Editing and syntax rules

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Howtopedia is a WikiWiki, which means Quickquick, and is a software that allows to edit information online.
On howtopedia, however, only registered users can edit and publish articles, in order to guarantee the quality of the content. If you want to take part to the project, send us your name, qualification and affiliated organisation or an article at: info (@)howtopedia.org.

Once you have received a user name and editing rights, log in to start editing or creating an article.

Editing a Wiki page is very easy. Simply click on the "Edit this page" tab at the top (or the edit link on the right or bottom) of a Wiki page. This will bring you to a page with a text box containing the editable text of that page. If you just want to experiment, please do so in the sandbox, not here. You should write a short edit summary in the small field below the edit-box. You may use shorthand to describe your changes, as described in the legend, and when you've finished, press Show preview to see how your changes will look. If you're happy with what you see, then press "Save" and your changes will be immediately applied to the article.

You can also click on the "Discussion" tab to see the corresponding talk or discussion page, which contains comments about the page from other Howtopedia users. Click on the "+" tab to add a new section, or edit the page in the same way as an article page.

Tips on editing Howtopedia articles

Always use a neutral point of view, as howtopedia is not a place to promote points of view.

Cite your sources so others can check and possibly extend your work. This will make of howtopedia a reliable source. Please help by researching online and print resources to find references for the article you are working on, then cite them in proper form, and consider inline citation for contentious facts. There is no consensus on the best way to do that, but anything is better than nothing. You can either use inline citation in academic form such as (Example, 2004, pp 22-23) or as a superscript1 to a footnote that you place at the end of an article.

After making a new page, it's a good idea to:

  • With your page displayed, use What links here to check the articles that already link to it, and make sure that they are all expecting the same meaning that you have supplied;
  • Use the Search button to search Howtopedia for your topic title (and possible variants), to find articles that mention it, and make links from them if appropriate
  • Check in other languages if there is an equivalent article and cross reference them with a tag:

like: [[fr:howtopedia:Syntaxe howtopedia]]

Minor edits

See also Wikipedia:Minor edit

When editing a page, a logged-in user can mark that edit as being "minor". Minor edits generally mean spelling corrections, formatting, and minor rearrangement of text. It is possible to hide minor edits when viewing Recent Changes. Marking a significant change as a minor edit is considered bad behavior, and even more so if it involves the deletion of some text. If one has accidentally marked an edit as minor, the person should edit the source once more, mark it major (or, rather, ensure that the check-box for "This is a minor edit" is not checked), and, in the summary, state that the previous change was a major one.

Wiki markup

The wiki markup is the syntax system you can use to format a Howtopedia page.

In the left column of the table below, you can see what effects are possible. In the right column, you can see how those effects were achieved. In other words, to make text look like it looks in the left column, type it in the format you see in the right column.

You may want to keep this page open in a separate browser window for reference. If you want to try out things without danger of doing any harm, you can do so in the Sandbox. Try opening the Sandbox in a separate window or tab and keeping this page open for reference.

Howtopedia as the same functionalities as Wikipedia. The following explanations may refer to Wikipedia, and if you need very specific tools, you will easily find support in the documentation of Wikipedia

-->

Sections, paragraphs, lists and lines

What it looks like What you type

Start your sections as follows:

New section

Subsection

Sub-subsection

  • Start with a second-level heading (==); do not use first-level headings (=).
  • Do not skip levels (e.g., second-level followed by fourth-level).
  • A Table of Contents will automatically be added to an article that has four or more sections. 
==New section==

===Subsection===

====Sub-subsection====

A single newline generally has no effect on the layout. These can be used to separate sentences within a paragraph. Some editors find that this aids editing and improves the function diff (used internally to compare different versions of a page).

But an empty line starts a new paragraph.

  • When used in a list, a newline does affect the layout (see below).
 
A single [[newline]]
generally has no effect on the layout. 
These can be used to separate
sentences within a paragraph.
Some editors find that this aids editing
and improves the function ''diff'' 
(used internally to compare
different versions of a page).

But an empty line
starts a new paragraph.

You can break lines
without starting a new paragraph.

  • Please use this sparingly.
  • Close markup between lines, don't start a link or italics or bold on one line and close it on the next.
 
