Template:Reply to

@Example:

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This template is used on approximately 375,000 pages.
To avoid major disruption and server load, any changes should be tested in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. The tested changes can be added to this page in a single edit. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them.

This template uses Lua:

Module:Reply to

Shortcuts

This template is used to link one or more users' names, in the form @Username:, to trigger a notification for user(s) you are replying to in a discussion. Beware: The notification will work successfully only if you sign your post in the same edit in which you use this template. If you make a mistake in placing this template or in signing, see Help:Fixing failed pings. It is an alternative to the {{talkback}} template. It works on any talk page or Wikipedia namespace page.

You cannot directly type the "@" symbol to notify a user of your reply; you must use the template documented here or manually create a wikilink to their user page. The "@" symbol is used by this template for display purposes only. Note that typing @ in the DiscussionTools rich text editor will convert it to a ping.

This template is particularly helpful in discussions that are not threaded, to indicate which user's comment is referenced. If you feel that this template unnecessarily personalizes the discussion, you may still use the {{talkback}} template on the user's talk page to indicate that you have replied to a comment. IP addresses are only notified if you post to their user talk page.

Usage

{{reply to|Username}} Message text. ~~~~

The edit that adds this template must meet the following requirement for notifications to work:

The edit must add new lines of text, not just edit existing lines.
The edit must be signed by adding ~~~~ to the end of the message.
- If you have specified a custom signature, it must contain a plain wiki link ([[ ]]) to your user page, user talk page, or contributions page; it cannot be embedded in a template.
The edit must either be entirely within an existing section (it cannot have new section headers in the middle) or start a new section (starts with a new section header).
- Only sections of level 2 and above count.
If the number of detected to-be-pinged users exceeds 50, no notifications will be delivered.

See Wikipedia:Notifications and mw:Help:Echo#Technical details for more information.

It is not necessary to use this template to ping the user if you are already linking to the username from your post, neither is it necessary when posting on their own talk page.

Warning: Wikipedia does not support using the at sign (@) in a reply to notify the user you are replying to, as many discussion boards do. While Wikipedia shows the results of using this template with an at sign, you cannot ping anyone using the at sign.

{{replyto|Username}} Message text. ~~~~

[[User:Username]] Message text. ~~~~

@Username Message text. ~~~~

Single recipient

Use the following syntax:

{{reply to|Username}} Message text. ~~~~

For example, {{Reply to|Jimbo Wales}} generates "@Jimbo Wales:" and notifies Jimbo Wales.

The comment must be signed and belong to a named section of a "Talk" or "Wikipedia" namespace page in order for the notification to work.

Multiple recipients

You can reply to up to 50 people at once.

Use the following syntax:

{{reply to|User1|User2|User3|User4|User5|User6|User7|User8|User9|User10|...}} Message text. ~~~~

For example, {{reply to|Example|Jimbo Wales}} will produce:

@Example and Jimbo Wales:

Warning: If the total number of detected to-be-pinged users in an edit exceeds 50, no notifications will be delivered. This is a software limit, and applies to the entire edit, even if the mentions are split between multiple templates. If you need to ping more than 50 users, it will need to be spread across multiple edits, and each edit needs to add one or more new lines and be signed by you.

First post:

{{reply to|User1|User2|User3|User4|User5|... |User46|User47|User48|User49|User50}} Message text. ~~~~

Then, in a separate edit, one a new line, continue pinging the 51st user and beyond:

{{reply to|User51|User52|User53|User54|User55|...}} See message posted just above. ~~~~

Specify a nickname

You can display any text in place of a username by using |labelX=, where X is the index of a positional parameter, counting from 1. For example:

"{{reply to|Example|label1=Exemplar|Example2|label2=John}}" produces "@Exemplar and John:"

You can also use |label= in place of |label1=. For example:

"{{reply to|Example|label=John}}" produces "@John:"

Specify a prefix

To change the "@" prefix, use |prefix=custom prefix. For example:

"{{reply to|Example|prefix=Hello }}" produces "Hello Example:"

Or you can remove the prefix entirely by using |prefix=. For example:

"{{reply to|Example|prefix=}}" produces "Example:"

Customise punctuation

By default, the template will insert a colon after the final name. To change this, specify the required character using the |p= parameter. For example:

"{{reply to|Example|p=—}}" produces "@Example—"

The parameter omits leading or trailing spaces. Use   instead. For example:

"{{reply to|Example|p= –}} Text message" produces "@Example – Text message"

To simply remove the colon, use the parameter with an empty value:

"{{reply to|Example|p=}}" produces "@Example"

Customise conjunction

By default, the template will use the word "and" between multiple names. To change this, specify the required conjunction using the |c= parameter. For example:

"{{reply to|Example|Example2|c=or}}" produces "@Example or Example2:"

"Neither {{reply to|Example|Example2|Example3|c=nor}}" produces "Neither @Example, Example2, nor Example3:"

To simply remove the conjunction, use the parameter with an empty value:

"{{reply to|Example|Example2|c=}}" produces "@Example, Example2:"

Or don't use!

If you are using the |prefix= and |p= together to just display one user name, then there is no need to use this template. Simply code [[User:username|]] or {{u|username}}. This will generate the same notifications as are generated by the template.

Error messages

Username not given

Sometimes, when the recipient's username contains an equal sign, for example {{reply to|test=test}}, it will show:

Error in Template:Reply to: Username not given.

To fix this, simply add 1= at the beginning of the username, 2= at the second username, 3= at the third username and so on:

{{reply to|1=test=test}}

More than 50 names specified

If more than 50 names are specified in the template, it will show:

Error in Template:Reply to: More than 50 names specified.

This is a limitation of the notification system, as documented at mw:Manual:Echo. Note that the system limitation is per edit, so while splitting a longer list between two templates will avoid this error message, none of the notifications will be sent. In the rare case you need to notify more than 50 people, it will need to be done in multiple edits.

Redirects

{{Ping}}
{{Re}}
{{Replyto}}
{{Reply}}
{{Yo}}
Complete list of (alias) redirects

TemplateData

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

TemplateData for Reply to

Trigger a notification to one or several registered user(s) you are replying to in a discussion.

Template parameters[Edit template data]
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Username #1	`1`	The name of the first user that you want to notify	User	required
Username #2	`2`	The name of the second user you want to notify (optional)	User	optional
Username #3	`3`	The name of the third user you want to notify (optional)	User	optional
Username #4	`4`	The name of the fourth user you want to notify (optional)	User	optional
Username #5	`5`	The name of the fifth user you want to notify (optional)	User	optional
Username #6	`6`	The name of the sixth user you want to notify (optional)	User	optional
Username #7	`7`	The name of the seventh user you want to notify (optional)	User	optional
Username #8	`8`	The name of the eighth user you want to notify (optional)	User	optional
Username #9	`9`	The name of the ninth user you want to notify (optional)	User	optional
Username #10	`10`	The name of the tenth user you want to notify (optional)	User	optional
Label #1	`label1` `label`	An alternative nickname to be displayed instead of the first username (optional)	String	optional
Label #2	`label2`	An alternative nickname to be displayed instead of the second username (optional)	String	optional
Label #3	`label3`	An alternative nickname to be displayed instead of the third username (optional)	String	optional
Label #4	`label4`	An alternative nickname to be displayed instead of the fourth username (optional)	String	optional
Label #5	`label5`	An alternative nickname to be displayed instead of the fifth username (optional)	String	optional
Label #6	`label6`	An alternative nickname to be displayed instead of the sixth username (optional)	String	optional
Label #7	`label7`	An alternative nickname to be displayed instead of the seventh username (optional)	String	optional
Label #8	`label8`	An alternative nickname to be displayed instead of the eighth username (optional)	String	optional
Label #9	`label9`	An alternative nickname to be displayed instead of the ninth username (optional)	String	optional
Label #10	`label10`	An alternative nickname to be displayed instead of the tenth username (optional)	String	optional
End punctuation	`p`	Custom punctuation to be displayed after the final name (defaults to ':') Default :	String	optional
Conjunction	`c`	Custom conjunction to be displayed between the last two names (defaults to 'and') Default and	String	optional
Prefix	`prefix` `a`	Custom prefix to be displayed before the first name (defaults to '@') Default @	String	optional

Usage

This template can be used to make a standard navigation box. It is intended for use within another template that standardises the title and contents of the box (see Template:ShipNavbox). This template SHOULD NOT be used directly within articles, as it creates a maintenance burden to do so whenever the contents of the box have to be updated.

The purpose of this template is to standardise the attributes of all navigation boxes, for example, their colours and other CSS attributes. The template is fairly simple, and could be extended to add other features in the future. Using this template allows changes to be implemented much quicker and easier than editing each template separately.

Syntax

{{navbox
|state      = uncollapsed, collapsed, plain, autocollapse (default)
|name       = mandatory - name of the template
|style      = optional - style for the whole table
|title      = mandatory - navbox header
|gtitleN    = optional - title of N-th group of items
|styleN     = optional - style for groupN; i.e. text-align
|groupN     = mandatory - list of groups of items
|fstyle     = optional - style for footer ; i.e. text-align
|footer     = optional - navbox footer
}}

Groups: Currently there is no technical limit to the maximum number of groups.
- Groups of items can be added as parameters: group1, group2, group3, ... up to groupN.
Group title: Each group has its own title parameter: gtitle1, gtitle2, gtitle3, ... up to gtitleN. Note that the default width for the first column is 15%.
Group style: Style may also be customised to each group in: style1, style2, style3, ... up to styleN.
- Note that neither the title nor the items have any wiki-links built into the template. As a result, users of the template are free to use wiki-links as they wish.
Line breaks: Line-breaks (<br />) are unnecessary, as text wrapping is done automatically by the template. This also includes links and text in gtitleN and groupN.
Bullets: Create unordered lists with lines beginning with *.
Pipe links: Because of the nature of template syntax, it may be necessary to use Template:! ({{!}}).

States

Autocollapse: By default, the state of a navbox is "autocollapsed". This means that if the number of navboxes in a page exceeds the maximum allocation of the collapsible navboxes, then the remaining navboxes are collapsed automatically. For more information (or to change the setting), see MediaWiki:Common.js.
- Currently, the autocollapse allocation is 2 (see MediaWiki:Common.js). This means that if there are 3 navboxes in a page, the third and subsequent navboxes will be collapsed automatically.
Uncollapsed: Forces the navbox to be displayed.
- All of the navboxes in this documentation are in the uncollapsed state.
Collapsed: The reverse of uncollapsed. Forces the navbox to be hidden instead.
- Navboxes with a height of more than 300 pixels will also be collapsed automatically. For more information (or to change the setting), see MediaWiki:Common.js.
Plain: Removes the "show/hide" link.

Sub-groups

For larger navboxes, it may be necessary to include sub-groups within a particular group of items. It is also possible to collapsible navboxes within the parent navbox, see Collapsible sub-groups.
To create sub-groups within {{navbox}}, certain parameters are to be included:
- The parent navbox group (i.e. group2 in the example below) requires the type parameter (gtype2 = Subgroup).
- The nested navbox (sub-group) requires the inclusion of the sub-group parameter (subgroup = yes). This enables the template to differentiate between the sub-group and the parent navbox.

{{navbox
|name    =
|title   =
|gtitle1 =
|group1  =
|gtitle2 =  
|gtype2  = Subgroup (mandatory)
|group2  = 
  {{navbox
  |subgroup = yes (mandatory)
  |gtitle1  = 
  |group1   =
  |gtitle2  = 
  |group2   = 
  }}
}}

Collapsible sub-groups

For extremely long navboxes, it is recommended to use collapsible navboxes within the parent navbox. Further sub-groups can then be added to these collapsible navboxes.
To create collapsible sub-groups within {{navbox}}, these parameters need to be included:
- The parent navbox is almost always uncollapsed (state=uncollapsed).
- The parent navbox group (i.e. group1 in the example below) requires the type parameter (gtype1 = Subgroup).
- The nested collapsible navbox requires the inclusion of the collapsible parameter (collapsible = yes). This enables the template to differentiate between the collapsible navbox and the parent navbox.
- The nested collapsible navbox is forcefully collapsed (state=collapsed).

{{navbox
|state  = uncollapsed
|name   = 
|gtype1 = Subgroup
|group1 = 
  {{navbox
  |collapsible = yes
  |state   = collapsed
  |title   = 
  |gtitle1 = 
  |group1  = 
  |gtitle2 = 
  |group2  = 
  }}
}}

Use of images

The use of images in navboxes is permitted, but please resize the images to keep them small. Inventory-sized images (25-30 pixels) are recommended.
Please use {{t|plink}} to create links with images. Use {{t|plink}} for any case where text is not desired after the link. It functions the same as {{t|plink}}, but it does not produce a wikilink in text. Use {{t|chatl}} to link chatheads. These templates create links for both the image and text (except for {{t|plink}}) using far less wikicode than the standard syntax.

