Template:Update after/doc

This is a documentation subpage for Template:Update after.
It may contain usage information, categories and other content that is not part of the original template page.

This template remains inactive (invisible except to editors) until the specified date, when^{[needs update]} is displayed and the page is added to the Category:OODA WIKI articles in need of updating or one of its dated subcategories. For additional functionality see below.

Usage

{{Update after|year|month|day|category|reason=...|text=...}} (all parameters are optional)

Parameters 1, 2, and 3 are respectively the year, month, and day that the template should activate. If the day is omitted, the template will activate on the first day following the specified month. If the month is also omitted, the template will activate on 1 January of the year following the specified year. If the year is also omitted, the template will activate immediately. One should try to specify month and year. If parameters 1, 2, and 3 are left blank, a bot will add it later.
Parameter 4 is a custom category, such as a WikiProject's article maintenance category. The article will be placed in the specified category when the template is activated (but only if the template is used in an article in the main namespace, not if it is used on a talk page or in any other non-main namespace). The category name must be specified without square brackets and without the "Category:" prefix. In addition to any category specified here, articles are automatically placed in Category:OODA WIKI articles in need of updating or one of its dated subcategories, when the date is specified. To use this parameter even when the first three parameters are omitted, you can write |4=.
- Examples: Specifying |4=United States articles in need of updating places the article in Category:United States articles in need of updating as well as Category:OODA WIKI articles in need of updating. Note: at present this parameter is not being used on OODA WIKI.
Named parameter |reason= is used to leave a note for future editors about what exactly needs to be changed or where to find the new information. Note is displayed in tooltip when mouse cursor hovers over "dated info" link.
Named parameter |text= is used to highlight dated text. Until the template activates, the text is displayed ordinarily, as if it was not wrapped.

Do not. . .

Please read OODA WIKI:Avoid statements that will date quickly; use {{Update after}} only in exceptional cases. Do not use this template on pages which simply need to be reviewed later to see if they might need updating; it should only be used when there is a certainty or very high probability that an update is needed. Do not use this template on talk pages; it is intended for inline usage, like {{Citation needed}}. It is probably not necessary to use this template on frequently edited articles such as for current events, as they will be being updated on a regular basis. Do not use this template within a section heading as it will count as part of the heading and thus break the heading.

Maintenance categories

Category:Pages using update after template with unknown parameters (0)

TemplateData

This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. Click here to see a monthly parameter usage report for this template in articles based on this TemplateData.

TemplateData for Update after

Places an in-line note in an article that marks information as [dated] and in need of an update after a given time

Template parameters
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Year	`1` `year`	The year the template should activate, if not specified the template will activate immediately. Enter a four-digit year.	Number	optional
Month	`2` `month`	The month the template should activate, if not specified the template will activate on 1 January of the following year. Enter the month as two digits, e.g. 06 for June.	Number	optional
Day	`3` `day`	The day the template should activate, if not specified the template will activate on the first of the next month. Enter the day as two digits.	Number	optional
Category	`4` `category`	Additionally add the article to this category (e.g. a WikiProject's maintenance category) when the template is activated. The category name must be specified without square brackets and without the 'Category:' prefix. In addition to any category specified here, articles are automatically placed in Category:OODA WIKI articles in need of updating or one of its dated subcategories, when the date is specified. This parameter has no effect outside the main (article) namespace.	Line	optional
Reason	`reason`	An optional note for future editors about what exactly needs to be changed or where to find the new information. Displayed in tooltip.	String	optional
Text	`text`	Dated statement. Becomes highlighted when template activates; displayed normally before activation.	String	optional
delay	`delay`	no description	Unknown	optional

Examples

Description	Code	Result
`{{Update after}}` immediately places an inline tag marking a passage as dated.	`Some text that was already outdated when the tag was added.{{Update after}}`	Some text that was already outdated when the tag was added.^{[needs update]}
`{{Update after\|year\|month\|day}}` would cause the tag to appear on the specified date. Before the specified date, the tag would not be displayed at all (but the template and its parameters would be visible when editing the page). If only a year, or year and month, is specified, the tag appears on the first day of the following year or month; 2024 implies 1 January 2025.	`Some text that will be outdated after today.{{Update after\|2024\|11\|22}}`	Some text that will be outdated after today.
	`Some text that should be checked next year.{{Update after\|2024}}`	Some text that should be checked next year.
`{{Update after\|year\|month\|day\|category}}` also adds the article to the specified category (which should be specified without square brackets and without the "Category:" prefix).	`Some text that will be outdated after today.{{Update after\|2024\|11\|22\|United States articles in need of updating}}`	Some text that will be outdated after today.
An optional reason may be used as a comment to future editors.	`Some text that should be checked.{{Update after\|reason=check for population growth}}`	Some text that should be checked.^{[needs update]}
Dated statement may be included in the template using the `\|text=` param.	`{{Update after\|text=Some text that should be checked.}}`	Some text that should be checked.^{[needs update]}

Effects

When the template is activated in an article, the phrase "needs update" appears in the text of the article at the indicated spot. The page will also appear in Category:OODA WIKI articles in need of updating or one of its dated subcategories, when the date is specified, and also any category specified in the 4th parameter.

