CZ:How to edit an article
This is a technical explanation of how to edit Citizendium articles. For information on the Citizendium, see the main page, the background information at Citizendium.org, or read how to get started with the Citizendium pilot.
Introduction
The Citizendium is a Wiki, which means that anyone can easily edit any page and save those changes immediately to that page. While Citizendium contributors are grouped as authors, editors, and constables, anyone taking part in Citizendium can edit any article by using the Wiki controls.
Editing most Citizendium pages is not very difficult. Simply click on the "edit this page" tab at the top of a Citizendium page. This will bring you to a new page with a text box containing the editable text of the original page. You should write a short editorial summary of any changes you make in the small field below the edit-box. When you have finished, press the "show preview" button to see how your changes will look. You can also see the difference between the page with your edits and the previous version of the page by pressing the "show changes" button. If you're satisfied with what you see, press the "Save page" button. Your changes will immediately be visible to other Citizendium users.
You can also click on the "Discussion" tab to see the corresponding "talk page", which contains comments about the page from other Citizendium users. Edit the page in the same way as an article page.
You should remember to sign your messages on talk pages and some special-purpose project pages, but you should not sign edits you make to regular articles. Each article's page histories function within the MediaWiki software keeps track of which user makes each change.
Minor edits
When editing an article page on this site, an author, editor, or constable can mark that edit as being "minor". Minor edits generally mean spelling corrections, formatting, and minor rearrangement of text. It is possible to "hide" minor edits when viewing the "recent changes" link on the left side navigation bar of the Citizendium. Marking a significant change as a minor edit is considered bad behavior, especially when it involves the deletion of some text (not counting errors such as repeated words). If you accidentally mark an edit as minor, you should edit the source once more, mark it major (or, rather, ensure that the check-box for "This is a minor edit" is not checked), and note that your previous edit was major in the new edit summary.
Wiki markup
The wiki markup is the syntax system you can use to format a Citizendium page.
The table below is an extensive list of various edits (for a more succinct reference, please refer to Citizendium cheatsheet). The left column shows the effects available. The right column shows the wiki markup used to achieve them.
You may want to keep this page open in a separate browser window for reference. If you want to try out things without danger of doing any harm, you can do so in the Sandbox. Try opening the Sandbox in a separate window or tab and keeping this page open for reference.
Examples
| What it looks like | What you type |
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Start sections of articles]] as follows: New section
Subsection
Sub-subsection
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==New section== ===Subsection=== ====Sub-subsection==== |
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A single newline generally has no effect on the layout. These can be used to separate sentences within a paragraph. Some editors find that this aids editing and improves the function diff (used internally to compare different versions of a page). But an empty line starts a new paragraph.
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A single [[newline]] generally has no effect on the layout. These can be used to separate sentences within a paragraph. Some editors find that this aids editing and improves the function ''diff'' (used internally to compare different versions of a page). But an empty line starts a new paragraph. |
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You can break lines
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You can break lines<br/> without starting a new paragraph. |
marks the end of a list item.
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* It's easy to create a list: ** Start every line with a star. *** More stars means deeper levels. **** A newline in a list marks the end of a list item. * An empty line starts a new list. |
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# Numbered lists are also good ## very organized ## easy to follow ### easier still |
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; Definition list : list of definitions ; item : the item's definition ; another item : the other item's definition |
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* You can even create mixed lists *# and nest them *#* like this *#*; can I mix definition list as well? *#*: yes *#*; how? *#*: it's easy as *#*:* a *#*:* b *#*:* c |
A manual newline starts a new paragraph.
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: A colon indents a line or paragraph. A manual newline starts a new paragraph. |
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When there is a need for separating a block of text
This is useful for (as the name says) inserting blocks of quoted (and cited) text. |
<blockquote> The '''blockquote''' command will indent both margins when needed instead of the left margin only as the colon does. </blockquote> |
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(See formula on right):
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IF a line starts with a space THEN
it will be formatted exactly
as typed;
in a fixed-width font;
lines will not wrap;
END IF
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<center>Centered text.</center> |
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A horizontal dividing line: this is above it and this is below it.
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A [[horizontal dividing line]]: this is above it ---- and this is below it. |
Links and URLs
| What it looks like | What you type |
|---|---|
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London has public transport.
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London has [[public transport]]. |
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San Francisco also has public transportation.
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San Francisco also has [[public transport| public transportation]]. |
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San Francisco also has public transportation. Examples include buses, taxicabs and streetcars.
