Help:List

This page deals with creating lists in Knowledge Management system

List basics

Knowledge Management system offers three types of lists: ordered lists, unordered lists, and definition lists. In the following sections, ordered lists are used for examples. Unordered lists would give corresponding results.

Knowledge Management system text	Rendering
* Lists are easy to do: ** start every line * with a star ** more stars mean *** deeper levels	Lists are easy to do: start every line with a star more stars mean deeper levels
* A newline * in a list marks the end of the list. Of course * you can * start again.	A newline in a list marks the end of the list. Of course you can start again.
# Numbered lists are good ## very organized ## easy to follow	Numbered lists are good very organized easy to follow
* You can also ** break lines ** like this	You can also break lines like this
; Definition lists ; item : definition ; semicolon plus term : colon plus definition	Definition lists item  definition semicolon plus term colon plus definition
; Mixed definition lists ; item 1 : definition :; sub-item 1 plus term :: two colons plus definition :; sub-item 2 : colon plus definition ; item 2 : back to the main list	Mixed definition lists item 1  definition sub-item 1 plus term two colons plus definition sub-item 2  colon plus definition item 2 back to the main list
* Or create mixed lists *# and nest them *#* like this *#*; definitions *#*: work: *#*; apple *#*; banana *#*: fruits	Or create mixed lists and nest them like this definitions work: apple banana fruits

Paragraphs in lists

For simplicity, list items in Knowledge Management system markup cannot be longer than a paragraph. A following blank line will end the list and reset the counter on ordered lists. Separating unordered list items usually has no noticeable effects.

Paragraphs can be forced in lists by using HTML tags. Two line break symbols,

, will create the desired effect. So will enclosing all but the first paragraph with

...

.

For a list with items of more than one paragraph long, adding a blank line between items may be necessary to avoid confusion.

Continuing a list item after a sub-item

In HTML, a list item may contain several sublists, not necessarily adjacent; thus there may be parts of the list item not only before the first sublist, but also between sublists, and after the last one; however, in Knowledge Management system-syntax, sublists follow the same rules as sections of a page: the only possible part of the list item not in sublists is before the first sublist.

In the case of an unnumbered first-level list in Knowledge Management system text code this limitation can be overcome by splitting the list into multiple lists; indented text between the partial lists may visually serve as part of a list item after a sublist; however, this may give, depending on CSS, a blank line before and after each list, in which case, for uniformity, every first-level list item could be made a separate list.

Numbered lists illustrate that what should look like one list may, for the software, consist of multiple lists; unnumbered lists give a corresponding result, except that the problem of restarting with 1 is not applicable.

<ol> <li>list item A1 <ol> <li>list item B1</li> <li>list item B2</li> </ol>continuing list item A1 </li> <li>list item A2</li> </ol>	list item A1 list item B1 list item B2 continuing list item A1 list item A2
vs.
#list item A1 ##list item B1 ##list item B2 #:continuing list item A1 #list item A2	list item A1 list item B1 list item B2 continuing list item A1 list item A2

One level deeper, with a sublist item continuing after a sub-sublist, one gets even more blank lines; however, the continuation of the first-level list is not affected:

#list item A1
##list item B1
###list item C1
##:continuing list item B1
##list item B2
#list item A2

gives

1. list item A1
   1. list item B1
      1. list item C1

      continuing list item B1

   2. list item B2
2. list item A2

Changing the list type

The list type (which type of marker appears before the list item) can be changed in CSS by setting the list-style-type property:

Knowledge Management system text	Rendering
<ol style="list-style-type:lower-roman"> <li>About the author</li> <li>Foreword to the first edition</li> <li>Foreword to the second edition</li> </ol>	About the author Foreword to the first edition Foreword to the second edition
<ol style="list-style-type:lower-alpha"> <li>About the author</li> <li>Foreword to the first edition</li> <li>Foreword to the second edition</li> </ol>	About the author Foreword to the first edition Foreword to the second edition

Extra indentation of lists

In a numbered list in a large font, some browsers do not show more than two digits, unless extra indentation is applied (if there are multiple columns: for each column). This can be done with CSS:

ol { margin-left: 2cm}

or alternatively, like below.

