Template:Wikipedia how to/doc

Note: For articles use the {{howto}} template instead.

This is the {{Wikipedia how to}} message box.

It can be placed on top of non-article pages where relevant. This usually means pages in the "Wikipedia:" and "Help:" namespaces, but sometimes how-to guides also exist as user subpages.

Usage

This template can be used as is. Like this:

{{Wikipedia how to}}

But it can also take up to five shortcuts as parameters. It then displays a small shortcut box inside it. Like this:

{{Wikipedia how to|WP:SHORT}}

Then it looks like this:

If you want to feed more than one or two shortcuts then the shortcut box becomes too high, which doesn't look good. Then we recommend instead placing a {{shortcut}} box directly below this template. Like this:

{{Wikipedia how to}}
{{shortcut|WP:SHORT|WP:SHORT2}} 

Technical details

If a page that use this template is in the Wikipedia or Help namespace, then this template adds Category:Wikipedia how-to.

If you want to just demonstrate this template on a Wikipedia or Help page, then you can feed "nocat = true" to stop this template from categorizing.

There is an optional parameter sort-by which sets the category sort key:

{{Wikipedia how to|sort-by=Example}} 

where "Example" is replaced by the sort text. For example, if the how-to page is Wikipedia:Producing maps with xplanet and you want it category sorted to appear under "X", then the template could be formulated as:

{{Wikipedia how to|sort-by=Xplanet, Producing maps with}}

See also

• {{howto}} – The how-to message box for articles.
• Wikipedia:Template messages/Project namespace – For other "Wikipedia:" space header templates.
• Category:Wikipedia header templates