Help talk:Templates

Can Template:T replace more complex code?
The help page still contains some complex expressions using "code" and "nowiki" tags that look as if they could be simplified with use of T. Are there still places where it can't be used? — Robin Patterson (Talk) 03:07, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

I'm new to templates, and I'm having a hard time locating templates for the wiki I'm working on. If someone could update this article and explain how to find existing templates, I'd appreciate it!


 * Hey ;)! You can find a complete list of widgets using the Special:Prefixindex, and selecting templates. You can also use this link, changing  to the Wiki's URL; http://WIKILINK.wikia.com/index.php?title=Special%3APrefixIndex&prefix=&namespace=10. Hope this helps ;). Tedjuh10 - Talk 10:25, October 17, 2009 (UTC)

Template Loop Detected
I don't understand this problem, I can't figure out how to fix it.--Phantom Stranger 01:47, March 30, 2010 (UTC)
 * if you keep posting your question in a dozen places, you are never going to get a response when one is left. Please see the email reply, or the message on the central forums. --Uberfuzzy 04:51, March 30, 2010 (UTC)

Foiled by Templates
I'm still needing some help with templates. I've created the template with the double fancy brackets as a sub-page and then this can not be put into any other page.

So, at this test page on my wiki: http://cloh.wikia.com/test3 there is a link to a page that has a number. That number should be something that should be able to be put into a chart.

The number page is here: http://cloh.wikia.com/Pittsburgh_Obama_Academy_of_International_Studies_6-12/HS_boys.

The text for the link to show the template should be: *. But it is not working. It seems as if the sub page with the / mark is messing us up.

Can templates have a / in them?

These pages were created with a simple link, /HS boys. Then the number was put into the blank page. Rauterkus 18:53, October 11, 2010 (UTC)

Testing Templates
Is there a way to test potential changes to a template without saving, but still being able to see how it looks when put on a page? I'm trying to fix some padding and margins (which don't show up in a preview) on multiple templates used on the home page and I keep messing up, which makes the home page look bad. I'd like to fix the weird padding without messing up the home page. SereneChaos 21:14, July 19, 2011 (UTC)


 * Not as far as I know of - The preview page show templates (that are saved) so when you are making a change to a template and click on Preview - You see the version that is saved not the unsaved version you currently are working on.


 * What I do, so I can see immediate effects of the template when I save it without having to leave the template is have a Documentation page for the template with some examples already set up, and add the following to the end of the template: . This will cause the Documentation page to be transcluded onto the main page, while not passing this information onto the regular articles that use the template. When you make changes to the template and save it you can see immediately how the changes look in your examples that are transcluded.


 * -- 19:54, June 4, 2012 (UTC)

Help me please!
I want the family tree template on my wiki, but I don't know how to put it on there. if I try It just says that the page does not exist and I made a page for the template but that didn't help at all! Please help me! 14:14, June 4, 2012


 * Did you copy the both templates? and its sub-template ?


 * -- 20:01, June 4, 2012 (UTC)

Template Help
I'm having so much trouble with templates I'm trying to make a template similar to the one used here but nothing seems to be working :( I tried using the default ino box and edited it so it ended up like this, but it keeps telling me template loop detected whenever I try and use it, I got rid of the monster part so it just started with {{Infobox but then it wouldn't let me edit it when I stuck it into the page. Help please?

GamingGrl24 19:53, July 7, 2012 (UTC)


 * The Monster Infobox template was calling itself when it should have been calling the the Main template {{T|Infobox}}. On the " Monster " pages you will use {{T|Monster Infobox}}. -- {{:User:Jrooksjr/Sig1}} 21:44, July 7, 2012 (UTC)

Ok thanks :) but now when I imput the template into the page I'm not able to edit it the way you can with the example one? GamingGrl24 21:55, July 7, 2012 (UTC)


 * You do not edit a template on the "article pages" you add the template to the page with the parameters that you do know and add the others later as you find the information for those parameters. - Example: if you know only the image to be used you would enter this on the monster page:

{{Monster Infobox }}
 * image = image file name goes here


 * -- {{:User:Jrooksjr/Sig1}} 22:01, July 7, 2012 (UTC)


 * After thinking about what you are asking to be able to do, I think you need to substitute the template onto the page so that all of the parameters are there and you can just edit them later -- to do this you would use  {{subst:Monster Infobox}}  onto the page and then SAVE the page - then edit the page and the template with all of the parameters would be there as well for you to change the N/A's into the information you want displayed.


