Template:Transclude random excerpt

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Transclude random excerpt transcludes the lead of an article as an excerpt. It is designed for use in portals. It returns the text of an article up to but excluding the first header, after removing:

• initial templates such as infoboxes, hatnotes and article improvement tags
• noinclude sections
• references and footnotes
• images, unless specifically retained

Usage

{{Transclude random excerpt | 1= | 2= | paragraphs= | files= | fileargs= | errors= }}

The template accepts any number of page names as unnamed parameters. One of them is selected randomly, and the page with that title is transcluded. (If the selected page is invalid, the template will choose again.) Include a namespace where necessary. There are no other positional parameters, but there are some optional named parameters:

• A list of paragraphs such as paragraphs=1,3-5; the default is all paragraphs.
• A list of file (image) numbers such as files=1; the default is no images. Non-free images are removed.
• Arguments to pass to File: such as fileargs=left to move images to the left; the default is none.
• errors= to allow Lua error messages to appear in the output
• showall= to show all articles simultaneously
• list= to show a list of articles  Coding not compatible with mobile versions of Wikipedia causing display and accessibility problems

paragraphs= and files= each accept a comma-separated list containing numbers and/or number ranges in the format min-max. Alternatively, files= can accept the name of a single image, e.g. files=My image file.jpg.

showall= shows all articles simultaneously. This option is intended for a subpage aimed at editors as well as readers. Using this template on a subpage with <noinclude>|showall=</noinclude> and transcluding the subpage on a main page will show all excerpts on the subpage but only one on the main page, without repeating the template and its arguments.

Miscellaneous options

• |more=no – to suppress link to the article at the end of the excerpt. |more=custom text to customize the link text at the end of the excerpt. Default is "Full article...".
• keepSubsections=1 will cause Article#Section to retain any subsections of that section
• keepRefs=1 will keep references for display in a {{reflist}} or similar
• nobold=1 will cause bold text to be displayed in normal font

Page options

Each page to be transcluded may be specified either plain or as a wikilink, possibly piped. Links to sections also work, and extract the named section rather than the lead. Examples: Article; Article#Section; [[Article]]; [[Article#Section|A section of an article]]. (Any piped text will be ignored.)

Any of the above formats may be followed by option(s) separated by pipes, e.g. Article|paragraphs=2. Such options override any global options for the given page only. Note that the characters | and = have special meaning within calls to templates but can be escaped using {{!}} and {{=}} respectively. Examples: Article#Section{{!}}files{{=}}2; [[Article|Some page]]{{!}}files{{=}}3,4{{!}}more{{=}}Click here. (= need not be escaped if the parameter is explicitly numbered, e.g. 1=Article{{!}}files=2).

Special characters such as pipes within page options must be doubly escaped, replacing their double braces by {{((}} and {{))}}. For example, to set display Custom image.jpg on the left with a custom caption, set fileargs to left|Custom caption using Article{{!}}files{{=}}Custom image.jpg{{!}}fileargs{{=}}left{{((}}!{{))}}Custom caption. To add a wikilink within a caption, escape the link brackets and any pipe twice using {{!((}}, {{))!}} and possibly {{!}}, e.g. Caption with {{((}}!(({{))}}Pipe (computer science){{((}}!{{))}}piped{{((}}))!{{))}} link. This text can be achieved more simply using {{Doubly escaped wikilink}}, e.g. Caption with {{Doubly escaped wikilink|Pipe (computer science)|piped}} link.

See also

• {{Transclude lead excerpt}}: specifies the article explicitly
• {{Transclude list item excerpt}}: chooses the article randomly from those listed on a page
• {{Transclude linked excerpt}}: chooses the article randomly from those linked from a page
• {{Transclude selected excerpt}}: chooses the article from a list using an index such as the week number

The templates were discussed at Use of direct transclusion in portals and the newer portal transclusion templates.

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 Transclude random excerpt

Transclude random excerpt transcludes the lead of a randomly chosen article as an excerpt

Template parameters[Edit template data]

This template prefers inline formatting of parameters.

Parameter		Description	Type	Status
1	1	The name of a page which may be transcluded Default empty Example Aviation, 1=Aviation	String	required
2	2	The name of another page which may be transcluded. Similarly for optional parameters 3, 4, ... Default empty Example Egypt, 2=Egypt	String	optional
Paragraphs	paragraphs	Numbers of the paragraphs to be transcluded, as a comma-separated list containing numbers and/or number ranges in the format min-max Default all paragraphs Example paragraphs=1,3-5	String	optional
Files	files	Numbers of the images to be transcluded, as a comma-separated list containing numbers and/or number ranges in the format min-max Default no files Example files=1,3-5	String	optional
FileArgs	fileargs	Arguments to pass to File: Default no arguments Example fileargs=left	String	optional
More	more	Text for trailing link to the entire article. Note: more= with no value produces the standard text: Read more... Default no link Example more=(more)	String	optional
Errors	errors	Allow Lua error messages to appear in the output? Default false Example errors=true	Boolean	optional
ShowAll	showall	Show all excerpts simultaneously? Default no arguments Example showall={{clear}}{{hr}}	String	optional
List	list	Show a list of excerpts? Default no list Example list=List of articles	String	optional

The above documentation is transcluded from Template:Transclude random excerpt/doc. (edit | history)
Editors can experiment in this template's sandbox (edit | diff) and testcases (edit) pages.
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