Template:Documentation/doc

The template is used to contain the documented information and instructions of a certain template, usually from a /doc subpage. It can also be configured to load the content from other pages or be directly fed by text.

For detailed instructions on how and when to use this template, see Template documentation (shortcut: WP:TDOC).

This template has two parts: the big "documentation box" with the documentation inside alongside a toolbar (the  links), and the smaller "link box" that shows metadata about the documentation alongside the sandbox and testcases links.

Use of this template allows templates to be protected, where necessary, while allowing anyone to edit the documentation and categories.

General syntax
Normally, the template is used without parameters and is placed inside  at the bottom of the template page (see for more information):

Transcluding a different page
To transclude a different page other than the /doc subpage, simply provide 1 like this:

Note that when loading the documentation from a page other than the local /doc subpage, it becomes tricky to handle the categories.

Using the content parameter
The documentation can also be fed directly as text, by using the content parameter:

When using this parameter, the toolbar will not show. Note that the /doc subpage in the link box will still show up if it exists.

Also note that when 1 and content is specified, content takes precedence and always shows in the documentation box.

Customizing the heading
The heading in the documentation box changes depending on namespace. See the below list for the default text in each namespace:


 * Template namespace: Test Template Info-Icon - Version (2).svg]] Template documentation
 * Module namespace: Test Template Info-Icon - Version (2).svg]] Module documentation
 * Other namespaces: Documentation

To customize the heading, simply set the parameter heading to anything you like, for example Infobox documentation.

Note that if the heading parameter is empty but defined (like heading) the heading alongside the toolbar will not show.

The heading-style parameter can be fed optional CSS values, like font-size:150%;color:red;. Not that you should omit quotation marks  and add the ending semicolon.

Customizing the link box
To customize the link box, simply set link box to something else, like The above documentation is automatically generated from Template:Foo.

To hide the link box, simply set link box to.

Testing
You can simulate the output for a given page by using the page parameter. For example, if you use the code Template:Edit protected, the template will behave exactly as if it were on the page Template:Edit protected, including showing the documentation from Template:Edit protected/doc, linking to Template:Edit protected/sandbox, etc. This parameter is useful for testing and is used extensively on the module testcases page.

Placement and tags
This code should be added at the bottom of the template code page, with no space before (which causes extra whitespace to show on pages where the template is transcluded):

To automatically insert the above text, you can also use the substitution code shortcut.

Categories and interwikis
Depending on where to the documentation is placed, it may be tricky to handle the categories and interwikis. See for information about adding these.

Automatic functions
If the documentation page does not exist, the toolbar is replaced with a  link. It automatically creates the page with preloaded text with the basic documentation syntax. Preload text is also used for the /sandbox and /testcases [create] links.

The preload page for the /doc  link is Template:Documentation/preload. The preload pages for the /sandbox and /testcases links are Template:Documentation/preload-sandbox and Template:Documentation/preload-testcases. The preload page for the /sandbox  link is Template:Documentation/mirror.

This template also automatically adds pp-template to a protected template page, so no need to manually add this template to protected pages.

When this template is on a /sandbox subpage it automatically adds the Template sandbox notice template.

Link box features
Depending on the namespace, the link box may have less features, or may not show up at all. The following table shows this:

Alongside that, if 1 or content is specified, the "Add categories to the /doc subpage" will not show.

Subject namespaces vs. talk namespaces
This template is usually placed in the subject namespace. But in some cases this template needs to be on the Talk namespace:


 * In the MediaWiki namespace, since often does not work in system messages, and since the MediaWiki namespace needs to be kept clean for performance reasons.

When placed on talk pages, this template usually is placed near the top of the page and without  tags.

The /doc, /sandbox and /testcases pages should normally be in the subject namespace, except in the namespaces that do not have the MediaWiki subpage feature enabled: Main, File, and MediaWiki. (Categories can have subpages, but documentation is created in the Category talk namespace to prevent creating empty categories. There are also a whole bunch of other technical reasons why the /doc page must be stored under the talk page for those (but only those) namespaces.

This template automatically points its [create] links for the /doc, /sandbox and /testcases to the right namespace.

Color scheme
As a suggestion, here are colors for a navbox intended for documentation pages only. They follow the shading of regular blue navbox colors: For subgroups, in child navboxes:

Example: