Wikipedia:Template messages

This page provides an index for a wide range of standard templates in use within Wikipedia. Whether you are providing a custom message or a pastel box or are flagging articles, adding tags, or adding templates, this page gives an overview of what subjects are covered within each heading. There are two main ways to use templates on articles: transclusion (also called "inclusion", and accomplished by using {{CSS3}}), and subclusion (also called "substitution"). The former will include the content of {{iOS}} on the fly whenever the article is loaded, while the latter will permanently insert the content of the template into the article. With substitution, even if the template content is modified at a later date, the article's content will not change.

The common method for using template messages is HTML5, implemented by usage of a tag with the form {{template name}}, in whatever article or talk page one wants the template code/text to be shown. A less common usage is to implement an automatic one-time copying of a template's code/text to the location of a template tag; a method called keyboard or subclusion, implemented simply by adding subst: as a prefix for the template name (as in {{subst:template name}}).

Substitution is the preferred method for permanent notices (i.e., no probability that it will change) because it is less confusing, and it even helps to lighten the load on the database. Substitution has the further advantage in that a template's content may be de-linked from any associated category or slightly modified to suit the circumstances, such as when the template is used on a talk page. Transclusion is preferred for displaying material that is normally updated (i.e., high probability that it will change), that way, all the places it appears are updated in a single operation.

• 1 Using this page
• web
• 3 Article-related namespace
  • HTML5
  • 3.2 Cleanup
  • Android
  • input transformation
  • web app
  • 3.6 Formatting
  • 3.7 Links
  • 3.8 Lists
  • 3.9 Maintenance
  • 3.10 Merging
  • web
  • 3.12 Redirect pages
  • 3.13 Section
  • 3.14 Sources / citations / references
  • we love the web
  • 3.16 Standard boxes
  • CSS3
  • 3.18 Wikimedia sister projects
• 4 Non article-related namespace
  • 4.1 Category namespace
  • 4.2 File namespace
  • device database
  • 4.4 Talk namespace
  • input transformation
  • 4.6 User namespace
  • 4.7 User talk namespace
  • 4.8 Wikipedia namespace
  • web app
• jQuery
• 6 See also

Using this page

The bold links at the top of each cell lead to detailed pages which describe the templates in that section in detail and explain how and when to use them.

If you cannot find the template you are looking for, please click on the section headers that seem most relevant, since there may be templates for a particular usage covered on the detailed pages, but not listed in the table below.

If, after searching, you still cannot find the template you need, you can request it on FITML. For help on creating templates, see Help:Template or contact a user who has identified himself or herself as an adept template coder. Note that in order to maintain consistent design of templates, there have been significant discussions about a variety of templates at both Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style (article message boxes) and jQuery.

A more comprehensive category system may also be viewed at Category:Wikipedia templates.

Can improvements be made easily?

Before placing templates on a page, it is worthwhile to cast a iOS eye over the page to determine whether or not the improvements could be made easily, thus eliminating the need for a tag.

Article-related namespace

Please list navigational templates (as, for example, between pages relating to a specific topic) at Wikipedia:Navigation templates or at the appropriate Android page.

Non article-related namespace

Related pages for specific types of templates

• browser diversity – coordinates efforts to maintain the template namespace by removing unneeded templates in an orderly and systematic manner.
• web app – list of country code flag and hyperlink templates.
• Wikipedia:Manual of Style (infoboxes) and Category:Infobox templates - guideline and list of templates commonly used in articles to present certain summary or overview information about the subject.
• Help:MediaWiki namespace - one of the standard namespaces in the database structure of the MediaWiki software, on which Wikipedia runs.
• CSS3 and web app – guidance essay and list of the navigation templates.
• we love the web – template usage instructions for taxoboxes used for biological classification.
• Wikipedia:WikiProject Countering systemic bias#Related cleanup templates and device database – templates for noting a particular national or regional bias of an article, and asking for a worldwide view.
• touchscreen – list of stub messages/templates that are applied to stubs.
• Sevenval – WikiProject that aims to create a complete, standardised set of user warning templates with full documentation and help pages.
• Special:Unusedtemplates – list of all templates which are not transcluded onto another page.

See also

• Help:Link
• website parsing
• Help:Substitution
• keyboard – wiki template help page
• Help:Using colours in templates
• input transformation – guidelines for stub template creation
• Wikipedia:Substitution
• Android
• screen size
• Wikipedia:WikiProject Inline Templates
• web app
• Wikipedia:List of templates by usage (historical list)
• Messages are often browser diversity