Editing Category:Transcluded pages

Sometimes it may be necessary for two or more pages to share the same portion of text – for example, if two separate characters are portrayed as the same individual in a particular fictional continuity.  However, keeping two articles updated with the same information runs the risk of only one of those articles being kept up to date, or changes being made to one article without similar edits being made to the other.

This is where it becomes beneficial to make use of '''transclusion'''.  MediaWiki transclusion is the process of including the contents of one page onto a target page by referencing.  Think of it like putting a [[:Category:Templates|template]] on a page, only the template is a body of text.  Any changes to the template page are reflected on its target pages, and clicking to edit transcluded sections on target pages redirects you to editing the template. Any article on the wiki can be transcluded into another by use of curly braces: <nowiki>{{:Optimus Prime (G1)}}</nowiki>

For ease of editing, transcluded sections on target pages should be denoted as such using HTML comments: <nowiki><!--This section is transcluded from another page.  To edit it, please edit the transcluded page.--></nowiki>  Template pages should make liberal use of <nowiki><noinclude></nowiki> tags for text that should not be transcluded onto target pages; explanatory text linking the reader to the template's target pages should be used in the event of a layperson finding their way onto one of these "backstage" pages.

[[Category:Templates]]