Template:Diff

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This template is intended to be useful for creating links to "diffs"; that is, links to pages that show the differences between two versions of a wiki page.

Every version of a page has a revision ID, which you can find from the history of the page by looking at the timestamp link for the edit. The timestamp link is in this form:
http[s]://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SomePageName&oldid=442212827
The number after oldid= is the revision ID.

Given one or two revision IDs, you can construct links to several types of diffs.

Usage

{{Diff|title|diff|oldid|label|diffonly=yes}}

• titleTemplate:SndsThe title of the page (optional in most cases)
• diffTemplate:SndsThe ID or keyword that is used against the base ID. Possible keywords are:

  curTemplate:SndsCompare with the current version of a page.

  prevTemplate:SndsCompare with the previous version of a page.

  nextTemplate:SndsCompare with the next version of a page.

  idTemplate:SndsThis should be larger than oldid.

• oldidTemplate:SndsThe base ID onto which the diff is generated.
• labelTemplate:SndsText to display as link (optional)Template:Nsmdnsno label will generate a numbered link as the label.
• |diffonly=yesTemplate:SndsDisplays the page comparisons only (optional)Template:Nsmdnsparameter name required if used.

Only the diff parameter is required; all other parameters are optional. Omitted parameters must be empty (by using a double pipe). You can also use the named parameters title, diff, oldid, and label.

Helper subtemplate

In order to make this template simpler to use the helper subtemplate {{Diff/translator}} is available, to be used only in the preview window.

Syntax

{{Diff/translator|label|url=diff URL}}

For instance, imagine you want to refer to the following diff URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=139993&oldid=139992&diffonly=1; you only need to transcribe that URL in the {{Diff/translator}} subtemplate and produce a preview, without saving the page:

<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" inline>{{Diff||139993|139992|Sic exorsi sumus|diffonly=yes}}</syntaxhighlight>

↳ {{Diff||139993|139992|Sic exorsi sumus|diffonly=yes}}

Now copy the code generated (<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" inline>{{Diff||139993|139992|Sic exorsi sumus|diffonly=yes}}</syntaxhighlight> into the edit window where {{Diff/translator}} was and publish the page.

Examples

Below each example in the left-hand column is the pseudocode for that example in Template:Font color and indented. Elements that should be entered literally are in Template:Font color. When a parameter is left blank, the resulting two adjacent pipes are underlined (but not bolded): Template:Font color.

Code	Output
{{Template:Uu|Main Page|prev|204901573|Diff between a numbered version and the previous version}} Template:Font color	Diff between a numbered version and the previous version This is the form that would be used most often. The diff= parameter (parameter number 2) should be the word prev. The oldid= parameter (parameter number 3) should be the known revision number.
{{Template:Uu|Foobar|616706711|616706707|Diff between two numbered versions of a page}} Template:Font color	Diff between two numbered versions of a page The title= parameter (parameter number 1) should be a name of a page, for instance Foobar. The diff= parameter (parameter number 2) should be the larger revision number. The oldid= parameter (parameter number 3) should be the smaller revision number.
{{Template:Uu||616706711|616706707|Diff between two numbered versions of a page without title parameter}} Template:Font color	Diff between two numbered versions of a page without title parameter The title= parameter (parameter number 1) may be left blank, thereby leaving a double pipe. The diff= parameter (parameter number 2) should be the larger revision number. The oldid= parameter (parameter number 3) should be the smaller revision number.
{{Template:Uu|Wikipedia:Pagediff|204934693|204901573|Diff between two numbered versions of a page in Wikipedia namespace}} Template:Font color	Diff between two numbered versions of a page in Wikipedia namespace The title= parameter (parameter number 1) should be a name of a page, for instance Wikipedia:Pagediff. The diff= parameter (parameter number 2) should be the page revision to appear on the right (proposed change). The oldid= parameter (parameter number 3) should be the page revision to appear on the left (original).
{{Template:Uu|Main Page|next|204901573|Diff between a numbered version and the subsequent version}} Template:Font color	Diff between a numbered version and the subsequent version The diff= parameter (parameter number 2) should be the word next. The oldid= parameter (parameter number 3) should be the known revision number.
{{Template:Uu|Main Page|cur|204901573|Diff between a numbered version and the current version of a page}} Template:Font color	Diff between a numbered version and the current version of a page The diff= parameter (parameter number 2) should be the word cur. The oldid= parameter (parameter number 3) should be the known revision number.
{{Template:Uu|Main Page|cur||Diff showing the most recent change to a page}} Template:Font color	Diff showing the most recent change to a page The diff= parameter (parameter number 2) should be the word cur. The oldid= parameter (parameter number 3) should be empty.
{{Template:Uu|Main Page||204901573|A link to a numbered version of a page}} Template:Font color	A link to a numbered version of a page The diff= parameter (parameter number 2) should be empty. The oldid= parameter (parameter number 3) should be the known revision number. The result is not actually a diff, so this might be considered misuse of the template. See the {{oldid}} template.
{{Template:Uu|Main Page|204901573|202506579|Comparison display without page display of two numbered versions of a page |diffonly=yes}} Template:Font color	Comparison display without page display of two numbered versions of a page The title= parameter (parameter number 1) should be a name of a page, for instance Main Page. The diff= parameter (parameter number 2) should be the larger revision number. The oldid= parameter (parameter number 3) should be the smaller revision number. The diffonly= parameter, which must include the parameter name, can only be set to yes

TemplateData

This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. Click here to see a monthly parameter usage report for this template based on this TemplateData.

TemplateData for Diff

A template that is intended to be useful for creating links to diffs; that is, links to pages that show the differences between two versions of a wiki page.

Template parameters

Parameter		Description	Type	Status
title	title page 1	The title of the page.	Page name	optional
Diff	diff 2	The ID or keyword that is used against the base ID. Possible keywords are: cur – compare with the current version of a page. prev – compare with the previous version of a page. next – compare with the next version of a page. <var>id</var> – compare against this revision ID; should be <em>larger</em> than <code>oldid</code>.	Line	required
Oldid	oldid 3	The base ID onto which the diff is generated. Some number like "442212827" (without the quotes).	Number	optional
Label	label 4	Text to display as link. No label will give a numbered link.	Line	optional
Diffonly	diffonly	Displays the page comparisons only. If you use this, the value should be "yes" (without the quotes).	Line	optional

See also

• {{Oldid}} – simplifies the case for linking to a known old version
• {{Diff2}} – same as {{Diff}}, but assumes a diff between the given revision and the one immediately before
• {{Diff3}} – same as {{Diff2}}, but does not support section links
• {{Diff4}}
• {{URL to diff}} – takes a diff URL and makes a {{Diff}} template
• {{Diffsandbox}} – compares a given page with the sandbox version
• {{DiffPages}} – accepts two pagenames (no id's needed)
• {{Querylink}} – generic template to construct query strings
• diff utility – syntax highlight on wiki pages with mw:Extension:SyntaxHighlight GeSHi
• User:Scottywong/diffconverter, a tool for converting from raw form
• Special:Diff serves a similar purpose; see Help:Wiki markup#Linking to old revisions of pages, diffs, and specific history pages.
• {{TextDiff}}

The above documentation is transcluded from Template:Diff/doc. (edit | history)
Editors can experiment in this template's sandbox (create | mirror) and testcases (create) pages.
Add categories to the /doc subpage. Subpages of this template.