You can break lines<br>
without starting a new paragraph.
  • Lists are easy to do:
    • Start every line with a star (= asterisk).
      • More stars means deeper levels.
        • A newline in a list

marks the end of a list item.

  • An empty line starts a new list.
 
* Lists are easy to do:
** Start every line with a star.
*** More stars means deeper levels.
**** A newline in a list
marks the end of a list item.

* An empty line starts a new list.
  1. Numbered lists are also good
    1. very organized
    2. easy to follow
      1. easier still
 
# Numbered lists are also good
## very organized
## easy to follow
### easier still
  • You can even do mixed lists
    1. and nest them
      • like this
 
* You can even do mixed lists
*# and nest them
*#* like this
Definition list 
list of definitions
item 
the item's definition
another item
the other item's definition
  • One item per line; a newline can appear before the colon, but using a space before the colon improves parsing.
 
; Definition list : list of definitions
; item : the item's definition
; another item
: the other item's definition
A colon indents a line or paragraph.

A manual newline starts a new paragraph.

  • This is primarily for displayed material, but is also used for discussion on Talk pages.
 
: A colon indents a line or paragraph.
A manual newline starts a new paragraph.

IF a line starts with a space THEN
it will be formatted exactly
as typed;
in a fixed-width font;
lines won't wrap;
ENDIF
  • This is useful for:
    • pasting preformatted text;
    • algorithm descriptions;
    • program source code;
    • ASCII art;
    • chemical structures;
  • WARNING: If you make it wide, you force the whole page to be wide and hence less readable, especially for people who use lower resolutions. Never start ordinary lines with spaces.
 
 IF a line starts with a space THEN
 it will be formatted exactly
 as typed;
 in a fixed-width font;
 lines won't wrap;
 ENDIF
Centered text.
  • Note the American spelling of "center".
 
<center>Centered text.</center>

A horizontal dividing line: this is above it

and this is below it.

  • Mainly useful for separating threads on Talk pages.
  • Also used to disambiguate within an article without creating a separate page.
 
A [[horizontal dividing line]]:
this is above it
----
and this is below it.

Links and URLs

What it looks like What you type

London has public transport.

  • A link to another Howtopedia article.
  • Internally, the first letter of the target page is automatically capitalized and spaces are represented as underscores (typing an underscore in the link has the same effect as typing a space, but is not recommended).
  • Thus the link above is to the URL http://www.howtopedia.org/en/Public_transport, which is the Howtopedia article with the name "Public transport". See also Wikipedia:Canonicalization.
 
London has [[public transport]].

San Francisco also has public transportation.

  • Same target, different name.
  • This is a piped link.
 
San Francisco also has
[[public transport|public transportation]].

San Francisco also has public transportation.

Examples include buses, taxis and streetcars.

  • Endings are blended into the link.
  • Preferred style is to use this instead of a piped link, if possible.
 
San Francisco also has
[[public transport]]ation.

Examples include [[bus]]es, [[taxi]]s
and [[streetcar]]s.

See the Wikipedia:Manual of Style. 

See the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style]].

Automatically hide stuff in parentheses: kingdom.

Automatically hide namespace: Village Pump.

Or both: Manual of Style

But not: [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Links|]]

  • The server fills in the part after the pipe character (|) when you save the page. The next time you open the edit box you will see the expanded piped link. When previewing your edits, you will not see the expanded form until you press Save and Edit again. The same applies to links to sections within the same page (see previous entry).
 
Automatically hide stuff in parentheses:
[[kingdom (biology)|]].

Automatically hide namespace: 
[[Wikipedia:Village Pump|]].

Or both:
[[Wikipedia:Manual of Style (headings)|]]

But not:
[[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Links|]]

The weather in London is a page that doesn't exist yet.

  • You can create it by clicking on the link (but please don't do so with this particular link).
  • To create a new page:
    1. Create a link to it on some other (related) page.
    2. Save that page.
    3. Click on the link you just made. The new page will open for editing.
  • For more information, see How to start a page and check out Wikipedia's naming conventions.
  • ’’’Please do not create a new article without linking to it from the main thematic chapters.’’’
 
[[The weather in London]] is a page 
that doesn't exist yet.

