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Template:Annotated link/doc

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Usage

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Typically to be used in lists to provide an annotated link using the short description for the linked page. For example: in See also sections "editors should provide a brief annotation when a link's relevance is not immediately apparent, when the meaning of the term may not be generally known, or when the term is ambiguous". By default, the short description of the linked page will be derived from the {{short description}} template responsible for setting the short description for that page. If a template is not present in the wikitext of the page, the description will be derived from Wikidata. If no Wikidata description can be obtained, no short description will be appended. This behavior can be manipulated and other formatting options allow for the presentation of useful annotations even without a short description, which may still become available and therefore displayed at a later date.

Some pages are assigned short descriptions by automatic methods; templates that generate short descriptions include infoboxes that use the data provided to its parameters to create a suitable short description, which may overrule other short descriptions that exist for or on the page. The module responsible for fetching the description is currently not able to detect or determine this type of dynamically created short description.

This template should not be used for annotating links on disambiguation pages. The relevant discussion is at Wikipedia talk:Disambiguation/Archive 50 § Use of annotated links and concludes:

  • They contain formatting that is not in line with the long-established formatting for disambiguation entries at MOS:DAB.
  • The text of the descriptions is frequently not optimal for disambiguation pages, as it may be neither distinguishing nor succinct.
  • They would remove control of the text from the disambiguation page itself, and allow disambiguation pages to be modified without appearing in the edit history of the page itself, or in notifications relating to the page. (This reason is not fixable, and is sufficient reason not to use the template or any modification thereof.)

Basic

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The most basic usage is:

Markup: {{Annotated link|Wikipedia}}
Result: Wikipedia – Free online crowdsourced encyclopedia

The text shown for the link may be piped if desired or required:

Markup: {{Annotated link|Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines|Policies and guidelines}}
Result: Policies and guidelines – Wikimedia procedural policy
Markup: {{Annotated link|Mona Lisa|''Mona Lisa''}}
Result: Mona Lisa – Painting by Leonardo da Vinci

Foreign language formatting options are available for the link text; see below.

If the list format is unsuitable for dash separation of the link from the description, it may be replaced with something suitable:

Markup: {{Annotated link|Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines|Policies and guidelines|,}}
Result: Policies and guidelines, Wikimedia procedural policy

The examples above use unnamed parameters 1–3. The parameters can also be named or explicitly numbered:

Markup: {{Annotated link|1=Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines|2=Policies and guidelines|3=,}}
Markup: {{Annotated link|name=Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines|display=Policies and guidelines|dash=,}}

There are many possible configurations beyond this; as described below, and most parameters have aliases.

Extended

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There are many available parameters, broken down into the following sections:

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Links to templates will be automatically formatted as would be expected by {{template link}}:

Markup: {{Annotated link|Template:Annotated link}}
Result: {{Annotated link}} – template used to display and annotate a wikilink using the short description of the linked page

Formatting as would be expected by {{template link expanded}} may be applied by adding |template_link=code:

Markup: {{ Annotated link | Template:Annotated link | template_link=code }}
Result: {{Annotated link}} – template used to display and annotate a wikilink using the short description of the linked page

If this formatting is determined to be inappropriate for the circumstance; use |template_link=no to disable it:

Markup: {{ Annotated link | Template:Annotated link | template_link=no }}
Result: Template:Annotated link – template used to display and annotate a wikilink using the short description of the linked page

If the template link formatting is disabled; use the second parameter, |2= or |display= to affect the text display:

Markup: {{ Annotated link | Template:Annotated link | Annotated link | template_link=no }}
Result: Annotated link – template used to display and annotate a wikilink using the short description of the linked page
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Some titles of works, such as song titles, should be double quoted; this formatting may be applied using |quote=yes:

Markup: {{ Annotated link | The Partisan | quote=yes }}
Result: "The Partisan" – 1943 song by Anna Marly and Emmanuel d'Astier, popularised by Leonard Cohen in 1969

Additional abbreviation

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A parenthesized abbreviation may be added following the link using |abbr= if desired:

Markup: {{ Annotated link | London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art | abbr=LAMDA }}
Result: London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) – Drama school in Hammersmith, London

A title for the abbreviation may be provided with |abbr_title= if suitable:

Markup: {{ Annotated link | London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art | abbr=LAMDA | abbr_title=London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art }}
Result: London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) – Drama school in Hammersmith, London

Additional alternative name

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An alternative name for the linked entity may be added following the link (and abbreviation if also added) using |aka= if desired; the alternative name will be prepended with ", also known as":

Markup: {{ Annotated link | Royal National Theatre | aka=the National Theatre of Great Britain }}
Result: Royal National Theatre, also known as the National Theatre of Great Britain – Theatre in London, England

Foreign language formatting options are available for this parameter; see below.

Additional information

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Even more information may be wedged in between the previously stated information and that of the potentially following description; use |wedge= to add it is desired:

Markup: {{ Annotated link | Grape | wedge=can be used to make wine }}
Result: Grape, can be used to make wine – Fruit growing on woody vines in clusters

Foreign language formatting options are available for this parameter; see below.

Foreign language text

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Foreign language text should be formatted in accordance with MOS:OTHERLANG; this template provides all the necessary options to control the formatting. The module invoked by this template, uses Module:Lang (the module powering {{lang}}) to do the formatting, and all the options are fully described on their documentation pages.

If the link text is of a foreign language (editor discretion determines if this is appropriate); control the formatting with: |link_lang=<language code>, |link_lang_italic=, |link_lang_nocat=, |link_lang_size=, |link_lang_cat= and |link_lang_rtl=

If the |aka= text is of a foreign language (again; editor discretion); control the formatting with: |aka_lang=<language code>, |aka_lang_italic=, |aka_lang_nocat=, |aka_lang_size=, |aka_lang_cat=, |aka_lang_rtl=

If the |wedge= text is of a foreign language (again; editor discretion); control the formatting with: |wedge_lang=<language code>, |wedge_lang_italic=, |wedge_lang_nocat=, |wedge_lang_size=, |wedge_lang_cat=, |wedge_lang_rtl=

This template invokes Module:Annotated link, which in turn uses Module:GetShortDescription to (as the name suggests) get the short description. It may return a foreign language (i.e. not en) Wikidata description (again; editor discretion). If it is displayed; the appropriate language code will be set automatically, but all other parameters of {{lang}} are available to affect the formatting of the returned description:

Use |desc_lang_italic=, |desc_lang_nocat=, |desc_lang_size=, |desc_lang_cat= and |desc_lang_rtl=. If the editor determines that {{lang}} formatting of the description is not appropriate; it may be disabled with |desc_lang_no=yes.

Although this is not a realistic example; it provides an overview of this handling:

Markup: {{ Annotated link | Template:GetShortDescription/explicit short description | La page de test de Fred | aka=フレッドのテストページ | aka_lang=ja | link_lang=fr | wedge=Leathanach tástála Fred | wedge_lang=ga |template_link=no }}
Result: La page de test de Fred, also known as フレッドのテストページ, Leathanach tástála Fred – Explicit short description

Controlling the search for a short description

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Providing a value for |only= or |prefer= will affect the search to being either only or with a preference for the stated description. If no description is found, the result will be that no description is appended to the link (and any other information provided), unless a fallback is provided.

Stating |only=explicit will limit the search to only short descriptions set by use of {{short description}} on the linked page.

Markup: {{ Annotated link | Wikipedia | only=explicit }}
Result: Wikipedia – Free online crowdsourced encyclopedia

Stating |only=wikidata will limit the search to only Wikidata descriptions.

Markup: {{ Annotated link | Wikipedia | only=wikidata }}
Result: Wikipedia – free multilingual online encyclopedia

State |prefer=explicit to use the explicit short description if available, or try for the Wikidata description if not.

Markup: {{ Annotated link | Wikipedia | prefer=explicit }}
Result: Wikipedia – Free online crowdsourced encyclopedia

State |prefer=wikidata to use the Wikidata description if available, or try for an explicit short description if not.

Markup: {{ Annotated link | Wikipedia | prefer=wikidata }}
Result: Wikipedia – free multilingual online encyclopedia

If a |fallback= value is provided, and no description is found by the expressed route, the appended description will be the stated fallback value.

