Help:Template
Here's how to create and use a template:
Usage
First, consider what the template would be used for. What would its purpose be? Some common uses are:
- A navigation template
- A notice template
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.
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.
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:
