DCAM Wiki - User contributions [en]

Help:Tables

2012-02-08T12:53:51Z

Kghbln: Rejected the last text change (by 62.218.164.126) and restored revision 480312 by 61.8.152.146

{{PD Help Page}}
'''Tables''' may be authored in wiki pages using either XHTML table elements directly, or using wikicode formatting to define the table. XHTML table elements and their use are well described on various web pages and will not be discussed here. The benefit of wikicode is that the table is constructed of character symbols which tend to make it easier to perceive the table structure in the article editing view compared to XHTML table elements.

As a general rule, it is best to avoid using a table unless you need one. Table markup often complicates page editing.

== Wiki table markup summary ==
{|cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" border="1" width="60%"
|
<nowiki>{|</nowiki>
| '''table start'''
|-
|
<nowiki>|+</nowiki>
| table '''caption,''' ''optional;'' only between '''table start''' and first '''table row'''
|-
|
<nowiki>|-</nowiki>
| '''table row,''' ''optional on first row'' -- wiki engine assumes the first row
|-
|
<nowiki>!</nowiki>
| '''table header''' cell, ''optional.'' Consecutive '''table header''' cells may be added on same line separated by double marks (<code>!!</code>) or start on new lines, each with its own single mark (<code>!</code>).
|-
|
<nowiki>|</nowiki>
| '''table data''' cell, ''required!'' Consecutive '''table data''' cells may be added on same line separated by double marks (<code><nowiki>||</nowiki></code>) or start on new lines, each with its own single mark (<code><nowiki>|</nowiki></code>).
|-
|
<nowiki>|}</nowiki>
| '''table end'''
|}
*The above marks must '''start on a new line''' except the double <code>||</code> and <code>!!</code> for optionally adding consecutive cells to a line. However, blank spaces at the beginning of a line are ignored.
*'''XHTML attributes.''' Each mark, except table end, optionally accepts one or more XHTML attributes. Attributes must be on the same line as the mark. Separate attributes from each other with a single space.
**Cells and caption (<code>|</code> or <code>||</code>, <code>!</code> or <code>!!</code>, and <code>|+</code>) hold content. So separate any attributes from content with a single pipe (<code>|</code>). Cell content may follow on same line or on following lines.
**Table and row marks (<code>{|</code> and <code>|-</code>) do not directly hold content. Do ''not'' add pipe (<code>|</code>) after their optional attributes. If you erroneously add a pipe after attributes for the table mark or row mark the parser will delete it ''and'' your final attribute if it was touching the erroneous pipe!
*'''Content''' may (a) follow its cell mark on the same line after any optional XHTML attributes or (b) on lines below the cell mark. Content that uses wiki markup that itself needs to start on a new line, such as lists, headings, or nested tables, must be on its own new line.
**'''Pipe character as content.''' To insert a pipe (<code>|</code>) character into a table use the <nowiki><code>|</code></nowiki> escaping markup

==Basics==
The following table lacks borders and good spacing but shows the simplest wiki markup table structure.

{| cellspacing="0" border="1"
!style="width:50%"|You type
!style="width:50%"|You get
|-
|
<pre>
{|
|Orange
|Apple
|-
|Bread
|Pie
|-
|Butter
|Ice cream
|}
</pre>
|
{|
|Orange
|Apple
|-
|Bread
|Pie
|-
|Butter
|Ice cream
|}
|}

The cells in the same row can be listed on one line separated by <code>||</code> (two pipe symbols). If the text in the cell contains a line break, use <code><nowiki><br /></nowiki></code> instead.

{| cellspacing="0" border="1"
!style="width:50%"|You type
!style="width:50%"|You get
|-
|
<pre>
{|
|Orange||Apple||more
|-
|Bread||Pie||more
|-
|Butter||Ice<br />cream||and<br />more
|}
</pre>
|
{|
|Orange||Apple||more
|-
|Bread||Pie||more
|-
|Butter||Ice<br />cream||and<br />more
|}
|}

Extra spaces within cells in the wiki markup, as in the wiki markup below, do not affect the actual table rendering.

{| cellspacing="0" border="1"
!style="width:50%"|You type
!style="width:50%"|You get
|-
|
<pre>
{|
| Orange || Apple || more
|-
| Bread || Pie || more
|-
| Butter || Ice cream || and more
|}
</pre>
|
{|
| Orange || Apple || more
|-
| Bread || Pie || more
|-
| Butter || Ice cream || and more
|}
|}

You can have longer text or more complex wiki syntax inside table cells, too:

{| cellspacing="0" border="1"
!style="width:50%"|You type
!style="width:50%"|You get
|-
|
<pre>
{|
|Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
consetetur sadipscing elitr,
sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt
ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat,
sed diam voluptua.

