting list numbering, use the %BR% variable, like below:%BR% Text added (in new paragraph)
	1 and list numbering continues.

	* Always start *counting* spaces for bullets and such from the beginning of a new line.

	* To include an image, type its URL. You also can Attach an image to the page and display it with text <br /> =%ATTACHURL%/yourimagefilename.jpg= .

	* To display a word or phrase in =MONOSPACED TYPE=, put it in equal signs: ==like this==. <br />Use ===two=== for bold: ==bold mono==.

	* Use ==&lt;verbatim&gt;== to enclose code excerpts, filenames, and other unformatted text, with the opening and closing tags on their own separate lines:
<blockquote style="background-color:#f5f5f5">
<pre>
<b>&lt;verbatim&gt;</b>
unformatted text!
<b>&lt;/verbatim&gt;</b>
</pre>
</blockquote>

	* Three (or more) consecutive *hyphens* expand into a horizontal rule:%BR% =---=

	* See TextFormattingRules for the complete set of formatting rules.