Markup: {{ Annotated link | Example | only=explicit | fallback=a fallback description }}
Result: Example – a fallback description

Controlling the case of the first character of a short description

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Short descriptions on en Wikipedia should be formatted with an uppercase first letter. By default, the short descriptions retrieved by this template are displayed as they are typed in the page from which they are extracted, but this may be overridden if required using |desc_first_letter_case=upper or |desc_first_letter_case=lower.

Parameters

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

TemplateData for Annotated link

Table of all template parameters, aliases, expected and required values

a link created and annotated using a short description and other optional additions

Template parameters

ParameterDescriptionTypeStatus
Page name (including namespace)1 name title

Title of the page to be linked and annotated

Page namerequired
Link display text2 display disp

The text to be displayed in the link

Default
name
Lineoptional
Separator3 dash comma

Replace the dash with something else

Default
Example
,
Lineoptional
Template link formattingtemplate_link template-link tl

Disable special formatting of links to pages in the Template namespace

Suggested values
no code
Lineoptional
Quote linksquote quote_link quote-link ql

Double quotation of the link

Suggested values
yes
Lineoptional
Abbreviationabbr abbreviation

Abbreviation to be displayed in parentheses after the link

Lineoptional
Abbreviation titleabbr_title abbr-title abbreviation_title abbreviation-title at

Provide a title for an abbreviation

Lineoptional
Also known asaka

Alternative names to display after the link (and abbreviation if provided)

Lineoptional
Additional informationwedge insert extra

Additional information to display after the link (and abbr and aka if provided)

Lineoptional
Description first letter casedesc_first_letter_case desc-first-letter-case desc_case desc-case case

Control to case of the first letter of a short description

Suggested values
upper lower
Default
lower
Lineoptional
Categorisation of spaceless descriptionsspace_cat space-cat

Disable categorisation of pages displaying descriptions containing no space characters

Suggested values
no
Lineoptional
Limit description searchonly

Dictate the only source for a short description

Suggested values
explicit wikidata
Lineoptional
Description preferenceprefer

Suggest a prefered source for a short description

Suggested values
explicit wikidata
Default
explicit
Lineoptional
Description fallbackfallback

Provide a fallback description in the event no other is available

Lineoptional
Link text foreign language codelink_lang link-lang ll

Provide a language code for foreign language link text

Example
ja
Lineoptional
Link text foreign language italicslink_lang_italic link-lang-italic lli

Control the italic presentation of foreign language link text

Suggested values
yes no unset invert default
Lineoptional
Link text foreign language categorisationlink_lang_nocat link-lang-nocat llnc

Dictate the categorisation of foreign language link text

Suggested values
yes y true t on 1
Lineoptional
Link text foreign language categorisationlink_lang_cat link-lang-cat llc

Dictate the categorisation of foreign language link text

Suggested values
no n false f off 0
Lineoptional
Link text foreign language sizelink_lang_size link-lang-size lls

Control the size presentation of foreign language link text

Example
1.5em
Lineoptional
Link text foreign language rtllink_lang_rtl link-lang-rtl llr

Control the rtl presentation of foreign language link text

Suggested values
no yes
Default
no
Lineoptional
Aka text foreign language codeaka_lang aka-lang al

Provide a language code for foreign language aka text

Example
ja
Lineoptional
Aka text foreign language italicsaka_lang_italic aka-lang-italic ali

Control the italic presentation of foreign language aka text

Suggested values
yes no unset invert default
Lineoptional
Aka text foreign language categorisationaka_lang_nocat aka-lang-nocat alnc

Dictate the categorisation of foreign language aka text

Suggested values
yes y true t on 1
Lineoptional
Aka text foreign language categorisationaka_lang_cat aka-lang-cat alc

Dictate the categorisation of foreign language aka text

Suggested values
no n false f off 0
Lineoptional
Aka text foreign language sizeaka_lang_size aka-lang-size als

Control the size presentation of foreign language aka text

Example
1.5em
Lineoptional
Aka text foreign language rtlaka_lang_rtl aka-lang-rtl alr

Control the rtl presentation of foreign language aka text

Suggested values
no yes
Default
no
Lineoptional
Additional information foreign language codewedge_lang wedge-lang insert_lang insert-lang extra_lang extra-lang wl

Provide a language code for foreign language wedge text

Example
ja
Lineoptional
Additional information foreign language italicswedge_lang_italic wedge-lang-italic insert_lang_italic insert-lang-italic extra_lang_italic extra-lang-italic wli