 * Edit my user page to see what I mean
 * -- {{:User:Jrooksjr/Sig1}} 22:09, July 7, 2012 (UTC)

Ok thanks for all your help :) GamingGrl24 22:26, July 7, 2012 (UTC)

adding
I've been trying to create a template. But when I watched the video, it said to click "add other templates" Well I don't have that option, all it says is "show list of used templates" so why is mine different?
 * Click on that. There is something like a search box there. Type your template's name in there and it should come.  http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s145/urbancowgurl777/UltimateSupreme2212-3.png    http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s145/urbancowgurl777/UltimateSupreme2212-3talk.png    05:37, August 12, 2012 (UTC)

Edit Button
Hi, I created a multi-purpose template on my wiki, but it has no edit button (which means I can only use it on one article). Please tell me how to fix it. Thanks.Superlana (talk) 17:45, August 15, 2012 (UTC)


 * Hi there. The best place to go for help is our Community Central Forum, where users experienced with templates can give you a hand in fixing yours. Good luck! - Brandon Rhea (talk)  18:30, August 15, 2012 (UTC)

Help!!!
I'm new to all this, and i've just started trying to use templates. I'm following the instructions, but when i go onto edit mode in the template section it just says 'show list of new templates', not 'add other templates'. Btw im on an ipad is that whyits not working, or is it me being a moron?
 * Hi, it looks like this button was removed - I'll update the help article in order to change this. In the future, you'll get a faster response if you ask this question in the forums, as there are more people who look at them. --  Random Time  21:24, November 7, 2012 (UTC)

Color on family tree
Is it possible to add a background color to certain cells in a family tree using ? Thanks!--Ylnani (talk) 04:24, December 28, 2012 (UTC)


 * Hi, I would recommend asking that in our Forum - its gets a lot more activity and there are a lot of advanced users there who may be able to answer your question. Sarah (help forum | blog) 17:39, January 2, 2013 (UTC)

Noob questions
I am new to this, so please help me:

1. Where do I find Template:Example on my wikia? What you put in the article is not clear enough. I have been searching everywhere on my wikia.

2. I take it I can edit the template's contents at any time and in the articles I am writing as well?

Haou1987 April 2, 2013, 12:53


 * Hi there, so the steps on the page use Template:Example as an example for how to create a simple template. It doesn't exist on your wiki so you can practice creating one. As for editing, if you want to add content to the template, you do that when you are editing the page. If you want to change the template itself, you have to do that on the Template page. Sarah (help forum | blog) 16:32, April 2, 2013 (UTC)


 * Okay now I try to set up a Quote template, which works in different wikia's. So I simply put in how its done in other wikia's where it works, but when I do it here it doesn't. This is what I mean "Text"

- Text . Can you explain how I can make that work? Haou1987


 * Answering could be easier if you gave us a link to show which wiki you are talking about. -- Robin Patterson (Talk) 00:05, April 3, 2013 (UTC)


 * Sorry yes of course. I'll give a link to an example I meant: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Comet_(clone_trooper)
 * (totally random page btw)
 * I mean like the quote they use there on top of the page. I try use the same template on my wikia, but it does not work.
 * Haou1987 April 3, 2013 13:28


 * Looks like . Does your wiki have a page called "Template:Dialogue"? Templates generally don't work from one wiki to another. You have to have a copy (or an adapted version) on your other wiki. Open the "Edit" screen - http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Template:Dialogue?action=edit - copy, and paste into a page of the same name on your wiki. They don't seem to use the current standard documentation system; you should, so you need to add  at the end (starting in the same line as the last bit of the template). Then on the new documentation page you say where you copied the template from. Then try to use it. (You should have been able to work all of that out for yourself with careful reading of Help:Templates.) -- Robin Patterson (Talk) 08:23, April 4, 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks! It seems to work now. Haou1987 April 4, 2013 10:40

request
A section should be added to this help article detailing what templates are not meant to be used for, but I don't want to add this myself as I don't know what to add. -- 20:17, August 18, 2013 (UTC)

Wide image scroller
I was wondering if there are any wide image scroller templates? I ask because I have a timeline that is being cut off the page, and it isn't showing the whole graph. I have found scrollers that go vertically, but I would like to know if there are any that can go horizontally?