At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores
et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren,
no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum
dolor sit amet.
|
* Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
* consetetur sadipscing elitr
* sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt
|}
</pre>
|
{|
|Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
consetetur sadipscing elitr,
sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt
ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat,
sed diam voluptua.

At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores
et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren,
no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum
dolor sit amet.
|
* Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
* consetetur sadipscing elitr
* sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt
|}
|}

=== Table headers ===
Table headers can be created by using "<code>!</code>" (exclamation mark) instead of "<code>|</code>" (pipe symbol). Headers usually show up bold and centered by default.

{| cellspacing="0" border="1"
!style="width:50%"|You type
!style="width:50%"|You get
|-
|
<pre>
{|
! align="left"|Item
! Amount
! Cost
|-
|Orange
|10
|7.00
|-
|Bread
|4
|3.00
|-
|Butter
|1
|5.00
|-
!Total
|
|15.00
|}
</pre>
|
{|
! align="left"| Item
! Amount
! Cost
|-
|Orange
|10
|7.00
|-
|Bread
|4
|3.00
|-
|Butter
|1
|5.00
|-
!Total
|
|15.00
|}
|}

'''Note:''' When using attributes as in the heading 'Item' a vertical bar '|' is used for separation. Not an exclamation character '!'.

===Caption===
A '''table caption''' can be added to the top of any table as follows.

{| cellspacing="0" border="1"
!style="width:50%"|You type
!style="width:50%"|You get
|-
|
<pre>
{|
|+Food complements
|-
|Orange
|Apple
|-
|Bread
|Pie
|-
|Butter
|Ice cream
|}
</pre>
|
{|
|+ Food complements
|-
|Orange
|Apple
|-
|Bread
|Pie
|-
|Butter
|Ice cream
|}
|}

== XHTML attributes ==
You can add XHTML attributes to tables. For the authoritative source on these, see [http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/struct/tables.html the W3C's HTML 4.01 Specification page on tables].

=== Attributes on tables ===
Placing attributes after the table start tag (<code>{|</code>) applies attributes to the entire table.

{| cellspacing="0" border="1"
!style="width:50%"|You type
!style="width:50%"|You get
|-
|
<pre>
{| border="1" align="center" style="text-align:center;"
|Orange
|Apple
|12,333.00
|-
|Bread
|Pie
|500.00
|-
|Butter
|Ice cream
|1.00
|}
</pre>
|
{| border="1" align="center" style="text-align:center;"
|Orange
|Apple
|12,333.00
|-
|Bread
|Pie
|500.00
|-
|Butter
|Ice cream
|1.00
|}
|}

=== Attributes on cells ===
You can put attributes on individual '''cells'''. For example, numbers may look better aligned right.

{| cellspacing="0" border="1"
!style="width:50%"|You type
!style="width:50%"|You get
|-
|
<pre>
{| border="1"
|Orange
|Apple
|align="right" | 12,333.00
|-
|Bread
|Pie
|align="right" | 500.00
|-
|Butter
|Ice cream
|align="right" | 1.00
|}
</pre>
|
{| border="1"
|Orange
|Apple
|align="right"|12,333.00
|-
|Bread
|Pie
|align="right"|500.00
|-
|Butter
|Ice cream
|align="right"|1.00
|}
|}

You can also use '''cell''' attributes when you are listing multiple '''cells''' on a single line. Note that the '''cells''' are separated by <code>||</code>, and within each '''cell''' the attribute(s) and value are separated by <code>|</code>.

{| cellspacing="0" border="1"
!style="width:50%"|You type
!style="width:50%"|You get
|-
|
<pre>
{| border="1"
| Orange || Apple || align="right" | 12,333.00
|-
| Bread || Pie || align="right" | 500.00
|-
| Butter || Ice cream || align="right" | 1.00
|}
</pre>
|
{| border="1"
| Orange || Apple || align="right" | 12,333.00
|-
| Bread || Pie || align="right" | 500.00
|-
| Butter || Ice cream || align="right" | 1.00
|}
|}

===Attributes on rows===
You can put attributes on individual '''rows''', too.

