Help:Substituting templates

Template substitution is an alternate way to embed information contained in a template. Substitution is performed by placing the code  between the template braces, before the template name, like this:



Process
Normally, when the code for a template named  is added to a page, it will still say   in the wikitext when you next edit the page.



However, if you substitute a template, the text  will be replaced with the full template code from Template:Something when you save the page. If you edit the page again, you will no longer see  in the text:



Reasons for substituting
Most templates should not be substituted in pages, as doing so will make their contents harder to edit once added to a page. However, there are some instances where it can be useful.

In some cases, templates that exist solely to provide formatting or quick links should be substituted rather than included normally. For example, if a template exists to create the full format link to a game page, as a shorthand for editors to type, it is better to substitute the template. Adding templates for small uses such as links can unnecessarily add to the max template count of a page for a minor function that can be replicated in wikitext.

In other cases, it may be that a template code is designed to be edited manually after it has been placed on a page. In these cases, substituting the template code, and immediately editing the page after, is ideal.

For talk page messages, preserving the code of the template used at the time is often best, as it can be odd to have someone's talk page change long after they have seen the notice. This includes welcome templates, as well as signatures.

Additionally, it is possible to use template substituting to remove a template from pages. Simply clear out the contents of the template on the template page, and substitute it on all pages that included it, to remove it and any of its content.

Further help and feedback
ca:Ajuda:Substituint plantilles de:Hilfe:Vorlagen/Wikitext/Substitution es:Ayuda:Sustituyendo plantillas fr:Aide:Substitution de modèles it:Aiuto:Sostituzione di template ja:ヘルプ:テンプレートの置換 pl:Pomoc:Substytucja szablonów pt:Ajuda:Substituindo predefinições uk:Довідка:Вставка контенту з шаблонів vi:Trợ giúp:Thay thế bản mẫu zh:Help:替換引用模板