 | This is a documentation subpage for Template:Centralized discussion. It may contain usage information, categories and other content that is not part of the original template page. |
 | This template is used on approximately 6,300 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. |
 | This template should not be substituted. |
This is the ((centralized discussion)) template.
It maintains a compact index to active discussions of potential community-wide interest. For instructions on when and where to use this template, see Wikipedia:Centralized discussion.
This template is normally placed near the top of pages.
This template should always be transcluded, never substituted, or you will miss the updates to this template.
Adding items
To add a new item to the list of centralized discussions, edit the Template:Centralized discussion page. Look for the HTML comments that indicate where the list is. Add new items to the top of the list. Be aware that the list is actually a parameter to another template, so it cannot contain bare pipes "|".
Please also add a wikilink to the discussion in your edit summary so it can be directly accessed from each user's watchlist.
The actual structure of the box surrounding the list is provided by the ((centralized discussion/core)) template.
Style
Use a single, unambiguous, unique and concise link. It is not necessary to label the type of discussion, e.g. "RFC". For example:
[[Activity requirements for administrators]]
not:
[[An RfC]] on activity requirements for administrators
Any additional links should be in the discussion, not here.
Describe the matter or proposal under discussion, in neutral terms. Add the date when the link is added, in an HTML comment (i.e. inside <!-- ... -->).
Usage
This template can be used as is, without any parameters. Then it floats to the right. Like this:
((centralized discussion))
This template can be made to float to the left, or not float at all. Like this:
((centralized discussion|float=left))((centralized discussion|float=none))
The default width for this template is 45% of the page width. The width can be set to other values, like this:
((centralized discussion|width=35%))((centralized discussion|width=200px))
This template can be made to show a more compact appearance. Like this:
((centralized discussion|compact=yes))= Hides the image and the second blue header row.((centralized discussion|compact=very))= Even more compact, also hides the footer.
Additional styles can be added to the template.
((centralized discussion|style=clear: both;))= Clears the image on both sides of the image.
The parameters can of course be combined. For instance like this:
((centralized discussion|float=left|width=200px|compact=very))
Alternately, a simple version of the template can be used, displaying only the list/text without a surrounding navbox.
((centralized discussion|simple=yes))
This version also supports |float= and |style= parameters (via inbuilt <P> and <span> tags).