{| cellspacing="0" border="1"
!style="width:50%"|You type
!style="width:50%"|You get
|-
|
<pre>
{| border="1"
|Orange
|Apple
|align="right"|12,333.00
|-
|Bread
|Pie
|align="right"|500.00
|- style="font-style:italic; color:green;"
|Butter
|Ice cream
|align="right"|1.00
|}
</pre>
|
{| border="1"
|Orange
|Apple
|align="right"|12,333.00
|-
|Bread
|Pie
|align="right"|500.00
|- style="font-style:italic; color:green;"
|Butter
|Ice cream
|align="right"|1.00
|}
|}

====Simple one-pixel table border====
The default table formatting uses the "border-collapse: separate" model, which adds table cell spacing (which also separates the table outer border from its content cells). Even with a zero cellspacing, the borders of consecutive cells (and of the overall table container) will add up, so to get a one-pixel separation between cells, you need to selectively remove one or more of the four borders of cells.

Such tables may be formatted more simply, using the "border-collapse: collapse" CSS property; in this table formatting model, the cellspacing attribute (or the CSS "border-spacing:" property) and the table's "padding:" CSS property is ignored and only the larger border of adjacent inner cells (or the table border for outer cells) will be used.

An example of the above for one-pixel table border, using each model (without need for external extensions):

{|border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2"
|-
!|You type
!width="200"|You get
|-
|
<pre style="font-size: 80%">
{|style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: #000; padding: 0"
|-
!style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0 1px 1px 0"| Orange
!style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0 0 1px 0"| Apple
|-
|style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0 1px 0 0"| Bread
|style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0"| Pie
|}
</pre>
|
{|style="margin: 0; border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: #000; padding: 0"
|-
!style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0 1px 1px 0"| Orange
!style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0 0 1px 0"| Apple
|-
|style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0 1px 0 0"| Bread
|style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0"| Pie
|}
|-
|
<pre style="font-size: 80%">
{|style="border-collapse: collapse; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: #000"
|-
!style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1px"| Orange
!style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1px"| Apple
|-
|style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1px"| Bread
|style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1px"| Pie
|}
</pre>
|
{|style="border-collapse: collapse; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: #000"
|-
!style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1px"| Orange
!style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1px"| Apple
|-
|style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1px"| Bread
|style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1px"| Pie
|}
|}

Notes :
* When using the "border-width:" CSS shortcut property, the order of the four space-separated specified values is: top, right, bottom, left. As an example from above:
::"border-width: 0 1px 0 0"
:When there are fewer than 4 values, the value for left takes its default from the value for right, the value for bottom takes its default from the value for top, and the value for right takes its default from the value for top.
* The HTML attributes (such as "width=", "border=", "cellspacing=", "cellpadding=") do not need any length unit (the pixel unit is assumed). The CSS style properties (which override the HTML attributes) require an explicit length unit (if the value is not 0) such as "px" for the pixel.

===HTML colspan and rowspan===

You can use HTML '''colspan''' and '''rowspan''' attributes on cells for advanced layout.

{| cellspacing="0" border="1"
!style="width:50%"|You type
!style="width:50%"|You get
|-
|
<pre>
{| border="1"
!colspan="6"|Shopping List
|-
|rowspan="2"|Bread & Butter
|Pie
|Buns
|Danish
|colspan="2"|Croissant
|-
|Cheese
|colspan="2"|Ice cream
|Butter
|Yoghurt
|}
</pre>
|
{| border="1"
!colspan="6"|Shopping List
|-
|rowspan="2"|Bread & Butter
|Pie
|Buns
|Danish
|colspan="2"|Croissant
|-
|Cheese
|colspan="2"|Ice cream
|Butter
|Yoghurt
|}
|}

===With HTML attributes and CSS styles===
[[Manual:CSS|CSS]] style attributes can be added with or without other HTML attributes.

{| cellspacing="0" border="1"
!style="width:50%"|You type
!style="width:50%"|You get
|-
|
<pre style="white-space:-moz-pre-wrap; white-space:-pre-wrap; white-space:-o-pre-wrap; white-space:pre-wrap; word-wrap:break-word; word-break:break-all;">
{| style="color:green; background-color:#ffffcc;" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" border="1"
|Orange
|Apple
|-
|Bread
|Pie
|-
|Butter
|Ice cream
|}
</pre>
|
{| style="color:green; background-color:#ffffcc;" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" border="1"
|Orange
|Apple
|-
|Bread
|Pie
|-
|Butter
|Ice cream
|}
|}

====Attributes====
'''Attributes''' can be added to the caption and headers as follows.

