Editing Help:Section (section)

== Section editing ==
{{shortcut|WP:EDITLINK|WP:SECTIONEDIT}}
Sections can be separately edited by clicking special edit links labeled "[edit]" by the heading, or by right-clicking on the section heading.

Inserting a section can be done by editing either the section before or after it. An editor can merge one section with the previous section by deleting the heading.

=== Adding a section at the end ===
{{Shortcut|WP:+}}
{{redirect|WP:+|information about good articles, which are marked with small, green plus signs {{nowrap|([[File:Symbol support vote.svg|14 px|alt=]])|Wikipedia:Good articles}}|Wikipedia:Good articles}}
Navigation on pages from "talk" namespaces provides a special link labeled "{{MediaWiki:addsection}}", "+", or "Add topic" used to create a new section to the end of the page.<ref name="Vector">The [[WP:Vector|Vector skin]] can hide the link under the <span style="color: gray;">▾</span> drop-down menu, although it is not the case for the default Vector appearance in English Wikipedia.</ref> The link can be removed from a page with the [[Help:Magic words|magic word]] <code><nowiki>__NONEWSECTIONLINK__</nowiki></code> or added with <code><nowiki>__NEWSECTIONLINK__</nowiki></code>.

The URL for such an action looks like:

{{canonicalurl:Wikipedia:Sandbox|action=edit&section=new}}.

In this case, a text box having as title "{{MediaWiki:subject}}", will appear and the content you type in it will become the name of the new section heading. There is no input box for the [[Help:edit summary|edit summary]]; it is automatically created.

{{for|linking to a section from an edit summary|Help:Edit summary#Section editing}}

=== Editing before the first section ===
By default, there is no link to edit the lead section of a page, so the entire page must be edited. Lead section editing can be enabled through {{myprefs|9|Appearance → Add an [edit] link for the lead section of a page}}. You can also click "[edit]" at another section and manually change <code>section=''n''</code> in the url to <code>section=0</code>. 

=== Removing section edit links ===
Section edit links can be removed, for example in archives, with the magic word <code><nowiki>__NOEDITSECTION__</nowiki></code>. Some templates automatically add it.

=== Preview ===
The preview in section editing does not always show the same as the corresponding part of the full page, e.g., if on the full page an image in the previous section intrudes into the section concerned. Also, &lt;ref>s usually become hidden; see [[#Editing a footnote]] for a solution.

The edit page shows the list of templates used on the whole page, i.e., also the templates used in other sections.

=== Subsections ===
Subsections are included in the part of the section that is edited. Section numbering is relative to the part that is edited, so on the relative top level there is always just number 1, relative subsections all have numbers starting with 1: 1.1., 1.2, etc.; e.g., when editing subsection 3.2, sub-subsection 3.2.4 is numbered 1.4. However, the heading ''format'' is according to the absolute level.

=== Editing a footnote ===
To edit a footnote rendered in a section containing the code <nowiki><references /></nowiki>, edit the section with the footnote mark referring to it (see [[Help:Footnotes]]). Previewing the section will show a preview of the footnote.

=== Sections within parser functions ===
{{Update|the following section about conditional transclusion}}

When conditionally (using a [[Help:Magic words|parser function]]) transcluding a template with sections, the "edit" links of this and subsequent sections will edit the wrong section or give the error message that the section does not exist (although the page (including TOC) is correctly displayed and the TOC links correctly). This is because for the targets of the "edit" links the content of conditionally included templates is considered part of the page itself, and the sections are counted after expansion.

Thus, the "edit" links of the sections of the included template link to the page itself instead of the template, and the "edit" links after the included template link to the correct page but the wrong section number.

More generally, conditional sections give such a complication.

The problem does not occur when transcluding a template with a conditional name (which has more advantages). Use {{tim|void}} for the template to transclude to produce nothing.

{{Help:Editing sections of included templates}}

=== Sections vs. separate pages vs. transclusion ===
Advantages of separate pages:
# [[help:what links here|what links here]] feature
# separate edit histories
# some template limits apply ''per page''
# automatic redirect on renaming
# loading ''one'' small page is faster than loading ''one'' large page—but are readers more likely to want to use just one section or to browse many of the sections of the topic? – see advantages of combined pages
# can separately be put in categories (however, see also below) <!-- where below, please? -->
# with [[Semantic MediaWiki]]: have separate annotations

Advantages of one combined page with sections:
# loading ''one combined'' page is ''faster and more convenient'' than loading ''several divided'' ones
# searching within one large page or its wikitext with a local search function is faster and has advantages over searching several pages using the site search engine or a web search engine
# the TOC provides for convenient navigation.
# more likelihood of editorial cohesion of a concept compared to having several definitions likely to be independently edited
# duplication of items relevant to each section, such as navigation templates and infoboxes is avoided

An alternative is [[Help:Template#Composite pages|composing a page of other pages using the template feature]] (creating a [[compound document]] by [[Wikipedia:transclusion|transclusion]]). This allows easy searching within the combined rendered page, but not in the combined wikitext. As a disadvantage, a title for each page has to be provided. For the pre-expand include size limit, this is disadvantageous even compared with one large page: the pre-expand include size is the sum of the pre-expand include sizes of the components plus the sum of sizes of the wikitexts of the components.