See Category:OODA WIKI articles in need of updating for a list of pages currently needing updates, and OODA WIKI:As of for a list of 'As of' pages.

Related templates

{{Update inline}} or {{Update inline span}} can be used if the text is already outdated, instead of adding this template with a date in the past.
{{Update}} can be used to mark an entire article or section needing to be updated. Like {{Update after}}, this template adds the article to Category:OODA WIKI articles in need of updating.
{{Update|inaccurate=yes}} is used to mark an article whose factual accuracy may be compromised (although this may be disputed) due to out of date information. This template adds the article to Category:Articles with obsolete information.
{{As of}} is used to mark potentially dated statements, and will add an article to the appropriate hidden sub-category of Category:Articles containing potentially dated statements.
This is a documentation subpage for Template:Update after.
It may contain usage information, categories and other content that is not part of the original template page.

This template is used on approximately 5,100 pages and changes may be widely noticed. Test changes in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them.

Shortcut

{{Show by}}

This template uses Lua:

Module:Template link general

This template, often abbreviated as {{}}, is used to provide stylized formatting to template displays without actually using the template itself. The code generated will be displayed inline. For a multi-line output, see {{tj}}.

Parameters

With the exception of alttext, the named parameters are toggles that are either omitted (default in most cases) or activated (by being assigned a value such as "on", "yes", "true", "include", etc.). They may be included in any order (see Examples below). Certain templates have the parameter "on" by default; see the main table for all alternate options.

Parameter	Action	Use with {{example}}	Default active
	Default (without accessory parameters)	{{example}}
brace	Include braces as part of the template link	{{example}}	{{tlw}}/{{tn}}
braceinside	Include innermost braces as part of the template link	{{example}}
bold	Renders the template link/name in bold	{{example}}	{{tlb}}, {{tlxb}}
code	Display output using HTML `‎<code>...‎</code>` tags (monospaced font)	`{{example}}`	{{tlc}}, {{Template link expanded}}, etc.
italic	Display any parameters accompanying the template link/name in italics	{{example\|param}}	{{tlxi}}
kbd	Display output using HTML `‎<kbd>...‎</kbd>` tags (monospaced font)	`{{example}}`
nolink	Don't render the template name as a link	{{example}}	{{tlf}}, {{tnull}}
nowrap	Prevent the insertion of line breaks (word wrap) in the output	{{example}}
nowrapname	Prevent word wrapping in the output of template name/link (parameters will wrap if needed)	{{example}}
plaincode	Uses `‎<code style="border:none; background:transparent;">...‎</code>`	`{{example}}`	{{tltss}}
subst	Include a subst: prefix before the template link/name	{{subst:example}}	{{tls}}, {{tlxs}}, etc
alttext=`[text]`	Replace `[text]` with the actual label to be displayed for the template link	{{Other}}	{{tla}}
_show_result	Will also display the result of the template	`{{Min\|7\|-5}}` → -5
_expand	Will add a link to the expanded template page	`{{Min\|7\|-5}}` [1]

Unnamed (Positional)

This template can take any number of unnamed parameters as parameters accompanying the template link (or name); see Examples below.