{| cellspacing="0" border="1"
!style="width:50%"|You type
!style="width:50%"|You get
|-
|
<pre style="white-space:-moz-pre-wrap; white-space:-pre-wrap; white-space:-o-pre-wrap; white-space:pre-wrap; word-wrap:break-word; word-break:break-all;">
{| border="1" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0"
|+ align="bottom" style="color:#e76700;" |''Food complements''
|-
|Orange
|Apple
|-
|Bread
|Pie
|-
|Butter
|Ice cream
|}
</pre>
|
{| border="1" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0"
|+ align="bottom" style="color:#e76700;" |''Food complements''
|-
|Orange
|Apple
|-
|Bread
|Pie
|-
|Butter
|Ice cream
|}
|}

====Column width====
'''Column width''' can be added as follows.

You type:
<pre style="white-space:-moz-pre-wrap; white-space:-pre-wrap; white-space:-o-pre-wrap; white-space:pre-wrap; word-wrap:break-word; word-break:break-all;">
{| style="color:black; background-color:#ffffcc;" width="85%" cellpadding="10%" cellpadding="15%" cellspacing="0" border="1"
| colspan="2" | This column width is 85% of the screen width (and has a background color)
|-
| style="width: 30%;background-color:white;"| '''This column is 30% counted from 85% of the screen width'''
| style="width: 70%;background-color:orange;"| '''This column is 70% counted from 85% of the screen width (and has a background color)'''
|}
</pre>

You get:
{| style="color:black; background-color:#ffffcc;" width="85%" cellpadding="10%" cellpadding="15%" cellspacing="0" border="1"
| colspan="2" | This column width is 85% of the screen width (and has a background color)
|-
| style="width: 30%;background-color:white;"| '''This column is 30% counted from 85% of the screen width'''
| style="width: 70%;background-color:orange;"| '''This column is 70% counted from 85% of the screen width (and has a background color)'''
|}

===Accessibility of table header cells===
Table header cells do not explicitly specify which table data cells they apply to (those on their right on the same row, or those below them on the same column). When the table is rendered in a visual 2D environment, this is usually easy to infer.

However when tables are rendered on non-visual medias, you can help the browser to determine which table header cell applies to the description of any selected cell (in order to repeat its content in some accessibility helper) using a scope="row" or scope="col" attribute on table header cells. In most cases with simple tables, you'll use scope="col" on all header cells of the first row, and scope="row" on the first cell of the following rows:

{| cellspacing="0" border="1"
!style="width:50%"|You type
!style="width:50%"|You get
|-
|
<pre style="white-space:-moz-pre-wrap; white-space:-pre-wrap; white-space:-o-pre-wrap; white-space:pre-wrap; word-wrap:break-word; word-break:break-all;">
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2"
|-
!scope="col"| Item
!scope="col"| Quantity
!scope="col"| Price
|-
!scope="row"| Bread
| 0.3 kg
| $0.65
|-
!scope="row"| Butter
| 0.125 kg
| $1.25
|-
!scope="row" colspan="2"| Total
| $1.90
|}
</pre>
|
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2"
|-
!scope="col"| Item
!scope="col"| Quantity
!scope="col"| Price
|-
!scope="row"| Bread
| 0.3 kg
| $0.65
|-
!scope="row"| Butter
| 0.125 kg
| $1.25
|-
!scope="row" colspan="2"| Total
| $1.90
|}
|}

==Caveats==

===Negative numbers===
If you start a cell on a new line with a negative number with a minus sign (or a parameter that evaluates to a negative number), your table can get broken, because the characters <code>|-</code> will be parsed as the wiki markup for table row, not table cell. To avoid this, insert a space before the value (<code>| -6</code>) or use in-line cell markup (<code>|| -6</code>).

===CSS vs Attributes===
Table borders specified through CSS rather than the border attribute will render incorrectly in a small subset of text browsers.

===Common attributes for columns, column groups and row groups===
The MediaWiki syntax for tables currently offers no support for specifying common attributes for columns (with the HTML element <code><col /></code>), column groups (HTML element <code><colgroup>...</colgroup></code>) and row groups (HTML elements <code><thead>...</thead></code>, <code><tbody>...</tbody><code> and <code><tfoot>...</tfoot></code>). Those standard HTML elements are not accepted even in their HTML or XHTML syntax.

All the rows and cells (header or data) of the table are rendered within a single implicit row group (HTML element <code><tbody>...</tbody></code>) without any attributes or styles.

==See also==
* {{mediawiki|meta:Help:Sorting}}
* {{mediawiki|wikipedia:Help:Tables}}

{{Languages}}
[[Category:Help|Tables]]

Help:Redirects

2012-01-29T16:12:27Z

Kghbln: chg, form

{{PD Help Page}}

Redirects are used to forward users from one page name to another. They can be useful if a particular article is referred to by multiple names, or has alternative punctuation, capitalization or spellings.

