Help:Boxed text

From QED

There are a variety of ways to enclose text in a box. A summary is shown in the table in the first section.

Summary

Technique	Text wraps?	Comment	Example
Indentation	No		Example
<pre>	No	Use class=clear for transparency	Example
{{align}}	wraps		A centered div with background-color:lightgreen
{{box}}	wraps		Example
{{boxed}}	wraps	centered	Example
{{co}}	wraps		Example
{{{code}}	wraps; slider		Example
{{file}}	wraps; slider		File: Example {{{2}}}
{{information}}	wraps		Example
{{pre}}	wraps	Same as {{box}} but uses tt tags	Example
{{quotation}}	wraps	See also Help:Quotations	Example
{{textbox}}	wraps		Header Example
{{warning}}	wraps		Example

Indentation

The simplest way to format text so that it will appear in a box is to indent it with a space:

 Indented text appears in a box.
 Unfortunately the text itself will not wrap to adjust to the size of the browser window.

produces:

Indented text appears in a box. 
Unfortunately the text itself will not wrap to adjust to the size of the browser window.

The <pre> tag

Preformatted text is presented in a box, e.g.

<pre>Preformatted text is presented in a box.</pre>

produces

Preformatted text is presented in a box.

Once again, as with indentation, the text itself will not wrap to adjust to the size of the browser window.

On QED, the CSS class named clear can be used in conjunction with the <pre> tag to ensure transparency, e.g.

{{file|hello.php|<pre class=clear><?php
echo "Hello, PHP\n";
?>
</pre>
}}

produces:

<?php
echo "Hello, PHP\n";
?>

See MediaWiki:Common.css for the definition of the clear class.

Templates

Several templates are available for creating boxes around text. The following sections only provide simple examples. Please consult the template documentation for additional options.

Template:align

Template:co

{{co|gold|cornflowerblue|Gold on blue}} produces a box without lines:

Template:box

{{box |This template provides an alternative to the <pre> tag, which does not allow wrapping of long lines and for which the width attribute is deprecated. Contrast the behavior of this box with the syntax box above as you shrink the window width. }}

produces

Template:pre

Template:pre is the same as Template:box but the text is embedded within HTML <tt> and </tt> tags.

{{pre |This template provides an alternative to the <pre> tag, which does not allow wrapping of long lines and for which the width attribute is deprecated. Contrast the behavior of this box with the syntax box above as you shrink the window width. }}

produces

Template:boxed

{{boxed|The "boxed" template.}}

produces

Template:quotation

Template:quotation produces a box like this. Once again, lines are wrapped depending on the size of the browser window.

Template:textbox

<center>{{textbox|The "textbox" template|This is an example.}}</center>

Template:Code

Template:File

Template:Warning

This box uses the warning template

Template:2x2

{{2x2
|heading1=First Column
|heading2=Second Column
|cell11=Top left
|cell21=Left
|cell12=Right
|cell22=Bottom right
}}

produces

Notes

1. Most of the above templates are based on wiki table syntax.
2. If none of the above templates meets your needs, feel free to create your own, e.g. by copying the source text of an existing template.
3. Tables defined using wiki table syntax can be embedded within templates, but {{!}} must be used instead of | and similarly for {{!!}} and {{!-}}. See Template:TwoColumns for an example.

See also

• Help:Line breaks
• Template:TwoColumns