Examples

Code	Output	Remarks
{{Show by\|Banner}}	Template:Show by	Template:Banner does not exist. (Non-existent template is redlinked.)
{{Show by\|Abc}}	Template:Show by	Template:Abc exists.
{{Show by\|abC}}	Template:Show by	Template names are case-sensitive
{{Show by\|abc}}	Template:Show by	(but the first letter is case-insensitive).
{{Show by\|x0}}	Template:Show by	no parameters
{{Show by\|x1\|one}}	Template:Show by	one parameter
{{Show by\|x2\|one\|two}}	Template:Show by	two parameters
{{Show by\|x3\|1\|2\|3\|4\|5\|6\|7\|8\|9\|10}}	Template:Show by	ten parameters
`{{tlg\|convert\|<nowiki>14\|m\|ftin\|abbr=out\|sp=us</nowiki>}}`	Template:Show by	Unlimited parameters, as one `‎<nowiki>...‎</nowiki>` string.
{{Show by\|x2\|\|two\|\|}}	Template:Show by	Empty parameters are discarded.
{{Show by\|x0\|code=on}}	Template:Show by	<code> style
{{Show by\|x0\|plaincode=on}}	Template:Show by	plaincode style
{{Show by\|x0\|kbd=on}}	Template:Show by	<kbd> style
{{Show by\|x0\|bold=on}}	Template:Show by	bold link/name
{{Show by\|x1\|one\|italic=on}}	Template:Show by	parameter(s) in italics
{{Show by\|x0\|nolink=on}}	Template:Show by
{{Show by\|x0\|subst=on}}	Template:Show by
{{Show by\|x0\|brace=on}}	Template:Show by	all braces in link
{{Show by\|x0\|braceinside=on}}	Template:Show by	inside braces in link
{{Show by\|x0\|alttext=x0 link}}	Template:Show by
{{Show by\|x0\|bold=on\|code=on\|brace=on}}	Template:Show by	Combine multiple parameter settings.
`{{tlg\|x1\|{{spaces}}one{{spaces}}}}`	Template:Show by	Using {{spaces}} before and after a parameter.
{{Show by\|x2\|bold=on\|code=on\|one\|two}}	Template:Show by	Can combine named and anonymous parameters ...
{{Show by\|x2\|one\|two\|bold=on\|code=on}}	Template:Show by	... in any order ...
{{Show by\|x2\|one\|code=on\|two\|bold=on\|three}}	Template:Show by	... even intermixed ...
{{Show by\|x2\|one\|code=on\|two\|bold=on\|three\|italic=on}}	Template:Show by	... with many configurations.
`{{tlg\|x1\|x=u}}`	Template:Show by	= won't work
`{{tlg\|x1\|x=u}}`	Template:Show by	`=` is okay
`{{tlg\|x1\|x{{=}}u}}`	Template:Show by	`{{=}}` is okay (see Template:=)
`{{tlg\|x1\|x<nowiki>=</nowiki>u}}`	Template:Show by	Sticky nowiki is okay.
{{Show by\|x2\|3=two\|2=one}}	Template:Show by	Right-to-left is okay
{{Show by}}	Show by	With no arguments, it emits the current page name without braces.
{{Show by\|x2\|3=one\|4=two}}	Template:Show by	Null parameter stops parsing.

Wrapping of long names (default)
Code	Output
{{Show by\|long template name that would wrap to new line\|this is a long value for the 1st parameter that would wrap}}	Template:Show by

Wrapping of long names (`nowrap=on`)
Code	Output
{{Show by\|nowrap=on\|long template name that would wrap to new line\|long value for the 1st parameter that would wrap}}	Template:Show by

Wrapping of long names (`nowrapname=on`)
Code	Output
{{Show by\|nowrapname=on\|long template name that would wrap to new line\|long value for the 1st parameter that would wrap}}	Template:Show by

Comparison of template-linking templates according to the styles of generated text and link produced
Text style ↓	`{{tlg}}` options^{[note 1]} to achieve text style	Link style
Text style ↓	`{{tlg}}` options^{[note 1]} to achieve text style	Linked	Unlinked	Linked with subst	Unlinked with subst	Linked including braces	Linked with alternative text
`{{tlg}}` options^{[note 1]} to achieve link style	—	DEFAULT	`nolink=yes`	`subst=yes`	`nolink=yes\|subst=yes`	`braceinside=yes`	`alttext=Foo` `2=Foo`
normal	DEFAULT	{{tlg}}^{[note 1]} {{tl}} {{tlp\|1\|2\|...}}^{[note 2]} {{Template:tlu}}^{[note 3]}	{{tlf}}^{[note 2]} ^{<template link>}	Template loop detected: Template:Tls {{subst:Template:tlsu}}^{[note 3]}	{{subst:tlsf}}^{[note 2]} ^{<template link>}	{{tn}}	{{tla}}
`code`	`code=yes`	`{{tl2}}` `{{tlx}}` `{{Template:tlxu}}`^{[note 3]}	`{{tlc}}`^{[note 2]} ^{<template link>} `{{tnull}}`^{<template link>}	`{{subst:tlxs}}`	`{{subst:tlsc}}`^{[note 2]} ^{<template link>}	—
monospace	`plaincode=yes`^{[note 4]}	—		{{subst:tltss}}^{[note 5]}	—
`kbd`	`kbd=yes`^{[note 5]}	—		{{subst:tltss}}^{[note 5]}	—
bold	`bold=yes`	{{tlb}}	—
`bold+code`	`bold=yes\|code=yes`	`{{tlxb}}`
`italic+code`	`italic=yes\|code=yes`	`{{tlxi}}`

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 {{tlg}} is the most general template, allowing any combination of text style and/or link style options.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 Prevents wrapping of text by placing it inside ‎<span class="nowrap">...‎</span> tags.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 Allows links to templates in any namespace.
↑ {{tlg|plaincode=yes}} uses ‎<code style="border:none; background-color:transparent;">...‎</code>.
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 Displays monospaced font using ‎<span style="font-family:monospace;">...‎</span>.

