Help:Wiki template

This wiki software allows us to define templates, which are the same concept as macros in some languages.

Overview

A template can define standard text that you'd like to appear in more than one place. For example, you could define a template named needswork that, when inserted into a page, displays text like this:

This page needs more work to make it look good.

Furthermore, templates can have arguments (parameters) that allow you to specify repetitive data in a standard and more easily understandable way. For example, you could define a template named plug-in that provides space for someone to type the basic information about a COLLADA plug-in and then displays the info in a nice format as defined within the template, rather than making the editor do all the work over and over.

Template usage

When editing an article, you include templates using double braces around the template's name, like this:

 {{needswork}}

or like this:

  {{plug-in | name = My Plug In | web = http://www.mycompany.com | version = 1.4}}

Template definition

To create a template, just create an article titled "Template:nameofyourtemplate"; for example, Template:needswork or Template:plug-in. Whatever you put into that article then appears whenever you insert the template (as shown in "Template usage") into another article.

For example, perhaps you want the plug-in template shown above to display text like this:

---

• Plug-in name: My Plug In
• Web site: http://www.mycompany.com
• Current released version: 1.4

---

In this case, the template definition (Template:plug-in) looks similar to this:

*'''Plug-in name:''' {{{name}}}
*'''Web site:''' {{{web}}}
*'''Current released version:''' {{{version}}}

Complexities

There are additional features that are useful in templates, including

• Predefined variables that do such things as calculate the name of the current article.
• Special markup to have things appear only in the template definition page but not where the template occurs, or vice-versa.

These are documented elsewhere; see "External links."

Currently defined templates

To see the names of all templates that currently exist in this wiki:

1. Either:
   • Use the Special pages link in the left navigation bar and click Prefix index.
   • Go directly to the special "article" Special:Prefixindex.
2. Select the Template namespace and click Go.

External links

• Wikimedia Help:Template article
• Wikipedia Template namespace article