Template:Documentation

Template documentation

View or edit this documentation. (About template documentation)

Note: portions of the template sample may not be visible without values provided.

The {{Documentation}} template is used on template pages to contain documentation, instructions and information about how the template should be used. It is also used on module /doc subpages to contain documentation for modules.

Templates are a powerful tool, and allow for the display of lots of information in a consistent and manageable way. However, they can be confusing to new users and even experienced users can have difficulty making sense of the more complex ones. Templates should therefore be accompanied by documentation to improve usability, and to encourage others to experiment with templates and use them to their maximum potential.

What to include

A template's documentation should include a brief summary of what the template is for, and where it is intended to be used. This should be followed by a breakdown of any parameters and what values they accept. Finally, there should be at least one example of the template in use.

Usage

To include {{Documentation}} on a template page, place it at the bottom of the template page, directly after the last line of code, between <noinclude>...</noinclude> tags:

~last line of your template code~<noinclude>
{{Documentation}}
</noinclude>

The documentation can then be added to the /doc subpage of the template. For example, this documentation for {{Documentation}} is located at Template:Documentation/doc.

Optionally, should the location of the appropriate documentation be located elsewhere, it can be added to the Documentation template as an optional parameter:

~last line of your template code~<noinclude>
{{Documentation|Help:Color templates}}
</noinclude>

When adding documentation located at a different title, the full page name, including namespace, must be used, even for documentation located at a different title in the template namespace.

TemplateStyles

For templates that use TemplateStyles, link to the stylesheet by adding |styles=[[link]]:

~last line of your template code~<noinclude>
{{Documentation|styles=[[Template:Example/styles.css]]}}
</noinclude>

Lua

For templates that use Lua modules, link to the module by adding |lua=[[link]]:

~last line of your template code~<noinclude>
{{Documentation|lua=[[Module:Example]]}}
</noinclude>

Archived templates

For templates that are no longer used, you can add |old=yes to include the {{OldTemplate}} template as well:

~last line of your template code~<noinclude>
{{Documentation|old=yes}}
</noinclude>

Modules

Documentation for modules must always be placed on the /doc subpage. For example, the documentation for Module:Filetype must be placed at Module:Filetype/doc. For this reason, the {{Documentation}} template must also be placed on this subpage, and the documentation entered within it. Use this syntax:

{{Documentation|module|doc=
<<your documentation here>>
}}

TemplateData

Used on template source pages, or module subpages, to contain documentation

Template parameters[Edit template data]
This template prefers block formatting of parameters.
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Documentation subpage or Module	`1`	Used to point to the full name of the documentation subpage, if it is located elsewhere, or indicate if this is module documentation Suggested values `module` Default {{FULLPAGENAME}}/doc	String	suggested
Archived	`old`	Set to `yes` if the template is no longer used Suggested values `yes`	Line	optional
TemplateStyles	`styles`	Link to the stylesheet if the template uses TemplateStyles Example [[Template:Example/styles.css]]	Line	optional
Lua	`lua`	Link to the module if the template uses a Lua module Example [[Module:Example]]	Line	optional
Module documentation	`doc`	The container for documentation, if used for a module	String	optional