Var/doc

This template is to help facilitate the displaying of variable names (in mathematics, computer source code, etc.) with the semantically correct <var>...</var>, which also renders the variable in italics, as is customary. This method is preferred to simply italicizing, for accessibility, content/presentation separation, Semantic Web, and metadata reasons; [X]HTML's <var> element has semantic meaning, while simple italicization does not. "Variable" in this sense may include arbitrary or unknown names or terms, example human input, arithmetical variables in equations, etc. This template (and the underlying XHTML) are generally not used if MediaWiki's <math>...</math> (or any other stand-alone mathematical markup) are being used.

Example:

{{var|username}}

outputs

<var>username</var>

which renders as:

username

compare to simple ''username'' italicization:

username

When used alone as variables, the letters "I" (upper-case "i") and "l" (lower-case "L") should be rendered with {{varserif}} instead of {{var}}, to make them more distinguishable: I, l.

More examples:

• {{kbd|1=ssh {{var|hostname}}}} with {{samp|%}}: "At the % prompt, the user must enter ssh hostname."
• Inside <code>...</code> and {{kbd}}: "The commandline should read: % ssh hostname (where hostname is the IP address or domain name of the system to connect to); if this is correct, press ↵ Enter."

Some of these examples may look slightly different outside this documentation, because the default background color varies by page type (articles are stark white, template documentation pale green, most other pages very pale grey). In-article example:

• {{strong}} – for semantically indicating strong emphasis instead of simple typographical boldfacing
• {{strongbad}} – same as {{strong}} but red like this: Never use {{strongbad}} in articles.
• {{stronggood}} – same as {{strongbad}} but green like this: Only use {{stronggood}} on non-article pages.
• {{em}} – similar template for semantically indicating mild emphasis instead of simple typographical italicization
• {{var}} – same as {{varserif}} use for all variables (e.g. strIllustratePrefix), except for 'I' (upper-case i) and 'l' (lower-case L), for which use {{varserif}}
• {{varserif}} – same as {{var}} but uses serif font (e.g. strIllustratePrefix), especially for distinguishing between 'I' (upper-case i) and 'l' (lower-case L) as variables
• {{wikivar}} – for displaying wikicode variables and magicwords as they would appear in source code, e.g. {{PAGENAME}}, {{DEFAULTSORT:Lastname, Firstname}}
• {{para}} – for displaying wiki template parameters (|title=) or parameters and values (|year=2008)
• {{tlx}} and related – for displaying entire templates (with or without parameters and values) as code
• {{tag}} – for using HTML elements ("tags") in prose (e.g. "When coding HTML <img>...</img> tags, always include ...")
• {{code}} – for computer source code (e.g. "... always include the alt= parameter.") (Note: to nest other templates like {{var}} inside, use <code>...</code> instead of {{code}})
• {{syntaxhighlight}} or {{sxhl}} – wrapper for <syntaxhighlight>...</syntaxhighlight>, but will wrap overflowing text
• {{deprecated code}} or {{dc}} – for deprecated source code in template documentation, articles on HTML specs, etc.
• {{pre}} – for larger blocks of source code and other pre-formatted text
• {{bq}} – for indented blocks of content, such as block quotations, examples, poems, etc.
• {{kbd}} – for indicating user input
• {{key press}} – for indicating the input of specific keystrokes, e.g. CtrlX
• {{PlayStation key press}} – for indicating PS-style gamepad key presses, e.g. ×
• {{samp}} – for example output