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Introduction
Simple mode lets you edit much as you would in a word processor, and hides the fancy punctuation that is visible in Advanced mode. You can switch between edit modes at any time by clicking a link that appears above the toolbar while editing a page:

Note to Macintosh users: Simple mode is not available in the Safari browser.
The toolbar above the editing window features buttons that will apply formatting to selected text or insert new elements.

- The
button makes text bold.
- The
button italicizes text.
- The
button applies strikethrough.
- The
buttons make lines into headings of various sizes, H1 being the largest. The
button turns headings back into normal text.
- The horizontal rule button
inserts a horizontal line in the page below the cursor.
- The list buttons
start numbered or bulleted lists, or turn a selection into a list.
- The indentation buttons
shift paragraphs or bullets left or right.
- The link buttons
are explained below, under "Linking".
- The image button
currently does not do anything in Simple mode. In Advanced mode it will let you add an image.
- The table button
prompts you for numbers of rows and columns and creates an empty table of the specified size. (Use Advanced mode to change the number of rows and columns in a table.)
- The Upload files button will let you attach files to a page. See Attached Files.
Linking
- To make an internal link (to a page within the same workspace), simply type in the name of the page, highlight it, and press the internal link
button.
- To make an external link (to a page outside of the workspace), select the text you would like to turn into a link and press the external link
button. You will be prompted to enter the URL you want to link to.
- To remove a link, highlight it and press the remove link
button.
- The Insert menu lists WikiWidgets that you can add to a page. A WikiWidget contains one of the elements of wikitext that are surrounded by braces {} in Advanced mode. WikiWidget types include links to other workspaces, files, images, AIM or Skype accounts, dynamic results of searches on workspaces, or RSS feeds from anywhere on the web.
- To use the Insert menu, put the insertion point where you want the new WikiWidget to appear, pull down the menu and choose a WikiWidget to pop up a dialog box. Fill in the text fields in the box and Save the information to insert the WikiWidget into the page. Many of these dialog boxes have advanced options available if you click "More options".
- Existing WikiWidgets appear in Simple mode as light-colored boxes with black borders. Single click one to pop up a dialog box with text fields that you can edit. Many of these dialog boxes have advanced options available if you click "More options". Fill in the text fields in the box and Save the information to modify the WikiWidget in the page.
Link to page in another workspace
Use this feature to make a link to a page in another workspace. Note that inter-workspace links only work between workspaces on the same server. Unless you have wikis on multiple servers, this will not affect you.
Here's a detailed walkthrough of this feature: Adding a Link to Another Workspace.
Link to a section
Section markers help readers navigate to a section in a long wiki page. If you can't remember the name of the section, type some letters in the section name and the system will show sections starting with those letters.
If you click "More options" you can link to a section on a page in another workspace.

