MediaWiki User Guide/Sections and Headings

Headings are created using sequences of "=" characters, placed before the heading title and after the heading title, on the same line. The level of headings is determined by the number of "=" characters. Examples: Level Example 2. ==Plants== 3. ===Plants=== 4. ====Plants==== Start level: 2 Do not use headings of level 1, such as "=Title="; start with level 2 instead. The heading at level 1 is used for the title of the page. Maximum level: 6 The maximum level of a heading is 6, rendered using ======Heading L6======. Entering a heading with 7 equals-signs such as =======Heading L7======= results in the creation of a heading of the level 6, with one equal-sign becoming part of the text of the heading: "=Heading L7=". Spaces Depending on the convention that users and editors adopt, there can be any number of spaces between the "=" characters and the title. An example without spaces: ==Plants== An example with spaces: == Plants == Table of contents By default, the titles of headings appear in the table of contents, shown at the top of the page. To prevent having a table of contents, put the "__NOTOC__" sequence of characters into the page. To force the presence of table of contents on a specific place of the page, use "__TOC__". Excluding headings from the TOC There is no simple way to make a section/heading not appear in the table of contents, and this was stated as being by design. It may, however, be possible to meta:Help:Section 26314549#Making_a_heading_that_does_not_show_up_in_ToC write a small custom extension to enable this functionality. Customizing TOC There are various ways how to customize the table of contents. For instance, to place it to the right, use: <div style="float:right; clear:both; margin-left:0.5em;">__TOC__</div> Editability of sections By default, all sections are editable separately, without the need to see the complete text of the page. To make all the sections on a page non-editable, place __NOEDITSECTION__ anywhere on the page. There is no simple way to make a single section non-editable, AFAIK. Bibliography Meta:Help:Section