Template:Section link/doc

"Template:Slink" redirects here. For the template that links to search results, see Template:Search link.

This template, {{section link}}, or its shortcut, {{slink}}, is used to generate a link to a certain section(s) of a local wiki page and render an appropriate section mark (§ or §§).

For example, instead of:

[[Albert Einstein#Scientific career]] → Albert Einstein#Scientific career

...you can write:

{{section link|Albert Einstein|Scientific career}} → Albert Einstein § Scientific career

...or

{{section link|Albert Einstein#Scientific career}} → Albert Einstein § Scientific career

Usage

This template is appropriate for use in hatnotes and See also sections, or to reference sections within the same article. When using in article body text, consider whether an overt link to a specific section in another article may be confusing to readers who cannot follow links, such as those viewing a printed version of the material (see WP:PRINTWORTHY), or a version republished without links (see WP:LINKSTYLE).

Syntax (overview)

• {{section link|Article|Section}} or {{section link|Article#Section}}, link to section of other article.
  • Example: Albert Einstein § Scientific career
• {{section link|Article|Section|nopage=y}} or {{section link|Article#Section|nopage=y}}, link to section of other article, only displaying the section's title
  • Example: § Scientific career
• {{section link||Section}} or {{section link|#Section}}, for usage within the same page, supply an empty first parameter
  • Example: § Scientific career

Multiple sections

This template can generate consecutive links to several sections of the same page and mark them with §§ (as is convention). You can write:

{{section link|History of IBM|1880s–1924: The origin of IBM|1969: Antitrust, the unbundling of software and services|1993–present: IBM's near disaster and rebirth}}

History of IBM §§ 1880s–1924: The origin of IBM, 1969: Antitrust, the unbundling of software and services, and 1993–present: IBM's near disaster and rebirth

...or:

{{section link|History of IBM#1880s–1924: The origin of IBM|1969: Antitrust, the unbundling of software and services|1993–present: IBM's near disaster and rebirth}}

History of IBM §§ 1880s–1924: The origin of IBM, 1969: Antitrust, the unbundling of software and services, and 1993–present: IBM's near disaster and rebirth

Suppressing page name

Sometimes the page name needs not to appear (e.g. to avoid redundancy and wordiness). For the page on which the template is used, not specifying a page name creates a section link only. The following:

{{Section link||Suppressing page name}}

...is the equivalent of:

[[#Suppressing page name|§ Suppressing page name]]

...and renders as:

§ Suppressing page name

Use |nopage=y for the same visual effect.

When discussing an article from its talk page, {{Article link}}—or its alias, {{alink}}—is preferable to the longer {{Section link|{{ARTICLEPAGENAME}}|Section|nopage=y}}.

Comparison of displayed results:

• {{section link|WP:Manual of Style|Quotations}} → WP:Manual of Style § Quotations
• {{section link|WP:Manual of Style|Quotations|nopage=y}} → § Quotations
• {{section link|WP:Manual of Style|Quotations|Quotation marks|Commas}} → WP:Manual of Style §§ Quotations, Quotation marks, and Commas
• {{section link|WP:Manual of Style|Quotations|Quotation marks|Commas|nopage=y}} → §§ Quotations, Quotation marks, and Commas

Styling page name

For titles of films and short stories, always present the core part of the page's name (without any parenthetic disambiguation) in italics, quotation marks, or some other markup (per MOS:TITLES). The |display= parameter can be used for this purpose:

• {{section link|The Last Temptation of Christ (film)|General controversy|display=''The Last Temptation of Christ'' (film)}} → The Last Temptation of Christ (film) § General controversy

Note: |display= only modifies the Article parameter, never the Section parameter. In other words, it does nothing when § Suppressing page name.

When you want to pipe a section link where the page name is suppressed, i.e. modify the section part of the link, you cannot use this template. Instead try:

• [[#Styling page name|§ Styling ''section'' name]] → § Styling section name.

As shown, you need to manually replace the hash sign (#) with the section sign (§), normally handled by this template. You would also need to manually replace underscores with spaces (see below). Finally, to ensure the link doesn't line-break right after the section sign, the space needs to be a non-breaking space.

Title equivalence check

Unlike regular piped links, the display parameter is checked to see if it is equivalent of the actual link after formatting has been removed. That is, the following renders an error:

• {{section link|The Last Temptation of Christ (film)|General controversy|display=A completely different article}} →

This is to prevent this template from being used to create misleading links.

Underscores

It is common practice to copy article and section name from the browser's address bar. When doing that, the article and section names may contain underscores:

Albert_Einstein#Scientific_career

This template automatically replaces the underscores with space characters:

{{section link|Albert_Einstein#Scientific_career}} → Albert Einstein § Scientific career

There are articles that have underscores (see Category:Articles with underscores in the title). To retain the underscores in the rendered output, use |keep-underscores=yes:

article and section copied from browser address bar:

Dual_EC_DRBG#Timeline_of_Dual_EC_DRBG

manual removal of extraneous underscores:

Dual_EC_DRBG#Timeline of Dual_EC_DRBG

{{section link|Dual_EC_DRBG#Timeline of Dual_EC_DRBG|keep-underscores=yes}} → Dual_EC_DRBG § Timeline of Dual_EC_DRBG

TemplateData

This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:Section link in articles based on its TemplateData.

TemplateData for Section link

This template is used to generate a link to a certain section of a local wiki page and render an appropriate section mark (§). This template may generate consecutive links to several sections of the same page.

Template parameters

Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Page name	1	Name of the page to which the link must be created. Leave empty to link to the current page. Doing so causes no page name to appear.	Page name	suggested
Section name 1	2	Name of the (first) section to which the link must be created. This parameter is optional if using the Page name parameter to specify both the page and the section.	String	suggested
Section name 2	3	This template can link to additional sections within one page. You can supply another section name in this field.	String	optional
Section name 3	4	This template can link to additional sections within one page. You can supply another section name in this field.	String	optional
Section name 4	5	This template can link to additional sections within one page. You can supply another section name in this field.	String	optional
Hide page name	nopage	If set to "yes", "y" or "true", hides the page name (only section names are displayed). Auto value yes	Boolean	optional
Keep underscores	keep-underscores	If set to "yes", "y" or "true", doesn't replace underscores with spaces in the page name and section names.	Boolean	optional
Displayed page name	display	If the page name must be displayed differently (e.g. in italics), enter it here.	String	optional
Permanent link	permalink	Revision ID, for a permanent link to the section (only works with one section link)	Number	optional

See also

• U+00A7 § SECTION SIGN (§)
• {{Anchor}}
• {{Article link}} – for linking to a mainspace section from its talk page
• {{Multi-section link}} – for linking to a section listing nested section names
• {{Pslink}} – for linking to a section without displaying the section sign (§)