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My memory is not as it used to be! I find myself writing or editing a post and cannot remember the syntax to insert a node or cross out a portion of a previous post. Worse than that, I cannot remember where I found the post that tells me how to do this or that. So I would ask that the-powers-that-be add the Writeup Formatting Tips link above/below/near the textarea edit element whenever it is displayed.

The current "Writeup Formatting Tips" is barely adequate to compose/edit a post. I've written a new version, heavily plagerized from other posts on this site. After the monk's review, I would ask that this replace the current version.

On occasion there is a short list added below the textarea element. So, alternatively, this list, edited somewhat, could be added to all instances of the textarea element.

This is not supposed to be a tutorial, simply a reminder for newbies, infrequent users, or for those who have lost their marbles... memories.

Writeup Formatting Tips (revised)

Writing a new (or a reply) node:

Are you posting in the right place? Check out (OBE) What section should I put this in? to know for sure.

Please, please use a descriptive Title when posting things. "Need help with this script" is not a good title!

Always, always use the "Preview" button before you "Submit" your post. This will give you an opportunity to edit if you don't like what you see. Note that, once posted, you can edit your reply to a thread, but you cannot (in general) edit a root node you create. See How do I change/delete my post?.

Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags.
Carriage returns will be stripped from your submission except within the <CODE> sections.
Use to insert paragraph breaks. Generally you will not need to use the tag since your text will wrap atomatically. If you do need add a line break, don't use , use instead and then only sparingly.
Don't get too carried away with font tags. Plain text is sufficient for just about anything. If you really want to add formatting to your text, and should be sufficient for most purposes.
<pre> tags should be avoided. If they must be used, extreme care should be taken to ensure that their contents do not have long lines (<70 chars), in order to prevent horizontal scrolling (and probable editor intervention).
Use < and > to make the < and > characters, and [ and ] to make the [ and ] symbols when used outside the <code> tags.
When posting a very long node use a <READMORE> at a good point for a break in the node.
Use the <CODE> and </CODE> tags around any code sections. Your program will display in a monospaced font and all line breaks will displayed where you put them.
Do not use tabs within your code for indentation. Use 2 or 3 spaces instead.

Linking to other nodes:

You can link to a node or page using the following... [id://979] which links to, and displays vroom.
or... [Writeup Formatting Tips] which links to, and displays Writeup Formatting Tips.
If you need the change the displayed link text use [id://979|The Monk in charge] which links to "vroom", but displays The Monk in charge.
To link offsite use standard HTML <A HREF=http://mypage.org>Link text here</A>.
see also What shortcuts can I use for linking to other information?.

Editing your node:

As an unwritten custom, Monks don't like to delete info. A post you made may already have comments from others. Rather than leave bad info out, it's customary to correct any bad info, and leave an indication that you did so with either a <strike>~~through~~</strike> or a brief note labeled Update at the bottom.

In reply to Improving access to "Writeup Formatting Tips" by nedals

Posts are HTML formatted. Put   tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!

Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.

Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.

Please read these before you post! —

Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:

a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr

You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)

	For:		Use:
	&		`&`
	<		`<`
	>		`>`
	[		`[`
	]		`]`

Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?

See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.