Wikibooks:WikiProject OpenRewi - Open Legal Science/Writing

On this page you will find technical guidance to start writing in your chapter in Wikibooks. If you have any questions, feel free to contact your editors at any time.

General remarks edit

You cannot write your text in Microsoft Word (or other word processors) and then copy it to Wikibooks. Instead, you must use one of the three editing options described below.

You have three different options for writing:

  1. Using Wikibook's visual editor for writing online
  2. Using Wikibook's source editor for writing online
  3. Using Atom editor for writing offline

There are four basic rules for working in Wikibooks, regardless of the technique you choose:

  1. Before you edit your chapter, you have to register and log in to Wikibooks.
  2. Instead of publishing many small changes over and over again, you should publish all changes at the same time at the end of your edit (this way, the changes are easier for others to track)
  3. Before publishing your edits, you should double check your change. You can do that by clicking "Show preview" at the bottom of the page
  4. Each edit should be summarized under "Edit summary"

Text editors for writing in Wikibooks edit

Visual editor edit

The easiest way to write, publish and modify your text in Wikibooks is the visual editor. You can select the visual editor by clicking on "Edit" in the top menu bar of your chapter.

Writing using the visual editor is very similar to writing in Microsoft Word. In the top menu bar you can apply simple formatting (e.g. italic, bold or underlined), select style sheets (e.g. heading, paragraph), insert lists or tables and cite something. These elements are mostly self-explanatory.

By clicking on "Insert" and then on "Template" in the top menu bar you can select our uniform designs for advanced content and examples.

For example, to integrate a box for advanced content into your text, you

  1. click on "Insert",
  2. click on "Template",
  3. search for the template ("OpenRewi/Advanced"),
  4. click on "Add template",
  5. enter your heading under "Reference" and your text under "Content" and
  6. add the box to your text by clicking on "Insert".

If you want to insert an example, you have to select the "OpenRewi/Example" template instead of the "OpenRewi/Advanced" template in the third step.

Please make sure not to change our design theme (e.g. info boxes) and follow our style guide (especially for headings).

Source editor edit

You can also edit your chapter using the source editor. You select the source editor by clicking on "Edit source" in the upper menu bar of your chapter.

For the source editor you have to use the so called wiki syntax. Wiki syntax is a simplified markup language of HTML. The syntax is very simple so you can learn it quickly. Detailed instructions for working in the source editor can be found here. You can find an list of the most important wiki syntax commands for OpenRewi in the following cheat sheet. Just copy the code and paste it into your chapter. You just need to adjust the content for your chapter. Our style guide describes in detail what the individual parts are used for.

Cheat Sheet: Source Code to Copy & Paste
Title Code Visualization
Basic formatting '''This is a bold text''', this is an ''italic text'', <u>this is an underlined text</u> and <s>this is a strikethrough text</s>. This is a bold text, this is an italic text, this is an underlined text and this is a strikethrough text.
Headings ==A. Heading ==

===I. Sub-heading I===
====1. Sub-heading II====
===2. Sub-heading I===
====a) Sub-sub-heading I====
=====aa) Sub-sub-sub-heading I=====
==B. Heading ==

Lists *This is a bulleted list

#This is a numbered list

  • This is a bulleted list
  1. This is a numbered list
Footnotes In Corfu Channel, the ICJ found state responsibility on the part of Albania.<ref>[https://www.icj-cij.org/public/files/case-related/1/001-19490409-JUD-01-00-EN.pdf Corfu Channel Case (UK v Albania) (Merits) (1949) ICJ Rep 4].</ref> In Corfu Channel, the ICJ found state responsibility on the part of Albania.[1]
Link to other chapter [[Title of your book/ Chapter|Text that should appear for the link to other chapters]] Text that should appear for the link to other chapters
Link to other chapters using an anchor [[Title of your book/ Chapter#anchor:name of your anchor|Text that should appear for the link to an anchor]] Text that should appear for the link to an anchor
Anchor in linked text {{anchor|name of your anchor}}
Link to source outside Wikibooks [https://openrewi.org/en/english/ Text that should appear for the link to sources outside Wikibooks] Text that should appear for the link to sources outside Wikibooks
Providing examples {{Template:OpenRewi/Example|Content=This is your example.|Reference= example topic}}

Example for example topic: This is your example.

Providing advanced content {{Template:OpenRewi/Advanced|Content=This is your advanced content.|Reference=Heading for your advanced content}}
Advanced: Heading for your advanced content

This is your advanced content.


Embed interactive elements {{Template:OpenRewi/Test|Link=Link to H5P element#your_anchor}}
  Test your knowledge in our learning area.
Comment in source code <!--This is a comment.-->

Atom editor edit

If you prefer to write your texts offline first (and not immediately in the visual editor, where every intermediate saving also means a publication), we recommend the program Atom. If you want to write your text offline first, you have to use the so called "Wiki-Syntax". This is not difficult and quickly learned (as described in the previous section about the source editor). You can find an overview of the most important commands for OpenRewi in this cheat sheet. Just copy the code and paste it into the Atom editor. You just need to adjust the content for your chapter. Detailed instructions for working in the source editor can be found here.

To write your text offline using Atom, you need to follow the steps below:

  1. Download Atom and install the program
  2. Install the Mediawiki-Package in Atom according to the following steps
    1. Open the preferences window of Atom
    2. Click on "Install"
    3. Search for "language-mediawiki" and click on "install
  3. Set "Mediawiki" as format instead of "plain text" in the lower right corner between UTF-8 and Github
  4. Start writing in Atom and do not forget to save your document on your computer from time to time
  5. As soon as you finalized parts of your chapter in Atom using the wiki syntax, you can just copy and paste it into your chapter in Wikibooks using the source editor.

Embedding interactive exercises edit

You are welcome to embed links to interactive exercises into your chapter. Among other things, you can create single or multiple choice questions and cloze texts. For this you need to use the H5P framework. How to do this is described below.

To create interactive exercises, you need to follow these steps:

  1. Click on this [link] and log in with the data shared with you by the editors. For the PIL Team, the login data can be found under this link in [Nextcloud]
  2. Click on "H5P Content" -> "Add New" in the left sidebar and select an exercise type (e.g. multiple choice, fill in the blanks etc.)
  3. Fill in the necessary fields for your selected exercise type
  4. Scroll down to "Labels and captions" (in German: "Bezeichnungen und Beschriftungen") and change the language from German to English
  5. Click on "Create" in the upper right corner
  6. Copy the shortcode in the upper right corner
    [h5p id="your_number"]
  7. Double check your exercise
  8. Search the "exercise page" of your book, which has been created by the editors. For the PIL Team, you will find the exercise pages [here]
  9. Create a paragraph and a heading for your topic (e.g. "Exercises on state responsibility") on your respective exercise page (History, Theory, and Methods; General International Law; Specialized Fields)
  10. Copy the short code to the desired location on the exercise page
  11. Set an anchor: Click on your short code, select "Block" on the right sidebar, and choose a suitable description without spaces at the end under "Advanced" at "HTML anchor".
  12. Add the template "OpenRewi/Test" to your Wikibooks chapter and enter the link to your exercise page (point 8) of your book supplemented by "#" and the name of your anchor
    {{Template:OpenRewi/Test|Link=Link to H5P element#your_anchor}}
  13. Publish your changes on Wikibooks and check if the link to your exercise works
    Note: Sometimes it can take a while until your exercise is displayed. It is best to simply restart the browser, clear the cache or make a test with another device.

Footnotes edit

  1. Corfu Channel Case (UK v Albania) (Merits) (1949) ICJ Rep 4.