Template talk:Bestiarychart

Don't all the extra brackets just make it more of a pain to replace the data?

The brackets simply tell MediaWiki what to place where. They are variable parameters. No replacement is necessary. Additionally, defaults can be provided: for instance, Special Attack defaults to None if the parameter is not supplied. We can also do more complex logic (leaving row out entirely, for instance) but I don't want to go that far yet. --Shelby038 (talk) 00:22, 13 February 2020 (UTC)

sorry, that doesn't make complete sense. I can SEE the brackets. If I put information into the cell, don't I obviously cut the brackets first and then place the information? I don't like sounding like an idiot, but I don't understand the context of "default" in this instance. Nor "parameter." Nor "variable." These are words used with different meanings in about fifty thousand programs, so I have no idea what they mean HERE. As such, this is a totally useless information for me. It is clear you've spent a lot of time with wikipedia; I have not. Wikispaces did not have a tenth of these features and most just baffle me.

Fair enough. The Template page itself merely shows the organization of the box. When it's actually used, you don't edit out the variables. Instead, you would type "name = Alpaca". The server then goes and looks at the template, sees that {{{name}}} is formatted like so, and substitutes "Alpaca" for you. See the code below (don't worry yet about how the blocks appear on this page)?

Alpaca

Species	Camelid
No. Appearing	4–10
Behaviour	herd (loose)
Range	alpine
Size	3 ft. at shoulder
Weight	180 lbs.
Intelligence	1
Armour Class	7
Hit Dice	1
Action Points	5
Max. Stride	{{{stride}}}
THAC0	20
Hp/Die	d8
Attack Forms	hoof
Damage	1–4
Special Attacks	wark

{{Bestiarychart
| name = Alpaca
| species = Camelid
| noapp = 4–10
| behaviour = herd (loose)
| range = alpine
| size = 3 ft. at shoulder
| weight = 180 lbs.
| int = 1
| AC = 7
| HD = 1
| AP = 5
| THAC0 = 20
| hpdie = d8
| attack = hoof
| dmg = 1–4
| special = wark
}}

Now, suppose I am lazy or I only have partially researched this beast. So I type the following.

Alpaca

Species	Camelid
No. Appearing	{{{noapp}}}
Behaviour	{{{behaviour}}}
Range	{{{range}}}
Size	{{{size}}}
Weight	{{{weight}}}
Intelligence	{{{int}}}
Armour Class	{{{AC}}}
Hit Dice	{{{HD}}}
Action Points	{{{AP}}}
Max. Stride	{{{stride}}}
THAC0	{{{THAC0}}}
Hp/Die	{{{hpdie}}}
Attack Forms	{{{attack}}}
Damage	{{{dmg}}}
Special Attacks	None

{{Bestiarychart
| name = Alpaca
| species = Camelid
}}

I have not provided most of the information that the Template expects, so it has no information to replace the default text with.

I apologize. I do have a bit more Wiki experience from some time ago, but here I'm drawing more on my programming experience. A parameter/variable is a changeable input to a program (which in this case is the template). A default, in this case, is what the program will use when no value is given to a parameter (as in the second example here). So in the case of the Special Attack parameter, I have told the program to type "None" when something specific is not given. Does this make a bit more sense? Sorry for the confusion. --Shelby038 (talk) 01:47, 13 February 2020 (UTC)