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==Usage==
This template is to help facilitate the indentation of blocks of content (quotations, computer source code, etc.) with the [[Semantic markup|semantically correct]] {{tag|blockquote}} element, which can also be further styled and given metadata. This method is often preferred to using wikimarkup's ";" indentation (actually an abuse of {{tag|dt}} code), and other means that can cause problems or which are complicated and error-prone, and for [[WP:Accessibility|accessibility]], [[Separation of presentation and content|content/presentation separation]], [[semantic Web]], and [[WP:METADATA|metadata]] reasons; &#91;[[XHTML|X]]&#93;[[HTML]]'s {{tag|blockquote|open=y}} element has semantic meaning, while many tricks for indenting do not, or even have incorrect semantics.

Example: 

:<code><nowiki>{{bq|1={{lorem}}}}</nowiki></code>

which renders as:

{{bq|1={{lorem}}}}

compare to the longwinded <code><nowiki><blockquote>{{lorem}}</blockquote></nowiki></code> markup:

<blockquote>{{lorem}}</blockquote>

Note that this example makes use of the "lorem" template-- if you wish to use other text in your own quote (which you almost certainly will) you should not enclose that quote in pairs of template brackets.  Doing so will produce a template error and your text will appear in red.

===Parameters===
*{{para|text}} or {{para|quote}} or {{para|1}} (required) the content of the indented block; it is always safest to specify this parameter explicitly, as it will otherwise break if the content ever contains the "=" character, and can also fail under other technical circumstances.
*{{para|class}} an additional CSS class; it already uses <code>templatequote</code> by default.
*{{para|id}} an identifier, which can be used as a link target or for other purposes, e.g. custom user scripts; it must begin with a letter, not a number or symbol, and be unique on a page.
*{{para|style}} inline CSS directives for custom styling, like background color.
*{{para|title}} metadata that indicates a title or label for the element; different browsers handle this differently, most often as a pop-up "tooltip" on mouseover.

===Cited quotations===
For use with cited quotations, {{tnull|bq}} supports the sourcing parameters (and their aliases) of the older and simpler {{tlx|quote}} templates and the frequently abused {{tlx|cquote}}, so {{tnull|bq}} can be used as a drop-in replacement for them that provides the above additional features. Conversion from several other templates, including {{tlx|quote box}} and {{tlx|quotation}}, even {{tlx|talkquote}}, is trivially easy. Converting from {{tlx|rquote}} requires deletion of its first parameter, which is always <code>left</code> or <code>right</code> and then the rest of its data will just work without modification. Such conversions of course lose features (decoration, etc.) of many of those templates, but sometimes that is precisely what is desired.

*{{para|2}} or {{para|sign}} or {{para|cite}} or {{para|author}} or {{para|by}} author/speaker of the quotation; this is free-form text and can including a link to the author's article.
*{{para|3}} or {{para|source}} or {{para|ts}} source from which the quotation is drawn; this is free-form text and can including links, styling, etc.; if converting from {{tlx|quote box}}, the author would also be included in {{para|source}}, but should really be moved manually to the above parameter.
*{{para|4}} or {{para|diff}} optionally, you can divide the citation up further, e.g. {{para|2|Lastname, Firstname}}{{para|3|"Article Title"}}{{para|4|Book Title}}, but this is not really necessary, and is mainly to make conversion from {{tlx|quotation}} a little easier. Parameter 4 is automatically italicized, since it is only used for larger works like books, albums, magazines, or TV shows. It also maps to {{para|diff}} for conversion of {{tlx|talkquote}}.

Examples:

<code><nowiki>{{bq |text={{Lorem}} |sign=Anne O. Nymus |source=''<cite>The Unlightable Being of Bareness</cite>'', 1992, p. 37}}</nowiki></code>

{{bq |text={{Lorem}} |sign=Anne O. Nymus |source=''<cite>The Unlightable Being of Bareness</cite>'', 1992, p. 37}}

<code><nowiki>{{bq |1={{Lorem}} |2=Anne O. Nymus |3=1992, "Introduction", pp. vii&ndash;ix |4=The Unlightable Being of Bareness}}</nowiki></code>

{{bq |1={{Lorem}} |2=Anne O. Nymus |3=1992, "Introduction", pp. vii&ndash;ix |4=The Unlightable Being of Bareness}}

===Working around display problems===

;Lists and other complexities
Complex markup may require a simple trick to work around a longstanding MediaWiki bug; this is the inclusion of the code <code>&lt;nowiki /&gt;</code> immediately after the {{para|1}} (or {{para|text}} if the content following the <code>=</code> begins with a linebreak:

{|
|-
!This fails:
|<pre>{{bq|1=
*Foo
*Bar
*Baz
}}
</pre>
|&nbsp;&nbsp;
!as:
|{{bq|1=
*Foo
*Bar
*Baz
}}
|-
!This works properly:
|<pre>{{bq|1=&lt;nowiki /&gt;
*Foo
*Bar
*Baz
}}
</pre>
|&nbsp;&nbsp;
!as: 
|{{bq|1=<nowiki />
*Foo
*Bar
*Baz
}}
|}

This tweak unfortunately cannot be put into the template code itself, as the nowiki markup doesn't pass through the transclusion process.

;Multiple paragraphs
{{Blockquote paragraphs}}

;URLs and other breakage
Make sure that all the parameters are named (e.g. {{para|1}}, etc. or with word names like {{para|source}}). Many URLs, and plenty of other things, contain the "=" character, which due to [[MediaWiki]] limitations, will cause the template to malfunction if used in an unnamed parameter.

==See also==
;Block quotations
{{Quotation templates see also|}}

;Semantic markup
{{Var/seealso}}

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