# TWiki Shorthand Basics
If you can enter text, you're ready for TWiki. With a few simple, intuitive [[TextFormattingRules]], you'll be able to use plain text to create well-styled postings, instantly. Here's a fast-track guide to shorthand basics...
- Separate each **paragraph** with a blank line.
- To display a word or phrase in **bold type**, put it in asterisks: `*bold type*`.
- To display a word or phrase in _italic_, put it in underscores: `_italic_`.
- To display a word or phrase in **_bold italic_**, put it in _double_ underscores: `__bold italic__`.
- To link to another Wiki topic, type the [[WikiWord]] for that topic. To link to a Wiki topic in another web, type the name of the web, and a dot, first: `Sandbox.WebHome`.
- If you enter a [[WikiWord]] for a topic that doesn't exist, it'll appear highlighted, with question mark at the end, prompting you (or someone else) to start off the new topic by clicking the **?** - [[NewTopic]] (click the **?**, but don't save, to preserve the example!).
- When entering WikiName signatures - like, admin - include "%USERSWEB%." as a prefix, since all TWiki member pages are in the %USERSWEB% web: `%USERSWEB%.YourName`.
- For an external link, type the full URL: `http://twiki.org/`.
- To prevent a WikiWord from becoming a link, type `` or an exclamation point first: **<nop>NoLinkPlease**
or **!NoLinkPlease**
.
- To indent with a bullet, enter `[space][space][space][asterisk][space]`.
- Use multiples of 3 spaces to start **nested bullets**.
- That's 3-6-9-...
- To create a numbered list:
1. Start items in a **numbered list** with `[space][space][space][1][space]`.
2. The "1" (or **any number**) will be replaced by the correct number, in order.
3. To add a new paragraph without restarting list numbering, use the %BR% variable, like below:%BR% Text added (in new paragraph)
4. and list numbering continues.
- Always start **counting** spaces for bullets and such from the beginning of a new line.
- To include an image, type its URL. You also can Attach an image to the page and display it with text
`%ATTACHURL%/yourimagefilename.jpg`
- To display a word or phrase in `MONOSPACED TYPE`, put it in equal signs: `=like this=`.
Use `==two==` for bold: **bold mono**
.
- Use **<verbatim>**
to enclose code excerpts, filenames, and other unformatted text:%BR% **<verbatim>**
%BR% `unformatted text!` %BR% **</verbatim>**
%BR%%BR% **_%X% NOTE:_** VARIABLES can be set within verbatim tags, that is, they are not disabled
- Use **<literal>**
to enclose anything that TWiki must not touch under any circumstances, such as in-line HTML code.
- Follow [[GoodStyle]] recommendations when editing topics.
- See [[TextFormattingRules]] for the complete set of formatting rules.