User:MjolnirPants/Indenting

This is the first comment. Example (talk) 01:23, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

This is the second comment, a response to the first comment. It is achieved by adding a colon (:) to the beginning of the comment. Each new line you insert needs a colon at the beginning to indent this way. Example1 (talk) 01:29, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

This is the third comment, a response to the second comment. It is achieved by adding two colons (::) to the beginning of the comment. Example (talk) 01:33, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

This is the fourth comment, a response to the first comment, again. Note how this returns to one level of indentation. Example2 (talk) 01:34, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

This is the fifth comment, a response to the fourth comment. By indenting one extra level, you indicate that you're replying to the person above you. Example (talk) 01:39, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

This is the sixth comment, a response to the fifth comment. This one has three colons (:::) at the beginning. Example1 (talk) 01:44, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

This is the seventh comment, a new response to the first comment. Example (talk) 01:55, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

This is the eighth comment, a response to the seventh comment. Example1 (talk) 02:03, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

This is the ninth comment, also response to the seventh comment. Example3 (talk) 02:07, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

This is a counter-response to the above. Example (talk) 02:11, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

This is a counter-counter-response. Example3 (talk) 02:15, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

And so on and so forth. Example (talk) 02:19, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

This way, threads can be easily identifiable. Example1 (talk) 02:22, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

You can hit edit and play around here until you get it if you like. Once it clicks, it will be easy and more-or-less intuitive. Example (talk) 02:25, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

This is an outdent, to bring the text blocks back. The code for this outdent is {{Outdent|::::::}}. Notice how the number of colons inserted after the pipe (the '|' character, achieved by hitting Shift+\ on your standard keyboard) is equal to the number of colons of the line it replies to, instead of being one more. In this case, it is telling the template how far indented the comment you are replying to is, while your own comment gets indented back to the beginning. This can make things much easier to read in long discussions. Example1 (talk) 02:29, 1 January 2026 (UTC)