== Creating a redirect ==
You may start a new page with the name you want to direct from (see [[Help:Starting a new page]]). You can also use an existing page that you are making inactive as a page by going to that page and using the "edit" tab at the top. In either case, you will be inserting the following code at the very first text position of the Edit window for the page:
<nowiki>#REDIRECT [[</nowiki>''pagename''<nowiki>]]</nowiki>
where ''pagename'' is the name of the destination page. The word "redirect" is not case-sensitive, but there must be no space before the "#" symbol. Any text before the code will disable the code and prevent a redirect. Any text or regular content code after the redirect code will be ignored (and should be deleted from an existing page). However, to put or keep the current page name listed in a Category, the usual tag for that category is entered or kept on a line after the redirect code entry.

You should use the 'preview' button below the Edit window, or Alt-P, to check that you have entered the correct destination page name. The preview page will not look like the resulting redirect page, it will look like a numbered list, with the destination page in blue:
1. REDIRECT <span style="color:blue">''pagename''</span>
If the ''pagename'' as you typed it is not a valid page, it will show in red. Until there is a valid destination page, you should not make the redirect.

== Viewing a redirect ==
After making a redirect at a page, you can no longer get to that page by using its name or by any link using that name; and they do not show up in wiki search results, either. However, near the top of the destination page, a notice that you have been forwarded appears, with the source pagename as an active link to it. Click this to get back to the redirected page, showing the large bent arrow symbol and the destination for the redirect.

By doing this, you can do all the things that any wiki page allows. You can go to the associated discussion page to discuss the redirect. You can view the history of the page, including a record of the redirect. You can edit the page if the redirect is wrong, and you can revert to an older version to remove the redirect.

== Deleting a redirect ==
There's generally no need to delete redirects. They do not occupy a significant amount of database space. If a page name is vaguely meaningful, there's no harm (and some benefit) in having it as a redirect to the more relevant or current page.

If you do need to delete a redirect, e.g. if the page name is offensive, or you wish to discourage people from referring to a concept by that name, then you simply go to the redirect page as mentioned above, and follow the procedures at [[Help:Deleting a page]].

== Double redirects ==
A double redirect is a page redirecting to a page which is itself a redirect, and it will not work. Instead, people will be presented with a view of the next redirect page. This is a deliberate restriction, partly to prevent infinite loops, and partly to keep things simple.

However, you could look out for double redirects and eliminate them by changing them to be 1-step redirects instead. You are most likely to need to do this after a significant [[Help:Moving a page|page move]]. Use the "what links here" toolbox link to find double redirects to a particular page, or use [[Special:DoubleRedirects]] to find them throughout the whole wiki.

== A redirect to a page in the category namespace ==
To redirect to a category page and to prevent that the redirect appears in this category, precede the word "Category" with a colon:
<nowiki>#REDIRECT [[:Category:Glossary]]</nowiki>

== Supressing a redirect ==
Users with the ''suppressredirect'' [[Manual:User rights|right]] may move a page without creating a redirect.

== See also ==
* [[Template:softredirect]]
* [[Manual:Redirect table]]
* [[Manual:$wgMaxRedirects]] - to allow for more than one consecutive redirects

{{Languages|Help:Redirects}}

[[Category:Help|Redirects]]

Help:Templates

2012-01-24T09:37:20Z

Kghbln: Rejected the last text change (by JulioJones) and restored revision 471782 by Wargo

{{PD Help Page}}
If you have standard texts you want to include on several pages, the MediaWiki template feature comes into play.

==Creation==
Templates are standard wiki pages whose content is designed to be [[wikipedia:Transclusion|transcluded]] (embedded) inside other pages. Templates follow a convention that the name is prefixed with "<code>Template:</code>", assigning it to that namespace; besides this, you can [[Help:Starting a new page|create them like any other wiki page]].

The simplest use of templates is as follows. If you create a page called "Template:Welcome" with contents:

Hello! Welcome to the wiki.

you'll have created your first template! If you then insert the code:

<nowiki>{{Welcome}}</nowiki>

in any other page, when that page is viewed the text "Hello! Welcome to the wiki." will appear instead of <code><nowiki>{{Welcome}}</nowiki></code>. The template content is "transcluded" into the other page, i.e. it is integrated in the page.

You can then insert <code><nowiki>{{Welcome}}</nowiki></code> at any point of any page where you wish to welcome someone. Suppose it is used in 100 pages. If you then change the template contents to:

Hi there! Welcome to this wonderful wiki.

and revisit any of the 100 pages where the template was used, you'll see the new text instead of the original one. In this way, you have changed the content of 100 pages without editing them, because the template is transcluded into these pages.

