The most common text element, used in almost all texts around the Internet, is a [ParagraphOfText]. It usually features words, of which some may require [TextEmphasis].

As wikis are hypertext environments, they will usually need a way to mark [InternalLink]s and, as they do not exist in vacuum, also [ExternalLink]s.

It's often helpful to structure the pages using [HeadingText] and [HorizontalLine]s, as well as [NumberedList]s and [BulletList]s, even if their overuse may be considered [BadStyle].

For technical reasons, it's good to have a way to [EscapeMarkup], or even include whole blocks of [PreformattedText].

Both articles and discussions often benefit from [IncludedFigures], both in form of images, drawings, photographs, and in form of mathematical equations, diagrams, charts and tables, maps, etc.

In science and engineering, superscript and subscript is very common. It is semantic, not a formatting issue. However, the terms used in science can always be read out loud, so they have their, somewehat more elaborate, replacements ("m²"="square meter", "H₂O"="Dihydrogen Monoxide", "∑ₓ₌₀ⁿx"= "sum of numbers from 0 to n", etc.) -- the symbols are only shortcuts created for use inside formulas.

Many articles refer to external materials, either by just mentioning them (often in footnotes or bibliography), or by using [QuotedText]. Both need to specify the source.