Wikipedia:How to edit a page is this page.

  • Self links appear as bold text when the article is viewed.
  • Do not use this technique to make the article name bold in the first paragraph; see the Manual of Style.
 
[[Wikipedia:How to edit a page]] is this page.

When adding a comment to a Talk page, you should sign it by adding three tildes to add your user name:

Ben Brockert

or four to add user name plus date/time:

Ben Brockert 00:18, Nov 19, 2004 (UTC)

Five tildes gives the date/time alone:

00:18, Nov 19, 2004 (UTC)
  • The first two both provide a link to your user page.
 
When adding a comment to a Talk page,
you should sign it by adding
three tildes to add your user name:
: ~~~
or four for user name plus date/time:
: ~~~~
Five tildes gives the date/time alone:
: ~~~~~
  • Redirect one article title to another by placing a directive like the one shown to the right on the first line of the article (such as at a page titled "USA").
  • Note that, while it is possible to link to a section, it is not possible to redirect to a section. For example, "#REDIRECT [[United States#History]]" will redirect to the United States page, but not to any particular section on it. This feature will not be implemented in the future, so such redirects should not be used.
 
#REDIRECT [[United States]]
  • Link to a page on the same subject in another language by using a link of the form: [[language code:Title]].
  • It does not matter where you put these links while editing as they will always show up in the same place when you save the page, but placement at the end of the edit box is recommended.
  • Please see Wikipedia:Interlanguage links and the list of languages and codes.
 
[[fr:Wikip�dia:Aide]]

What links here and Related changes pages can be linked as: Special:Whatlinkshere/Wikipedia:How to edit a page and Special:Recentchangeslinked/Wikipedia:How to edit a page 

'''What links here''' and '''Related changes'''
pages can be linked as:
[[Special:Whatlinkshere/Wikipedia:How to edit a page]]
and
[[Special:Recentchangeslinked/Wikipedia:How to edit a page]]

A user's Contributions page can be linked as: Special:Contributions/UserName or Special:Contributions/192.0.2.0 

A user's '''Contributions''' page can be linked as:
[[Special:Contributions/UserName]]
or
[[Special:Contributions/192.0.2.0]]
  • Don’t forget to put Category tags to your articles: You will find the actual list of categories in: Category, Copy / paste those categories from the edit window of Category into your article, and erase the ones you don’t need. Don’t hesitate creating new categories , but copy them back into the main list of categories to keep it updated.

To put an article in a Category, place a link like the one to the right anywhere in the article. As with interlanguage links, it does not matter where you put these links while editing as they will always show up in the same place when you save the page, but placement at the end of the edit box is recommended. 

[[Category:Character sets]]
  • To link to a Category page without putting the article into the category, use an initial colon (:) in the link.
 
[[:Category:Character sets]]

Linking to other wikis:

  1. Interwiki link: Wiktionary:Hello
  2. Named interwiki link: Hello
  3. Interwiki link without prefix: Hello

Linking to another language's wiktionary:

  1. Wiktionary:fr:bonjour
  2. bonjour
  3. fr:bonjour
 
Linking to other wikis:
# [[Interwiki]] link: [[Wiktionary:Hello]]
# Named interwiki link: [[Wiktionary:Hello|Hello]]
# Interwiki link without prefix: [[Wiktionary:Hello|]]

Linking to another language's wiktionary:
# [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour]]
# [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour|bonjour]]
# [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour|]]

ISBN 012345678X

ISBN 0-123-45678-X

  • Link to books using their ISBN numbers. This is preferred to linking to a specific online bookstore, because it gives the reader a choice of vendors.
  • ISBN links do not need any extra markup, provided you use one of the indicated formats.
 
ISBN 012345678X

ISBN 0-123-45678-X

Date formats:

  1. July 20, 1969
  2. 20 July 1969
  3. 1969-07-20
  • Link dates in one of the above formats, so that everyone can set their own display order. If logged in, you can use Special:Preferences to change your own date display setting.
  • All of the above dates will appear as "20 July 1969" if you set your date display preference to "15 January 2001", but as "July 20, 1969" if you set it to "January 15, 2001".
 
