Template:Update after/doc

This is a documentation subpage for Template:Update after.
It contains usage information, categories and other content that is not part of the original Template page.

[[Category:Template documentation pages{{#translation:}}]]

This template is used on approximately 5,100 pages and changes may be widely noticed. Test changes in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them.

This template remains inactive (invisible except to editors) until the specified date, when ^{[needs update]} is displayed and the page is added to the Category:Wikipedia articles in need of updating or one of its dated subcategories. For additional functionality see below.

Usage

{{Update after|year|month|day|category|reason=...|text=...}} (all parameters are optional)

Parameters 1, 2, and 3 are respectively the year, month, and day that the template should activate. If the day is omitted, the template will activate on the first day following the specified month. If the month is also omitted, the template will activate on 1 January of the year following the specified year. If the year is also omitted, the template will activate immediately. One should try to specify month and year. If parameters 1, 2, and 3 are left blank, a bot will add it later.
Parameter 4 is a custom category, such as a WikiProject's article maintenance category. The article will be placed in the specified category when the template is activated (but only if the template is used in an article in the main namespace, not if it is used on a talk page or in any other non-main namespace). The category name must be specified without square brackets and without the "Category:" prefix. In addition to any category specified here, articles are automatically placed in Category:Wikipedia articles in need of updating or one of its dated subcategories, when the date is specified. To use this parameter even when the first three parameters are omitted, you can write |4=.
- Examples: Specifying |4=United States articles in need of updating places the article in Category:United States articles in need of updating as well as Category:Wikipedia articles in need of updating. Note: at present this parameter is not being used on Wikipedia.
Named parameter |reason= is used to leave a note for future editors about what exactly needs to be changed or where to find the new information. Note is displayed in tooltip when mouse cursor hovers over "dated info" link.
Named parameter |text= is used to highlight dated text. Until the template activates, the text is displayed ordinarily, as if it was not wrapped.

Do not. . .

Please read Wikipedia:Avoid statements that will date quickly; use {{Update after}} only in exceptional cases. Do not use this template on pages which simply need to be reviewed later to see if they might need updating; it should only be used when there is a certainty or very high probability that an update is needed. Do not use this template on talk pages; it is intended for inline usage, like {{Citation needed}}. It is probably not necessary to use this template on frequently edited articles such as for current events, as they will be being updated on a regular basis. Do not use this template within a section heading as it will count as part of the heading and thus break the heading.

Maintenance categories

Category:Pages using update after template with unknown parameters (0)

TemplateData

This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:Update after in articles based on its TemplateData.

TemplateData for Update after

<templatedata>{ "description": "Places an in-line note in an article that marks information as [dated] and in need of an update after a given time", "params": { "1": { "label": "Year", "description": "The year the template should activate, if not specified the template will activate immediately. Enter a four-digit year.", "type": "number", "required": false, "aliases": [ "year" ] }, "2": { "label": "Month", "description": "The month the template should activate, if not specified the template will activate on 1 January of the following year. Enter the month as two digits, e.g. 06 for June.", "type": "number", "required": false, "aliases": [ "month" ] }, "3": { "label": "Day", "description": "The day the template should activate, if not specified the template will activate on the first of the next month. Enter the day as two digits.", "type": "number", "required": false, "aliases": [ "day" ] }, "4": { "label": "Category", "description": "Additionally add the article to this category (e.g. a WikiProject's maintenance category) when the template is activated. The category name must be specified without square brackets and without the 'Category:' prefix. In addition to any category specified here, articles are automatically placed in Category:Wikipedia articles in need of updating or one of its dated subcategories, when the date is specified. This parameter has no effect outside the main (article) namespace.", "type": "string/line", "required": false, "aliases": [ "category" ] }, "reason": { "label": "Reason", "description": "An optional note for future editors about what exactly needs to be changed or where to find the new information. Displayed in tooltip.", "type": "string", "required": false }, "text": { "label": "Text", "description": "Dated statement. Becomes highlighted when template activates; displayed normally before activation.", "type": "string", "required": false }, "delay": {} } }</templatedata>

Examples

Description	Code	Result
`{{Update after}}` immediately places an inline tag marking a passage as dated.	`Some text that was already outdated when the tag was added.{{Update after}}`	Some text that was already outdated when the tag was added.^{[needs update]}
`{{Update after\|year\|month\|day}}` would cause the tag to appear on the specified date. Before the specified date, the tag would not be displayed at all (but the template and its parameters would be visible when editing the page). If only a year, or year and month, is specified, the tag appears on the first day of the following year or month; 2024 implies 1 January 2025.	`Some text that will be outdated after today.{{Update after\|2024\|11\|17}}`	Some text that will be outdated after today.
	`Some text that should be checked next year.{{Update after\|2024}}`	Some text that should be checked next year.
`{{Update after\|year\|month\|day\|category}}` also adds the article to the specified category (which should be specified without square brackets and without the "Category:" prefix).	`Some text that will be outdated after today.{{Update after\|2024\|11\|17\|United States articles in need of updating}}`	Some text that will be outdated after today.
An optional reason may be used as a comment to future editors.	`Some text that should be checked.{{Update after\|reason=check for population growth}}`	Some text that should be checked.^{[needs update]}
Dated statement may be included in the template using the `\|text=` param.	`{{Update after\|text=Some text that should be checked.}}`	Some text that should be checked.^{[needs update]}

Effects

When the template is activated in an article, the phrase "needs update" appears in the text of the article at the indicated spot. The page will also appear in Category:Wikipedia articles in need of updating or one of its dated subcategories, when the date is specified, and also any category specified in the 4th parameter.

See Category:Wikipedia articles in need of updating for a list of pages currently needing updates, and Wikipedia:As of for a list of 'As of' pages.

Related templates

{{Update inline}} or {{Update inline span}} can be used if the text is already outdated, instead of adding this template with a date in the past.
{{Update}} can be used to mark an entire article or section needing to be updated. Like {{Update after}}, this template adds the article to Category:Wikipedia articles in need of updating.
{{Update|inaccurate=yes}} is used to mark an article whose factual accuracy may be compromised (although this may be disputed) due to out of date information. This template adds the article to Category:Articles with obsolete information.
{{As of}} is used to mark potentially dated statements, and will add an article to the appropriate hidden sub-category of Category:Articles containing potentially dated statements.
{{subst:Show by}}/{{Show by date}} Shows one of 2 strings depending upon date
{{Age switch}} can be used to build date-related templates.