Wiki Help

How to edit

The ALB wiki is written by its readers — anyone can edit any page, no account needed. Click the Edit tab on any article, change the text, write a short summary, and hit Save page. Your change is live immediately and kept in the page's history forever.

Be bold. If you see something wrong or missing, fix it — you can't break anything, every old revision is kept.

Markup

The wiki uses Markdown plus wiki-style Links:

What you want	What you type
Headings	# Title, ## Section, ### Part
Bold / italic	bold, italic
Inline code	\PRINT\``
Code block	a fenced block starting and ending with \\\`
Bullet list	- item or * item
Numbered list	1. item
Quote	> words
Internal link	Page name or shown text
Section link	Page § Section or text
Same-page jump	text
Category	Category:Name anywhere in the page
Category link	Category:Name — links it without filing the page
Special page	Special:AllPages
External link	label
Horizontal rule	--- on its own line
Table	rows separated by `	` (see below)
Image
Infobox	{{infobox … }} (see below)
Redirect	#REDIRECT Page name as the whole page

Callout boxes and flow frames

Fenced blocks get a second life: give the opening fence a type and the block becomes a styled callout box instead of code. Anything after the type on the fence line becomes the box's title � and titles may contain Links.

Text, markup, and Links all work inside.

Custom colors: ``box:gold, `box:red, `box:navy, `box:brown, `box:green, `box:cyan � or any hex like ``box:#ff6600.

For ```flow, draw the diagram in plain ASCII � it renders verbatim inside a branded frame:

idea -> edit -> preview -> save -> published

Flowcharts � ```chart

For real diagrams, ```chart draws a styled flowchart as SVG. One line per node, one line per chain of arrows:

terminal begin "BEGIN" process win "CREATE_WINDOW" decision ev "event waiting?" process tick "ON TICK" terminal done "END"

begin -> win -> ev ev -yes-> tick -> ev ev -no-> done

Arrows chain freely: a -> b -> c. Labels go on the left of an arrow: ev -yes-> tick. An arrow back to an earlier node draws as a loop return on the left side. Use \n inside a label for a second line. Keep charts simple � one entry, top-down flow; anything busier belongs in an image.

Links

Internal links are the wiki's connective tissue. Type Getting Started and the wiki links it automatically:

• Blue links go to pages that exist.
• Red links go to pages that don't exist yet — click one to create it. Red links are invitations, not errors.
• Use the language to show different text than the page name.
• Links work inside headings too — ### The Jacquard loom (1801–1804) makes the whole heading a link, which is how section titles point to their own articles.

Tables

Tables use pipe rows:

| Name | Born | Known for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [[Ada Lovelace]] | 1815 | The first published program |
| [[Alan Turing]] | 1912 | The universal machine |

The --- row under the header separates it from the body. Links work inside cells.

Redirects

If a page is just another name for an article, make its entire content:

#REDIRECT [[Real page name]]

Readers hitting it are forwarded automatically. ?redirect=no in the URL shows the stub itself so it can be edited. Use redirects for aliases, alternate spellings, and common short names — like ENIAC six → The first programmers.

Contents boxes and section links

Every heading gets an anchor automatically — a ## Controversy section can be linked as Page name § Controversy. Pages with three or more headings get a floating Contents box generated automatically; nothing to type.

Images and infoboxes

For a fact card at the top of an article — the box of dates and names on a biography — use an infobox:

{{infobox
| title = Ada Lovelace
| born = 10 December 1815
| died = 27 November 1852
| known_for = First published program
}}

It floats right with a title row and key/value rows. Add image and caption keys to embed a /media/wiki/ file inside the box. Links work inside values.

Categories

Put Category:History anywhere in a page's text to file it. The category box appears at the bottom, and the page shows up automatically on that category's listing. Categories are created just by being used — no setup needed. To link a category page without filing the current one, write Category:History.

Current categories include Language, History, People, Hardware, Languages, Companies, Mathematics, Reference, Wiki, and Help — but anyone can start a new one.

History, diffs, and reverting

• The History tab lists every revision ever made — who, when, and the summary.
• Click diff next to any revision to see exactly what changed, line by line.
• Click revert to restore an older revision. A revert is itself a new revision — history is never destroyed, and vandalism can be undone by anyone in seconds.

Finding pages

• Search (top of every wiki page) finds text in titles and bodies.
• Special:AllPages lists every article alphabetically.
• Special:RecentChanges shows the latest edits across the whole wiki.
• Special:WhatLinksHere/Page name lists every page that links to it — also reachable from the "What links here" link in each article's footer.
• Special:LonelyPages lists pages nothing links to — orphans waiting for a mention.
• Special:DeadendPages lists pages that link nowhere — add Links and the web grows.

Good pages to write

This wiki has two growing halves, and both want new pages:

The ALB reference — language documentation:

• One page per statement, function, or keyword
• Tutorials and worked examples
• Patterns and idioms — how to structure an ALB program
• Gotchas, pitfalls, frequently asked questions
• Glossary pages for terms beginners meet

The history encyclopedia — the story of programming, already underway:

• People: Ada Lovelace, Alan Turing, John von Neumann, Herman Hollerith, Joseph-Marie Jacquard, the ENIAC six
• Machines and documents: Jacquard Loom, Analytical Engine, EDVAC report, Manchester Baby, EDSAC, IBM
• Languages: FORTRAN, LISP, ALGOL
• Red links everywhere are the to-do list — pick one and write it.

Style notes

• Keep it family-friendly — this is a learning site.
• Write plainly and factually; teach, don't advertise.
• Prefer short sections with headings over one wall of text.
• Link generously — every proper name, machine, and language in a sentence deserves a Link, even if it's red.
• Code examples should be real, working ALB.
• Always fill in the summary line — it makes Recent Changes and History readable.

ALB Wiki rules

• Edits are public immediately — don't post private information.
• Pages can be protected and edits logged; spam and vandalism get reverted quickly.
• Anonymous edits are attributed "Anonymous"; signed-in members get credited by username.