Help:Copying and Pasting into a Wiki Page

 Quick Reference: 


 * Copy = CTRL C
 * Paste = CTRL V
 * Cut = CTRL X

What is "Copy and Paste?"
Copy and Paste is the ability to copy text from one location, and insert it into another location. It is possible to "Copy and Paste" text from PDFs, Internet pages, and document files into the FamilySearch Research Wiki, however, not all of the formatting will be included when copying and pasting between different computer program files. Special instructions are available if you want to copy and paste text from a spreadsheet, such as an Excel document. Pertaining to the Wiki, copying and pasting usually means to copy information from one location or file, and pasting it, or adding it into the editing window of a Wiki page.

Before Copying and Pasting
Before you copy and paste, first know what text you want to copy, and where you want to paste, or add it.

How to Copy and Paste into a Wiki Page
1. Log in to the FamilySearch Research Wiki.

2. Navigate to the page you want to paste text into. This may be done by searching for the page title in the "Search" box.

3. Click the Edit button found in the page navigation box at the right or at the top of each section inside of a page. This will open the editing window.

4. Locate the toolbar at the top of the editing window. If your toolbar looks like the image below, continue to step 5. If not, skip to step 8.



5. Before pasting, you must highlight and copy the text you want to paste. To do this, locate the text you want to copy.


 * Copy text from a file: If the text is in a file on your computer, you must locate and open that file. The Internet and other programs can be open at the same time. To switch between the different programs, locate the icons on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen.
 * Copy text from online: If the text is online, you must go to the page where the text is located. You may open more than one instance of an Internet browser to do this. Switch between them by clicking the browser icons on your taskbar. If you are using Firefox or Internet Exporer 7 or higher, you may simply open a new tab to do this.

Once you have the file or page open you want to copy from, use your mouse to position your cursor to the left of the text. While holding down the left button on your mouse, drag the cursor to the end of the text you want to copy, and release the left mouse button. Do not click either mouse button before proceeding to the next step or the text you have highlighted will be deselected!


 * Option 1: Without clicking either mouse button, position the cursor over the highlighted text. Now right-click with your mouse and then left-click with your mouse on the word Copy in the list that appears. Although you will not see any visible change, the text will be "copied."
 * Option 2: Without clicking either mouse button, locate the "CTRL" key on your keyboard. While holding down the "CTRL" key, tap the "C" key on your keyboard. Although you will not see any visible change, the text will be "copied."

6. If you attempt to "paste" in the editor window, a new window will pop up, prompting you to paste into that window. This works fine, but may be confusing for some users, because you first have to LEFT-click with your mouse in the window, and then paste, or while holding down the "CTRL" key, tap the "V" key on your keyboard. Instead, to save time, click on the Wikitext button located in the upper left-hand corner of the editing toolbar, highlighted below. When you click on the Wikitext button, most of the icons on the toolbar will turn to a grey color (which indicates they are inactive, or cannot be used in "Wikitext" mode).

The Wikitext view may seem a little scary at first because the text looks unusual, but it allows you to paste large amounts of text in one easy step. After clicking on Wikitext, hold down the "CTRL" key and at the same time tap the "V" key.

NOTE: Modern Web browser software has security settings that often disallow users from cutting, copying, and pasting text into a wiki page by right-clicking on the mouse. however, the following keystroke combinations should work in most cases:


 * Cut: CTRL X
 * Copy: CTRL C
 * Paste: CTRL V

To copy text from a Word document into a wiki page, you would highlight the text you want to copy, hold down the "CTRL" key while pressing the "C" key to copy. Then to paste, place your cursor in the wiki page, and hold down the "CTRL" key while pressing the "V" key. The wiki will then open a window for the copy/paste feature. The final step is to press the "CTRL V" key combination again to copy the text into the wiki window provided. Then press the OK button.

Format your text after you have pasted it onto the page where you want it to appear.