Help:Template
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Here's how to create and use a template:
[edit] Usage
First, consider what the template would be used for. What would its purpose be? Some common uses are:
[edit] Code
Make sure you know the MediaWiki syntax for a template:
- For an input, type {{{1}}} for the first input, {{{2}}} for the second, and so on.
- This can also be substituted with {{{value}}} or another name.
- For current page information, type {{NAMESPACE}} for the page's namespace, and {{PAGENAME}} for the page's name.
- These will be inserted and changed as the location of the template changes.
Make sure you know how to use the template once it's been created:
- If the template is in a Template: namespace, simply type {{its name}} to use it.
- If the template is in any other namespace, simply type {{Namespace:its name}} to use it.
- For an input, {{{1}}}, type {{its name|input 1|input 2|etc...}}.
- For an input, {{{value}}}, type {{its name|value = input 1}}.
To include text in the template that you don't want to show up in pages that use it, such as:
- Instructions on how to use the template
- A category to organize the template
Place the text in a set of <noinclude> tags at the bottom of the template page.
[edit] Substituting
For some templates, it is a better idea to take load off the server and use subst: before the template name. This substitutes the dynamic code on the page with static text. For example, {{tick}} will display as {{tick}} in the code, while {{subst:tick}} will display as [[Image:wiki tick.GIF]] in the code.
[edit] Example
Here is a simple example, creating a signature for any user typing {{Sig|User}}:
- If the template contains the code:
[[User:{{{1}}}|{{{1}}}]] ([[User talk:{{{1}}}|talk]] · [[Special:Contributions/{{{1}}}|edits]])- Typing {{Sig|user}} inserts this code:
[[User:User|User]] ([[User talk:User|talk]] · [[Special:Contributions/User|edits]])
- Which shows on the page as:
A template is a special type of page that has been designed so its content can be included in one or more other pages. Since a given template can be included in many pages, templates can help reduce duplication and promote a uniform style between pages.
Templates are usually located in the Template namespace, which means any page name beginning with Template:, such as Template:Name. However, any page can act as a template.
Referencing templates
The content of a template can be added to a page by referencing it using the wiki markup: {{templatename}}. This references the template and includes its output at the point of insertion. Articles will be updated automatically when referenced templates are changed. A page that references templates cannot be edited to change the content of a referenced template, although a list of referenced templates will be displayed at the bottom of the page for convenience while editing it.
Substituting templates
A different way to use a template is to substitute its content into a page. This is done by inserting subst: immediately after the opening braces: {{subst:templatename}}. Once the page is saved, the link to the template is removed and the template output is substituted in its place and can be further edited. Any updates to the template will not affect the content that was substituted into the page.
Benefits of templates
Templates are used to add recurring messages to pages in a consistent way, to add boilerplate messages, to create infoboxes and navigational boxes, and to provide cross-language portability of texts.
Templates can also make it much easier for new and casual editors to use advanced designs, features and extensions by hiding confusing code.
Creating a template
In short, create the text you want to have copied onto the target pages on a page in the Template namespace. Creating Template:Templatename will allow users to insert {{templatename}} into a page to display your text.
See Help:Creating templates for details.
For an overview, see the quick guide to templates on Wikimedia's Meta-Wiki.
Creating an advanced template
To learn how to change the output of the template based on what the user inputs, see Help:Template parameters and Help:Parser functions.
Updating and adding standard templates
Wikia's Starter Pages and Templates wikis occasionally improve some of their documentation as well as adding new templates specifically designed for Wikia sites, and are therefore worth checking from time to time. For sites created before about December 2008, the Starter Pages wiki should be compared and ideally used for upgrading to its standard documentation system similar to that introduced in Wikipedia.