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San Francisco also has [[public transport]]ation. Examples include [[bus]]es, [[taxicab]]s, and [[streetcar]]s. [[micro]]<nowiki>second </nowiki> |
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See the Citizendium:Manual of Style.
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See the [[Citizendium:Manual of Style]]. |
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Citizendium:Manual of Style#Italics is a link to a section within another page. #Links and URLs is a link to another section on the current page. #example is a link to an anchor that was created usingan id attribute
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[[Citizendium:Manual of Style#Italics]] is a link to a section within another page. [[#Links and URLs]] is a link to another section on the current page. [[#example]] is a link to an anchor that was created using <div id="example">an id attribute </div> |
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Automatically hide stuff in parentheses: kingdom. Automatically hide namespace: Village Pump. Or both: Manual of Style But not: [[Citizendium:Manual of Style#Links|]]
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Automatically hide stuff in parentheses: [[kingdom (biology)|]]. Automatically hide namespace: [[Citizendium:Village Pump|]]. Or both: [[Citizendium: Manual of Style (headings)|]] But not: [[Citizendium: Manual of Style#Links|]] See Citizendium:Pipe trick for details. |
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National sarcasm society is a page that does not exist yet.
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[[National sarcasm society]] is a page that does not exist yet. |
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Citizendium:How to edit a page is this page.
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[[Citizendium: How to edit a page]] is this page. |
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When adding a comment to a Talk page, you should sign it by adding three tildes to add your user name: or four to add user name plus date/time:
Five tildes gives the date/time alone:
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When adding a comment to a Talk page,you should sign it by adding three tildes to add your user name: : ~~~ or four for user name plus date/time: : ~~~~ Five tildes gives the date/time alone: : ~~~~~ |
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#REDIRECT [[United States]] |
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[[fr:Wikipédia:Aide]] |
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What links here and Related changes pages can be linked as: Special:Whatlinkshere/Citizendium:How to edit a page and Special:Recentchangeslinked/Citizendium:How to edit a page |
'''What links here''' and '''Related changes''' pages can be linked as: [[Special:Whatlinkshere/ Citizendium:How to edit a page]] and [[Special:Recentchangeslinked/ Citizendium:How to edit a page]] |
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A user's Contributions page can be linked as: Special:Contributions/UserName or Special:Contributions/192.0.2.0 |
A user's '''Contributions''' page can be linked as: [[Special:Contributions/UserName]] or [[Special:Contributions/192.0.2.0]] |
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[[Category:Character sets]] |
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[[:Category:Character sets]] |
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Three ways to link to external (non-wiki) sources:
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Three ways to link to external (non-wiki) sources: # Bare URL: http://www.nupedia.com/ (bad style) # Unnamed link: [http://www.nupedia.com/] (only used within article body for footnotes) # Named link: [http://www.nupedia.com Nupedia] |
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Linking to other wikis:
Linking to another language's wiktionary:
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Linking to other wikis: # [[Interwiki]] link: [[Wiktionary:Hello]] # Interwiki link without prefix: [[Wiktionary:Hello|]] # Named interwiki link: [[Wiktionary:Hello| Wiktionary definition of 'Hello']] Linking to another language's wiktionary: # [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour]] # [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour|bonjour]] # [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour|]] |
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ISBN 012345678X ISBN 0-12-345678-X |
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Text mentioning RFC 4321 anywhere
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Text mentioning RFC 4321 anywhere |
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Date formats:
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Date formats: # [[July 20]], [[1969]] # [[20 July]] [[1969]] # [[1969]]-[[07-20]] # [[1969-07-20]] |
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Special WP:AO links like this year needing future maintenance |
Special [[WP:AO]] links like [[As of 2006|this year]] needing future maintenance |
Some uploaded sounds are listed at Citizendium:Sound. |
[[media:Sg_mrob.ogg|Sound]] |
Images
Only images that have been uploaded to Citizendium can be used. To upload images, use the upload page. You can find the uploaded image on the image list.
| What it looks like | What you type |
|---|---|
| A picture:
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A picture: [[Image:wiki.png]] |
| With alternative text:
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With alternative text: [[Image:wiki.png|jigsaw globe]]
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Floating to the right side of the page and with a caption:
 Citizendium Encyclopedia |
Floating to the right side of the page and with a caption: [[Image:wiki.png|frame|Citizendium Encyclopedia]]
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| Floating to the right side of the page without a caption:
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Floating to the right side of the page ''without'' a caption: [[Image:wiki.png|right|Citizendium Encyclopedia]]
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| A picture resized to 30 pixels...
