Template:Main if exists

Template documentation

Displays a link to one or more "main" pages, followed by a line break, if the page exists. If none of the supplied pages exist, the template does nothing.

It allows the creation of links to pages which do not exist yet, but which will be displayed if and when the page is created. This is useful when articles/topics are being developed, because editors do not have to guess whether a target page is likely to exist any time soon: the link can be created now, rather than having to edit the page again later.

Usage

Usual syntax: {{Main if exists|page}}; {{Main if exists|page1|page2|page3|...}}

Parameters:

At least one page name

Examples

A page which does exist:
{{Main if exists|Media in New York City}} →
A non-existent page:
{{Main if exists|History of Planet Zerg}} →
A set of pages, some of which exist:
{{Main if exists | History of Briarcliff Manor | WP:RAPYDENEUSRAATYAI | Economy of Galaxy AE23 | =08h1g35b | Extinction | poiytrewq6789 | zzzzzzzzy | List of Novels produced by Aliens}} →

v t e Hatnote templates
Wikipedia:Hatnote Wikipedia:Disambiguation Wikipedia:Redirect
Generic	{{Hatnote}} {{Self-reference}}
For and about	{{For}} {{For-text}} (for custom text) {{For-multi}} (for multiple uses) {{About}} Variations: {{Other uses}} {{Other uses of}} {{Redirect-distinguish-for}} {{About-distinguish}} {{About-distinguish-text}}
Other topics	{{Other people}} {{About other people}} (adds "about" description) {{Similar names}} {{Other storms}} {{Other places}} {{Other ships}}
Redirect	{{Redirect}} {{Redirect2}} (for two redirects) {{Redirect-multi}} (for multiple redirects) {{Redirect-several}} (for several redirects, without listing each) {{Redirect-synonym}} {{Redirect-distinguish}} {{Redirect-distinguish-text}} {{Redirect-distinguish-for}} {{Technical reasons}}
Distinguish	{{Distinguish}} (supports custom text) {{About-distinguish}} {{About-distinguish-text}} (for custom text) {{Redirect-distinguish}} {{Redirect-distinguish-text}} (for custom text) {{Redirect-distinguish-for}}
For use in sections	{{Main}} {{Main if exists}} {{Main list}} {{Further}} {{Further-text}} (for custom text) {{Further interlanguage link}} {{See also}} {{See also if exists}} {{See also-text}} (for custom text) {{For outline}} {{For timeline}}
Special	{{Broader}} {{For introduction}} {{See Wiktionary}} {{Transcluding article}} {{Transcluded section}}
Subject specific	{{About year}} {{Highway detail hatnote}} {{For LMST}} {{WikiIPA}}
Category:Hatnote templates modules for [family] names for lists hatnote templates for category pages

Template:Main if exists

Usage

See also