John Durant wrote:
Can someone please explain, or point me to doc
concerning, the difference between System Messages and Templates? I thought I understood
until beginning to research customizing the Sidebar.
Thank you,
John
A system message is stored in a page with name MediaWiki:xxxxx They can
have all kinds of syntax (the sidebar syntax is a good example of odd
syntax) and may be used by MediaWiki (sometimes with parameters $1,
$2...). Only sysops can edit system messages.
A template is stored at Template:xxxxx, anyone can edit them (unless
protected), they are included in normal pages with {{xxxxx}}, and its
content is normal wikitext (although they accept parameters as {{{1}}},
{{{2}}}, {{{name}}}...).