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A picture resized to 30 pixels... [[Image:wiki.png|30 px]]
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| Linking directly to the description page of an image: | Linking directly to the description page of an image: [[:Image:wiki.png]]
(such as any of the ones above) also leads to the description page |
| Linking directly to an image without displaying it: | Linking directly to an image without displaying it: [[media:wiki.png|Image of the jigsaw globe logo]]
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| Using the div tag to separate images from text (note that this may allow images to cover text): | Example: <div style="display:inline; width:220px; float:right;"> Place images here </div> |
| Using wiki markup to make a table in which to place a vertical column of images (this helps edit links match headers, especially in Firefox browsers): | Example: {| align=right
|-
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Place images here
|}
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See the Citizendium's image use policy as a guideline used on Citizendium.
For further help on images, including some more versatile abilities, see the topic on Extended image syntax.
Character formatting
| What it looks like | What you type |
|---|---|
|
Emphasized text |
''Emphasized text'' '''Strong emphasis''' '''''Even stronger emphasis''''' |
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A typewriter font for monospace text
or for computer code:
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A typewriter font for <tt>monospace text</tt> or for computer code: <code>int main()</code> |
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You can use small text for captions. |
You can use <small>small text</small> for captions. |
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Better stay away from big text, unless it's within small text. |
Better stay away from <big>big text</big>, unless <small> it's <big>within</big> small</small> text. |
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You can You can also mark
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You can <s>strike out deleted material</s> and <u>underline new material</u>. You can also mark <del>deleted material</del> and <ins>inserted material</ins> using logical markup. For backwards compatibility better combine this potentially ignored new <del>logical</del> with the old <s><del>physical</del></s> markup. |
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Suppressing interpretation of markup:
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<nowiki>Link → (''to'')
the [[Citizendium FAQ]]</nowiki>
|
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Commenting page source:
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<!-- comment here --> |
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Diacritical marks:
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À Á Â Ã Ä Å Æ Ç È É Ê Ë Ì Í Î Ï Ñ Ò Ó Ô Õ Ö Ø Ù Ú Û Ü ß à á â ã ä å æ ç è é ê ë ì í î ï ñ ò ó ô œ õ ö ø ù ú û ü ÿ |
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Punctuation:
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¿ ¡ § ¶ † ‡ • – — ‹ › « » ‘ ’ “ ” |
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Commercial symbols:
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™ © ® ¢ € ¥ £ ¤ |
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Subscripts:
Superscripts:
ε0 = 8.85 × 10−12 C² / J m. |
x<sub>1</sub> x<sub>2</sub> x<sub>3</sub> or <br/> x₀ x⃥ x₂ x₃ x₄ <br/> x₅ x₆ x₇ x₈ x₉ x<sup>1</sup> x<sup>2</sup> x<sup>3</sup> or <br/> x⁰ x¹ x² x³ x⁴ <br/> x⁵ x⁶ x⁷ x⁸ x⁹ ε<sub>0</sub> = 8.85 × 10<sup>−12</sup> C² / J m. 1 [[hectare]] = [[1 E4 m²]] |
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Greek characters:
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α β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ λ μ ν ξ ο π ρ σ ς τ υ φ χ ψ ω Γ Δ Θ Λ Ξ Π Σ Φ Ψ Ω |
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Mathematical characters:
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∫ ∑ ∏ √ − ± ∞ ≈ ∝ ≡ ≠ ≤ ≥ × · ÷ ∂ ′ ″ ∇ ‰ ° ∴ ℵ ø ∈ ∉ ∩ ∪ ⊂ ⊃ ⊆ ⊇ ¬ ∧ ∨ ∃ ∀ ⇒ ⇐ ⇓ ⇑ ⇔ → ↓ ↑ ← ↔ |
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Ordinary text should use wiki markup for emphasis, and should not use |
<math>\sin x + \ln y</math>
sin''x'' + ln''y''
<math>\mathbf{x} = 0</math>
'''x''' = 0
|
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Spacing in simple math formulas:
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Obviously, ''x''² ≥ 0 is true when ''x'' is a real number. |
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Complicated formulas:
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: <math>\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{x^n}{n!}</math>
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(see also: Chess symbols in Unicode)
No or limited formatting - showing exactly what is being typed
A few different kinds of formatting will tell the Wiki to display things as you typed them - what you see, is what you get!