Other formatting templates

Templates producing specialised formatting effects for given templates, modules or parameters
Code example	Effect	Notes
`{{Tj\|Hatnote\|Some text\|selfref: yes\|category: no\|lang: fr}}`	{{Hatnote \| Some text \| selfref = yes \| category = no \| lang = fr }}	Supports colors, placeholder texts, named and unnamed parameters
<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext"> {{Hatnote \| Some text \| selfref = yes \| category = no \| lang = fr }} </syntaxhighlight>	{{Hatnote \| Some text \| selfref = yes \| category = no \| lang = fr }}	Same as above
`{{Tji\|Hatnote\|Some text\|selfref: yes\|category: no\|lang: fr}}`	{{Hatnote\|Some text\|selfref=yes\|category=no\|lang=fr}}	Supports colors, placeholder texts, named and unnamed parameters
`<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" inline>{{Hatnote\|Some text\|selfref=yes\|category=no\|lang=fr}}</syntaxhighlight>`	`{{Hatnote\|Some text\|selfref=yes\|category=no\|lang=fr}}`	Same as above
`{{tl2\|Hatnote\|lang=fr}}`	`{{hatnote}}`	Supports linking to sister projects (e.g., fr:Hatnote)
`{{demo\|<nowiki>{{Hatnote\|lang=fr\|Some text}}</nowiki>}}`	{{hatnote\|lang=fr\|Some text}} Some text	Shows code and example
`{{tln\|Hatnote}}`	Template:Hatnote	Produces a normal link to the template
`{{elc\|Template:Hatnote}}` `{{elc\|Template:Hatnote\|Hatnote}}`	`[[Template:Hatnote]]` `[[Template:Hatnote\|Hatnote]]`	Formats wikilink, with optional piped link text and blended suffix
`{{ml\|Example\|hello}}`	{{#invoke:Example\|hello}}	Counterpart to {{tl}} for linking to Lua modules
`{{mfl\|Example\|hello}}`	{{#invoke:Example\|hello}}	Similar to {{ml}}, but expects the function to be documented and creates a link to the corresponding section
`{{mlx\|Example\|hello}}`	`{{#invoke:Example\|hello}}`	Counterpart to {{tlx}} for linking to Lua modules
`{{ml-lua\|Module:Example\|hello}}`	`require('Module:Example')`	Link to Lua modules and built-in libraries, showing Lua code.
`{{para\|title\|<var>book title</var>}}`	`\|title=book title`	Formats template parameters for display, with or without values
`{{sclx\|LASTING}}`	`[[WP:LASTING]]`	Takes a shortcut suffix in project namespace and displays it with brackets and the WP: alias in a `‎<code>...‎</code>` tag.
`{{tag\|ref}}` `{{xtag\|templatedata}}`	`‎<ref>...‎</ref>` `<templatedata>`	Formats [X]HTML tags; can add content, choose opening, closing, or self-closing
`{{dtl\|Ping project}}`	{{d:Ping project}}	Wikidata counterpart to {{tl}}
`{{pf\|if}}` `{{pf\|if\|{{{1}}}\|true\|false}}`	{{#if}} {{#if:{{{1}}}\|true\|false}}	Parser function equivalent to {{tl}}
`{{magic word\|uc:}}`	{{uc:}}	Magic word links

With utility links

Templates producing utility links for a given template (Hatnote used here as example)
Code example	Effect
`{{lt\|Hatnote}}`	[[Template:]]
`{{lts\|Hatnote}}`	Template:Hatnote(edit talk links history)
`{{t links\|Hatnote}}`	{{Hatnote}} (edit talk history links # /subpages /doc /doc edit /sbox /sbox diff /test)
`{{tfd links\|Hatnote}}`	Template:Hatnote (talk · history · transclusions · logs · subpages)
`{{tetl\|Hatnote}}`	{{Hatnote}} links talk edit
`{{tsetl\|Hatnote}}`	{{subst:Hatnote}} links talk edit
`{{ti\|Hatnote}}`	{{Hatnote}}
`{{tic\|Hatnote}}`	Template:Hatnote (talk links edit)
`{{tim\|Hatnote}}`	m:Template:Hatnote (backlinks edit)
`{{tiw\|Hatnote}}`	Template:Hatnote (backlinks edit)
`{{tlt\|Hatnote}}`	{{Hatnote}} (talk)
`{{ttl\|Hatnote}}`	{{Hatnote}} (t/l)
`{{twlh\|Hatnote}}`	Template:Hatnote (links, talk)

/{{Show by date}} Shows one of 2 strings depending upon date

{{Age switch}} can be used to build date-related templates.

