CharInsert is an editing tool that shows under the edit window and allows the insertion of various characters and symbols that may be difficult to add from the keyboard.

This help page is a how-to guide. It details processes or procedures of some aspect(s) of Wikipedia's norms and practices. It is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, and may reflect varying levels of consensus and vetting.

Shortcut H:CI

To add custom entries, adapt this code, and place it in your common.js:

// Add custom CharInsert entries
window.charinsertCustom = {
 "Insert": ' Mention: {\{u|+}}  {\{ping|+}}',
};

that will append the {{u}} and {{ping}} code to the Insert menu.

• In this example, "Insert": is the name of the menu the new markup is being added to; it is enclosed in quotes" followed by a colon :; to create a new menu simply use a new name
• In this example, Mention: is a heading within the entries; anything ending in a colon is a heading; use an underscore _ to replace a space
• The content within the single quotes ' ' is the new markup; use a dot . to replace a space; the entry may need to be enclosed within <nowiki>...</nowiki> to prevent it from being parsed
• + is where your cursor will appear after the text is inserted, or if you already have text highlighted when you click them then that text will be properly surrounded by the markup
• For multiple menus, end all lines with a comma , except for the last line
• To include a single literal \ use four backslashes \\\\ (this will appear as double-\ on menu display.); for example <math>\\\\scriptstyle{+}</math>.
• Add a newline as \n
• These available operators can be derived from the source code MediaWiki:Gadget-charinsert-core.js: function createTokens

To add multiple entries to a menu, enclose them all in the single quotes and separate them with a space:

// Add custom CharInsert entries
window.charinsertCustom = {
 "Insert": '<code>+</code> <code><nowiki>+</nowiki></code>',
};

To add entries to multiple menus:

// Add custom CharInsert entries
window.charinsertCustom = {
 "Insert": ' Mention: {\{u|+}}  {\{ping|+}}',
 "Wiki markup": ' Mention: {\{u|+}}  {\{ping|+}}'
};

To create a new menu, use a new name:

// Add custom CharInsert entries
window.charinsertCustom = {
 'Insert2': ' – — ° ′ ″ ≈ ≠ ≤ ≥ ± − × ÷ ← → · §  <code>+</code> <code><nowiki>+</nowiki></code>'
};

To copy entries from one menu to another, browse to MediaWiki:Edittools and click on edit. You can copy any entry and paste it into your customized menu.

Other entries that may be useful:

• <poem></poem>
• <syntaxhighlight.lang="css">\n+\n</syntaxhighlight>
• 'CSS': ' style="+" margin:.1em.auto; text-align:.center; margin-left:.auto; margin-right:.auto; width:."+%"; background-color:.#+; '

If CharInsert does not show:

In the Interface section: (Wikisource)

• Ensure Preferences → Gadgets → site is checked. The General utilities needed by the templates and portals of this wiki project.

In the Editing tools section:

• Ensure Preferences → Gadgets → CharInsert is checked. The tool uses JavaScript by default. Check your various JavaScript configurations at Preferences → Appearance. If an invalid entry is added, it will break all uses of JS but since JS is enabled it will not fallback to MediaWiki:Edittools. Personal JS pages will now show an error on save if there is an invalid entry, so an attempt to edit and save will point out issues.

If JavaScript is enabled, then CharInsert is added as a Gadget defined at MediaWiki:Gadget-charinsert.js which uses JavaScript to load CharInsert from MediaWiki:Gadget-charinsert-core.js. The Gadget is enabled by default but can be disabled through Preferences → Gadgets → CharInsert.

If JavaScript is disabled, then the CharInsert software extension is called, which uses the symbols defined at MediaWiki:Edittools. Not all of the symbol sets are included in MediaWiki:Edittools. This mode is also used if the bits server fails to yield all the needed Javascript and CSS.

For discussion, see MediaWiki talk:Edittools.