Date formats:
# [[July 20]], [[1969]]
# [[20 July]] [[1969]]
# [[1969]]-[[07-20]]

Sound

  • To include links to non-image uploads such as sounds, use a "media" link. For images, see next section.

Some uploaded sounds are listed at Wikipedia:Sound. 

[[media:Sg_mrob.ogg|Sound]]

Images

What it looks like What you type
A picture: File:Wiki.png

or, with alternative text: jigsaw globe

or, floating to the right side of the page and with a caption:

File:Wiki.png
Wikipedia Encyclopedia

or, floating to the right side of the page without a caption:

Wikipedia Encyclopedia

  • Only images that have been uploaded to howtopedia can be used. To upload images, use the upload page. You can find the uploaded image on the image list.
  • See the image use policy and extended image markup/syntax pages for more hints.
  • Alternative text, used when the image isn't loaded, in a text-only browser, or when spoken aloud, is strongly encouraged. See Alternate text for images for help on choosing it.
  • The frame tag automatically floats the image right.
 
A picture: [[Image:Wiki.png]]

or, with alternative text:
[[Image:Wiki.png|jigsaw globe]]

or, floating to the right side of the page and with a caption:
[[Image:Wiki.png|frame|Wikipedia Encyclopedia]]

or, floating to the right side of the page ''without'' a caption:
[[Image:Wiki.png|right|Wikipedia Encyclopedia]]

Clicking on an uploaded image displays a description page, which you can also link directly to: Image:Wiki.png 


[[:Image:Wiki.png]]

To include links to images shown as links instead of drawn on the page, use a "media" link.


Image of a Tornado 



[[media:Tornado.jpg|Image of a Tornado]]

Character formatting

What it looks like What you type

Emphasize, strongly, very strongly.

  • These are double, triple, and quintuple apostrophes (single-quote marks), not double-quote marks.
 
''Emphasize'', '''strongly''', '''''very strongly'''''.

<math>\sin x + \ln y</math>
sinx + lny

<math>\mathbf{x} = 0</math>
x = 0

Ordinary text should use wiki markup for emphasis, and should not use <i> or <b>. However, mathematical formulas often use italics, and sometimes use bold, for reasons unrelated to emphasis. Complex formulas should use <math> markup, and simple formulas may use <math>; or <i> and <b>; or '' and '''. According to WikiProject Mathematics, wiki markup is preferred over HTML markup like <i> and <b>. 

<math>\sin x + \ln y</math>
sin''x'' + ln''y''

<math>\mathbf{x} = 0</math>
'''x''' = 0

A typewriter font for monospace text or for computer code: int main()

  • For semantic reasons, using <code> where applicable is preferable to using <tt>.
 
A typewriter font for <tt>monospace text</tt>
or for computer code: <code>int main()</code>

You can use small text for captions. 

You can use <small>small text</small> for captions.

You can strike out deleted material and underline new material.

You can also mark deleted material and inserted material using logical markup rather than visual markup.

  • When editing regular Howtopedia articles, just make your changes and don't mark them up in any special way.
  • When editing your own previous remarks in talk pages, it is sometimes appropriate to mark up deleted or inserted material.
 
You can <s>strike out deleted material</s>
and <u>underline new material</u>.

You can also mark <del>deleted material</del> and
<ins>inserted material</ins> using logical markup
rather than visual markup.

Diacritical marks:
� � � � � �
� � � � � �
� � � � � �
� � � � � �
� � � � � �
� � � � � �
� � � � � �
� � � � � �
œ � � � � �
� � � 


&Agrave; &Aacute; &Acirc; &Atilde; &Auml; &Aring; 
&AElig; &Ccedil; &Egrave; &Eacute; &Ecirc; &Euml; 
&Igrave; &Iacute; &Icirc; &Iuml; &Ntilde; &Ograve; 
&Oacute; &Ocirc; &Otilde; &Ouml; &Oslash; &Ugrave; 
&Uacute; &Ucirc; &Uuml; &szlig; &agrave; &aacute; 
&acirc; &atilde; &auml; &aring; &aelig; &ccedil; 
&egrave; &eacute; &ecirc; &euml; &igrave; &iacute;
&icirc; &iuml; &ntilde; &ograve; &oacute; &ocirc; 
&oelig; &otilde; &ouml; &oslash; &ugrave; &uacute; 
&ucirc; &uuml; &yuml;

