UESPWiki:MetaTemplate/Variables

MetaTemplate allows us to use any name for variables across multiple templates. The primary purpose of this page is to document those names, which templates are responsible for saving and loading them, and any restrictions or notes on their use. This will hopefully help avoid overlapping variables that are in different formats or are being put to different uses altogether. It can also be used to prune cases where data is being needlessly saved and can be removed from the #save call.

Preferred names are listed in bold. These names should be used for the listed purpose in all new templates and, if possible, templates using other names should either be converted, or at least accept/use the standardized name internally in the hopes that it can later be fully converted. For example, if a template uses {{#load:desc}}, it should be followed immediately with {{#local:description|{{{desc|}}}}} or similar coding, so the standard name is used throughout.

The word "subject" is used throughout the list to refer to the subject of the page, such as a quest, NPC, or item.

Note: because this document must be manually maintained, it may be out of date. Please feel free to correct any anachronistic information you find.

Statically Named Variables

Variable	Contents	Format	#save Templates	#load Templates	Notes
description desc descr	Verbose description of the subject.	Text	Many Summary-type templates All Quest Header variants Description Game Book Game Book Compilation Lore Book Lore Book Compilation Morrowind Region Morrowind Town Table Online Achievement Data Online Patch Header Skyrim Achievement Data Wayshrine Redirect	Achievement Blades Item Entry Book Link Book Normal Description Game Book Game Book Compilation Lore Book Entry Place Link Quest Link
icon iconname	The subject's icon	NS-icon-Full Name.ext Also: Full Name only	Blades Item Summary ESO Morph Data (name only) Game Book Game Book Compilation Ingredient Summary Mod Data Online Achievement Data (name only plus iconname) Online Achievement Summary (name only plus iconname) Online Quest Header Online Recipe Summary (name only) Online Skill Summary (name only plus iconname) Spell Summary	Blades Item Entry Book Normal ESO Skill Link ESO Zone Guide Summary/Achievement Entry (name only, accepts iconname) Mod Header/Indicator Online Achivement Entry (name only, accepts iconname) Online Delicacy Entry (name only) Online Recipe Entry (name only) Online Skill Link (name only, converts internally to iconname) Quest Link	Two different naming formats are currently in use. Templates using the shorter one should be converted to use the complete file name for consistency. Currently, iconname is used in some ESO templates for that purpose. Perhaps swap them around (using just "name" for the shorter "icon", so as not to create ambiguity) or have internal checks for NS- style until all can be harmonized.
titlename	Subject's title for display purposes	Text - typically the page name stripped of prefixes and disambiguators	Most Summary-type templates ESO Morph Data Online Achievement Data	Most Entry-type templates ESO Crate Card ESO Skill Link Furnishing Link Furnishing Recipe Link Furnishing Recipe Link Short NPC Data Online Recipe Link Shadowkey NPC Data