Template:Lang-en/sandbox
 | __EXPECTUNUSEDTEMPLATE__This is the template sandbox page for Template:Lang-en (diff). See also the companion subpage for test cases. |
 | This template is used on approximately 17,000 pages and changes may be widely noticed. Test changes in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them. |
 | This template uses Lua: |
Usage
| code | en |
|---|---|
| link | no |
| style: inherit | |
Because this is English Wikipedia, the facts that a) the content is in English by default, and that b) the word "English" refers to the English language, are generally taken to be understood. Unlike many multilingual support templates, this template does not link the language name by default. To activate the link, add the |link=yes parameter.
In most cases, there is no reason to use this template, unless you have a specific technical need for it. This template exists principally as a placeholder for interwiki purposes.
Legitimate use almost always involves automation. The vast majority of needed uses of this template are cases where {{lang-xx}} has values, possibly including en, inserted for xx automatically by software tools such as templates and bots.
Some editors would also include using it in lists and tables that are using other such templates (e.g. {{lang-es}} for Spanish) to provide multiple translations of something, where consistency of output is desirable. However even in these cases it is better to use plain text, because {{lang-en|foo}} is three characters longer than simply English: foo and wastes performance on template parsing. That said, the form {{lang-en|foo}} could be useful in such a table in a linguistics or language usage article, where a link to English language could be genuinely relevant in the context.
It is rarely ever useful in ordinary article prose. Instead, for translating a foreign word, use {{gloss}}:
{{lang-es|casa}}, {{gloss|house}}
giving
- Spanish: casa, 'house'
rather than:
{{lang-es|casa}}, {{lang-en|'house'}}
giving
- Spanish: casa, English: 'house'
which is pointless on en.wikipedia.org.
Parameters
{{#lst:Template:Lang-x/doc/parameters|lang_xx_parameters}}
See also
- {{Lang}}, and its opposite, {{Language with name/for}}