MySummerJob (talk) 05:07, October 3, 2013 (UTC)

My template is different than yours. It comes out like this:
I can't even add a photo and I can't change where it says "Some attributes, first, sencond,...." and all that. What should I do? HELP ME PLEASE

Copied template cannot function ?
Hello, I would like to ask, since a few months ago, this has been bugging me for a while, i copied this template from another wikia, but it doesn't work, i copied every wiki text, and it still doesn't work, Am i missing something? I double checked everything, nothing was missed out, it's really weird ... Vergilheartnet (talk) 16:34, June 9, 2014 (UTC)


 * It's entirely possible the template requires custom js or css to work. You should ask the person who created (or at least, made most recent changes) the template. Though if you copied it without permission or attribution (the latter is compulsory, the former is just nice), it may be they don't want to help you. I've seen that happen. -- Tupka 217 16:48, June 9, 2014 (UTC)


 * Can you please give a link to the original template and to the one you copied? 08:56, June 10, 2014 (UTC)

List of common templates
It would be nice to have a list of working common templates like for example wp:Template:Navbox or wp:Template:Val or wp:Template:Date or wp:Template:Reflist. When I will find or translate such templates on Wikia, I will add to the list below: BlizzardOSH (talk) 17:18, October 17, 2014 (UTC)
 * Navbox - http://gamenc.wikia.com/wiki/Template:Navbox - http://ragnarok.wikia.com/wiki/Template:Navbox


 * Apologies for adding a little rain on your parade, but it's likely to be pretty difficult to list common templates, to be honest - many can have matching names but slightly (or wildly) different coding. Others may have completely different names but essentially identical coding. That being said, I think the Templates Wiki can be a good place for many to start looking for generic, popular templates like navboxes and infoboxes. 14:18, October 20, 2014 (UTC)

Template Restructuring
I'm having trouble restructuring a template because I don't yet know the wikia language well enough. This is my template: http://stormlightarchive.wikia.com/wiki/Template%3AHouse_Kholin_family_tree I want to add members to the family tree and have labored at doing so because I'm not quite getting the language right. Can anyone help me in properly restructuring the template to better reflect the family tree? Thanks, in advance!Tejrinde Shahrizai (talk) 03:58, July 22, 2015 (UTC)


 * Not sure if you're already over this problem or not, but if it's just instructions on how to use the template you need, they're in the template's documentation page at Template:Chart. If that doesn't help, maybe I can help if you describe what you're trying to add. -Illumini9 (talk) 07:31, September 23, 2015 (UTC)

Loading times
I consider myself to have a penchant for making pretty big templates. My laptop's a relatively low-end one that sometimes chokes just trying to load a normal wiki page in the Wikia skin.

Basically, my question is: how "big" (i.e. bytes of code) or "complicated" (i.e. nesting levels) do templates need to get before loading it starts to become a problem for the average user? There're a lot of nifty little automatic features I'd like to put in my templates, if only I could be sure just how many parserfunctions and other templates I can nest within each other before they start becoming a serious bother to people. -Illumini9 (talk) 07:38, September 23, 2015 (UTC)

Template source editor?
I'm using the source editor and I wanted to edit an article in the template namespace on the RuneScape wiki, and it appears that the source editor is now different for the template namespace. Why? Why can't I use the regular source editor for this. I even changed my Preference to VisualEditor, but it didn't affect the template namespace. Is there a reason why the source editor for the template namespace was changed? It acts differently from the regular source editor which is very annoying... P.S. I checked other wikia's and they have the same messed up template editor. — Salix7 (talk) 13:28, November 3, 2015 (UTC)


 * This was a recent tweak to make Wikia behaviour more consistent (the updated editor was used for some infoboxes). The editor style is now controlled by Help:Syntax highlighting. We'd love feedback on it - please send thoughts in to Special:Contact/feedback! 14:14, November 3, 2015 (UTC)