EverQuest 2 Wiki:Template FAQ

Frequently asked questions about the Template feature used by EQ2i. For a listing of existing templates, see the complete list.

In general, what are Templates?
Templates are pages that allow editors to duplicate the same content across more than one page. When you examine or edit the source code of an article, you can recognize them by double curley brackets that look like this:   .

If you have some text that you want to include in a lot of places, you can make a template out of it. A good example at EQ2i would be the help contents template that appears at the right side of this page (its name is Template:HelpContents). A more complicated example would be the template for the Peacock Club timeline.

Can templates be renamed, moved, redirected?
Yes, using the move link at the top of each page, but do your homework and pay attention to the "What links here" link that appears on the left side of the page. You should fix all the "what links here" items and make sure no more exist before renaming, moving, or redirecting a template.

How do I delete a template?
Regular users can't, but Admins can. For admins, do your homework by using the "what links here" link. Note that deleting templates will probably break some history functionality. You should fix all the "what links here" items and make sure no more exist before deleting a template.

What else are templates used for?
Templates are sometimes used to aggregate several small pages into one big page. It's a pretty complicated topic, to be honest. At EQ2i we use templates to allow some pretty spiff formatting and categorization of pages that are relatively transparent to the user. We try to make it possible for users to copy a minimum of text, fill in the blanks, and then the magic of the templates we've set in place takes over.

For example, when a user wants to add an in-game item to the site, they can use the Item Information template by copying the code example and merely filling in the blanks. The template then takes care of the rest of the work, providing not only a nice looking page that lists the specifics about that item, but also automatically categories the item into various groups so that users can search for an item a variety of ways.

Take a look at the page for Boots of the Quarrymaster. You'll see a table laying out all the details of the item that are know to date (including how to obtain the item, if we're lucky!), you'll see a picture of the item if it's been uploaded to the database, and you'll see a HUGE listing of categories at the bottom of the page. That listing at the bottom is a key feature of using templates. Users don't have to type the information in to get those categories. It's all automatic when they use the Item Information template and fill in the information correctly.

Why does my template not take effect immediately?
Some aspects of templates do update immediately. For instance, if you change a template, and it has simple boilerplate text and if you visit the page that uses the template caller, the text is updated. That is, the appearance of the page has changed to reflect the new version of the template. If you find that your template changes don't appear to be taking effect, clear your browser cache and refresh the page. This usually takes care of 99% of the display issues.