Editing Project:Observatory Users Manual (section)

=== Formatting Article body text/content on the Observatory site ===
 
==== Paragraph breaks ====
Hit the “enter”/“return” button twice in “Edit” (“Visual editing”) mode to insert a line break.
 
This also works to end block-quote formatting and bulleted/numbered list formatting.
 
==== Table of contents (“Sections” tab on Article pages) ====
By default, Articles with headings in the body will display a table of contents (TOC) in the left sidebar under the “Sections” tab.
 
Check that your headings were formatted correctly in the Article body if you notice any errors in the hierarchy or titles in the TOC; update in the body if necessary, and upon Saving and refreshing, the TOC will reflect your changes.
 
Your editor is able to customize and turn the TOC on or off on an Article, but it is rare to do so.
 
==== Footnote references (external citations/notes) ====
Similar to how Wikipedia includes external citations as footnotes, the Observatory aims to thoroughly cite authoritative sources using endnotes/footnotes in MLA bibliographic style (check the [[Project:Style Guide#Links and Footnotes|Observatory Style Guide]] for more thorough guidance)—in other words, not only using internal citations in the form of external links in the Article body the way many news sites do, but also using external links in the Article body as well as footnote citations. Many of the sources in your Articles may be hyperlinks rather than printed sources, and that is acceptable.
 
===== Insert references via Visual Editor (recommended) =====
#Click where you want to insert a footnote superscript bracketed numeral antecedent/reference in the Article body (usually after terminal punctuation [period or close quotation mark] in the relevant sentence, or after the relevant first phrase if there are multiple citations in one sentence).
#Click the “Cite” button (the open-quotation mark icon).
#Click “Basic.”
#Type in the text and format as you would with an Article body.
#*The A icon offers special formatting options including bold and italic.
#*Carefully select any text that is supposed to be formatted as a link, then click the link/chain icon. Insert the full canonical URL that should go over that selected text. Make sure you are careful about internal and external links, as with links in the Article body.
#Click the top blue “Insert” button when you’re done entering and formatting your footnote to add it to the Article body.
#If you need to change something in the footnote after you Save it, you can click the superscript bracketed numeral, then click the “Edit” button to open the footnote text box again. Make your changes and then click the blue “Insert” button to Save them.
#*If you have advanced formatting needs you can’t adjust using the pop-up box in “Visual editing” mode, use “Source editing” mode or ask your editor for help.
#As with the rest of the body text, changes to the footnotes don’t Save until you hit the blue “Save changes…” button at the top right of the Visual Editor for the Article page.
 
===== Insert references via Source editing/coding (advanced) =====
Alternatively to the easy Visual Editor, you could use Source Editor and use <span style="color:#e83e8c;"><nowiki><ref></nowiki></span><nowiki>[Linked|Citation]</nowiki> text here.<span style="color:#e83e8c;"><nowiki></ref></nowiki></span> tags in the Article body. To code an endnote/footnote to appear at the bottom of an Article, the source code to insert into the Article body where you want your number reference to go is:
:'''<nowiki><ref></nowiki>'''Author Name, ''Book Title'', (City: Publisher, YYYY), p–p.'''<nowiki></ref></nowiki>'''
This will insert a numbered endnote formatted, like this (different text than the above is used below for illustration):<blockquote>1. Jane Doe, ''The Book Title'', (New York: Publisher Name, 2019), pp. 2–24.</blockquote>''(See the [[Project:Style Guide#Links and Footnotes for Observatory Articles/Dual Pub Plan|Observatory Style Guide]] for further guidance on footnote citations.)''
 
It’s easier to use “Visual editing” mode and start typing <nowiki><ref> where you want your number to go in your body, and then a pop-up will appear where you can format the note, group it with other notes of different sections, etc.</nowiki>
 
Check your endnote formatting before Publishing.
 
For more advanced help on notes, see: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Cite.
 
===== Repeating footnotes: Cite→Re-Use =====
You don’t have to repeat the same footnote text more than once (you don’t even need to write “ibid”!). If you want to cite the same footnote more than once throughout an Article body, you may.
 
After you have entered the text with all its footnotes, make a note of which footnotes are supposed to match. Then in the Observatory Draft, delete the second numbered reference. Move your cursor to the part of the Article body where your second footnote reference is supposed to go and click the “Cite” button (the open-quotation mark icon). Then click “Re-Use.” Then select the first footnote you want to re-use and they should connect. For example, see Footnote #7 in this Article: [[Why Charter Schools Open Where They Do—And Why That’s a Problem#cite ref-:0 7-1|https://observatory.wiki/Why_Charter_Schools_Open_Where_They_Do%E2%80%94And_Why_That%E2%80%99s_a_Problem]].