Editing the mechatronics wiki

The easiest way to get started is by looking at the code of an existing page that is formatted in a way you like.

You can learn more about editing a wiki by going to wikipedia's help page. Below are some basic guidelines to get you started. You can click on "edit" at the top of this page to see the wiki code that generates this page. Experiment with the formatting buttons at the top of the editing page to see what they do.

Level 1 Headline

Level 2 Headline

Level 3 Headline

If your wiki page has headlines, generated for example by the code

= Level 1 Headline =, == Level 2 Headline ==, and === Level 3 Headline ===

the page will automatically create a table of contents before the first headline. Most pages do not need more than one level of headlines, and the formatting buttons at the top of the edit page provide you access to "Level 2 Headlines," so you should just use that by default, unless you have reason for more levels of headlines.

(Note the use of the "nowiki" command above that allows what you type to appear as you wish without wiki formatting.)

Topic and Name of Your Page

To create a new page, simply make a reference to it in an existing page by using code such as this: [[Page Name | the text you use to refer to the page]], or simply [[Page Name]]. Then you can click on the link created in the existing page and it will open the new page for editing. To make your page as useful as possible, it should have an informative, succinct name (which can be found by searching) and be focused on a particular topic. It should also be properly indexed so users can find it by browsing. If there is already a page on a similar topic, consider modifying that page rather instead of making another page with similar content.

Creating Internal and External Links

Use links to help the reader find more information. When you link to a page on this wiki, use an internal link such as this, generated by [[Main Page | this]], instead of an external link such as this, generated by [http://hades.mech.northwestern.edu/wiki this]. This is so the link will continue to work even if the wiki is moved to another server.

Including Images and Other Media

Available Actuators

Editor's Note: This example "Circuit" section contains multiple examples, each its own subsection. Yours need not. Images should be small. In cases where a large image is necessary to get sufficient detail, display the image as a smaller thumbnail, and when the reader clicks on it, they can see a larger version, as with the image to the right.

This example circuit section does not include any photos. This is fine if everything is perfectly clear from your circuit diagram. In many cases, however, it is helpful to see a photo of a neatly wired circuit, showing the connections from the PIC to the device. In summary, it is OK to have only circuit diagrams if they are clear, it is not OK to have only a photo, and it is often best to have both a circuit diagram and a photo. Do not use unnecessarily memory-hogging photos; just use the minimum resolution necessary to be clear.

Actual "Circuit" section begins below. Note the use of <br clear=all> statements to make sure descriptions line up with their associated images.

Including Math

Bold text