Template:Warning

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This template is used in system messages, and on approximately 56,000 pages.
Changes to it can cause immediate changes to the Wikipedia user interface.
To avoid major disruption, any changes should be tested in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. The tested changes can be added to this page in a single edit. Please discuss changes on the talk page before implementing them.

This is the {{Warning}} message box. It should be used sparingly and only for important warnings about an article or a user that cannot be shown using a more specific template. Please only use it when something is seriously wrong and other people might not otherwise know about it. Less important comments should be put as regular text on the page's talk page instead.

Usage[edit source]

{{Warning|1=Place notice text here. |heading=Optional heading above the text}}

This box automatically changes its style depending on what kind of page it appears; see {{Mbox}} for details, and view the examples below for demonstrations.

Use in talk and userspace[edit source]

Outside "important" locations like mainspace, policy pages, and noticeboards, this message box can also be used on other pages in a more relaxed way, such as on the top of talk page alerts, wikiproject pages, userspace pages, etc. Talk and noticeboard cases should probably include your signature at the end of the template's main content.

Optional parameters[edit source]

The box can be titled with an optional |heading= (or |header= or |title=). This is left-aligned by default. This:
{{Warning |heading=Heading |Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...}} produces an all-left notice:

It can be hard to notice or read short heading and/or message on a wide monitor when they centered. For long content, it can be centered with |align=center.
[While |align=right is a valid value, it will only be useful when this template is ported to right-to-left language Wikipedias, and shouldn't be used on English Wikipedia or it will be difficult to read.]
This:
{{Warning |heading=Heading |align=center |Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...}} produces:

A shorthand parameter to center the heading and main text at the same time is |center=y. This:
{{Warning |heading=Heading |center=y |Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...}} produces:

The parameter |textstyle= can be used to pass arbitrary inline CSS to the main note content. For example, one could center small-caps text below a left-aligned heading; this:
{{Warning |heading=Heading |textstyle=text-align:center; font-variant:small-caps; |Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...}} produces:

Similarly, the parameter |headstyle= can be used to pass arbitrary inline CSS to the heading content. For example, one could center a red heading above a left-aligned message; this:
{{Warning |heading=Heading |headstyle=text-align:center; color:red; |Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...}} produces:

The message box can also take an |image= parameter (with a value of just the bare filename of the image, without File:..., Image:..., or markup), but this is discouraged in articles. For an example of its use, see below.

See #Talk pages, below for the talkpage-only |small=y parameter. See also #Adding an image, shortcuts, etc., on the righthand side for additional parameters that work in talk and project pages but not articles.

Articles[edit source]

{{Warning |Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.}}

produces:

Talk pages[edit source]

On talk pages, {{Warning |Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...}} produces:

You may also set the talkpage-only parameter |small=yes, which alters the template's appearance thus:

{{Warning |small=yes |header=Header |style=text-align:center; |Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...}} produces ......

Setting the |image= parameter changes the image shown on the lefthand side of the template.

{{Warning |image=Stop hand nuvola.svg |heading=Heading |Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...}} produces:

(Note the effect of omitting |style=text-align:center; here)

File and category pages[edit source]

{{Warning |Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...}} on a File: page would produce... ... and, on a Category: page, would produce:

Other pages[edit source]

On other pages, such as those in the User:, Wikipedia: and Help: namespaces, {{Warning |Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...}} would produce:

External links and equals signs[edit source]

In most cases, external links can be used in the template without any complications. If a link – or any text – contains one or more equals signs (" = "), however, everything before the first sign will be interpreted as the name of a parameter. To prevent this, name the text carrying the link as the first numbered parameter:

{{Warning |1=Any text/links including "=" should now be interpreted correctly.}} produces:

Adding an image, shortcuts, etc., on the righthand side[edit source]

To add shortcuts, images, other templates, etc. to the righthand side of the template, use |imageright=. This does not work in articles. For example,
{{Warning |imageright=[[File:Wiki letter w.svg|40px]] |Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...}} produces:

{{Warning |imageright={{Shortcuts|You|Me}} |Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...}} includes the {{Shortcut}}s template providing links to You and Me:

Alternate shortcut option[edit source]

As an alternative to imageright, the |shortcut= (or |shortcut1=) and |shortcutN= parameters (where N

2 to 5) may be used to display shortcuts. For instance, {{Warning |shortcut1=Me |shortcut2=You |shortcut3=Them |shortcut4=Us |shortcut5=Everyone |Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...}} produces:

Note: If both imageright and any of the shorcut parameters are used, the contents of imageright will override the shortcut/s. For example,
{{Warning |imageright=[[File:Wiki letter w.svg|40px]] |shortcut1=Me |shortcut2=You |shortcut3=Them |shortcut4=Us |shortcut5=Everyone |Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...}} produces:

The above documentation is transcluded from Template:Warning/doc.
Editors can experiment in this template's sandbox and testcases pages.
Add categories to the /doc subpage. Subpages of this template.

v t e Notice and warning templates
{{Caution}} – For messages indicating e.g. that errors or misuse may have wide repercussions. {{Consensus}} – For notices relating to consensus about methods, procedures, editing, etc. {{Notice}} – For significant information. {{Warning}} – For particularly significant warnings. {{Warnsign}} – Inline version of {{Warning}}.
See also {{Ambox}}, the generic message box for article messages.