General text guidelines

• Keep your text short and simple.
• Remember most members only speak/read English as a second language.
• Don't use abbreviations. E.g. write World Bank instead of WB.
• Keep it short:
  • Use no more than 3 lines per paragraph.
  • Never make texts longer than one screen.
  • Try to avoid using long sentences with commas.

Using Wiki codes for formatting

Below are some examples of Wiki codes. Be sure to read the part about email addresses, to avoid receiving spam!

• Text formatting
• Headlines
• Lists
• Links
• Email addresses
• Block quotes
• Tables
• Horizontal line
• YouTube video

Text formatting

//italic// becomes italic.

**bold** becomes bold.

**//bold italic//** becomes bold italic.

##red|red specified as word## becomes red specified as word.

##f06|pink specified as hex value## becomes pink specified as hex value.

This is ^^superscript^^ text becomes This is ^superscript text.

Please try to limit using text color, as special formatting might mess up automatic feeds to other systems (such as RSS), or might not be preserved at all in the future.

Headlines

• Make headlines with a +
• One + gives a huge headline, 6 ++ gives a special headline
• Leave a space between the + and the text

+ huge headline

++ big headline

+++ headline

++++ subtle headline

+++++ bold headline

++++++ special headline

Lists

An asterix (*) or hash (#), followed by a space, creates a list.

Numbered list:

# one
# two
# three

becomes:

1. one
2. two
3. three

Bullet list:

* four
* five
* six

becomes:

• four
• five
• six

Adding spaces before the marking indents the list items. You can mix ordered and unordered lists.

# Main 1
 * subitem 1a
 * subitem 1b
# Main 2
 # subitem 2a
  * sub-subitem
  * sub-subitem
 # subitem 2b
  * sub-subitem
# Main 3

becomes:

1. Main 1
   • subitem 1a
   • subitem 1b
2. Main 2
   1. subitem 2a
      • sub-subitem
      • sub-subitem
   2. subitem 2b
      • sub-subitem
3. Main 3

Any line ending with " _" (a space followed by an underscore) forces a line break without breaking the element. So, use this to keep the next line within the same list item. But... unfortunately this formatting might be lost when you start to edit an existing article. So, check before saving!

# Main 1 line 1 _
line 2 _
line 3
# Main 2
 # subitem 2a line 1 _
 line 2 _
 line 3
 # subitem 2b
# Main 3

becomes:

1. Main 1 line 1
   line 2
   line 3
2. Main 2
   1. subitem 2a line 1
      line 2
      line 3
   2. subitem 2b
3. Main 3

Links

• http://www.bidchallenge.org becomes www.bidchallenge.org
• [http://www.bidchallenge.org The BiD Challenge website] becomes The BiD Challenge website
• [http://www.bidchallenge.org The BiD Challenge website target="_blank"] also becomes The BiD Challenge website, but opens the link in a new window when clicked.
• When using square brackets, the title after the link address is always required: [http://www.bidchallenge.org] becomes ^*
• ((page number)), such as ((42996)), creates a link to an internal page, and automatically shows the current title of that page: BiD Network Foundation.

Email addresses

Email addresses MUST be prefixed with mailto:, like:

mailto:good@example.org

becomes:

So, never forget the mailto: prefix:

wrong@example.org

becomes:

wrong@example.org (not clickable, but not protected against spam!)

If in your text the email address is immediately followed by a character such as a comma or a dot, then this character might become an unwanted part of the clickable link:

mailto:wrong@example.org...

becomes:

(note the three dots when clicking this)

To avoid this, use square brackets [..] to create a link with an explicit name (and make sure that the problematic characters are not within the square brackets as well):

[mailto:good@example.org good@example.org]...

becomes:

...

Likewise, you can use any text as the title for the clickable part:

[mailto:good@example.org Mail me]

becomes:

When using square brackets, the title is always required:

[mailto:wrong@example.org] (without a title after the address)

becomes:

Email addresses prefixed with mailto: are not readable by spambots. To avoid spam:

• Never include an email address without the mailto: prefix, like wrong@example.org. Though such text cannot be clicked, spambots will know how to find it.
• Never try to protect an address yourself. For example, replacing @ with [at] by typing wrong[at]example.org really does not protect the email address at all!
• Never include email addresses (or other details for that matter) of other people, unless you have asked for their permission.

Tables

|| Row1, Cell 1 || Row1, Cell 2 ||
|| Row2, Cell 3 || Row2, Cell 4 ||

becomes:

||< left ||= center ||> right ||
||< The quick brown ||= fox jumps over ||> the lazy dog. ||

becomes:

||~  header 1||||~  header 2 and 3 ||
|| data 1|| data 2|| data 3 ||
|||| data 1 & 2|| data 3 ||
||||= data 1 & 2|| data 3 ||
||||> data 1 & 2|| data 3 ||
|| data 1|||| data 2 & 3 ||
|| data 1|| data 2|| data 3 ||

becomes:

Beware: excessive spaces at the end of the line, will cause this to fail:

|| Row1, Cell 1 || Row1, Cell 2 || 

(which has an invisible space following the last two || characters) becomes:

|| Row1, Cell 1 || Row1, Cell 2 ||

Horizontal line

Four dashes on a line by itself will create a horizontal line:

----

becomes:

Block quotes

> “The beauty about the BiD Challenge is that it brings people, capital and
> knowledge all together. This is extremely important to increase the chance
> of success of entrepreneurs.” 
//**Jenneke Seegers** - Rabobank - screener and coach//

becomes:

“The beauty about the BiD Challenge is that it brings people, capital and
knowledge all together. This is extremely important to increase the chance
of success of entrepreneurs.”

Jenneke Seegers - Rabobank - screener and coach

YouTube video

See the details at Adding YouTube Video.