Control the italic presentation of foreign language wedge text

Suggested values
yes no unset invert default
Lineoptional
Additional information foreign language categorisationwedge_lang_nocat wedge-lang-nocat insert_lang_nocat insert-lang-nocat extra_lang_nocat extra-lang-nocat wlnc

Dictate the categorisation of foreign language wedge text

Suggested values
yes y true t on 1
Lineoptional
Additional information foreign language categorisationwedge_lang_cat wedge-lang-cat insert_lang_cat insert-lang-cat extra_lang_cat extra-lang-cat wlc

Dictate the categorisation of foreign language wedge text

Suggested values
no n false f off 0
Lineoptional
Additional information foreign language sizewedge_lang_size wedge-lang-size insert_lang_size insert-lang-size extra_lang_size extra-lang-size wls

Control the size presentation of foreign language wedge text

Example
1.5em
Lineoptional
Additional information foreign language rtlwedge_lang_rtl wedge-lang-rtl insert_lang_rtl insert-lang-rtl extra_lang_rtl extra-lang-rtl wlr

Control the rtl presentation of foreign language wedge text

Suggested values
no yes
Default
no
Lineoptional
Foreign language description formattingdesc_lang_no desc-lang-no dlno

Dictate if foreign language description text should be formatted

Suggested values
yes
Lineoptional
Foreign language description italicsdesc_lang_italic desc-lang-italic dli

Control the italic presentation of foreign language description text

Suggested values
yes no unset invert default
Lineoptional
Foreign language description categorisationdesc_lang_nocat desc-lang-nocat dlnc

Dictate the categorisation of foreign language description text

Suggested values
yes y true t on 1
Lineoptional
Foreign language description categorisationdesc_lang_cat desc-lang-cat dlc

Dictate the categorisation of foreign language description text

Suggested values
no n false f off 0
Lineoptional
Foreign language description sizedesc_lang_size desc-lang-size dls

Control the size presentation of foreign language description text

Example
1.5em
Lineoptional
Foreign language description rtldesc_lang_rtl desc-lang-rtl dlr

Control the rtl presentation of foreign language description text

Suggested values
no yes
Default
no
Lineoptional

Preview warnings and maintenance categories

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Module:GetShortDescription may create warnings about detected issues with {{short description}} configurations, that show above the preview content during editing. These warnings are not about the page being edited, but about the pages for which the annotated links are being created. If any preview warnings are shown; please consider visiting the indicated pages to analyse and possibly fix the issues.

It may also show alarming messages (they're red but not necessarily errors) about its function. If it is not clear how to fix the problem indicated; don't continue trying to annotate the link with this template as the messages will be visible to all readers of Wikipedia. If any alarming messages are displayed on saved pages as a result of issues, the page showing those messages will be added to the maintenance Category:Pages displaying alarming messages about Module:GetShortDescription.

Module:Annotated link may also show alarming messages about its function and in much the same way will add pages to Category:Pages displaying alarming messages about Module:Annotated link.

Several other maintenance categories exist for potential issues with the annotations:

  • Category:Pages displaying short descriptions with no spaces via Module:Annotated link will be populated by pages where the module has been invoked to provide annotations that include a description with no spaces. If a page in this category is analysed by an interested editor, and it is determined that the description is appropriate for use; add |space_cat=no to the {{annotated link}} to disable the categorisation. If the description is not appropriate; the interested editor can either try to fix it at the source, use |only= to potentially select another description, or remove the use of this template and create a custom annotation for the link manually.
  • Category:Pages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback via Module:Annotated link will be populated by pages where the module has been invoked to provide annotations which contain Wikidata descriptions that were not explicitly requested (with |only=wikidata or |prefer=wikidata). They may or may not be suitable and this is a matter of ongoing consideration and discussion. Please consider reviewing the instances.
  • Category:Pages displaying short descriptions matching their page name via Module:Annotated link will be populated by pages where the module has been invoked to provide annotations contain descriptions that have (case insensitive) equality with the name of the linked page i.e. "Wikipedia article" with a short description of "wikipedia article". Please consider reviewing the instances.

A handy tool for finding category intersections is available.

See also

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