This is the basic mechanism. There are several additional features of transclusion that enrich this mechanism and make templates very useful.

==Usage==
Templates can be used in other pages in these ways:

*<code><nowiki>{{Name}}</nowiki></code> — as described above, this link will be dynamically replaced by the current content of <nowiki>[[Template:Name]]</nowiki> at the time the page with the template link is loaded. The link will remain unchanged in the page's source.
*<code><nowiki>{{subst:Name}}</nowiki></code> — when used, this template link will be ''substituted'' with a copy of the contents of <nowiki>[[Template:Name]]</nowiki> in the source of the transcluding page, as of the time the page with the link is saved; the contents are then a part of the including page, and can be edited normally, separately from the original. ''Note'': changes to the source template page will ''not'' be propagated to the page with the template link.
*<code><nowiki>{{safesubst:Name}}</nowiki></code> — this was introduced in [[rev:61710]] to allow for substitution that doesn't break transclusion, see [[w:en:Help:Substitution#The safesubst: modifier]].
*<code><nowiki>{{msgnw:Name}}</nowiki></code> includes the template in a form that displays it as raw wiki syntax (the way <code><nowiki><nowiki></nowiki></code> does) when the page containing it is fetched.

In fact, an ordinary wiki page can also be used as a template, simply by specifying the namespace it resides in, so:

*<code><nowiki>{{Template:Pagename}}</nowiki></code> includes <code><nowiki>[[Template:Pagename]]</nowiki></code>
*<code><nowiki>{{Foo:Pagename}}</nowiki></code> includes <code><nowiki>[[Foo:Pagename]]</nowiki></code>
*<code><nowiki>{{:Pagename}}</nowiki></code> includes <code><nowiki>[[Pagename]]</nowiki></code>
**<code><nowiki>{{subst::Pagename}}</nowiki></code> replaces itself with the contents of <code><nowiki>[[Pagename]]</nowiki></code>

If no such namespace exists, the full title is assumed to be a template:

*<code><nowiki>{{Foo:Bar}}</nowiki></code> includes <code><nowiki>[[Template:Foo:Bar]]</nowiki></code>

==Parameters==
To enrich the mechanism of transclusion, MediaWiki allows parameters to be passed to a template when it is transcluded. Parameters allow the template to produce different contents or have different behaviors.

Suppose you wish to insert a little thank you note in the [[Help:Talk pages|talk page]] of other users, such as:

{{Thankyou|all your effort|Me}}
The thank you note will have a reason (in this case, "all your effort") and a signature ("Me"). Your objective is that any user is able to thank any other user, for any reason whatsoever.

So that the note will look similar everywhere it is used, you can define a template called [[Template:Thankyou]], for example. Although the note should look similar whenever a user thanks another user, its specific contents (i.e. the reason and the signature) will be different. For that reason, you should pass them as parameters. If we ignore the remaining elements to format the box and place the image, the core content of the template will be this:

<pre><nowiki>'''A little thank you...'''
for {{{1}}}.
hugs, {{{2}}}</nowiki></pre>

Notice the use of <code><nowiki>{{{1}}}</nowiki></code> and <code><nowiki>{{{2}}}</nowiki></code>. This is the way to identify, within templates, the parameters that will be passed in when the template is used. Note that, within the template, each parameter is surrounded by '''three''' braces: <code><nowiki>{{{ }}}</nowiki></code>. This is different from normal template name usage.

When using the template on a page, you fill in the parameter values, separated by a "pipe" character (<code>|</code>). MediaWiki allows parameters to be passed to the template in three ways: Anonymously, Numbered, and Named.

=== Anonymous parameters ===
To pass in anonymous parameters, list the values of those parameters sequentially:

<nowiki>{{Thankyou|all your effort|Me}}</nowiki>
In this case, the <code><nowiki>{{Thankyou}}</nowiki></code> template receives parameters <code><nowiki>{{{1}}}=all your effort</nowiki></code> and <code><nowiki>{{{2}}}=Me</nowiki></code>, producing:

{{Thankyou|all your effort|Me}}

The order in which anonymous parameters are passed in is crucial to its behaviour. Reversing the order of the parameters, like so:

<nowiki>{{Thankyou|Me|all your effort}}</nowiki>

would produce this result:

{{Thankyou|Me|all your effort}}

'''Note:''' identifying parameters by order (with <code><nowiki>{{{1}}}</nowiki></code>, etc) works ''only'' with anonymous parameters. If your page identifies any parameter by number or name, as shown below, this method will no longer be available to the template which receives them.

