Wikipedia:Template namespace

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This page in a nutshell: The Template: namespace on Wikipedia contains templates created for consistent formatting, maintenance, and navigation. Templates should not normally be used to store article text. Such content belongs in the article pages themselves.

The Template namespace on Wikipedia is used to store templates, which contain Wiki markup intended for inclusion on multiple pages, usually via transclusion. Although the Template namespace is used for storing most templates, it is possible to transclude and substitute from other namespaces,^[1] and so some template pages are placed in other namespaces, such as the User namespace.

Templates help maintain consistent formatting and aid navigation between articles. They often include optional and/or variable elements controlled by parameters to allow for specialized use. Templates are also used to assist in a large variety of Wikipedia maintenance tasks. Each template has a matching Template talk: page where editors can discuss the design and implementation of the associated template (see Help:Using talk pages for how to participate in talk page discussions).

A template is transcluded into another page by including a template tag in that page's content. A template tag contains the template page name surrounded by double curly braces, e.g. {{Disambiguation}}. If the template's page name does not begin with a namespace and colon, it is assumed to be in the Template namespace.

Internal links to template pages may be made by using the Template: prefix, e.g. [[Template:Disambiguation]]. These links go to a page that directly contains a base template and often documentation.