Iron Chariots Wiki:Templates

Revision as of 02:19, 11 October 2007

Templates are reusable portions of text and/or wiki markup that can be "included" in other pages by using the "double-braces" wiki syntax:

{{Name of template}}

The name of the template can have spaces (you don't have to replace them by _underscores_); the first letter is case insensitive (it can be capital or lower-case), but subsequent letters are case sensitive.

The content of the template is stored in the same-named page in the Template: namespace, which would be linked to using the following "double-square-brackets" syntax:

[[Template:Name of template]]

The two forms differ in that the former results in the substitution (or "transclusion") of the contents of the template page at that point in the current page (where {{...}} appears), whereas the latter simply links to the page.

Wiki markup for templates

A concrete example:

• [[Template:Stub]] results in the link:

  Template:Stub

• {{Stub}} — or, equivalently, {{stub}} — results in the contents of the "Stub" template being inserted into the current page:

  This article is a stub. You can help out by expanding it.

The latter form, by the way, is how you can mark extremely short articles ("stubs") that need the attention of other editors.

On the other hand:

• [[Stub]] links to the "article" Stub, which itself is a redirect to Category:Stubs

Note that [[Stub]] and {{Stub}} have nothing to do with each other.

Transclusion of content from other namespaces

If you want to insert the contents of an article in the "main namespace" into another page (this should rarely be done in practice), add a colon immediately after the opening double-braces:

• [[:List of atheist websites]] would link to List of atheist websites
• {{:List of atheist websites}} would insert the contents of List of atheist websites, not Template:List of atheist websites

Please note: Although this feature exists, it probably shouldn't be used in articles on this wiki.

If the text in braces starts with a namespace prefix, then the contents of that page will be transcluded instead of a page in the Template: namespace:

• [[Project:Interwiki map (custom)]] links to our custom interwiki map
• {{Project:Interwiki map (custom)}} inserts our custom interwiki map into a page (this is done on the page Project:Interwiki map, for example)

See WikimediaMeta:Help:Template for more (much, much more) information.

Lists of templates

The following tables list the templates that are currently in use on this wiki, including brief descriptions and examples of usage.

See also the simple, alphabetical list of templates and Category:Templates.

Maintenance templates

Templates for marking pages in need of attention by other editors or by administrators (except for stubs, templates for which are listed below).

Stub templates

Templates for marking short, underdeveloped articles on different topics that are in need of expansion by individuals familiar with those topics. The main category for stubs is Category:Stubs.

Navigational templates

Templates whose function is to interlink closely related articles.

(Note: Since the purpose is always the same, there is no "Purpose" column in this table. Also, since it's usually not a good idea to "auto-categorize" articles using templates such as these — i.e., by including the Category: link in the template itself — the "Category" column has been replaced by "Main article".)

External-links templates

Templates whose primary function is linking to external websites (which need not be wikis, actually).

Utility templates

Templates whose primary function is to aid in constructing other templates.

Informational templates

Templates whose primary function is to give the reader information in, or about, an article.

Other templates

Other templates not already listed elsewhere.