Knowledge Management system text	Rendering	Comments
:#abc :#def :#ghi	abc def ghi	A list of one or more lines starting with a colon creates a definition list without definition terms, and with the items as definition descriptions, hence indented. However, if the colons are in front of the codes "*" or "#" of an unordered or ordered list, the list is treated as one definition description, so the whole list is indented.
<ul> <ol> <li>abc</li> <li>def</li> <li>ghi</li> </ol> </ul>	abc def ghi	Knowledge Management system translates an unordered list (ul) without any list items (li) into a div with a style="margin-left: 2em", causing indentation of the contents. This is the most versatile method, as it allows starting with a number other than 1, see below.
<ul> #abc #def #ghi </ul>	abc def ghi	Like above, with the content of the "unordered list without any list items", which itself is an ordered list, expressed with # codes. The HTML produced, and hence the rendering, is the same. This is the recommended method when starting the list at 1.

to demonstrate that all three methods show all digits of 3-digit numbers

Specifying a starting value

<ol start="9"> <li>Amsterdam</li> <li>Rotterdam</li> <li>The Hague</li> </ol>

Amsterdam Rotterdam The Hague

Or:

<ol> <li value="9">Amsterdam</li> <li value="8">Rotterdam</li> <li value="7">The Hague</li> </ol>

Amsterdam Rotterdam The Hague

Comparison with a table

Apart from providing automatic numbering, the numbered list also aligns the contents of the items, comparable with using table syntax:

{|
|-
| align=right |  9.|| Amsterdam
|-
| align=right | 10.|| Rotterdam
|-
| align=right | 11.|| The Hague
|}

gives

9.	Amsterdam
10.	Rotterdam
11.	The Hague

This non-automatic numbering has the advantage that if a text refers to the numbers, insertion or deletion of an item does not disturb the correspondence.

Multi-column bulleted list

<div style="column-count:2;-moz-column-count:2;-webkit-column-count:2">
* apple
* carpet
* geography
* mountain
* nowhere
* postage
* ragged
* toast
</div>

gives:

• apple
• carpet
• geography
• mountain
• nowhere
• postage
• ragged
• toast

<div style="column-count:3;-moz-column-count:3;-webkit-column-count:3">
* apple
* carpet
* geography
* mountain
* nowhere
* postage
* ragged
* toast
</div>

gives:

• apple
• carpet
• geography
• mountain
• nowhere
• postage
• ragged
• toast

Multi-column numbered list

<div style="column-count:3;-moz-column-count:3;-webkit-column-count:3">
#apple
#carpet
#geography
#mountain
#nowhere
#postage
#ragged
#toast
</div>

gives:

1. apple
2. carpet
3. geography
4. mountain
5. nowhere
6. postage
7. ragged
8. toast

Below a starting value is specified, with HTML-syntax (for the first column either Knowledge Management-syntax or HTML-syntax can be used).

In combination with the extra indentation explained in the previous section:

{| valign="top"
|-
|<ul><ol start="125"><li>a<li>bb<li>ccc</ol></ul>
|<ul><ol start="128"><li>ddd<li>ee<li>f</ol></ul>
|}

gives:

a bb ccc

ddd ee f

{{Multi-column numbered list|lst=lower-alpha|125|a<li>bb<li>ccc|3|<li>ddd<li>ee|2|<li>f}}


gives:


<table>

<tr>
<td valign="top"><ul><ol start="125" style="list-style-type:lower-roman"><li>a</li><li>bb</li><li>ccc</li></ol></ul>
</td>
<td valign="top"><ul><ol start="128" style="list-style-type:lower-roman"><li>ddd</li><li>ee</li></ol></ul>
</td>
<td valign="top"><ul><ol start="130" style="list-style-type:lower-roman"><li>f</li></ol></ul>
</td></tr></table>

<pre>{{Multi-column numbered list|lst=disc||a<li>bb<li>ccc||<li>ddd<li>ee||<li>f}}

gives:

a bb ccc

ddd ee

f

Streamlined style or horizontal style

It is also possible to present short lists using very basic formatting, such as:

''Title of list:'' example 1, example 2, example 3

Title of list: example 1, example 2, example 3

This style requires less space on the page, and is preferred if there are only a few entries in the list, it can be read easily, and a direct edit point is not required. The list items should start with a lowercase letter unless they are proper nouns.

Tables

A one-column table is very similar to a list, but it allows sorting. If the Knowledge Management system text itself is already sorted with the same sortkey, this advantage does not apply. A multiple-column table allows sorting on any column.

Changing unordered lists to ordered ones

With the CSS

ul { list-style: decimal }

unordered lists are changed to ordered ones. This applies (as far as the CSS selector does not restrict this) to all ul-lists in the HTML source code:

• those produced with *
• those with <ul> in the Knowledge Management system text
• those produced by the system

Since each special page, like other pages, has a class based on the pagename, one can separately specify for each type whether the lists should be ordered, see User contributions and What links here.