Link and file share the same name

{{plink|Item}}

File name differs from the link

{{plink|Item|File}}

Link and file share the same name, but different text is desired to display

{{plink|Item|alt=Text}}

File name differs from the link and different text is desired to display

{{plink|Item|File|alt=Text}}

Categorising

Navboxes are very useful for transcluding categories onto a large number of pages that share both a trait and the navigation box. For example: Template:ShipNavbox transcludes Category:Ships onto every page that uses it.

There are 2 methods of categorising pages with navboxes:

The first way is with {{t|Ctg}}. This is the preferred method, and can be used in most cases. The rules and operations for the Category handler template are very simple; however, they are enough to produce the desired results on most pages.

Categorisation should only be used on a template for large-scale addition. It is unhelpful, for example, to use a rule that only applies to 1 page.

Examples

To see the following navboxes in action, see Template:Navbox.

Single line navbox with centered list

{{navbox
|name    = 
|title   = 
|style1  = text-align:center
|group1  =
}}

Navbox with standard footer

{{navbox
|name    = 
|title   = 
|gtitle1 = 
|group1  = 
|footer  = Centered footer
}}

Navbox with styled footer

{{navbox
|name    = 
|title   = 
|gtitle1 = 
|group1  = 
|fstyle  = text-align:right
|footer  = Right-aligned footer
}}

Multiple line navbox

{{navbox
|name    = 
|title   = 
|gtitle1 = Group title 1
|group1  = 
|gtitle2 = Group title 2
|group2  = 
|gtitle3 = Group title 3
|group3  = 
}}

Collapsed navbox

{{navbox
|state   = collapsed
|name    = 
|title   = 
|style1  = text-align:center
|group1  = 
}}

Plain navbox with Tnavbar

{{navbox
|state   = plain
|name    = 
|title   = 
|style1  = text-align:center
|group1  = 
}}

Plain navbox without Tnavbar

{{navbox
|state   = plain
|title   = 
|style1  = text-align:center
|group1  = 
}}

Complicated navbox

{{navbox
|state   = uncollapsed
|name    = 
|title   = 
|gtitle1 = Level 1 Title 1
|group1  = 
|gtitle2 = Level 1 Title 2
|group2  = 
|gtitle3 = Level 1 Title 3
|group3  = 
|gtitle4 = Level 1 Title 4
|group4  = 
|gtitle5 = Level 1 Title 5
|gtype5  = Subgroup
|group5  = 
  {{navbox
  |subgroup = Yes
  |gtitle1  = Level 2 Title 1
  |group1   =
  |gtitle2  = Level 2 Title 2
  |group2   =
  |gtitle3  = Level 2 Title 3
  |gtype3   = Subgroup
  |group3   = 
    {{navbox
    |subgroup = Yes
    |gtitle1  = Level 3 Title 1
    |group1   =
    |gtitle2  = Level 3 Title 2
    |group2   =
    }}
  |gtitle4  = Level 2 Title 4
  |group4   = 
  }}
|gtitle6 = Level 1 Title 6
|group6  = 
|gtitle7 = Level 1 Title 7
|group7  = 
|fstyle  = 
|footer  = 
}}

Preventing unwanted documentation

The Navbox template's documentation is automatically transcluded under the navbox on any Template namespace page. It is not transcluded when used as a sub-group or collapsible sub-group template (subgroup= yes or collapsible=yes).

Should the documentation appear when it is unwanted, it can be hidden by setting the doc parameter doc=no on the template. In most cases, the doc parameter is NOT used and the parameter is removed completely.

Template:Reply to

Contents

Usage

Single recipient

Multiple recipients

Specify a nickname

Specify a prefix

Customise punctuation

Customise conjunction

Or don't use!

Error messages

Username not given

More than 50 names specified

Redirects

TemplateData

See also

Usage

Syntax

States

Sub-groups

Collapsible sub-groups

Use of images

Categorising

Examples

Single line navbox with centered list

Navbox with standard footer

Navbox with styled footer

Multiple line navbox

Collapsed navbox

Plain navbox with Tnavbar

Plain navbox without Tnavbar

Complicated navbox

Preventing unwanted documentation