Template:Term/Documentation

Purpose
Returns the proper singular form of a term for any given topic in. Terms are stored using Template:Term/Store.

Note: To return the plural form of a term, see Template:Plural.

Contextual Examples
Let's assume that you are writing an article about a ALBW: in. In that section about, you would use  as the   parameter to fetch the latest canon terms for that game. Here's an example of that happening: In, the ALBW: is the third ALBW: in ALBW:. The ALBW: is needed to access the ALBW:.

Result: In, the ALBW: is the third ALBW: in ALBW:. The ALBW: is needed to access the ALBW:.

For games with remakes such as and, unless you are specifically referring to the original version of the game, you should use the latest iteration of the remakes (  for  and   for  and so on) to make sure to account for terms that might have been changed in said remakes. In, the LANS: is the first LANS: on LANS:. The LANS: is needed to access the LANS:.

Result: In, the LANS: is the first LANS: on LANS:. The LANS: is needed to access the LANS:.

Guidelines
The Term template was created to accurately reflect the ever-changing nature of terminology in. Maintaining our use of terminology across the series is important for preserving the canon of each game.

The Term template itself is broken down into four fields of specification. The first two fields are required, while the latter two give you some control over what the template displays.


 * GAME NAME LINK DISPLAY

We will use OoT3D: from as an example. To refer to OoT3D: from this game, all we have to enter is:



But if we want to turn this into a link to OoT3D:'s page, we would just append  at the end just before the closing brackets, like so:



And if we wanted to refer to OoT3D: from by his most famous title, we can use the fourth field to change what text is shown:



It's also optional to include the third field when using the fourth display field.




 * Note: the display field is handy, but it should be used sparingly. The point of the Term template is to keep consistent names in a given section. Also be sure to not use the display field to display plural forms of names. The Plural template exists for that purpose.

What about other examples? OoT3D:'s name doesn't change, but there are many cases where names do change between games. A good example for this is Series:. In the main series Canon, NaN Dynalfoss have two operative names between three games and even more official (but non-canon) names.

To make the situation more complicated, the MM: in were originally known as MM:. We should never use "MM:" to refer to them because this was corrected later on. Despite this, it still remains an official name and there is still support for if someone were to try to use this non-canon name for Series: with the Term template.

So how does one know which name is appropriate to use for each instance? That is dependent on how the terms are stored. Term storage is explained in greater detail on the Term/Store template page, but this guideline assumes that the term you want to use has already been stored.

Ultimately all that is necessary for using the Term template with a page is that the proper name is used in the second field (after the game has been listed). It's important to keep in mind that the Term template isn't magical. It doesn't create names, but rather checks for names on the page you specify in the second field. For names of articles that have parentheses, you have to include the full name of the page with the parentheses in the second field. This tells it to look at that page and return with whatever works best with the game listed in the first field. If no name for that given game is specified on that page, it will try to use whatever is listed as the "Series" name.

So let's look at some examples for NaN Dynalfoss with each of the names mentioned above.


 * Note: without the Synonym template being used on redirect pages for  and , neither would work properly for these names. The Synonym template borrows whatever is stored on the page that is being redirected to, so it's important that the names are all properly stored before using the Synonym template on redirects. For more details, refer to the documentation for the Term/Store template and the Synonym template.

What would happen if you were to try using a term that has not been stored? The Term template would display whatever is entered as a name and link to it while displaying a message stating that the term is invalid or missing when a mouse is moved over the link. Because of this, you should never use a name that you do not know to be an actual term. To determine what constitutes terminology, check out the terminology guidelines.