Checking a template

Checking a template

Give each template one or more Example: lines in its header, one call each. They also show as documentation on the template's own page on a board:

Example: {{Main|History of phpBB}}
Example: {{Main|Installation|Upgrading}}

tools/compare_template.py renders each example twice and compares the text a reader sees:

• on the wiki it came from, with the original template, through that wiki's API (action=parse). That is the template's current version there, which may be newer than the one copied.
• on a phpBB test board with the phpBB Modders wiki extension, using this repository's templates, through tools/render_on_board.php. It loads the board with seed-forum's bin/seed-bootstrap.php, puts every template in this repository on the board inside a database transaction, and rolls it back afterwards, so the board is left as it was.

python3 tools/compare_template.py --board ~/boards/wiki Main Nowrap

Each example prints MATCH, or DIFFER with both texts and the words that differ. --all checks every template. --board defaults to $WIKI_TEMPLATES_BOARD, and --bootstrap to $SEED_FORUM_BOOTSTRAP, or to a seed-forum checkout next to this repository.

Deliberate differences

When an adaptation deliberately differs from the original, for example leaving out links that only make sense on Wikipedia, add an Expect: line right under the example. It holds wiki text the example should render the same as, and it's rendered on the board too, so magic words such as {{SITENAME}} work:

Example: {{Stub}}
Expect: This article is a stub. You can help {{SITENAME}} by adding missing information.

That example is compared with its Expect: text instead of the original, and prints EXPECTED when they match. The original's text is still printed, so a reviewer can see what was left out. Templates copied from Fandom are rendered on the board only (BOARD ONLY), since Fandom's terms forbid automated access.

What it catches often

• Inline HTML. The wiki only allows HTML tables in articles and templates, so a <span>, <div> or <b> from the original is shown as text. phpBB's BBCode often does the same job: [b], [i], [size=85].
• Spaces lost at the edges of #if and similar. Their results are trimmed, on the wiki as on Wikipedia, so a plain space there is dropped. Write   to keep it, as Wikipedia's templates do.