Template:Anchor

Template documentation[view] [edit] [history] [purge]

The template {{anchor}} inserts one or more HTML fragment identifiers (anchor names) in a page. Those locations can then be linked to using [[#Location|…]] syntax. (Usually the first letter of the location is capitalised to reflect the common capitalisation used in section headers – see MOS:HEAD.)

Examples

1. {{anchor|Foo}}

could be linked to with [[#Foo|…]] from within the same article,

or it could be linked to with [[Article name#Foo|…]] from other articles and from redirects.

2. Anchors can be more suitable for inter-article linking than section titles are. For example:

==Template:Sp{{anchor|Foo}}Template:SpSection title ==

Here, links via [[Article name#Foo]] would remain valid even if the section were renamed. (Note that the anchor is placed before the section name; otherwise browsers may hide the section title from view.) However, as noted under Limitations below, it may be preferable to use direct HTML rather than the template within section titles:

==Template:Sp<span id="Foo"></span>Template:SpSection title ==

3. The template can be used to create multiple anchors with a single call. For example,

{{anchor|Foo|Bar|baz}}

will create three anchors that can then be linked to with [[#Foo]], [[#Bar]] and [[#baz]].

Limitations

Character	Code	Template	Meaning
"	" "	N/A	(double) quotation mark
#	#	N/A	hash
	|	{{!}}	pipe
=	=	{{}}	equals

• Anchor names that contain any character shown in the table on the right will not work as expected. However, any of these characters can be replaced with the "&#" codes shown for them here. Or, the pipe symbol and equals sign can be worked around with {{!}} and {{}}, respectively. Markup code such as <sup> and <sub> (superscript and subscript) cannot be used. Most other characters, including white space and punctuation, are not a problem.
• Anchor names should be unique on a page, and should not duplicate any heading titles. Duplicate anchors will not work as expected since the #location links go to the first anchor with that name. Duplicate anchors result in invalid HTML; you can check for duplicate anchors by running the page through the W3C Markup Validation Service.
• If the template is added to a section title then the code will appear in the edit summary window when that section is edited, as in "/* {{anchor|Issues}}Limitations */ New issue". Also, when the section is saved, browsers may not return to the section. Consider using <span id="..."></span> directly, rather than using the anchor template, when in a section title.
• Anchor links are case sensitive in some browsers, so treat all anchor links as case sensitive.

Use in tables

Anchors may be used within tables, subject to certain restrictions. The {{anchor}} template may be used in the caption and cells of a table, but not those portions of a table that are outside the caption and cells. It is used on the table's caption thus:

|+ {{anchor|FooX}} A table caption

and the following forms of cell are valid:

!{{anchor|Foo1}} A header cell
!style="background:white;" |{{anchor|Foo2}} A header cell with styling
|{{anchor|Foo3}} A data cell
|rowspan=2 |{{anchor|Foo4}} A data cell spanning two rows

You need to ensure that the {{anchor}} is not in that portion of the markup intended for the classes, styles etc. Thus, {{anchor}} cannot be placed anywhere on lines that begin with {| (start of table) or |- (new row), and the following forms of cell are not valid:

!{{anchor|Foo1}} |A header cell
!style="background:white;" {{anchor|Foo2}} |A header cell with styling
|{{anchor|Foo3}} |A data cell
|rowspan=2 {{anchor|Foo4}} |A data cell spanning two rows

If it is necessary for an anchor to be in any of these positions, a different technique is used - the id= attribute. This is placed in that portion of the markup where the classes, styles etc. may be used, as follows:

{| id=FooX class=wikitable
|- id=FooY
!id=Foo1 |A header cell
!style="background:white;" id=Foo2 |A header cell with styling
|id=Foo3 |A data cell
|rowspan=2 id=Foo4 |A data cell spanning two rows

The id= attribute may appear before, between or after any other attributes that may be present, but only one id= attribute may be used in each of these areas.

TemplateData

This is the TemplateData documentation for this template used by VisualEditor and other tools.

See the monthly error report for this template.

TemplateData for Anchor

See also

• {{Visible anchor}}
• {{Anchored list}}
• {{Anchor comment}}
• {{Shortcut}}
• WP:ANCHOR
• WP:TARGET