Wikiversity:FAQ/Template
For immediate help with templates, see Help:Template at Meta.
A template is a wiki-page, containing a section of wikitext to be inserted into other pages (via either "transclusion" or "substitution").
Templates at Wikiversity have a variety of purposes:
- Messaging: Everyone needs little signs along the way - see especially "page flags" and "ratings" templates below.
- Navigation and classification: Things that need to appear the same on many pages while linking them together often contain compact navigational aids or infoboxes
- Learning: Templates may add functionality, content or formatting to a page which assists its educational purpose.
- Fun: Userboxes have long been a tradition with Wikimedians, Wikipedians, Wiktionarians and such. Wikiversitans should be no different.
- Iterative computation: See meta:help:recursive conversion of wikitext.
Guide to templates[edit source]
The following is a user-friendly guide to the most important kinds of template. There is an exhaustive list of categorised templates which does not include uncategorised templates. See also: list of templates, including uncategorised ones.
- Templates which assist with making content
- Category:TOC templates, Category:Navigational templates
- Citation templates - for citing external resources such as books and articles.
- Template:Participants - creates an attractive box for lists of participants.
- Template:To do - creates an attractive box with a list of things to do.
- Page creation templates
- Educational templates (there need to be more of these)
- Messaging templates
- Page flagging templates - some of the most useful administrative templates for quickly marking pages for merges, deletion, or for putting requests, information or warnings at the top.
- Ratings templates - ratings displays, for rating the maturity/activity of learning projects, or other ratings purposes. (NB: the size of the images in the percentage boxes needs increasing for proper display).
- Welcome templates
- Useful shortcuts
- Polling templates - for voting.
- Administrative templates
- Administrative templates, Wikiversity maintenance
- User warning templates - see vandalism.
- Copyright templates - mostly used for uploaded files.
- Templates for fun
- User templates - typically used on user pages to provide information about a user. Mostly for fun. See Wikiversity:Userboxes.
- Language user templates - provides information about a user's linguistic abilities.
- Knowledge user templates - provides information about a user's other abilities.
- Award templates - awards. For fun. See Wikiversity:Barnstars.
- User templates - typically used on user pages to provide information about a user. Mostly for fun. See Wikiversity:Userboxes.
You can help[edit source]
Please [[Help:]] the Template Taskforce develop this Help page and participate in Template Policy discussions.
Note: See Wikiversity:Naming conventions for more information. You may also want to look over Introduction to Wiki and Wiki 101 if you are uncomfortable creating and editing pages.
Help namespace[edit source]
To see what's in the Help: namespace, click Special pages to your left. Scroll down to Prefix index and click that. Then, where it says Namespace:, click the drop-down box, select Help then hit Go.
You will then see a page – All pages (Help namespace) which gives you an alphabetized list something like Category through [[Help: WordToWiki|]]. These are your basic Help: pages at Wikiversity.