Wikipedia:WikiProject User warnings/Help:Template usage
Template usage
In general
All Wikipedia:WikiProject User warnings/t/glossary take several {Wikipedia:WikiProject User warnings/t/glossary that are entirely optional. That is, you can completely ignore them (For example, use "block" instead of "block|~~~~|1 hour|vandalism") and the Wikipedia:WikiProject User warnings/t/glossary will automagically insert generic text. Further, all parameters are designed to be very flexible; you can typically write anything in them, from diff links to in-depth messages to HTML.
See Help:Talk page guidelines for general layout and usage guidelines on user talk pages.
User warning templates
Usage depends largely on the particular Wikipedia:WikiProject User warnings/t/glossary. See documentation on template talk pages or summary instructions in the list of templates (main page).
Block templates
Block templates differ from user warning templates in two fundamental ways. First, they're enclosed inside a message box, which means that that placing your signature outside the template will place it visually seperate the message. This is resolved by typing out your signature (typically ~~~~) as the first parameter.
The second difference is the order of the parameters: whereas user warning templates are in order of use, block templates are not. This is because some of the parameters are less optional than in user warning templates, and they happen to be at the end.
- The signature should always be used; although there's an auto-signature as default value, it converts the username link to plaintext (ie, [[User:Pathoschild|Pathoschild]]).
- The time parameter is almost always used, as it signifies when the block expires.
- The reason parameter is rarely used, and by default blames the block on vandalism.
As such, although the order of parameters in the templates are time-reason-signature, the template parameters are input as signature-time-reason. This way, you can ignore the more optional parameters by using "block|~~~~" instead of "block|||~~~~".