Difference between revisions of "Help:Template"

Revision as of 16:44, 4 November 2007

Passing Parameters

Making Templates

First make sure the template doesn't already exist by going to Special:Prefixindex and selecting Template from the namespace drop-down box.

When you are ready to make your template, go to http://www.aboutus.org/Template:NameOfNewTemplate (replacing NameOfNewTemplate with whatever you wish to call it). Make sure that the name of the template is not too long, but is descriptive enough of its function, and the name is easy enough to remember.

Your template can be simple, like {{smiley}}, or as complex as {{CategoryTOC}}.

MagicWords

MagicWords can be considered a predefined template without parameters.

This is a list of MagicWords that can be used in the wikitext. The way they are rendered vary with time (directly depending on time, or e.g. for number of articles, depending on the creation of other articles), on the project (it changes when the wikitext is copied), or on the page in which it occurs (it changes when the wikitext is copied, when the page is renamed, and when the page is included in another page).

List of Words

Receiving Passed Parameters

Receiving passed parameters to a template is very easy. All you have to do is surround the name of the parameter in triple quotes where you want it in the template. For example, a template which would show the contents of the text parameter would be coded like this:

{{{text}}}

If you want to have a default value for the parameter, which is shown if the template is embedded without specifying the parameter, you can add a pipe ( | ) to the end of the name of the parameter, followed by the default value. For example,

{{{text|Default Value}}}

Important Notes

When a parameter is not passed, and there is no default value, the parameter will be read as text. That means that {{{x}}}, replacing x with the name of the parameter being used will be seen in the place it is used.

List of MagicWords

Constants

Dependent on page