Attached image
This feature allows you to display an attached image on your page. In order to upload the image, click "Upload files" first. "More options" allows you to use an image attached to another page or another workspace. If you provide Link text, your page will contain a link to the image rather than the image itself.
Attachment link
This feature adds a link to an attached file. In order to upload the file, click "Upload files" first. It doesn't display the actual file on the page, but creates a link to display that file. "More options" allows you to link to a file attached to another page or another workspace.
Table of contents
With this dialog box you can automatically build a table of contents on the page you're editing. The table of contents is composed of the headers and sections on the page. "More options" allows you to include a table of contents built from another page in your current workspace or a page in another workspace.
Page include
With this dialog box you can insert the complete contents of another page in your current workspace or another workspace into your page.
Section marker
This dialog box allows you to name and create a section marker on a page. You can use section markers to add links to sections in the page, and to build a table of contents to the sections of the page.
What's new
You can insert a list showing the titles of pages that have recently changed in the current workspace or in another workspace. With "More Options" you can include the full text of those pages as well.
Tag link
Creates a link to a list of all pages that are tagged with a specific tag. With "More Options" you can link to a list of all tagged pages from another workspace.
Tag list
Creates a list of recently changed pages tagged with a specific tag. With "More Options" you can create a list of recently changed pages tagged with a specific tag from another workspace. You also have the option to include the full text of those pages by checking the "Full results" checkbox.
Weblog link
Creates a link to a weblog in your workspace. With "More Options" you can create a link to a weblog from another workspace.
Weblog list
Creates a list of the most recently changed entries in a weblog. With "More Options" you can create a list of the most recently changed entries in a weblog from another workspace. You also have the option to include the full text of those pages by checking the "Full results" checkbox.
Displays the contents of an RSS feed.
Inline Atom
Displays the contents of an Atom feed.
Search results
Displays a list of links to the results of a workspace search. With "More options", you can:
- search in another workspace
- search on full text, page titles only, or tags
- display the full results of the search.
Google Search
Displays a list of links to the results of a specified Google search.
Technorati Search
Displays a list of links to the results of a specified Technorati search.
AIM link
Includes a link to an AIM user. The link uses icons to indicate when that user is online. You can click the link to open an AIM chat with the user.
Yahoo IM link
Includes a link to a Yahoo IM user. The link uses icons to indicate when that user is online. You can click the link to open a Yahoo IM chat with the user.
Skype link
Includes a link to a Skype username. The link indicates when that user is online. You can click the link to open a Skype conversation with the user.
User name
Displays the best full name known to the application for an email address.
Date in local time
Display the given date and time in the individually-set time zone for each reader.
This option allows unformatted text to be included in the wiki page.
Certain characters are interpreted by the wiki editor as wiki markup. For instance, a word surrounded by asterisks is put into bold face. To prevent the wiki from displaying that word in bold, you can use the unformatted feature. The dialog box asks for the text that will be displayed without formatting, and will print it as you typed it into the text field.
Some WikiWidgets can only be edited in Advanced mode. Mouseover tooltips will tell you when that is needed.
Keyboard Shortcuts
- Ctrl-I makes text italic.
- Ctrl-D (for "deleted") makes text
strikethrough.
- Ctrl-Z is used to undo actions.
- Most of the special punctuation available in Advanced mode (see Edit Tips) will work. For instance, enclosing a phrase between asterisks (*) will turn it bold upon saving.
Copying and Pasting from Web Pages or Microsoft Word
You can copy text from a browser window or from Word and paste it into Simple mode. Most of the formatting will be preserved.
Preview Mode
WikiWidgets makes the old Gray Dashed Boxes obsolete. All elements will appear as WikiWidgets in Simple mode.
A few WikiWidgets cannot be edited in Simple mode. In order to edit those, it is necessary to switch to Advanced mode. A mouseover tooltip will tell you when that is needed.
By clicking the Preview button (between Save and Cancel ), you can see exactly what the page will look like when you save it. While in Preview mode, click the Edit More button to return to editing.
Simple Mode: A Work In Progress
Simple mode editing is not intended to be a complete word processor or HTML editor. It supports the same basic formatting as previous versions of Socialtext, with the added benefit of showing formatting changes as you make them.
Because Simple mode makes common formatting tasks so easy, we are providing it early in its evolution. You may find bugs. Please let us know at support@socialtext.com
Here are some hints and tips for Simple mode users:
- Use the Preview button before saving, and Edit More if you need to. Switch to Advanced mode when Simple mode doesn't do what you need. Click the Edit tips link to get a list of formatting punctuation for Advanced mode.
- Some things your browser will let you do in Simple mode won't "take" when you Save. Examples are interactively resizing a table or an image, deleting an image, or indenting a list. A few other things, such as deleting an entire table, you may not be able to do at all.
- Copy and paste from a web page or a word processor will preserve some, but not all, of the appearance of the page once it is saved in the workspace.
- Avoid frustration: save early; save often. The workspace maintains a complete revision history, so you can always revert to your last good page if needed.
Wikiwyg (Simple Editing) Open Source Project
Simple mode is based on the Wikiwyg editing tool. Wikiwyg is an open source project led by Socialtext.
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