Punctuation:
� � � �
† ‡ • – —
‹ › � �
‘ ’ “ ” 


&iquest; &iexcl; &sect; &para;
&dagger; &Dagger; &bull; &ndash; &mdash;
&lsaquo; &rsaquo; &laquo; &raquo;
&lsquo; &rsquo; &ldquo; &rdquo;

Commercial symbols:
™ � � � € �
� � 


&trade; &copy; &reg; &cent; &euro; &yen; 
&pound; &curren;

Subscripts:
x1 x2 x3 or
x₀ x₁ x₂ x₃ x₄
x₅ x₆ x₇ x₈ x₉

Superscripts:
x1 x2 x3 or
x⁰ x¹ x² x³ x⁴
x⁵ x⁶ x⁷ x⁸ x⁹

  • The latter methods of sub/superscripting can't be used in the most general context, as they rely on Unicode support which may not be present on all users' machines. For the 1-2-3 superscripts, it is nevertheless preferred when possible (as with units of measurement) because most browsers have an easier time formatting lines with it.

ε0 = 8.85 × 10−12 C² / J m.

1 hectare = 1 E4 m² 


x<sub>1</sub> x<sub>2</sub> x<sub>3</sub> or
<br/>
x&#8320; x&#8321; x&#8322; x&#8323; x&#8324;
<br/>
x&#8325; x&#8326; x&#8327; x&#8328; x&#8329;

x<sup>1</sup> x<sup>2</sup> x<sup>3</sup> or
<br/>
x&#8304; x&sup1; x&sup2; x&sup3; x&#8308;
<br/>
x&#8309; x&#8310; x&#8311; x&#8312; x&#8313;

&epsilon;<sub>0</sub> =
8.85 &times; 10<sup>&minus;12</sup>
C&sup2; / J m.

1 [[hectare]] = [[1 E4 m&sup2;]]

Greek characters:
α β γ δ ε ζ
η θ ι κ λ μ ν
ξ ο π ρ σ ς
τ υ φ χ ψ ω
Γ Δ Θ Λ Ξ Π
Σ Φ Ψ Ω 


&alpha; &beta; &gamma; &delta; &epsilon; &zeta; 
&eta; &theta; &iota; &kappa; &lambda; &mu; &nu; 
&xi; &omicron; &pi; &rho; &sigma; &sigmaf;
&tau; &upsilon; &phi; &chi; &psi; &omega;
&Gamma; &Delta; &Theta; &Lambda; &Xi; &Pi; 
&Sigma; &Phi; &Psi; &Omega;

Mathematical characters:
∫ ∑ ∏ √ − ± ∞
≈ ∝ ≡ ≠ ≤ ≥
× · ÷ ∂ ′ ″
∇ ‰ ° ∴ ℵ ø
∈ ∉ ∩ ∪ ⊂ ⊃ ⊆ ⊇
¬ ∧ ∨ ∃ ∀ ⇒ ⇔
→ ↔

 


&int; &sum; &prod; &radic; &minus; &plusmn; &infin;
&asymp; &prop; &equiv; &ne; &le; &ge;
&times; &middot; &divide; &part; &prime; &Prime;
&nabla; &permil; &deg; &there4; &alefsym; &oslash;
&isin; &notin; &cap; &cup; &sub; &sup; &sube; &supe;
&not; &and; &or; &exist; &forall; &rArr; &hArr;
&rarr; &harr;

Spacing in simple math formulas:
Obviously, x² ≥ 0 is true.

  • To space things out without allowing line breaks to interrupt the formula, use non-breaking spaces: &nbsp;.
 


Obviously, ''x''&sup2;&nbsp;&ge;&nbsp;0 is true.

Complicated formulas:

<math>\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{x^n}{n!}</math>
  • See Help:Formula for how to use <math>.
  • A formula displayed on a line by itself should probably be indented by using the colon (:) character.
 