=== Numbered parameters ===
To pass in parameters by number, identify each parameter when passing it:

<nowiki>{{Thankyou|2=Me|1=your friendship}}</nowiki>

This time, template <code><nowiki>{{Thankyou}}</nowiki></code> receives parameters <code><nowiki>{{{1}}}=your friendship</nowiki></code> and <code><nowiki>{{{2}}}=Me</nowiki></code>, though they have been supplied in inverse order, and produces:
{{Thankyou|2=Me|1=your friendship}}

=== Named parameters ===
The third way of passing parameters is by name, instead of numbers. In this case, the template contents would be changed to:

<pre><nowiki>'''A little thank you...'''
for {{{reason}}}.
hugs, {{{signature}}}</nowiki></pre>

Within the template, we use <code><nowiki>{{{reason}}}</nowiki></code> and <code><nowiki>{{{signature}}}</nowiki></code> to identify each parameter, instead of a number. To pass these parameters by name, identify each parameter when passing it:

<nowiki>{{Thankyou|signature=Me|reason=being who you are}}</nowiki>

In this case, template <code><nowiki>{{Thankyou}}</nowiki></code> receives parameters <code><nowiki>{{{reason}}}=being who you are</nowiki></code> and <code><nowiki>{{{signature}}}=Me</nowiki></code> and produces:

{{Thankyou|signature=Me|reason=being who you are}}
The advantage of using named parameters in your template, besides also being flexible in the order parameters can be passed, is that it makes the template code much easier to understand if there are many parameters.

=== Default values ===
If you transclude a template that expects parameters, but do not provide them, in this way:

<nowiki>{{Thankyou}}</nowiki>

in the numbered parameters example above you would get the following:

{{Thankyou}}
Since no parameters were passed in, the template presents the parameters themselves, instead of their respective values. In these cases, it may be useful to define ''default'' values for the parameters, i.e. values that will be used if no value is passed in. For example, if the template contents are changed to:

<pre><nowiki>'''A little thank you...'''
for {{{reason|everything}}}.
hugs, {{{signature|Me}}}</nowiki></pre>

then <code><nowiki>{{{reason|everything}}}</nowiki></code> defines that if no parameter <code>{{{reason}}}</code> is provided, then the value <code>everything</code> will be used. Similarly, <code><nowiki>{{{signature|Me}}}</nowiki></code>, defaults parameter <code>{{{signature}}}</code> to value <code>Me</code>. Now, transcluding the template again without passing any parameter, results in the following:

{{Thankyou|reason=everything|signature=Me}}

===Control template inclusion===
By default, a template's content is displayed in its entirety, both when viewed directly and when included in another page. However, you can control which parts of a template will be seen and included by the use of the <code><nowiki><noinclude></nowiki></code> and
<code><nowiki><includeonly></nowiki></code> tags.

Anything between <code><nowiki><noinclude></nowiki></code> and <code><nowiki></noinclude></nowiki></code> will be seen only when the template's page is being viewed directly, but not when it is included in another page. This is useful when you want to include text or code in a template that you do not want to propagate to any pages which include it, such as:

* [[Help:Categories|Category]] links when categorizing the template itself
* [[Help:Links#Interlanguage links|interlanguage links]] to similar templates in other languages
* Explanatory text about how to use the template

Likewise, anything between <code><nowiki><includeonly></nowiki></code> and <code><nowiki></includeonly></nowiki></code> will be processed and displayed only when the page is being included, but not when the template page is being viewed directly, and is useful in situations such as:

* [[Help:Categories| Categorizing]] pages which include the template. ''Note:'' when changing the categories applied by a template in this fashion, the categorization of the pages which include that template may not be updated until some time later: this is handled by the {{mediawiki|Manual:Job queue|job queue}}. To force the re-categorization of a particular page, open that page for editing and save it without changes.
* Ensuring that the template's code is not executed when viewing the template page itself. Typically this is because it expects parameters, and its execution without parameters has an undesired result.

Everything outside <code><nowiki><noinclude></nowiki></code> and
<code><nowiki><includeonly></nowiki></code> tags is processed and displayed normally; that is, both when the template page is being viewed directly and when the template is included in another page.

===Organizing templates===
For templates to be effective, users need to find them, and find out how to use them.

To find them, users can:
# Click '''Special Pages > All Pages'''
# In the '''Namespace''' list, choose '''Template''' and click '''Go'''.

