This is the documentation for {{shortcut}} and its sister templates. Template {{shortcut}} renders a box, informing editors which shortcuts are available for linking to a page or a section of a page.
The shortcut family of templates is put into context here, but they each have their own documentation pages, see below. A shortcut template is similar to the {{anchor}} template, but it adds a visual box graphic to the rendered page, as well as providing an alternative name. Creating a redirect page is a requirement to fulfill the shortcut mechanism.
This template should not be used for articles in the main namespace, because the graphic produces an unavoidable self-reference.
Insert the shortcut template.
Create a redirect page with the {{R from shortcut}} template suffixed to the redirect. Name the page after your shortcut name. Include the namespace name in both the shortcut name and the redirect page name. For example, substitute your own shortcut name as the title of the page, and substitute the proper namespace, then add the REDIRECT as the top-line on your redirect page, and the category to the third line of the redirect:
#REDIRECT [[Namespace:Title of page with#Optional and possibly very long section name]]
{{R from shortcut}}
Verify operation. Note that shortcut templates should display in all capitals, but operate without all capitals.
Notes
Shortcuts are used mainly on user pages and talk pages in reference to the Wikipedia, Help, and Portal namespaces. These templates inform about the shortcuts available to the page they are on. For example, WP:SHORT redirects to Wikipedia:Shortcut and therefore, Wikipedia:Shortcut renders a shortcut box listing WP:SHORT. It is a self-reference that is normally avoided in the main article namespace.
The purpose of these templates is not to list every single redirect for a page (that's what Special:WhatLinksHere is for), but to list the most common and easily remembered redirects.
float – if set to left, the box floats to the left.
clear – if set to right, (orleftif|float=left is set), the box appears beneath, not beside, another floating element preceding it (infobox, thumbnail etc.).
msg – an unlinked message that goes after the shortcut links.
category – set to "no", "n", "false" or "0" to suppress error categories.
These templates automatically add an anchor for each shortcut name parameter. For example, if a shortcut box with the shortcut WP:SHORT is placed on the page Wikipedia:Shortcut, then the link Wikipedia:Shortcut#WP:SHORT will take you to the position in the page where that shortcut box is placed.
This makes it easier to create a shortcut for a section of a page, because you can refer to the anchor when creating the shortcut redirect itself. Like this:
#REDIRECT [[Pagename#WP:SHORT]] {{R from shortcut}}
Positioning
This template is usually placed below the section header or at the top of a page.
Before July 26, 2010, when the anchor was inside the box, this caused the section header to scroll above the page window. Fixes for this issue included:
Placing the shortcut above the section header; a bit confusing when editing
Creating the redirect to the section header, not the shortcut; this would break if the section header was renamed
Placing an {{anchor}} in the section header that duplicated the shortcut
These fixes are no longer needed, but do not break the current implementation.
Whether to refer to the “shortcut/s” as “redirect/s” instead.
Default
False0
Auto value
True1
Boolean
optional
Target?
target
Whether to omit the redirect=no URL parameter.
Default
False0
Auto value
True1
Boolean
optional
Float
float
The CSS float property value.
Suggested values
left
right
Default
right
String
optional
Clear
clear
The CSS clear property value.
Suggested values
left
right
both
String
optional
Categorize
category
Whether to add pages to the error category if no alias or msg is specified.
Default
True1
Auto value
False0
Boolean
optional
Message
msg
An unlinked message that goes after the shortcut links.
Content
optional
Shortcut 1
1
Page/section shortcut 1
Page name
required
Shortcut 2
2
Page/section shortcut 2
Page name
optional
Shortcut 3
3
Page/section shortcut 3
Page name
optional
Shortcut 4
4
Page/section shortcut 4
Page name
optional
Shortcut 5
5
Page/section shortcut 5
Page name
optional
Shortcut 6
6
Page/section shortcut 6
Page name
optional
Shortcut 7
7
Page/section shortcut 7
Page name
optional
Shortcut 8
8
Page/section shortcut 8
Page name
optional
Shortcut 9
9
Page/section shortcut 9
Page name
optional
Format: inline
See also
Wikipedia:Shortcut – The how-to guide and guideline about how and when to create shortcuts and shortcut boxes. A must-read for anyone handling shortcuts.
{{Anchor}} – a way to overcome the otherwise permanent fact that section titles are the only way to link to a section
