Note: This template is used on a lot of pages. In order not to put too much load on the servers, edits should be kept to a bare minimum. Please discuss proposed changes on the talk page first.
Editing a template causes all pages that use the template to be re-rendered. If the template is used often, this can put a lot of load on the servers since it fills up the job queue.
Keep in mind that templates that are used on file description pages also show up on other wikis.
To refer to an account on one of the Wikipedias, write here the ISO 639-1 language code, e.g. en or any other language.
empty
optional
3
display name
The alternate display value to show for the linked username. This can be e.g. the real name.
par. 1
optional
or, instead of these 3 params, only parameter 1
an other definition of user name
It may be
either an item of the user namespace
can be the complete link to the user name of the releaser, e.g. [[User:Multichill]]0or rather complex e.g. [[:en:User talk:Multichill | Multichill]]
can be specified by one of the user templates, e.g. {{U}}, {{Uc}}, {{Ud}}, {{Ut}}, {{Uw}},
or another method to specify a user to be linked as a user name or its substitution.
It may be an internal or external link, coded with single […] or double [[…]] brackets.
It may as well be a {{Userlist}} with the parametrizing possibilities of that template.
In addition, it is possible to suppress the linking, i.e. to display plain text:
when the first character of the value of parameter 1 is either &, <, [ or { the value is taken as-it-is; e.g "[" will it be when a link template has been transcluded, or "&" when the value starts with e.g. ­ or ‍
it is always possible to switch on/off the link option of template:U, to avoid links temporarely,
TemplateData is a way to store information about template parameters (the description of those and of the whole template) for both humans and machines. It is used by VisualEditor and possibly other tools like Upload Wizard.
Existing template documentation
At Wikimedia Commons, it is recommended to use {{TemplateBox}} with either useTemplateData=1 or useTemplateData=only on the /doc subpage and transcluding it with {{Documentation}} into the template. <nowiki>-tags can be wrapped around the arguments, if required, to avoid templates being expanded.
Newly created template documentation and imports
Another option, especially for imported templates, or for users with JSON experience, is placing raw <templatedata>-tags into the Wikitext of the template, as described in various Wikipediae.
This template prefers inline formatting of parameters.
Parameter
Description
Type
Status
user name
1
User name of the releaser, e.g. <code>Multichill</code> will display [[:User:Multichill|Multichill]].<br>
Default
[[:User:Example|Example]]
User
required
language code
2
To refer to an account on one of the Wikipedias, write here the [[:w:List of ISO 639-1 codes|ISO 639-1]] language code,<br>e.g. <code>en</code> or any other language.
String
optional
display name
3
The alternate display value to show for the linked username. This can be e.g. the real name.
can be the ''complete link'' to the user name of the releaser, e.g. [[User:Multichill]]​<span style="visibility:hidden; color:transparent;">0</span>or rather complex e.g. [[:en:User talk:Multichill | Multichill]]
can be specified by one of the user templates, e.g. {{[[:Template:U|U]]}}, {{[[:Template:Uc|Uc]]}}, {{[[:Template:Ud|Ud]]}}, {{[[:Template:Ut|Ut]]}}, {{[[:Template:Uw|Uw]]}},
or another method to specify a ''user'' to be linked as a user name or its substitution.
It may be an internal or external link, coded with single […] or double [[…]] brackets.
It may as well be a '''{{[[:Template:Userlist|Userlist]]}}''' with the parametrizing possibilities of that template.
In addition, it is possible to ''suppress the linking'', i.e. to display ''plain text'':
when the first character of the value of parameter 1 is either &, <, [ or { <br>the value is taken as-it-is; e.g "[" will it be when a link template has been transcluded, <br>or "&" when the value starts with e.g. &shy; or &zwj;
it is always possible to switch on/off the link option of template:[[:Template:U|U]], to avoid links temporarely,
see the description of the [[Template:U/doc|User link templates]].
User
optional
Additional information
The template is intended to be used in the following namespaces:
the File namespace
The template is intended to be used by the following user groups:
all users
Placement:
In the "⧼wm-license-information-permission⧽" parameter of the {{Information}} template (or the respective parameter of similar templates) or in the "Licensing" section