### Intro video Research notes are kind of like a shared blog where you can show the things you've made to other Public Lab folx, ask questions, propose ideas, or post events. ### Formatting PublicLab.org uses **Markdown**, a simple way to add formatting to web pages. You can [read about Markdown here](http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/), but if you want to keep things simple, you can just write in plain text and things should "just work". A great list of available Markdown syntax can be found here: http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/syntax _Note: The Daring Fireball section on carriage returns differs slightly from the Public Lab markdown. A single carriage return will suffice to bring the text to a new line. When you want a space between paragraphs, end the line with two or more spaces and add two carriage returns._ See formatting you like & want to replicate on your own research note or wiki? Click the edit button [](/i/46692?s=o) at the top right of any wiki page to see its Markdown language & copy for your own use! To preview the formatting of your content, click "Preview" at the bottom of the editing window. ### PDF embedding We have a PDF embedding "widget" that can be used in wiki pages and research notes, but it's a little particular in formatting: For research notes, [you can use this link](/post?n=17362) For wiki pages, [you can use this link](/wiki/new?n=17362) ### Advanced formatting #### Hyperlinks To embed a link in clickable text, type the text in square brackets directly followed by the url in parentheses (or use the link button above): `[Click here for PublicLab](http://publiclab.org/home)` This is displayed as: [Click here for PublicLab](http://publiclab.org/home) You can also use relative links within the wiki. Beginning a link with a forward slash connotes that you want to start after publiclab.org. For example, suppose you were on the following wiki page: `http://publiclab.org/wiki/relative-links` and you wanted to link to someone's user profile. The following: `[username](/profile/username)` would be displayed as: [username](/profile/username) #### LaTeX Math The LaTeX Math is a syntax that allows you to construct and replicate mathematical formulas in a research note, comment, question, etc. In order to tell LaTeX what part of the text contains mathematical elements, you need to use _delimiters_. To write a math formula in the same line as the text, use the delimiter `$...$` or `\(...\)` To display a formula separately in a new line, use the delimiter `$$...$$` **Always** enclose your entire equation in ` ` tags Here is an example of a simple equation: ` $a=x^2$ ` would produce: $a=x^2$ To write more complicated formulas, you need to familiarize yourself with the syntax for the math constructs you want to use. For eg. the syntax for a fraction is: `\frac{numerator}{denominator}` Hence, writing `$$a=\frac{3}{x}$$ ` would produce $$a=\frac{3}{x}$$ Here is a link containing most of the syntax supported by LaTeX: http://www.auburn.edu/~tamtiny/Symbols.pdf Go ahead and explore the syntaxes for various math constructs and symbols, and then write your first LaTeX math equation! #### Images To add an image to the post body: * Place the cursor where you want an image to be. * Drag and drop a jpg, png, or gif file to that place. * Don't move the cursor until the upload completes (or do, but the image will place where the cursor is once the upload completes). * Some code like this will appear: `[]` `(https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/001/446/original/filename.jpg)` * Change the word "medium" to "large" to display a larger image, or to "thumb" to display a smaller image. * Click "Preview" at the bottom to preview the image. For lead images, simply drag the image into the indicated region. You can also add an image by clicking the [](/i/46792?s=o) icon on the bottom toolbar. There is an image upload limit of 10mb. #### Captions * To add a figure caption under an image, place the image code as above. * Directly after the last closing parenthesis, enter two line breaks. * On the next line enter your caption. Start and end your caption with an `_underscore_` if you want to make the text italic. * Directly after the caption, enter two line breaks (to separate your caption from following text). #### Lists Make a bulleted list by starting with *a blank line* and then starting each line with `*, +, or -` followed by a space: `* Balloons` `* Kites` `* Poles` Will display as: * Balloons * Kites * Poles For numbered lists, *after a blank line* start each item with any number, a period, and a space: `1. Balloons` `7. Kites` `4. Poles` Will display as: 1. Balloons 7. Kites 4. Poles To override automatic renumbering and list-making, add a backslash `\` between the number and the period: `1\. Balloons` `7\. Kites` `4\. Poles` Will display as: 1\. Balloons 7\. Kites 4\. Poles To indent a line, indent it at least four spaces for each indent 1. Mapping tools 1. Balloons 2. Kites 3. Poles 2. Spectral tools 1. Spectrometer 2. Infragram #### Code To enter short (single line) examples of code (html, markdown, Javascript, etc) so that it will not be interpreted, begin and end the text with backtick quotes (`) (on an American keyboard, that's on the key with the tilde ~; on a British keyboard it's usually in the top left-hand corner of the keyboard, with the |): `` To enter larger blocks of code, indent each line 4 spaces. ####Buttons and other HTML See many examples of buttons on [this post](http://publiclab.org/lists) or stick an "edit this wiki page" button in line by simply adding `edit` in square brackets. For example, the code below would create this button Follow mine reclamation [](/i/46798?s=o) #### Tables To create this: [](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/008/562/original/Screen_Shot_2015-01-04_at_3.40.36_PM.png) ...use this type of markdown where cells are separated by pipes and rows are separated by carriage returns: `rawRed|rawGreen|rawBlue` `-------------------------|---------------------|-------------------------` `944|471|287` `195|157|142` #### Power tags [Power tags](/wiki/power-tags) are an advanced feature which can add extra functions and layout options to your wiki pages (and sometimes research notes). #### Foldaways **Foldaways** allow authors to hide sections of text in a kind of "accordion fold" and provide a link to reveal the hidden content. To use them, enclose your text between `[fold :FOO]` and `[unfold ]` tags, where FOO is the text to use for the reveal link. In this example, remove the spaces after "fold" and "unfold" to make this work -- I inserted it to stop the foldaway from working. For example, once you remove the spaces after "fold" and "unfold": ```` Hello world! [fold :Show more text] Hello, hidden world! [unfold ] ```` will display as: Hello world! [fold:Show more text] Hello, hidden world! [unfold] **** #### Alert Flags * Green alert flag: alert alert-success * Blue alert flag: alert alert-info * Red alert flag: alert alert-danger For example, to display the green alert flag below, use the code: [](/i/46796?s=o) Learn more about the new Spectral Workbench 2. To display the red alert bar below, use this code: [](/i/46797?s=o) testing new red bar in "alert-danger" for Bootstrap v4 Read more about using colored alert bars at: https://getbootstrap.com/docs/4.0/components/alerts/ **** ...this is a wiki... help flesh this out! [edit] ...