---

name: mediawiki-wikitext description: MediaWiki Wikitext markup language for Wikipedia and wiki-based sites. Use when creating or editing wiki articles, generating wikitext content, working with wiki tables/templates/references, or converting content to wikitext format. Triggers on requests mentioning Wikipedia, MediaWiki, wikitext, wiki markup, or wiki article creation.

MediaWiki Wikitext

Generate and edit content using MediaWiki's wikitext markup language.

Quick Reference

Text Formatting

Copy''italic''  '''bold'''  '''''bold italic'''''
<code>inline code</code>  <sub>subscript</sub>  <sup>superscript</sup>
<s>strikethrough</s>  <u>underline</u>

Headings (line start only, avoid level 1)

Copy== Level 2 ==
=== Level 3 ===
==== Level 4 ====

Lists

Copy* Bullet item        # Numbered item       ; Term
** Nested            ## Nested             : Definition

Links

Copy[[Page Name]]                      Internal link
[[Page Name|Display Text]]         With display text
[[Page Name#Section]]              Section link
[https://url Display Text]         External link
[[File:image.jpg|thumb|Caption]]   Image
[[Category:Name]]                  Category (place at end)

Table

Copy{| class="wikitable"
|+ Caption
|-
! Header 1 !! Header 2
|-
| Cell 1 || Cell 2
|}

Templates & Variables

Copy{{TemplateName}}                   Basic call
{{TemplateName|arg1|name=value}}   With arguments
{{{parameter|default}}}            Parameter (in template)
{{PAGENAME}}  {{CURRENTYEAR}}      Magic words

References

CopyText<ref>Citation here</ref>
<ref name="id">Citation</ref>      Named reference
<ref name="id" />                  Reuse reference
{{Reflist}}                        Display footnotes

Special Tags

Copy<nowiki>[[escaped]]</nowiki>       Disable markup
<pre>preformatted block</pre>      Preformatted (no markup)
<syntaxhighlight lang="python">    Code highlighting
code here
</syntaxhighlight>
<math>x^2 + y^2 = z^2</math>       LaTeX math
<!-- comment -->                   Comment (hidden)
----                               Horizontal rule
#REDIRECT [[Target Page]]          Redirect (first line only)

Magic Words

Copy__NOTOC__           Hide table of contents
__TOC__             Position TOC here
__NOEDITSECTION__   Hide section edit links

Common Patterns

Article Structure

Copy{{Infobox Type
| name = Example
| image = Example.jpg
}}

'''Article Title''' is a brief introduction.

== Section ==
Content with citation<ref>Source</ref>.

=== Subsection ===
More content.

== See also ==
* [[Related Article]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://example.com Official site]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sort Key}}
[[Category:Category Name]]

Template Definition

Copy<noinclude>{{Documentation}}</noinclude><includeonly>
{| class="wikitable"
! {{{title|Default Title}}}
|-
| {{{content|No content provided}}}
{{#if:{{{footer|}}}|
{{!}}-
{{!}} {{{footer}}}
}}
|}
</includeonly>

Key Syntax Rules

1. Headings: Use == to ======; don't use = (reserved for page title)
2. Line-start markup: Lists (*#;:), headings, tables ({|) must start at line beginning
3. Closing tags: Close heading equals on same line; no text after closing ==
4. Blank lines: Create paragraph breaks; single newlines are ignored
5. Pipes in templates: Use {{!}} for literal | inside templates
6. Escaping: Use <nowiki> to escape markup; & for &, < for <

Resources

For detailed syntax, see:

• references/syntax.md: Complete markup reference with all options
• references/templates.md: Template and parser function details
• assets/snippets.yaml: Editor snippets for common patterns