There is a [http://wikipedia.mozdev.org/index.html Firefox Extension for editing the wiki], which I find very useful.
Consider creating [[MetaWikiPedia:TemplatesTemplate]] for text that is often used. Templates could be used to make menus, headers, and footers. The main WikiPedia use them a lot. For example: [[MetaWikiPedia:Template:H:f_Help|Help Footer]].
You can use [http://www.jtidy.de/jtidy/ JTidy] to convert HTML snippets to Wiki syntax.