This template is rated as beta, and is ready for widespread use. It is still new and should be used with some caution to ensure the results are as expected. |
This is a template to search several lists (or other pages) at once, for example, on a "list of lists" page if a list has been split into several pages for size reasons. It is adapted from {{Search box}}. It currently does not have all the configuration options that {{Search box}} has, but if a reasonable case why why they could be added here is made, they could easily be included here as well.
This template should not be used without any parameters. If this is done, it will search all pages starting with "list of".
There are two main ways of specifying which articles this template should search. For simple cases, where all of the page titles to be searched are the same except for the very end, prefix=
can be used:
{{search lists
|prefix=List of Latin phrases
|label=Search lists of Latin phrases
}}
For more complex cases, pattern=
can be used. This can be used in conjunction with prefix=
(which may or may not be beneficial for performance). pattern=
sets intitle for the search, and should usually be in quotes. It can also be a regular expression, although it has not been determined whether this is a bad idea.[a] In most cases, a regex should not be necessary. These two examples search the same pages:
{{search lists
|pattern=/List of( [0-9]+s)? films based on actual events/i
|label=Search lists of films based on actual events
}}
{{search lists
|pattern="films based on actual events"
|label=Search lists of films based on actual events
}}
{{search lists
|prefix=List of Latin phrases
|label=Search lists of Latin phrases
}}
{{search lists
|pattern="films based on actual events"
|label=Search lists of films based on actual events
}}
{{search lists
|pattern=/List of 200[0-9] films based on actual events/i
}}
{{search lists
|prefix=Bibliography of
|pattern=history
|break=yes
|width=40
|label=Search history books
}}
A search link stores a query in a link that takes you to live search results for that stored search. They're found on user pages and talk pages. Use one to bring the full feature set of MediaWiki Search, or features of external search engines, to bear on users unfamiliar with their search parameters.
One type of search link is a wikilink with all the capabilities of Search (search box), and with standard wikilink syntax: [[Special:Search/query| label]]. So this search link will (1) navigate: [[Special:search/Wales]] → Special:search/Wales or (2) search: [[Special:search/~Wales | search/~Wales]] → search/~Wales if you prefix a ~ tilde character.
All other search links are made from a template that will build a URL instead of wikilink. A URL can for example can call off-site search engines to search Wikipedia.
Search boxes are made by <inputbox>
tags. See mw:Extension:InputBox.
For searches with exact matches, exact in upper and lower cases, or in punctuation marks, see Help:Searching § grep.
(term)
in parentheses; useful for Wikipedia:disambiguation study<inputbox>...</inputbox>