Editing Meta:How to contribute (section)

=== Generalities on MediaWiki ===

The λLab uses [https://www.mediawiki.org/ MediaWiki] (the software running Wikipedia for example). The pages are formatted according to the syntax of {{quotes|wikicode}}, a summary of which is provided below. This syntax is partly hidden when using [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:VisualEditor VisualEditor], which is enabled by default on the λLab.

==== Templates ====

One of its key features is ''transclusion'', allowing to insert the content of a page (usually a ''template'') into another page. To insert the content of [[Template:Example]] into the current page and pass it some arguments, the general syntax is <code><nowiki>{{Example|argument 1|argument 2|foo=named argument}}</nowiki></code>. Templates allow to extend MediaWiki's features and to store some parts of frequently used code. The most useful templates are described on the current page.

* Here is a list of <span class="plainlinks">[https://www.lambda-lab.org/wiki/Special:AllPages?namespace=10 all available templates]</span>. 
* For most templates, the page [[Template:Template name]] contains (or will contain) a documentation.

==== Categories ====

MediaWiki allows to give categories to pages. Please don't use this feature until a hierarchy of categories is set up.