Help: Template Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Process=== Templates are just Wikipedia pages. They are created, deleted, and edited in much the same way as any other page. ====Creating==== To create a template, choose an appropriate name, navigate to that page, then click the "Edit" tab or create a new page as needed. Templates are normally placed in the [[WP:Template namespace|template namespace]], though you can place a template intended for your own personal use or for experimentation in your own [[WP:User pages|user space]]. Before creating a template, do a quick search for existing templates (such as by exploring [[:Category:Wikipedia templates]]) to see if there is already a template that does what you want or a similar template whose code can be copied and modified (or left in place and expanded). Look for generic templates on which the new template can be based; for example, you can create a [[WP:Navbox|navbox]] template easily by creating a brief template that calls the generic [[Template:Navbox]]. There is no hard rule about what name to choose for a template—make it short but reasonably descriptive. If similar templates exist, try to follow a consistent naming pattern. You can rename a template without breaking existing [[Help:Transclusion|transclusions]] (what is called ''breakage'') by leaving a [[WP:Redirect|redirect]] to the new template name. ====Modifying==== Edit a template the same way as any other page: navigate to the template and click the "Edit" tab. Be extremely careful when editing existing templates—changes made can affect a large number of pages, often in ways you might not expect. For this reason many high-use templates are [[WP:Protection policy|protected]] against editing except by [[WP:Administrators|administrators]] and [[WP:Template editor|template editors]]; other editors can propose changes on the talk page. Some templates offer a [[WP:Template sandbox and test cases|sandbox and test cases]] for experimentation. ====Deleting==== Unused or inappropriate templates should be deleted. Templates that can be easily merged into another should be merged. To propose the deletion or merger of a template, go to [[WP:Templates for discussion|Templates for discussion]] (TfD). Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page