Help:Templates
From GamerWiki
A template is actually a function reserved for use in the Wiki software itself, and not just an "example" page that people can copy in order to add new information. A template permits the Wiki to hold a single copy of a specific page layout. When someone wants to create a new page that is based on a template, they do not have to cut and paste a large block of Wiki code and then edit it themselves. The template allows you to call it with a set of parameters and it will automatically insert all the wiki code along with your information in the right place.
The advantage of this is that the Wiki only stores one set of Wiki code for a certain type of page. It also means that there is only one page to edit if the layout of this type of page, or additional sections/fields need to be added. Please use templates wherever possible, as indicated in the Help:Contents section.
The MediaWiki Meta Wiki has a very good section on Templates, what they are, and how to use them.
Current templates in use on the site are:
- Template:GameInfobox - Help:Template for Single-Format Games is a good example of it in use
- Template:CompanyInfobox - Help:Company Information Template is a good example of it in use
- Template:SystemInfobox - Help:System Information Template is a good example of it in use
- Template:PersonInfobox - Shigeru Miyamoto is a good example of it in use
- Template:Stub - Stub template. Not so useful at the moment due to few completed pages, but ready for the future.
- Template:WPsource - WPSource. If you get info from Wikipedia, use this template to comply with their license.
Multi-platform games
Multiplatform games also use templates, to store details of the game that are common across all platforms.
For example, see James Pond 3: Operation Starfish (Mega Drive). The main body of the page is stored at Template:Games/James Pond 3 and the list of formats that the game is available on are stored at Template:Games/James Pond 3 formats.
How to edit templates
To edit the template, firstly ensure you are on the template page itself (the page title will start Template:), then click on the "edit" tab.
To get to the template page, you can edit the main page itself, then scroll to the bottom to find all the templates in use on that page.
