Help:Text formatting

Paragraphs
Paragraphs are separated by a single blank line.

Bold
Bold text is stylistically offset from other text without conveying extra importance. The most common use of boldface is to highlight the article title, and often synonyms, in the lead section. Do not use bold text for emphasis.

Use  to open and close bold text.

Italic
Italic type (text like this) should be used for certain names and titles, including court case names, named vehicles, and works of art and artifice.

Use  to open and close italic text.

Font size
Use the template  '''  to switch to a font smaller than the current font.

Use the template  '''        to  increase font to a larger size than the current font.


 * {| style="text-align:left;vertical-align:center;"


 * Text inside “big” display in an enlarged font.
 * Without size-formatting, the text displays in current default font.
 * This text will display in a reduced-size font.
 * }
 * Without size-formatting, the text displays in current default font.
 * This text will display in a reduced-size font.
 * }
 * Without size-formatting, the text displays in current default font.
 * This text will display in a reduced-size font.
 * }
 * This text will display in a reduced-size font.
 * }
 * This text will display in a reduced-size font.
 * }
 * This text will display in a reduced-size font.
 * }
 * }

Note that the current default size depends on context and enclosing formatting: For example, footnotes and references default to displayed in a slightly smaller-than-usual font, and headings (of various levels) default to displaying in a slightly larger font.

Template is a substitute for HTML .

Template is a substitute for HTML .

Font style

 * Teletype or typewriter fonts:
 * is a substitute for  in HTML.
 * ... adds shading on top of the typewriter font.


 * Serif fonts:
 * $...$ displays text in the serif font used by TeX for rendering text generated from input embedded in . TeX is the math typesetting software (mostly) installed on the wikipedia.
 * Even if you don't edit math, the math font can be used to greatly improve the legibility of Greek text which us non-Greeks find hard to read in san-serif, with all the little shapely clues removed. Compare the, $math$, and default san-serif fonts, below:


 * - style="vertical-align:top;"
 * (example how to use the math font template)
 * - style="vertical-align:top;"
 * (result of line above. Nice, isn't it?)
 * - style="vertical-align:top;"
 * Είναι όλα ελληνικά για μένα
 * (default, sans-serif font – even worse than the, above, in the first line)
 * }
 * - style="vertical-align:top;"
 * Είναι όλα ελληνικά για μένα
 * (default, sans-serif font – even worse than the, above, in the first line)
 * }
 * }


 * $...$ displays text in the $italic serif$ font used for rendering variables in text explaining a mathematical equation, etc. It's just a short-cut combination of italic and the $Είναι όλα ελληνικά για μένα$ font. It's used a lot in math, since all usual variables|math variables are italic and $Είναι όλα   ελληνικά   για   μένα$ $both$. For folks not conversant with mathematical typesetting rules, it probably seems like fluff, even though for us inside mathematics, the ubiquitous use of an $italic serif font$ for most (but not all) single-letter symbols makes it a huge time-saver.