User talk:Jlh0605/Building

I feel this template should always be subst:ed

This template lives in userspace yet it has come to be used on a number of mainspace articles. Shouldn't we be in the habit of subst:ing this template, and add that instruction to the documentation as well, so that changes in userspace will not affect the quality of existing articles, and to facilitate later editing of the building articles themselves? Chupchup 21:32, 4 February 2013 (PST)

• I do not see a problem with that, though what "subst:" does is actually beyond me... Jlh0605 15:07, 5 February 2013 (PST)

subst simply makes the template act as a macro, instead of remaining as a transclusion in the wikitext, it expands the template in-place. It is a one-way process: the reference to the template is replaced by the text it contains. Oftentimes the author will include a hidden HTML comment so that others will know the source of the text that was inserted. For more information, read wikipedia:Wikipedia:Substitution. Chupchup 16:13, 5 February 2013 (PST)