Another automatic "convert to wiki code" tool

[morgandawn]

I have a hard time typing and wiki coding makes typing even harder. However, I have been using a wiki plugin that will automatically convert rich text into wiki code. It is a plugin that can be installed on wikis (although Fanlore currently does not use it).

I access the plugin on the main Wiki site, do my editing in their sandbox and then copy and paste the converted text into Fanlore.

Process
1. Make an account on the main Wiki site. http://en.wikipedia.org/ and log in
2. Go to My Preferences and scroll down to Editing and select "wikEd, a full-featured integrated text editor for Firefox, Safari, and Google Chrome."
3. Then go to the Wiki Sandbox (it can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Sandbox&action=edit )

You should see 2 rows of editing tools at the top of the sandbox - far more than the ones you see when you edit a Fanlore Page. If you do not see the 2 rows, you are not logged in.

4. Paste your text into the sandbox, Select All and click on the [W] button. It will turn your text into wiki code with (most) of the formatting. You may need to do some tweaking.
5. Copy and paste the converted wiki code into the Fanlore page and preview and then save.
6. Clear the Wiki Sandbox for the next person.

The expanded toolbox also offers handy shortcuts like creating lists with asterisks or numbers etc, doing a global search and replace, sort alphabetically.

I'll see if I can upload a screencap.
Screencap (click for larger version)


August 19, 2012 edit: as a reminder, there is a Greasemonkey script that can be installed and be made to work in Fanlore (see comments below).  I am not familiar with  how the Greasemonkey script works - if you're having problems  getting it to work on Fanlore contact one of the people discussing the script in the thread below.  I am still using the editor on the the Main Wiki which has installed WikiEd as an Preference option (see the instructions above which say to create a Main Wiki account in order to access the editor). The Preference feature has to be made available by each wiki and it not  tied to you adding the Greasemonkey script to your browser. As of today, the Preference option has not been installed on Fanlore. Also, the Main Wiki now allows you to have your own Sandbox (another option under 'Preferences") which makes it easier for you to have a tab open and work on converting test to wiki code and paste it into Fanlore.

Useful OpenOffice extension

[lian]

!completely unofficial:

I wanted to share this StarOffice/OpenOffice export extension with y'all -- I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. (Well, because I never use it myself, I guess; I'm fluent in wikicode, so I don't need it, but I had it installed at my workplace, so I know it works.)

You write a document in OpenOffice, then use the newly added "export" option in the menu to, well, import it to the wiki (you only need to enter your Fanlore name&password in the export popup), where it'll create a page named after the document title, and convert the text to wiki-markup for you.

Mind you, pictures and tables don't get converted, and you'll have to insert templates etc; so it doesn't work for anything fancy. But maybe it's a start for the wiki-phobic who just want to get some info on there without dealing with the wiki editing window.