Help:Templates

If you have standard texts you want to include on several pages, the MediaWiki template feature comes into play (like the tag above which is included in the pages of the Help namespace).

Creating a template
Template names are prefixed with, you create them like any other wiki page.

Using a template
Templates are wiki pages which can be used in other pages in three ways:
 * 'transcludes' (i.e. includes a copy) the content of the template (stored in the page Template:Name ) whenever the page containing the template transclusion is fetched and displayed; i.e. if the template is later changed, the displayed transcluding page will automatically change too
 * replaces that string with the contents of the template, in the source of the transcluding page, when you save that page; the copy of the template contents can then be edited normally (and separately from the original in the template page)
 * includes the template in a form that displays it as raw wiki syntax (the way  does) when the page containing it is fetched

Using parameters in templates
You can define parameters in templates either numbered as  or named.

Example: You want a little thank you note you can put on the talk page of other users. It will contain a reason and your signature. You could create Template:Thankyou to enter your text, as in the example in the table.

When using the template on a page, you fill in the parameter values, separated by a pipe char (|):. For named parameters use "name=value" pairs separated by a pipe char:. The advantage of using named parameters in your template is that they are flexible in order. It also makes the template easier to understand if you have many parameters. If you want to change the order of numbered parameters, you have to mention them explicitly:.

You can also provide default values for parameters, i.e. values that are going to be used if no value is provided for a parameter. For example,  would result in "all your hard work" if no value was provided for the parameter reason.

Control template inclusion
You can control template inclusion by the use of  and tags.

Anything between  and   will be processed and displayed only when the page is being viewed directly, not included.

Possible applications are:
 * Categorising templates
 * Interlanguage links to similar templates in other languages
 * Explanatory text about how to use the template

The converse is. Text between  and will be processed and displayed only when the page is being included. The obvious application is to add all pages containing a given template to a category, without putting the template itself into that category.

Note: when you change the categories applied by a template, the categorization of the pages that use that template may not be updated until some time later: this is handled by the job queue.

Organizing templates
For templates to be effective users need to find them and be able to use them. A simple technique is to include an example on the template page. For example:

Usage
Allows to establish a link to a subject:

Then, an editor can simply copy and paste the example to create a similar page.