Template:How-to
 | This help page is a how-to guide. It details processes or procedures of some aspect(s) of our norms and practices. |
Template documentationThis is the page banner template for How-to guides.
It can be placed on top of pages (not-articles) when appropriate. This usually means pages in the "AARoads:" and "Help:" namespaces, but sometimes how-to guides also exist as user subpages.
Categorization
If a page that uses this template is in the "Wikipedia:" or "Help:" namespace, then this template adds Category:How-to to the page.
If the page is in the "User:" namespace, it will be put into Category:User essays. If your page is just a draft, please use the |nocat= parameter to prevent categorization, until it is finished.
If it is in some other namespace, it will not be auto-categorized, and it may be in the wrong place.
Usage
This template can be used as is, like this:
{{How-to}}
But it can also take up to three shortcuts as parameters. It then displays a small shortcut box inside it. Like this:
{{How-to|AA:SHORT|AA:LONG}}
Then it looks like this:
| This help page is a how-to guide. It details processes or procedures of some aspect(s) of our norms and practices. |
If you want to feed more than one or two shortcuts then the shortcut box becomes too high, which doesn't look good. In such a case it is better to use a {{shortcut}} box directly below this template, like this:
Optional parameters
|1=or|sc1=,|shortcut1=,|shortcut=, or first unnamed parameter – First shortcut. Don't include[[...]]linking brackets in this or other shortcut parameters.|2=or|sc2=,|shortcut2=, or first unnamed parameter – Second shortcut|3=or|sc3=,|shortcut3=, or first unnamed parameter – Third shortcut (deprecated; please use separate Template:Shortcut for three or more)|interprets=or|page=or|pages=– Specify name of page (policy, process, etc.) that this essay provides advice about. For a single page, it is not necessary to include[[...]]linking brackets;. This will replace the wording "some aspect or aspects of Wikipedia's norms and practices". If more than one page and/or any notes are intended, links must be manually coded, e.g.:|interprets=[[Wikipedia:Verifiability]] policy and the [[Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources]] guideline|sort-by=– Specify a sort key for the category. For example, if the how-to page is Wikipedia:Producing maps with xplanet and you want it category-sorted to appear under "X", use|sort-by=Xplanet, Producing maps with. This has no effect on the user essays category.|category=– Specify a complete wikilink (i.e, do include the[[...]]linking brackets) to one or more categories to override the default Category:How-to guides. May include a category sort; example:[[Category:WikiProject Underwater Basketweaving|Article structure advice]]This parameter does not replace the Category:User essays categorization for pages in the "User:" namespace, but can be used to add them manually to Category:How-to guides, in addition to the automatic user category.|nocat=yor|demo=y– Bypass all categorization, when the template is used for demo purposes, e.g. in template documentation, on talk pages, etc.|style=– Pass arbitrary CSS to the Template:Ombox base template that this template uses.
TemplateData
TemplateData documentation used by VisualEditor and other tools
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See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:How-to in articles based on its TemplateData.
TemplateData for How-to <templatedata> { "description": "",
"params": {
"page": {"type": "wiki-page-name","description": "Guideline or other page being interpreted"},
"shortcut1" : {"type": "wiki-page-name","description": "Shortcut to this page"},
"shortcut2" : {"type": "wiki-page-name","description": "Shortcut to this page"},
"shortcut3" : {"type": "wiki-page-name","description": "Shortcut to this page"},
"nocat" : {"type": "string","description": "Any value prevents addition of project category"}
}
} </templatedata> |
See also
{{How-to}}– the cleanup/dispute tag for articles written in a "how-to" style.{{Information page}}– the banner template for pages that are more just informational than directly instructional.{{Essay|interprets=}}– the banner template for pages that are more opinionated then instructional or technical; there are several parameters and variations.{{Supplement|interprets=}}– to tag a well-established page that adds something to a policy or guideline, to make up for a deficiency, and when it is referenced in the guideline or policy.