Help:Template

As with other wikis, the Super Mario Wiki provides templates that help the user to browse any information quickly and efficiently. See also SpongeBob Wiki:Navigation templates and SpongeBob Wiki:Notice templates for more in-depth information about these two major groups of templates.

We would like to thank the Super Mario Wiki for their original policy page.

Usage

To understand their usage, the templates existing in this wiki are classified in this way:

• Formatting templates – These templates allow users to change elements of a page quickly by just adding them. Examples are the {{color}} template to change the color of the text and {{ref needed}} the add over a text that lacks a citation to make it valid.
• Infobox templates – These templates contain the essential information about the topic of an article. Examples are {{Infobox character}} and {{Infobox game}}.
• Media templates – These templates serve to contain media such as images, videos and audio files.
• Navigation templates – These templates has links that are directly or indirectly related to a topic. A good example can be the {{Episodes}} template, which shows all of the episodes of the SpongeBob SquarePants show and related spinoffs or {{BFBB}} that shows all content in the video game SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom.
• Notice templates – These templates serve to notice readers the current state of a page. Arguably the most used templates found in this category are the {{stub}} and {{image}} templates. The first describes a page or article needs to be deeply developed and the latter talks about a future project, like a new game.
• Userbox templates – These templates are decorative tables to describe our users on the SpongeBob Wiki. Used only for your user pages.

Code

Make sure you know the MediaWiki syntax for a template:

To create a template, it's needed to put the title starting Template and then the name of the template. Example: Template:Name of template

Add the content you want to show for the template in the edit area. To insert an input, type {{{1}}} for the first input, {{{2}}} for the second, and so on. You can also specify the input by inserting a name like this {{{name}}}.

Once you've finished, it's possible that you have to use the coding <includeonly> </includeonly> to tag the content of the template that will be shown and <noinclude> </noinclude> to tag the rest that shouldn't. The Noinclude tag usually covers the usage instructions of the template and the template's category.

To embed a template, simply type {{Name of template}} in a page.

If the template is in any other namespace, simply type {{namespace:Name of template}} to use it.

If the template has inputs, type {{Name of template|write here to change the first parameter of a template|write here to change the second one}}

If the template has specified inputs, type {{Name of template|name=The name of something}}

Substituting

In some cases involving more complex coding and template functions, subst: must be placed before the template name. This substitutes the dynamic code on the page with static text (i.e. the content within the template is pasted on the other page, rather than the template itself). For example, {{tick}} will display as {{tick}} in the code, while {{subst:tick}} will display as [[File:wiki tick.GIF]] in the code, which is what is contained in the {{tick}} template.

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:Bawitdaba|Bawitdaba]] ([[User talk:User|talk]] · [[Special:Contributions/Bawitdaba|edits]])

Which shows on the page as:

Bawitdaba (talk · edits)

See also

• Wikipedia:Help:Template