Template talk:Tl

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Problems with this template rendering properly

First, a reminder: While both, this site and Wikipedia, use MediaWiki software, Wikipedia is customized (at the code level); some things that work there, may not work on standard MediaWiki installations, such as ours.

Comparison and explanation

Old version

Here's exactly how {{Tl}} was previously written:

{{[[Template:{{{1}}}|{{{1}}}]]}}
<noinclude>{{documentation}}[[Category:Templates]]</noinclude>

In this version, a new line, a.k.a., <return> or <enter>, was innocuously placed immediately following the template "data" and before the first template tag, which, in this case, was <noinclude>

But, why would this make any difference?

• Well, some ASCII characters we can type are invisible, and some just seem that way. When you hit the <enter> key, you don't "see" a character; you just see the cursor move to a new line -- but, code is code.
• This is, more or less, a bug in the software. Sometimes it works out okay; but, most times, it fails.

Result: Since template tagging injects code as you've written it, whether you can actually see it or not, you have to be careful about when and where you hit <enter>.

New version

And this is what {{Tl}} looks like, now:

{{[[Template:{{{1}}}|{{{1}}}]]}}<noinclude>
{{documentation}}[[Category:Templates]]
</noinclude>

In the new version, everything (spaces, returns, everything) between the end of the template "data" and the first template tag (if any), but again, in this case, <noinclude>, was removed.

Result: The software no longer "injects" a new line (and phantom space) into the execution of the template.

Examples of the rendered results

Old version

New version

Summary

I am by no means a wiki expert; but, it has been my experience that the following works best whenever template tagging:

• Beginning template tags, e.g., <noinclude>, go immediately following whatever -- no returns, etc.
• Conversely, I have also found that the ending template tag within a template, especially </includeonly>, and always the last ending template tag, works best when you give it a new line.

(See the above "new version" for a typed example.)

I will port this over to a help page. —RWSmith (Bureaucrat), 21:29, May 19, 2010 (EDT)