View source for Template:!/doc

{{Documentation subpage}}
<!-- DO NOT move the "pp-template" to the template page since the ! template should be as short as possible to save server load (to not break template inclusion limits). -->
{{high-risk|2,500,000+}}
__NOTOC__

== Usage ==

This is the {{t<noinclude>n</noinclude><includeonly>l</includeonly>|!}} meta-template. Its use is analogous to an [[escape character]].

This is an auxiliary template allowing the encoding of "<code>|</code>" within template parameters, because the pipe character is normally interpreted as a separator. This template is necessary if the character is used in wiki table syntax, or if the parameter is automatically wikilinked and you wish to use a pipe to specify different link text from the target page name. In other cases it is better to use "<code>&amp;#124;</code>". 

This template cannot be used for putting the character as text in a wiki table; in that case, again,  "<code>&amp;#124;</code>" can be used.

Note that no special template is needed for "<code>!</code>" (exclamation mark).

This is a [[WP:high-risk template|high-risk template]], and it usually cannot be [[Wikipedia:Substitution|substituted]] (see conditions for substing on [[#Substitution|the section below]]).

=== Substitution ===
It is possible to [[Wikipedia:Substitution|substitute]] <nowiki>{{!}}</nowiki> only if an unescaped "'''<code>|</code>'''" works as expected, i.e. after substituting the template containing <nowiki>{{!}}</nowiki>, or after eliminating an
[[mw:Help:Extension:ParserFunctions#.23if|#if]] containing <nowiki>{{!}}</nowiki>.

=== A simple example ===

The following template code for {{tl|Quotation}} using an ordinary pipe character,
* <code><nowiki>{{Quotation|It is not possible to use an ordinary pipe character | in template parameters, as it will be interpreted as a separator.|[[Help:Template#Usage hints and workarounds]]}}</nowiki></code>

produces:
{{Quotation|It is not possible to use an ordinary pipe character | in template parameters, as it will be interpreted as a separator.|[[Help:Template#Usage hints and workarounds]]}}

whereas this code using the <nowiki>{{!}}</nowiki> meta-template,
* <code><nowiki>{{Quotation|It is not possible to use an ordinary pipe character {{!}} in template parameters, as it will be interpreted as a separator.|[[Help:Template#Usage hints and workarounds]]}}</nowiki></code>

produces:
{{Quotation|It is not possible to use an ordinary pipe character {{!}} in template parameters, as it will be interpreted as a separator.|[[Help:Template#Usage hints and workarounds]]}}

== TemplateData ==
<TemplateData>
{
        "description": "Escapes pipe characters within template parameters",
        "params": {}
}
</TemplateData>

== See also ==
* {{tl|!!}} creates ||
* {{tl|!-}} creates |-
* {{tl|-!}} creates &amp;nbsp;|
* {{tn|'}} and related
* [[Wikipedia:Conditional tables]]
* {{tl|pipe}}—Note that this one looks like {{tlf|!}} but has a very different meaning for the MediaWiki parser and thus has different functionality.
* {{tn|pound}} creates #
* {{tn|(}} creates {
* {{tn|)}} creates }
* {{tn|((}} creates <nowiki>{{</nowiki>
* {{tn|))}} creates <nowiki>}}</nowiki> 
* {{tl|!(}} creates <nowiki>[</nowiki>
* {{tl|)!}} creates <nowiki>]</nowiki> 
* {{tl|(!}} creates <nowiki>{|</nowiki> 
* {{tl|!)}} creates <nowiki>|}</nowiki>  
* {{tl|1==}} creates =
* {{tl|Bar box}}—since {{tl|Bar}} redirects here<includeonly>

[[Category:Template namespace templates]]
[[Category:Wikipedia formatting and function templates]]
</includeonly>