This template adds the page to Category:Wikipedia essays or to Category:User essays, depending on namespace.
Please do not subst this template.
If you place this template on a mainspace article, it will redirect to Template:Essay-like anyway.
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{{essay|WP:SHORTCUT1}} becomes:This template has an |interprets= parameter. Replaces "This page is an essay" with "This page is an essay on [whatever you put in the parameter]":
|interprets=the [[Wikipedia:No original research]] policy|interprets=the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style]] guideline|interprets=the [[Wikipedia:No original research]] and [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view]] policies|interprets=the [[Wikipedia:Verifiability]] policy and [[Wikipedia:Reliable sources]] guideline|interprets=Wikipedia:Reliable sources – this simpler syntax will automatically link to the page if it exists.You can also use {{section link}} to produce better-looking links to page sections, e.g.: |interprets=the {{section link|Wikipedia:Article titles#Deciding on an article title}} policy, which renders as "the Wikipedia:Article titles § Deciding on an article title policy".
You can have up to 5 shortcuts displayed. The shortcut parameters can also be named as |shortcut= or |shortcut1=, |shortcut2= ... |shortcut5=.
You can also use |cat= or |category= to specify a more specific category than the default Category:Wikipedia essays or (in userspace) Category:User essays. It can be done with or without "Category:"
|cat=Wikipedia essays on consensus|category=Category:Wikipedia essays on consensus|category=User essays on style|cat=Category:User essays on styleUserspace essays should remain categorized in Category:User essays or one of its subcategories with this template.
Essays are sorted by their page name, or in userspace by subpage name.
If you want to use a different category sort, you can specify an entire category link with a sort key:
|cat=[[Category:User essays on style|Comprise, Use of]]Additional categories (and sort keys) are added at the bottom of the essay page, as at any other page. User essays can be additionally categorized in topical subcategories of Category:Wikipedia essays in this way.
{{essay|WP:SHORTCUT1|WP:SHORTCUT2|interprets=the [[Wikipedia:Consensus|Consensus]] and [[Wikipedia:Ignore all rules|Ignore all rules]] policies}} becomes:To place essays in appropriate sub-categories by subject, you can use:
{{Behavioral essay}}{{Civility essay}}{{Deletion essay}}{{Notability essay}}{{Template essay}}{{Orphaned essay}}The following templates are available to WikiProjects for clarifying the distinction between WikiProject guidance and other essays and information pages:
Alternatives
{{Information page}} – the banner template for pages that are more just informational and non-opinionated like WP:GOV.{{Wikipedia how-to}} – the banner template for pages that are more directly instructional and non-opinionated like H:EDIT.{{Supplement|interprets=}} – to tag a well-established page that adds something to a policy or guideline, to make up for a deficiency, and when it is referenced in the guideline or policy; e.g.: WP:BRD.Article notice
{{Essay-like}} – designed for the main namespace, not "Wikipedia:" namespace; use if an article reads like an essay.Talk pages
{{WikiProject Essays}} – for talk pages of essays.Data