Template:Shortcut/doc

This is the documentation for {{shortcut}} and its sister templates. Template {{shortcut}} renders a box, informing editors, which shortcuts are available for linking to a page or a section of a page.

The shortcut family of templates is put into context here, but they each have their own documentation pages, see below. A shortcut template is similar to the {{anchor}} template, but it adds a visual box graphic to the rendered page, as well as providing an alternative name. Creating a redirect page is a requirement to fulfill the shortcut mechanism.

In templates, it is put in the documentation page.

Usage

This template should not be used for articles in the main namespace, because the graphic produces an unavoidable self-reference.

1. Insert the shortcut template.
2. Create a redirect page with the {{R from shortcut}} template suffixed to the redirect. Name the page after your shortcut name. Include the namespace name in both the shortcut name and the redirect page name. For example, substitute your own shortcut name as the title of the page, and substitute the proper namespace, then add the REDIRECT as the top-line on your redirect page, and the category to the third line of the redirect:

   #REDIRECT [[Namespace:Title of page with#Optional and possibly very long section name]]

{{R from shortcut}}

3. Verify operation. Note that shortcut templates should display in all capitals, but operate without all capitals.

Notes Shortcuts are used mainly on user pages and talk pages in reference to the Wikipedia, Help, and Portal namespaces. These templates inform about the shortcuts available to the page they are on. For example, WP:SHORT redirects to Wikipedia:Shortcut and therefore, Wikipedia:Shortcut renders a shortcut box listing WP:SHORT. It is a self-reference that is normally avoided in the main article namespace.

The point of these templates is not to list every single redirect for a page (indeed, that's what Special:WhatLinksHere is for). Instead, they should list the most common and easily remembered redirects.

Parameters

{{shortcut}} takes the following parameters:

• 1, 2, 3... – the shortcut links.
• float – if set to left, the box floats to the left.
• clear – if set to right, (or left if |float=left is set), the box appears beneath, not beside, another floating element preceding it (infobox, thumbnail etc.).
• msg – an unlinked message that goes after the shortcut links.
• category – set to "no", "n", "false" or "0" to suppress error categories.

Examples

Code	Result
{{Shortcut|WP:SHORT}}
{{Shortcut|WP:V|WP:VERIFY|WP:SOURCE}}
{{Shortcut|WP:V|WP:VERIFY|msg=A message}}

Anchors

These templates automatically add an anchor for each shortcut name parameter. For example, if a shortcut box with the shortcut WP:SHORT is placed on the page Wikipedia:Shortcut, then the link Wikipedia:Shortcut#WP:SHORT will take you to the position in the page where that shortcut box is placed.

Examples: #WP:SHORT, and MOS:MATH#TONE

This makes it easier to create a shortcut for a section of a page, because you can refer to the anchor when creating the shortcut redirect itself. Like this:

#REDIRECT [[Pagename#WP:SHORT]] {{R from shortcut}}

Positioning

This template is usually placed below the section header or at the top of a page.

Before July 26, 2010, when the anchor was inside the box, this caused the section header to scroll above the page window. Fixes for this issue included:

• Placing the shortcut above the section header; a bit confusing when editing
• Creating the redirect to the section header, not the shortcut; this would break if the section header was renamed
• Placing an {{anchor}} in the section header that duplicated the shortcut

These fixes are no longer needed, but do not break the current implementation.

TemplateData

This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:Shortcut in articles based on its TemplateData.

TemplateData for Shortcut

Related pages

• Wikipedia:Shortcut – The how-to guide and guideline about how and when to create shortcuts and shortcut boxes. A must-read for anyone handling shortcuts.
• {{Anchor}} – a way to overcome the otherwise permanent fact that section titles are the only way to link to a section
• {{R from shortcut}} – for placement on the redirect page
• {{Template shortcut}} – used for shortcuts/redirects to a template page
• {{Short URL box}} – for short URLs created with the WMF URL shortener