Another common issue is templates is with the syntax [[:{{{1}}}|{{{1}}}]], where {{{1}}} is a page title that might be prefixed with a colon. This is often found in templates like {{softredirect}} or {{main}}.

I'm afraid the simplest solution is: {{#ifeq:{{padleft:|1|{{{1}}}}}|:|[[{{{1}}}]]|[[:{{{1}}}]]}}

This generates a normal link is the parameter {{{1}}} starts with a colon character, and a colon-prefix link otherwise.

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Matma Rex