Editing Help:Preferences (section)

== Editing ==
:{{myprefs|Editing|Details|[[mw:Help:Preferences#Editing]]}}
Concerning the edit page, its initiation, and look and feel, Wikipedia offers a high number of options. Some of them are:
* "{{int:tog-forceeditsummary}}" into the database. (Habit-forming. Note: this prompt does not appear when you edit your own User or User talk page.)
* "Enable VisualEditor". Get a [[word processor]] interface. No markup language at all.
* "{{int:tog-uselivepreview}}". Get a [[dynamic web page]]. ''Browser reloading'' now gives a glimpse at the ''live'' original without having to leave the edit page. And there is no longer any need to create an entirely new page for each preview requested; ''live preview'' just reloads parts of its page, and so it offers no browser history backwards, but disturbs no history forward either. Saves some network bandwidth and lots of browser cache. Just save your edits before disabling JavaScript.<ref>If you disable JavaScript ''for any page on [[MW:main|MediaWiki.org]] or Wikipedia.org'', you will lose all unsaved edits in all tabs; yet disabling JavaScript is a common troubleshooting technique when diagnosing some preference-related browser behaviors.</ref> (First-time users should perform a simple compatibility test.<ref>The danger in using Live preview is on first use with an incompatible browser. Try a simple test: make a change to the edit box, then reload the page.</ref>)

The font size for the edit box can be set in Wikipedia editing preferences or in the browser. In Firefox, there are two font-size settings at <kbd>{{Nowrap|Options → Content → "Default font"}}</kbd> {{Button|Advanced…}}, one for the edit box, and one for the rest of the page. If you just want uniformity, check to see if it allows Wikipedia to choose its own font; then you set Wikipedia's "Edit Area Font Style" to "Serif" or "Sans Serif", and the font size in the edit box will match the rest of the page.

The number of rows in the edit box is no longer set in preferences. For a temporary change, when the edit box is displayed, drag up or down the small square in the bottom right corner of the edit box. Alternatively, make the change stick by adding this line to your CSS file (in Preferences, Appearance), usually [[Special:MyPage/common.css]]:
<syntaxhighlight lang=css>#wpTextbox1 {height: 25em;}</syntaxhighlight>
where <code>25em</code> is an example (and typical), height.

Two editing toolbars are offered that will span the top of the edit box. (''[[Wikipedia:Reftoolbar]]'' shows versions.)
* "Show edit toolbar" is the legacy 1.0 version that gives a row of buttons. (See [[m:help:Edit toolbar]] for details.)
* "Enable enhanced editing toolbar" gives a [[frame (GUI)|frame]] with icons. It is a default feature that can be turned off.
** [[File:Vector toolbar search-replace button.png]] is a search and replace dialog that can accept [[regular expressions]] as a search target for replacement text. (See [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/JavaScript/Guide/Regular_Expressions?redirectlocale=en-US&redirectslug=Core_JavaScript_1.5_Guide%2FRegular_Expressions a list of regular expression symbols]<ref>Compiled by the Mozilla Contributors.</ref>)

To use more of your favorite [[text editor]] instead of just the edit box and toolbars, see [[Wikipedia:Text editor support]]. Also see the Gadgets tab.