What is Template?
{{about|the publishing term}} {{selfref|For the list of templates used in Wikipedia, see [[Wikipedia:Template messages]].}} A '''template''' is a [[tool]] that shows the [[shape]] of something or it is a [[tool]] to help make something. It can separate the [[wikt:form|form]] of something from the things inside it. [[File:Curve stencils.jpg|150px|thumb|These are plastic templates to make curved lines on paper]] In [[drawing]], a template can be a [[wood]], [[plastic]] or [[metal]] [[tool]] that is used to help make marks with a pen or pencil. Lines can be drawn on [[paper]], or on [[metal]] or wood to make the same shape many times. In [[publishing]] for example, a template is a [[wikt:layout|layout]] made by someone else to give an idea what to write in different parts of a book or story. A simple publishing template can have spaces for the words, for pictures, for the story [[title]] (name), and for the name of the [[wikt:publication|publication]]. [[Human]]s or [[machine]]s can use templates. Some [[computer program]]s that work with the [[Internet]] use a template to separate the way the program works from the way it shows the words and pictures. It can be a way to copy words and pictures. In [[computer programming]], templates save time because the [[programmer]] does not need to write the same words over and over. When [[Medical doctor|doctors]] plan to give a person a new [[bone]] [[joint]] made of [[metal]] or [[plastic]], they can use a template in the shape of the new joint. This type of template is put on an [[x-ray]] [[picture]] of the person to help to decide the size of joint needed. ==Related pages== * [[Computer programming]] [[Category:Tools]] [[Category:Computer science]]