Template:Short description: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 05:49, 15 May 2025

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This template is used on approximately 6,260,000 pages, or roughly 285845% of all 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 can only be edited by administrators because it is transcluded onto one or more cascade-protected pages.

This template uses Lua:

Template:Short description is used to add a short description (which can be edited from within Wikipedia) to a Wikipedia page. These descriptions appear in Wikipedia searches and elsewhere, and help users identify the desired article.

Usage[edit source]

{{Short description|Write your short description here}}

This should be limited to about 40 characters, as explained at WP:SDFORMAT, along with the other guidance at WP:SDCONTENT.

If the page's title is sufficiently descriptive that a short description is not needed, use the following:

{{Short description|none}}

Parameters[edit source]

See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:Short description in articles based on its TemplateData.

TemplateData for Short description

Creates a short description for a Wikipedia page, which is displayed in search results and other locations.

Template parameters[Edit template data]
This template has custom formatting.
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Description	`1`	The short description of the article or 'none'. It should be limited to about 40 characters. Example Endangered species of South American fish	Content	required
No replace?	`2`	Should be unused or 'noreplace'. Templates with noreplace will not replace a short description defined by an earlier template. Mainly for use within transcluded templates. Suggested values `noreplace` Auto value `noreplace`	String	optional
pagetype	`pagetype`	The type of page. This puts it in the appropriate category - Things with short description. Normally unneeded, since handled through namespace detection. Example Redirect, Disambiguation page	String	optional

About writing good short descriptions[edit source]

This page is about the short description template; it does not provide guidelines for writing a good short description. If you plan to use this template, you should make sure you read and follow the detailed guidance at WP:HOWTOSD. General information can be found at Wikipedia:Short description.

Template information[edit source]

Eventually all articles should have a short description:

by directly using this template, in which case the short description will be unique to the article
transcluded in another template, such as a disambiguation template, where a generic short description is adequate for a large class of pages
where the short description is assembled from data in an infobox

Automatically generated descriptions within templates should set the second parameter as noreplace so they do not override any short descriptions specifically added to the transcluding article.

Short descriptions are not normally needed for non-article pages, such as redirects, but can be added if useful.

If the article title alone is sufficient to ensure reliable identification of the desired article, a null value of {{Short description|none}} may be used.

Short descriptions do not necessarily serve the same function as the Wikidata description for an item and they do not have to be the same, but some overlap is expected in many cases. Some Wikidata descriptions may be unsuitable, and if imported must be checked for relevance, accuracy and fitness for purpose. Responsibility for such imports lies with the importer. (See also Wikidata:Help:Description.)

Example[edit source]

At Oxygen therapy, add the following at the very top of the article, above everything else:

{{Short description|Use of oxygen as medical treatment}}

Testing[edit source]

For testing purposes, the display of this template can be enabled by adding a line to your Special:MyPage/common.css:

.shortdescription { display:block !important; }

This can be easily removed or disabled when testing is finished.

If you want to always see short descriptions, you may prefer a more utilitarian layout, such as:

.shortdescription {
  display:block !important;
  white-space: pre-wrap;
}
.shortdescription::before { 
  content: "\A[Short description:\0020";
}
.shortdescription::after { 
  content: "]\A";
}

There is a test version of this template available as Template:Short description/test which displays its text by default.

{{Short description/test}} displays the short description if supplied
{{Short description/test}} displays nothing if none is supplied
{{Short description/test}} displays the description from Wikidata if wikidata is supplied.

Taking Lua error in Module:Wd at line 632: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). (Q1096878) as an example:

{{short description/test|Underwater diving where breathing is from equipment independent of the surface}} → Underwater diving where breathing is from equipment independent of the surface
{{short description/test|none}} →
{{short description/test|wikidata}} → <strong class="error"><span class="scribunto-error" id="mw-scribunto-error-e6606810">Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 2750: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).</span></strong>

Pagetype parameter[edit source]

If {{{Pagetype}}} is not set, then this template adds the article to a category based on the namespace:

Category:Articles with short description (36)
Category:Redirects with short description (0) for redirects in any namespace

If {{{Pagetype}}} is set, then this template adds the article to a category matching the parameter. For example:

Category:Redirects with short description pagetype = Redirect

Aliases[edit source]

Shortcut

WP:SDNOALIASES

While there are currently redirects to this template, they must not be used, for the reasons below:

Other templates and gadgets attempt to extract short descriptions from pages by explicitly searching for the transclusions of the {{Short description}} template.
For example, {{Annotated link}} searches for the template in its uppercase "Short description" and lowercase form "short description"; either form is acceptable.

See related RfD.

Do not start the template with a space: {{ Short description.... While this does create a valid short description, the space will prevent searches for the {{Short description... text.