Template:Diff

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This template is intended to be useful for creating links to "diffs"; that is, links to pages that show the differences between two versions of a wiki page.

Every version of a page has a revision ID, which you can find from the history of the page by looking at the timestamp link for the edit. The timestamp link is in this form:
http[s]://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SomePageName&oldid=442212827
The number after oldid= is the revision ID.

Given one or two revision IDs, you can construct links to several types of diffs.

Usage

{{Diff|title|diff|oldid|label|diffonly=yes}}

• title – The title of the page (optional in most cases)
• diff – The ID or keyword that is used against the base ID. Possible keywords are:

  cur – Compare with the current version of a page.

  prev – Compare with the previous version of a page.

  next – Compare with the next version of a page.

  id – This should be larger than oldid.

• oldid – The base ID onto which the diff is generated.
• label – Text to display as link (optional)‍—‌no label will generate a numbered link as the label.
• |diffonly=yes – Displays the page comparisons only (optional)‍—‌parameter name required if used.

Only the diff parameter is required; all other parameters are optional. Omitted parameters must be empty (by using a double pipe). You can also use the named parameters title, diff, oldid, and label.

Helper subtemplate

In order to make this template simpler to use the helper subtemplate {{Diff/translator}} is available, to be used only in the preview window.

Syntax

{{Diff/translator|label|url=diff URL}}

For instance, imagine you want to refer to the following diff URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=139993&oldid=139992&diffonly=1; you only need to transcribe that URL in the {{Diff/translator}} subtemplate and produce a preview, without saving the page:

{{Diff/translator|Sic exorsi sumus|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=139993&oldid=139992&diffonly=1}}

↳ {{Diff||139993|139992|Sic exorsi sumus|diffonly=yes}}

Now copy the code generated ({{Diff/translator|Sic exorsi sumus|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=139993&oldid=139992&diffonly=1}} into the edit window where {{Diff/translator}} was and publish the page.

Examples

Below each example in the left-hand column is the pseudocode for that example in brown italics and indented. Elements that should be entered literally are in brown bold underlined italics. When a parameter is left blank, the resulting two adjacent pipes are underlined (but not bolded): ||.

Code	Output
{{Diff|Main Page|prev|204901573|Diff between a numbered version and the previous version}} {{Diff|page|prev|oldid|label}}	Diff between a numbered version and the previous version This is the form that would be used most often. The diff= parameter (parameter number 2) should be the word prev. The oldid= parameter (parameter number 3) should be the known revision number.
{{Diff|Foobar|616706711|616706707|Diff between two numbered versions of a page}} {{Diff|page title|diff|oldid|label}}	Diff between two numbered versions of a page The title= parameter (parameter number 1) should be a name of a page, for instance Foobar. The diff= parameter (parameter number 2) should be the larger revision number. The oldid= parameter (parameter number 3) should be the smaller revision number.
{{Diff||616706711|616706707|Diff between two numbered versions of a page without title parameter}} {{Diff||diff|oldid|label}}	Diff between two numbered versions of a page without title parameter The title= parameter (parameter number 1) may be left blank, thereby leaving a double pipe. The diff= parameter (parameter number 2) should be the larger revision number. The oldid= parameter (parameter number 3) should be the smaller revision number.
{{Diff|Wikipedia:Pagediff|204934693|204901573|Diff between two numbered versions of a page in Wikipedia namespace}} {{Diff|page|diff|oldid|label}}	Diff between two numbered versions of a page in Wikipedia namespace The title= parameter (parameter number 1) should be a name of a page, for instance Wikipedia:Pagediff. The diff= parameter (parameter number 2) should be the page revision to appear on the right (proposed change). The oldid= parameter (parameter number 3) should be the page revision to appear on the left (original).
{{Diff|Main Page|next|204901573|Diff between a numbered version and the subsequent version}} {{Diff|page|next|oldid|label}}	Diff between a numbered version and the subsequent version The diff= parameter (parameter number 2) should be the word next. The oldid= parameter (parameter number 3) should be the known revision number.
{{Diff|Main Page|cur|204901573|Diff between a numbered version and the current version of a page}} {{Diff|page|cur|oldid|label}}	Diff between a numbered version and the current version of a page The diff= parameter (parameter number 2) should be the word cur. The oldid= parameter (parameter number 3) should be the known revision number.
{{Diff|Main Page|cur||Diff showing the most recent change to a page}} {{Diff|page|cur||label}}	Diff showing the most recent change to a page The diff= parameter (parameter number 2) should be the word cur. The oldid= parameter (parameter number 3) should be empty.
{{Diff|Main Page||204901573|A link to a numbered version of a page}} {{Diff|page||oldid|label}}	A link to a numbered version of a page The diff= parameter (parameter number 2) should be empty. The oldid= parameter (parameter number 3) should be the known revision number. The result is not actually a diff, so this might be considered misuse of the template. See the {{oldid}} template.
{{Diff|Main Page|204901573|202506579|Comparison display without page display of two numbered versions of a page |diffonly=yes}} {{Diff|page|diff|oldid|label|diffonly=yes}}	Comparison display without page display of two numbered versions of a page The title= parameter (parameter number 1) should be a name of a page, for instance Main Page. The diff= parameter (parameter number 2) should be the larger revision number. The oldid= parameter (parameter number 3) should be the smaller revision number. The diffonly= parameter, which must include the parameter name, can only be set to yes

TemplateData

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

TemplateData for Diff

A template that is intended to be useful for creating links to diffs; that is, links to pages that show the differences between two versions of a wiki page.

Template parameters[Edit template data]

Parameter		Description	Type	Status
title	title page 1	The title of the page.	Page name	optional
Diff	diff 2	The ID or keyword that is used against the base ID. Possible keywords are: cur – compare with the current version of a page. prev – compare with the previous version of a page. next – compare with the next version of a page. <var>id</var> – compare against this revision ID; should be <em>larger</em> than <code>oldid</code>.	Line	required
Oldid	oldid 3	The base ID onto which the diff is generated. Some number like "442212827" (without the quotes).	Number	optional
Label	label 4	Text to display as link. No label will give a numbered link.	Line	optional
Diffonly	diffonly	Displays the page comparisons only. If you use this, the value should be "yes" (without the quotes).	Line	optional

See also

• {{Oldid}} – simplifies the case for linking to a known old version
• {{Diff2}} – same as {{Diff}}, but assumes a diff between the given revision and the one immediately before
• {{Diff3}} – same as {{Diff2}}, but does not support section links
• {{Diff4}}
• {{URL to diff}} – takes a diff URL and makes a {{Diff}} template
• {{Diffsandbox}} – compares a given page with the sandbox version
• {{DiffPages}} – accepts two pagenames (no id's needed)
• {{Querylink}} – generic template to construct query strings
• diff utility – syntax highlight on wiki pages with mw:Extension:SyntaxHighlight GeSHi
• User:Scottywong/diffconverter, a tool for converting from raw form
• Special:Diff serves a similar purpose; see Help:Wiki markup#Linking to old revisions of pages, diffs, and specific history pages.
• {{TextDiff}}

The above documentation is transcluded from Template:Diff/doc. (edit | history)
Editors can experiment in this template's sandbox (create | mirror) and testcases (create) pages.
Add categories to the /doc subpage. Subpages of this template.