# TWiki Text Formatting Working in TWiki is as easy as typing in text. You don't need to know HTML, though you can use it if you prefer. Links to topics are created automatically when you enter [[WikiWords]]. And TWiki shorthand gives you all the power of HTML with a simple coding system that takes no time to learn. It's all laid out below.
## TWiki Editing Shorthand ## Using HTML ## Hyperlinks Being able to create links without any special formatting is a core TWiki feature, made possible with [[WikiWords]] and inline URLs. ### Internal Links - [[GoodStyle]] is a [[WikiWord]] that links to the GoodStyle topic located in the current web. - [[NotExistingYet]] is a topic waiting to be written. Create the topic by clicking on the **?**. (Try clicking, but then, **Cancel** - creating the topic would wreck this example!) ### External Links - `http://...`, `https://...`, `ftp://...`, `gopher://...`, `news://...`, `file://...`, `telnet://...` and `mailto:...@...` are linked automatically. - E-mail addresses like `name@domain.com` are linked automatically. - `[[Square bracket rules]]` let you easily create [[non-WikiWord links|Main/WebHome#SquareBrackets]]. - You can also write `[[http://yahoo.com Yahoo home page]]` as an easier way of doing external links with descriptive text for the link, such as [Yahoo home page](http://yahoo.com/). ## TWiki Variables ## TWikiPlugin Formatting Extensions Plugins can extend the functionality of TWiki into many other areas. There are a huge number of TWiki plugins available from the [Plugins](http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Plugins) web on TWiki.org. Currently enabled plugins on this TWiki installation, as listed by `%PLUGINDESCRIPTIONS%`: - [[SpreadSheetPlugin]] (any TWiki, 10197): - [[CommentPlugin]] (Dakar, 11359): Allows users to quickly post comments to a page without an edit/preview/save cycle - [[EditTablePlugin]] (any TWiki, 11646): - [[InterwikiPlugin]] (Dakar, $Rev: 11935$): - [[PreferencesPlugin]] (Dakar, 9839): - [[SlideShowPlugin]] (Any TWiki, $Rev: 12847$): - [[SmiliesPlugin]] (Dakar, 8154): - [[TablePlugin]] (1.020, 12339): - [[TwistyPlugin]] (1.2.0, $Rev: 12154$): Check on current Plugin status and settings for this site in [[TWikiPreferences]]. ## Common Editing Errors TWiki formatting rules are fairly simple to use and quick to type. However, there are some things to watch out for, taken from the [[TextFormattingFAQ]]: - **Q:** Text enclosed in angle brackets like `` is not displayed. How can I show it as it is? - **A:** The `'<'` and `'>'` characters have a special meaning in HTML, they define HTML tags. You need to escape them, so write `'<'` instead of `'<'`, and `'>'` instead of `'>'`.
Example: Type `'prog <filename>'` to get `'prog '`. - **Q:** Why is the `'&'` character sometimes not displayed? - **A:** The `'&'` character has a special meaning in HTML, it starts a so called character entity, i.e. `'©'` is the `©` copyright character. You need to escape `'&'` to see it as it is, so write `'&'` instead of `'&'`.
Example: Type `'This & that'` to get `'This & that'`.