Help:Identifiers

Identifiers on Wikipedia are small pieces of text or code that help distinguish and format different elements, such as line numbers, language‑specific content, or external IDs (for example, library or database identifiers).

A minimal example of inline markup used in help pages and documentation might look like this:

Line1

Change A

In this example:

• Line1 illustrates how a plain number can be wrapped in a <span> element, often for styling or scripting purposes.
• <span lang="de">A</span> assigns the language code de (German) to the content A. This can be useful for accessibility tools, screen readers, and search engines, as well as for templates that format multilingual examples.

Basic usage

You can write inline spans in wiki markup using HTML directly:

Line<span>1</span>

Change <span lang="de">A</span>

When rendered, this displays as:

Line1

Change A

Language spans

The lang attribute is helpful when:

• You are showing a short phrase or single character in another language.
• You need to clarify pronunciation or orthography in a foreign script.
• You want assistive technologies to switch voice or reading rules correctly.

Common examples:

• <span lang="fr">Bonjour</span>
• <span lang="ja">日本</span>
• <span lang="de">Straße</span>

Line markers and small labels

Inline spans are also used for:

• line labels (for example, Line<span>1</span>);
• small counters or indices (like x<span>2</span> for non‑mathematical contexts);
• visually separating elements where templates or CSS expect spans rather than plain text.

See also

• Help:HTML in wikitext
• Help:Formatting
• Help:Magic words