Help:Wiki University Wikitext--Templates

What are templates?

 * A container of such things as text, tables, images, etc. that can be embedded anywhere on a page.
 * It can be just about anything from a complete page of many words, images and tables to a small box with a link or two.
 * AND it is material you want to add to many pages without having to type it or copy and paste it into each article where you want your material to appear.
 * Whatever is in the template will be the same in each article you embed the template.
 * Here is an example of an image template:

How to create templates

 * It is created just like an ordinary article.
 * The main difference between an ordinary article and a template is how it is saved.
 * To save it as a template you type "Template and a colon" and the title you want to give it:
 * Template:Template name


 * NOTICE the location of the word template and the colon. If the word template and its colon are missing, you will be saving another article instead of a template.

How to embed a template

 * To embed a template, you type the following code where you want the template to appear:


 * You can put the template anywhere on a page.
 * NOTICE you do not type the word template with the colon between the curly braces. You type only the name you gave the template.
 * NOTICE if you were to click on "Edit This Page" to see the coding for the template on the page you embedded it, you will only see the curly braces and the name of the template, not the coding that was used to create the template.

Editing templates

 * Editing a template is just like editing an article. Go to the template by typing "template:name of template" exactly like you saved it.  Then edit as normal.
 * This is critical to understand : Whenever you edit a template, those changes will show up in the template wherever it is embedded.  This can be good or it can be a problem.
 * This is a good thing if it is a template that needs updating from time to time. This saves you from having to go to every page the template is embedded to edit it.
 * This can be a problem because if you do want to update one particular template on a specific page and not all of them, you can't.

Editing only one embedded template

 * To get around this problem, if you think you will be making changes to a template and don't want to affect the others, use this coding to embed the template:


 * NOTICE the word "subst" and the colon before the name of the template. This allows the template to be embedded in the article with the ability to be edited and only show up on the page it is embedded in.
 * NOTICE this time if you were to click on "Edit this Page", you will see all the code used to create the template.

Try these out


 Exercises Check your answers
 * What is the coding to save a template?
 * What is the coding to embed a template?
 * What is the coding to embed a template that you might want to edit someday?

 Quick Quiz
 * Templates are easy to change.
 * A. True
 * B. False


 * Change the template and wherever it is embedded is changed as well.
 * A. True
 * B. False


 * There is no way to change a template without changing it wherever it is embedded.
 * A. True
 * B. False

Check your answers