Inserting human-readable code into your TN Wiki articles adds a lot of value for the reader, but it can be a challenge for the author. Use this article to share how-to information.

How to Use the Format Code Block Tool

The TechNet Wiki Editor has a Format Code Block option (). Click it, insert some code, select a language, click Preview to see it, tweak the code, and then click OK. The source code is now formatted and into your article!

To add line numbers on the left side of your code, click the checkbox in the middle, Display Line Numbers.

Clicking the Format Code Block button opens the following popup window. But there is no option to select the Small Basic programming language. See Small Basic: How to Format a Code Block.

Other Code Insertion Options

• How to insert formatted Windows PowerShell code on TechNet Wiki.
• Small Basic: How to Format a Code Block.  
• Live Writer works well on the TechNet Wiki. Try a plugin for Live Writer to paste your code from Visual Studio. Or you can create the article using Live Writer, and modify the script at http://www.leeholmes.com/blog/MorePowerShellSyntaxHighlighting.aspx that creates an add-on to copy the script from PowerShell ISE to the clipboard. Then chose Edit-Paste Special from the Live Writer menu and select Keep Formatting.
  • At this time Live Writer does not publish directly to the wiki (this has been requested in the forum). Instead, click the Source tab on the article in live writer to view the raw HTML code. Copy that to the clipboard. In your wiki article click the HTML button on the editor. This will open the raw HTML for the article.  Paste the HTML from your clipboard in the box and click Save.
• Some have used Live Writer with the “Source Code Formatter” by Amer Gerzic, example: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/how-to-embed-sql-server-express-in-an-application.aspx)
• If you use Windows Live Writer instead of the wiki editing tools, you can use the free plug-in CodeColorizer: Free Tool to Colorize Code in Html for Windows Live Writer and then copy/paste your code.
• Snipping Tool (for posting screen shots of the code using Insert image on ). If you use this method, and you wish your reader to be able to copy the code, just link the screenshot to a text file that contains the code. 
• Highlight (http://www.andre-simon.de/doku/highlight/en/highlight_demo.html), remember to leave the original code in HTML comments, so that you can edit it later.
• For JavaScript try http://shjs.sourceforge.net/ 
• Syntax Highlighter  (external blog)
• Copy Source as Html  (external blog)
• C# code format from Manoli
• For Visual Studio 2003, 2005 and 2008: CopySourceAsHtml
• For Visual Studio 2010: Productivity Power Tools (include HTML Copy. See Copy Code in HTML format with Visual Studio 2010 for more information).
• If you want to paste just a few lines of code (which is common for command-line samples) with no highlighting please consider using a Plain Code Box.

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See Also

• Getting Started
• Small Basic: How to Format a Code Block
• How to Insert Formatted Windows PowerShell Code on TechNet Wiki

Other Languages

• Como Inserir um Código Formatado no TechNet Wiki (pt-BR)
• Wiki: 整形されたコードを挿入するには (ja-JP)