| What it looks like | What you type | |
|---|---|---|
| <nowiki> tags |
The nowiki tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''. It reformats text by removing newlines and multiple spaces. It still interprets special characters: → |
<nowiki> The nowiki tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''. It reformats text by removing newlines and multiple spaces. It still interprets special characters: → </nowiki> |
| <pre> tags |
The pre tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''. It also doesn't reformat text. It still interprets special characters: → |
<pre> The pre tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''. It also doesn't reformat text. It still interprets special characters: → </pre> |
| Leading spaces |
Leading spaces are another way to preserve formatting. Putting a space at the beginning of each line stops the text from being reformatted. It still interprets Wiki markup and special characters: → |
Leading spaces are another way to preserve formatting. Putting a space at the beginning of each line stops the text from being reformatted. It still interprets [[Wiki]] ''markup'' and special characters: → |
Table of contents
At the current status of the wiki markup language, having at least four headers on a page triggers the TOC to appear in front of the first header (or after introductory sections). Putting __TOC__ anywhere forces the TOC to appear at that point (instead of just before the first header). Putting __NOTOC__ anywhere forces the TOC to disappear. See also compact TOC for alphabet and year headings.
Tables
There are two ways to build tables:
- in special Wiki-markup (see Help:Table)
- with the usual HTML elements: <table>, <tr>, <td> or <th>.
For the latter, and a discussion on when tables are appropriate, see Citizendium:When to use tables.
Variables
(See also Help:Variable)
| Code | Effect |
|---|---|
| {{CURRENTWEEK}} | 48 |
| {{CURRENTDOW}} | 3 |
| {{CURRENTMONTH}} | 11 |
| {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} | November |
| {{CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN}} | November |
| {{CURRENTDAY}} | 27 |
| {{CURRENTDAYNAME}} | Wednesday |
| {{CURRENTYEAR}} | 2024 |
| {{CURRENTTIME}} | 05:35 |
| {{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} | 0 |
| {{NUMBEROFUSERS}} | 103 |
| {{PAGENAME}} | How to edit an article |
| {{NAMESPACE}} | CZ |
| {{REVISIONID}} | 100873 |
| {{localurl:pagename}} | /wiki/Pagename |
| {{localurl:Citizendium:Sandbox|action=edit}} | /wiki/index.php?title=Citizendium:Sandbox&action=edit |
| {{fullurl:pagename}} | https://citizendium.org/wiki/Pagename |
| {{fullurl:pagename|query_string}} | https://citizendium.org/wiki/index.php?title=Pagename&query_string |
| {{SERVER}} | https://citizendium.org |
| {{ns:1}} | Talk |
| {{ns:2}} | User |
| {{ns:3}} | User talk |
| {{ns:4}} | Citizendium Pilot |
| {{ns:5}} | Citizendium Pilot Talk |
| {{ns:6}} | File |
| {{ns:7}} | File talk |
| {{ns:8}} | MediaWiki |
| {{ns:9}} | MediaWiki talk |
| {{ns:10}} | Template |
| {{ns:11}} | Template talk |
| {{ns:12}} | Help |
| {{ns:13}} | Help talk |
| {{ns:14}} | Category |
| {{ns:15}} | Category talk |
| {{SITENAME}} | Citizendium |
NUMBEROFARTICLES is the number of pages in the main namespace which contain a link and are not a redirect, in other words number of articles, stubs containing a link, and disambiguation pages.
CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN is the genitive (possessive) grammatical form of the month name, as used in some languages; CURRENTMONTHNAME is the nominative (subject) form, as usually seen in English.
In languages where it makes a difference, you can use constructs like {{grammar:case|word}} to convert a word from the nominative case to some other case. For example, {{grammar:genitive|{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}}}} means the same as {{CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN}}.
Templates
The MediaWiki software used by Citizendium has support for templates. This means standardized text chunks (such as boilerplate text) can be inserted into articles. For example, typing {{}} will appear as "This article is a stub. You can help Citizendium by expanding it." when the page is saved. See Citizendium:Template messages for the complete list. Other commonly used templates are: {{disambig}} for disambiguation pages, {{}} for spoiler warnings and {{}} like an article stub but for a section. There are many subject-specific stubs for example: {{}}, {{}}, and {{}}. For a complete list of stubs see WP:WSS/ST.