Template:Essay
 | This is anessay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one ofWikipedia's policies or guidelines,as it has not beenthoroughly vetted by the community.Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
 | This template is used onapproximately 5,400 pagesand changes may be widely noticed. Test changes in the template's/sandboxor/testcasessubpages, or in your ownuser subpage.Consider discussing changes on thetalk pagebefore implementing them. |
 | This template shouldnotbesubstituted. |
Usage
This template adds the page toCategory:Wikipedia essaysor toCategory:User essays,depending onnamespace.
Please donotsubstthis template.
If you place this template on a mainspace article, it will redirect toTemplate:Essay-likeanyway.
{{essay|WP:SHORTCUT1}}becomes:
| This is anessay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one ofWikipedia's policies or guidelines,as it has not beenthoroughly vetted by the community.Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
Parameters
This template has an|interprets=parameter. Replaces "This page is an essay" with "This page is an essay on[whatever you put in the parameter]":
|interprets=the [[Wikipedia:No original research]] policy|interprets=the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style]] guideline|interprets=the [[Wikipedia:No original research]] and [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view]] policies|interprets=the [[Wikipedia:Verifiability]] policy and [[Wikipedia:Reliable sources]] guideline|interprets=Wikipedia:Reliable sources– this simpler syntax will automatically link to the page if it exists.
You can also use{{section link}}to produce better-looking links to page sections, e.g.:|interprets=the {{section link|Wikipedia:Article titles#Deciding on an article title}} policy,which renders as "theWikipedia:Article titles § Deciding on an article titlepolicy ".
You can have up to 5 shortcuts displayed. The shortcut parameters can also be named as|shortcut=or|shortcut1=,|shortcut2=...|shortcut5=.
You can also use|cat=or|category=to specify a more specific category than the defaultCategory:Wikipedia essaysor (in userspace)Category:User essays.It can be done with or without "Category:"
|cat=Wikipedia essays on consensus|category=Category:Wikipedia essays on consensus|category=User essays on style|cat=Category:User essays on style
Userspace essays should remain categorized inCategory:User essaysor one of its subcategories with this template.
Essays are sorted by their page name, or in userspace by subpage name.
If you want to use a different category sort, you can specify an entire category link with a sort key:
|cat=[[Category:User essays on style|Comprise, Use of]]
Additional categories (and sort keys) are added at the bottom of the essay page, as at any other page. User essays can be additionally categorized in topical subcategories ofCategory:Wikipedia essaysin this way.
Display
{{essay|WP:SHORTCUT1|WP:SHORTCUT2|interprets=the [[Wikipedia:Consensus|Consensus]] and [[Wikipedia:Ignore all rules|Ignore all rules]] policies}}becomes:
| This is anessayon theConsensusandIgnore all rulespolicies. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one ofWikipedia's policies or guidelines,as it has not beenthoroughly vetted by the community.Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
Variant templates
To place essays in appropriate sub-categories by subject, you can use:
{{Behavioral essay}}
| This is anessayon theconduct policy. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one ofWikipedia's policies or guidelines,as it has not beenthoroughly vetted by the community.Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
{{Civility essay}}
| This is anessayoncivility. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one ofWikipedia's policies or guidelines,as it has not beenthoroughly vetted by the community.Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
{{Deletion essay}}
| This is anessayon thedeletion policy. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one ofWikipedia's policies or guidelines,as it has not beenthoroughly vetted by the community.Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
{{Notability essay}}
| This is anessayonnotability. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one ofWikipedia's policies or guidelines,as it has not beenthoroughly vetted by the community.Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
{{Template essay}}
| This is anessayon thetemplate namespace. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one ofWikipedia's policies or guidelines,as it has not beenthoroughly vetted by the community.Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
{{Orphaned essay}}
 | Thisessayis currentlyorphaned. Few or noproject pageslink to this page. This may result in the page havinglow readershipand little or no improvement. Please help by introducing links to this page from other related project pages. |
| Thisessayis in development. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. Essays may represent widespread norms or minority viewpoints. Consider these views with discretion, especially since this page is still under construction. |
The following templates are available to WikiProjects for clarifying the distinction between WikiProject guidance and other essays andinformation pages:
 | This is aWikiProject advice pageonarticle content.It contains the advice and/or opinions of one or moreWikiProjectson how thecontent policiesmay be interpreted within their area of interest. An advice page has the status of anessayand is not a formalWikipedia policy or guideline,as it has not beenthoroughly vetted by the community. |
| This is aWikiProject advice pageonnotability.It contains the advice and/or opinions of one or moreWikiProjectson how notability may be interpreted within their area of interest. An advice page has the status of anessayand is not a formalWikipedia policy or guideline,as it has not beenthoroughly vetted by the community. |
| This is aWikiProject advice pageonstyle.It contains the advice or opinions of one or moreWikiProjectson how to format and present article content within their area of interest. An advice page has the status of anessayand is not a formalWikipedia policy or guideline,as it has not beenthoroughly vetted by the community. |
See also
Alternatives
{{Information page}}– the banner template for pages that are more just informational and non-opinionated likeWP:GOV.{{Wikipedia how-to}}– the banner template for pages that are more directly instructional and non-opinionated likeH:EDIT.{{Supplement|interprets=}}– to tag a well-established page that adds something to a policy or guideline, to make up for a deficiency, and when it is referenced in the guideline or policy; e.g.:WP:BRD.- Wikipedia:Template index/Wikipedia namespace– for more examples of related templates.
Article notice
{{Essay-like}}– designed for the main namespace, not "Wikipedia:" namespace; use if anarticlereads like an essay.
Talk pages
{{WikiProject Essays}}– for talk pages of essays.
Data
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Wikipedia essays/Assessment/Links– list of essays sorted by impact score]]