Carlton B (carltonb@mindspring.com) [050511 17:04]:
This is a question of a different nature about "forms" and "templates" I could not find it in the FAQ, so I must be looking for the wrong sort of answer. What I want to do is create a non-transclusive template. The MW "template" concept is a transclusion, so that won't fit my requirement. I am looking to create a type of article template with certain pre-defined headers and sub-headers that authors can choose for convenience. To resort to an analogy that is often abused in computing, let's call it a "car form." Users can invoke a form with headings like "style", "history", "specifications", "safety", and appropriate sub-headings. Having invoked the form to create a new article, they are completely free to customize in whatever manner they believe suits the needs of the article. What is this entity in MediaWiki and how do I go about employing it?
When I want to do something like this on Wikipedia, I enter {{subst:template}} - rather than {{template}}. Then save. Then edit and tweak. Though this is almost certainly not as automated a process as you're looking for.
- d.