However, it does not seem possible to make all page history lists ordered (unless one makes all lists ordered), because the class name is based on the page for which the history is viewed.

Normal and sysop users cannot permanently delete a Knowledge Management system page, but sysops can delete a page such that it could still be restored. This is a deliberate design feature, and is an important part of why Knowledge Management system's work. Every kind of editing operation can be reverted by any other user, and that includes resurrecting deleted content. It doesn't cause significant wasted space; and with nothing but a 'delete' label, the page is effectively deleted anyway.

Deleting a page is, on the other hand, a straightforward operation for anyone with sysop permissions: it allows to semi-permanently remove a page from the Knowledge Management system, until a sysop undeletes (restores) it with the same ease. Typically sysops might look for delete labels, and do a proper delete on these pages, after a period of time. If for some reason you need a page to be deleted more quickly than that, you will need to contact a sysop to request this.

Revision deletion offers a more granular feature of deletion for edits with peculiar problems.

Before deleting

Sysops should also be aware of the general advice given on When not to delete a page: in particular, there are many situations where a deletion is too drastic. For example, a redirect is often more appropriate.

Before deleting you could perform various checks:

• Use the "What links here" tool. This gives an indication as to how important a page is, and what subjects it relates to. Perhaps the page is still linked to prominently from many places. All incoming links will become red links if you proceed with the delete. Ideally all incoming links should be changed/removed, if there is genuinely no need for this page to exist. You could do this work prior to deleting, or ask others in the Knowledge Management system community to do it.
• Check the page history and the associated talk page. Who was proposing the deletion? Does anyone disagree? Has it been properly discussed? Did people have adequate time to raise objections? Did somebody vandalize a page, which then led to a deletion proposal?

The care taken over these things might depend on the size of the Knowledge Management system community, and how clear-cut the case for deletion is. Remember that only sysop users can undo a delete action, so to a normal user the information appears to be lost forever.

Use the 'delete' action

Sysops should see a 'delete' tab or action menu option at the top of every page. To find the action menu, look for a down arrow or triangle next to the "View History" tab. If you mouse over the triangle you should see "delete", "move", "protect" and "watch". Click the delete action to delete the page. When using browsers which support keyboard shortcuts, you can also use (Control-Alt-D). You will be asked to confirm, and to supply a "Reason for deletion". This is a short textual description of why the page is being deleted. Your action will appear on the recent changes display, and in the deletion log (Special:Log).

Remember only the administrator can delete uploaded photograph files.

Undeleting

To undelete a page you must navigate to the exact page name of the page. You should then see a link to "View or restore n deleted edits". Tick the box next to the revision you wish to restore.

Configuring deletion reasons

The list of reasons in the dropdown box is maintained at Help:Deletereason-dropdown.

When not to delete a page

Typically you would delete a page if the contents are entirely inappropriate and do not match the purposes of the Knowledge Management system. In other situations, you would take a less extreme course of action, for example:

• The page should have a different title. See Help:Moving a page.
• The contents should have been placed on a different page -- Add the contents to the other page, and then supply a redirect. See Help:Redirects.
• The contents are already on a different page -- Delete the duplicate content and leave a redirect. That way, the page title, which made sense to somebody, will helpfully redirect to the information.
• The page is out-of-date -- Re-word sentences to be in the past tense, to make the page a historical record. Alternatively, label the information as out-of-date, with a warning notice.

An actual delete is generally necessary only if the title of the page is inappropriate. In other situations, a merge and redirect is more appropriate.

Proposing changes

Deciding on appropriate content/page titles can be a difficult aspect of Knowledge Management system organization, and one which can often provoke debates. If the merge or deletion you have in mind is one which might cause upset, you should propose the change first. Do this by leaving a note to give your reasons on the talk page. You might also establish a system for labeling the page with a delete/merge proposal template, to make everybody aware of your intentions.

Unlinking a page

The 'What links here' toolbox feature (bottom of left sidebar) will tell you which other Knowledge Management system pages link to the current page. Always use this feature to check before proceeding with deleting. These related pages will need to be edited for their links to reflect the change.

• Help:Starting a new page
• Help:Moving a page
• Help:Admin deleting and undeleting
• Help:Formating
• Help:Links
• Help:List
• Help:Images
• Help:Tables