[TlTfn1-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 {{tlg}} is the most general template, allowing any combination of text style and/or link style options.

[TlTfn2-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 Prevents wrapping of text by placing it inside ‎<span class="nowrap">...‎</span> tags.

[TlTfn3-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 Allows links to templates in any namespace.

[TlTfn4-4] {{tlg|plaincode=yes}} uses ‎<code style="border:none; background-color:transparent;">...‎</code>.

[TlTfn5-5] 5.0 ^5.1 Displays monospaced font using ‎<span style="font-family:monospace;">...‎</span>.

[note 1]

[note 2]

[note 3]

[note 4]

[note 5]

Code example	Effect	Notes
`{{Tj\|Hatnote\|Some text\|selfref: yes\|category: no\|lang: fr}}`	{{Hatnote \| Some text \| selfref = yes \| category = no \| lang = fr }}	Supports colors, placeholder texts, named and unnamed parameters
<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext"> {{Hatnote \| Some text \| selfref = yes \| category = no \| lang = fr }} </syntaxhighlight>	{{Hatnote \| Some text \| selfref = yes \| category = no \| lang = fr }}	Same as above
`{{Tji\|Hatnote\|Some text\|selfref: yes\|category: no\|lang: fr}}`	{{Hatnote\|Some text\|selfref=yes\|category=no\|lang=fr}}	Supports colors, placeholder texts, named and unnamed parameters
`<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" inline>{{Hatnote\|Some text\|selfref=yes\|category=no\|lang=fr}}</syntaxhighlight>`	`{{Hatnote\|Some text\|selfref=yes\|category=no\|lang=fr}}`	Same as above
`{{tl2\|Hatnote\|lang=fr}}`	`{{hatnote}}`	Supports linking to sister projects (e.g., fr:Hatnote)
`{{demo\|<nowiki>{{Hatnote\|lang=fr\|Some text}}</nowiki>}}`	{{hatnote\|lang=fr\|Some text}} Some text	Shows code and example
`{{tln\|Hatnote}}`	Template:Hatnote	Produces a normal link to the template
`{{elc\|Template:Hatnote}}` `{{elc\|Template:Hatnote\|Hatnote}}`	`[[Template:Hatnote]]` `[[Template:Hatnote\|Hatnote]]`	Formats wikilink, with optional piped link text and blended suffix
`{{ml\|Example\|hello}}`	{{#invoke:Example\|hello}}	Counterpart to {{tl}} for linking to Lua modules
`{{mfl\|Example\|hello}}`	{{#invoke:Example\|hello}}	Similar to {{ml}}, but expects the function to be documented and creates a link to the corresponding section
`{{mlx\|Example\|hello}}`	`{{#invoke:Example\|hello}}`	Counterpart to {{tlx}} for linking to Lua modules
`{{ml-lua\|Module:Example\|hello}}`	`require('Module:Example')`	Link to Lua modules and built-in libraries, showing Lua code.
`{{para\|title\|<var>book title</var>}}`	`\|title=book title`	Formats template parameters for display, with or without values
`{{sclx\|LASTING}}`	`[[WP:LASTING]]`	Takes a shortcut suffix in project namespace and displays it with brackets and the WP: alias in a `‎<code>...‎</code>` tag.
`{{tag\|ref}}` `{{xtag\|templatedata}}`	`‎<ref>...‎</ref>` `<templatedata>`	Formats [X]HTML tags; can add content, choose opening, closing, or self-closing
`{{dtl\|Ping project}}`	{{d:Ping project}}	Wikidata counterpart to {{tl}}
`{{pf\|if}}` `{{pf\|if\|{{{1}}}\|true\|false}}`	{{#if}} {{#if:{{{1}}}\|true\|false}}	Parser function equivalent to {{tl}}
`{{magic word\|uc:}}`	{{uc:}}	Magic word links

Template:Update after/doc

Usage

Do not. . .

Maintenance categories

TemplateData

Examples

Effects

Related templates

Parameters

Unnamed (Positional)

Examples

See also

General-purpose formatting

Other formatting templates

With utility links