: <math>\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{x^n}{n!}</math>

Suppressing interpretation of markup:
Link → (''to'') the [[Wikipedia FAQ]]

  • Used to show literal data that would otherwise have special meaning.
  • Escape all wiki markup, including that which looks like HTML tags.
  • Does not escape HTML character references.
  • To escape HTML character references such as &rarr; use &amp;rarr;
 


<nowiki>Link &rarr; (''to'') 
the [[Wikipedia FAQ]]</nowiki>

Commenting page source:
not shown when viewing page

  • Used to leave comments in a page for future editors.
  • Note that most comments should go on the appropriate Talk page.
 


<!-- comment here -->

(see also: Chess symbols in Unicode)

Table of Contents

Placement of the Table of Contents (TOC)

At the current status of the wiki markup language, having at least four headers on a page triggers the TOC to appear in front of the first header (or after introductory sections). Putting __TOC__ anywhere forces the TOC to appear at that point (instead of just before the first header). Putting __NOTOC__ anywhere forces the TOC to disappear. See also compact TOC for alphabet and year headings.

Keeping headings out of the Table of Contents

If you want some subheadings to not appear in the Table of Contents, then make the following replacements.

Replace == Header 2 == with <h2> Header 2 </h2>

Replace === Header 3 === with <h3> Header 3 </h3>

And so forth.

For example, notice that the following header has the same font as the other subheaders to this "Tables" section, but the following header does not appear in the Table of Contents for this page.

This header has the h4 font, but is NOT in the Table of Contents

This effect is obtained by the following line of code.

<h4> This header has the h4 font, but is NOT in the Table of Contents </h4>


Tables

There are two ways to build tables:

  • in special Wiki-markup (see Help:Table)
  • with the usual HTML elements: <table>, <tr>, <td> or <th>.

For the latter, and a discussion on when tables are appropriate, see Wikipedia:How to use tables.

Variables

(See also Help:Variable)

Code Effect
{{CURRENTMONTH}} 04
{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} April
{{CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN}} April
{{CURRENTDAY}} 17
{{CURRENTDAYNAME}} Tuesday
{{CURRENTYEAR}} 2018
{{CURRENTTIME}} 15:29
{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} 269
{{PAGENAME}} Editing and syntax rules
{{NAMESPACE}}
{{localurl:pagename}} /wiki/Pagename
{{localurl:Wikipedia:Sandbox|action=edit}} http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandbox?action=edit
{{SERVER}} http://en.howtopedia.org
{{ns:1}} Talk
{{ns:2}} User
{{ns:3}} User talk
{{ns:4}} Howtopedia - english
{{ns:5}} Howtopedia - english talk
{{ns:6}} File
{{ns:7}} File talk
{{ns:8}} MediaWiki
{{ns:9}} MediaWiki talk
{{ns:10}} Template
{{ns:11}} Template talk
{{ns:12}} Help
{{ns:13}} Help talk
{{ns:14}} Category
{{ns:15}} Category talk
{{SITENAME}} Howtopedia - english

NUMBEROFARTICLES is the number of pages in the main namespace which contain a link and are not a redirect, i.e. number of articles, stubs containing a link, and disambiguation pages.

CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN is the genitive (possessive) grammatical form of the month name, as used in some languages; CURRENTMONTHNAME is the nominative (subject) form, as usually seen in English.

In languages where it makes a difference, you can use constructs like {{grammar:case|word}} to convert a word from the nominative case to some other case. For example, {{grammar:genitive|{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}}}} means the same as {{CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN}}.

Templates

The MediaWiki software used by Howtopedia has support for templates. This means standardized text chunks (such as boilerplate text) can be inserted into articles. For example, typing {{stub}} will appear as "This article is a stub. You can help Howtopedia by expanding it." when the page is saved. See Wikipedia:Template messages for the complete list. Other commonly used ones are: {{disambig}} for disambiguation pages, {{spoiler}} for spoiler warnings and {{sectstub}} like an article stub but for a section. There are many subject-specific stubs e.g.: {{Geo-stub}}, {{Hist-stub}} and {{Linux-stub}}. For a complete list of stubs see Wikipedia:Template messages/Stubs.

Hiding the edit links

Insert __NOEDITSECTION__ into the document to suppress the edit links that appear next to every section header.

More information on editing wiki pages

You may also want to learn about:

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