Help:The Editing Tool (FCK Editor)

What is the FCK Editor?
The FCK editor is the editing tool used in the FamilySearch Research Wiki. FCK stands for Frederico Caldeira Knabben, the creator of this editing tool. Registered users may edit or add new information to almost any page by clicking on the "Edit" link within the navigation bar. After clicking the "Edit" link, the editing window will open. If the FCK Editor is turned on, the user will see the following toolbar at the top of the editing window:

If, however, the FCK editor is turned off, the user will see the following toolbar at the top of the editing window:

Although there are benefits to using both toolbars, for beginners we recommend working with the FCK editor turned on, because the user does not have to view WikiText which can be confusing and difficult to work with. The default settings for all users is the FCK editor turned on. If you are a beginner, you don't need to change any settings to use the FCK editor. The FCK editor is often referred to as "the editing tool" in the FamilySearch Research Wiki.

Using the editing tool (or FCK editor)
The editing tool allows users who are editing or contributing articles to edit in a user-friendly, and familiar word processing environment. Without the editing tool enabled, the user would edit in a computer code environment. This can be especially intimidating for new users, or those who are unfamiliar with computer code. The editing tool allows you to format text, add bullets and numbering, create tables, add images, and add hyperlinks much like you would using an e-mail account or word processing software by clicking on icons and buttons at the top of the editing window. Many of the icons on the toolbar will be familiar to you. Below is a description of each of the icons on the FCK editor:

Wikitext mode
Some editing in the FamilySearch Wiki is easier when the the editing tool is disabled, or turned off. For example, dragging and dropping or copying and pasting text into the FamilySearch Wiki is often easier with the editing tool turned off. Also, in some situations, formatted text may only be copied into the Wiki in one of two ways: With the editor tool turned off, or with the editor tool in "WikiText" mode. To switch the editor into "Wikitext" mode, Click the "Wikitext" icon (shown below) on the FCK editor toolbar, and paste the text into the editor window.

To see what it will look like, click on the "Wikitext button again to switch back to the visual mode, or the "What You See is What You Get" mode. NOTE: In the Wikitext mode, most of the icons are unusable. To reactivate the icons on the toolbar, click on the "Wikitext" icon again.

Turning the editor tool off and on
As mentioned above, it is sometimes necessary to turn the FCK editor, or editing tool, off. To turn off the editing tool, the user must be logged into FamilySearch Wiki. 1. Make sure you are signed in to the FamilySearch Research Wiki.

2. In the navigation bar, locate the "Personal tools" box.

3. Under the "Personal tools" box, click "My preferences."

4. This will open a page titled "Preferences." Several tabs will be shown across the top of the page, including "User profile," "Skin," "Files," etc. Click on the last tab, titled, "Misc."

5. After clicking on the "Misc" tab, a long list of options will appear on the page with checkboxes next to each option.

6. In the list of checkboxes, locate the box with the words, "Disable rich editor" next to it. It is the 8th checkbox in the list.

7. To turn the editor off, click this box so that a check mark appears in the check box. (To turn the editor back on, click on the check box so that the check mark disappears.) 

8. Use the scroll bar on the right side of the screen to scroll down until you can see the bottom of the list, and the "Save" and "Reset" buttons below the list. Click the "Save" button to save your changes.

9. After clicking the "Save" button, a box should appear at the top of the page that reads, "Your preferences have been saved." You may now return to the main page, or begin searching for an article to read or edit!

Learn more about the editing tool
To learn more about the FCK editor, browse through the FCK Editor User's Guide.

Click here to view a demonstration on using the editing tool.