To give usage information, include an example like this one on the template page:

<pre><nowiki>
<noinclude>
== Usage ==
Welcome users:
{{Thankyou|reason=your reason|signature=your signature}}
</noinclude>
</nowiki></pre>

Then, an editor can simply copy and paste the example to use the template.

==Copying from one wiki to another==
Templates often require [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:CSS CSS] or other templates, so users frequently have trouble copying templates from one wiki to another. The steps below should work for most templates.

=== MediaWiki code ===
If you have import rights on the new wiki:
# Go to [[Special:Export]] on the original wiki, and download an .xml file with the complete history of all necessary templates, as follows:
#* Enter the name of the template in the big text box, e.g. "Template:Welcome". Pay special attention to capitalization and special characters — if the template name isn't exactly correct, the export may still occur but the .xml file will not have the expected data.
#* Check the box "Include templates".
#* '''Uncheck''' the box "Include only the current revision".
#* Click Export.
# Go to [[Special:Import]] on the new wiki and upload the .xml file.

If you don't have import rights on the new wiki:
# Go to [[Special:Export]] on the original wiki, and download an .xml file with the latest version only of all necessary templates, as follows:
#* Enter the name of the template in the big text box.
#* Check the box "Include templates".
#* '''Check''' the box "Include only the current revision".
#* Click Export.
#* Open the file in a text editor and replace certain [[w:en:XML entity|XML entities]] with the corresponding characters: &lt; → <, &gt; → >, &quot; → " and &amp; → &. Because of XML syntax rules, these entities appear in the XML file, but they should not appear in the edit box of the MediaWiki instance.
#* Manually copy the text inside the <code><nowiki><text></nowiki></code> tag of each listed template into a similarly named template in your wiki. In the edit summary of each template, link to the original page for attribution.

This will copy the entire code necessary, and will suffice for some templates.

=== Extensions ===
An extension often used in templates is ParserFunctions. Visit page {{mediawiki|Help:Extension:ParserFunctions|ParserFunctions}} and check if any of the functions listed there are used in the templates you've copied. If so, you have to install the {{mediawiki|Extension:ParserFunctions|ParserFunctions extension}}. To install it, you'll need system admin access to the server of your MediaWiki installation.

=== CSS and JavaScript code ===
Besides MediaWiki code, many templates make use of CSS and some rely on JavaScript to work fully. If the copied templates are not behaving as expected, this may be the cause. To copy the required CSS and JavaScript to your wiki you'll normally need to have admin priviledges, because you'll be editing system messages in the "MediaWiki:" namespace.

# Look for the use of CSS classes (text like <code>class="foobar"</code>) in the template text. If those classes appear in "MediaWiki:Common.css" or "MediaWiki:Monobook.css" on the original wiki, copy them to "MediaWiki:Common.css" on the new wiki and check if the template is now fine.
# If the copied template is still not working as expected, check if there is code in "MediaWiki:Common.js" or "MediaWiki:Monobook.js" on the original wiki. If so, you can try copying it to "MediaWiki:Common.js" on the new wiki. Normally, it is a good idea to only copy code from trusted sources, and first browsing the code to identify and select the parts that seem relevant. You may find comments that can serve as clues to identify the functionality of each part. When in doubt, copy all the code to the new wiki.

==See also==
*[[Help:External searches]] – a template special use case example
*[[Help:Magic words]] – fancy stuff you may find in some templates
*[[Help:Parser functions in templates]]
*{{meta|Help:Template}} – contains a much more thorough manual on how exactly templates function
*{{meta|Help:Embed page}} – embedding pages from [[Help:namespaces|namespaces]] other than <code>Template:</code>.

[[Category:Help|{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Template]]
{{Languages|Help:Templates}}

Help:Editing

2012-01-03T15:02:05Z

Kghbln: Undo revision 480428 by 213.243.18.70 (talk)

{{PD Help Page}}
;Editing
:[[Help:Editing pages|Editing pages]]
:[[Help:Starting a new page|Starting a new page]]
:[[Help:Formatting|Formatting]]
:[[Help:Links|Links]]
:[[Help:User page|User pages]]
:[[Help:Talk pages|Talk pages]]
;Advanced Editing
:[[Help:Images|Images]]
:[[Help:Tables|Tables]]
:[[Help:Categories|Categories]]
:[[Help:Templates|Templates]]
:[[Help:Variables|Variables]]
:[[Help:Managing files|Managing files]]
:[[Help:Moving a page|Moving a page]]
:[[Help:Redirects|Redirects]]
:[[Help:Deleting a page|Deleting a page]]

{{languages|Help:Editing}}
[[Category:Help|Editing]]