Template : Contains special characters

This page contains special characters . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols .

Template documentation [ view ] [ edit ] [ history ] [ purge ]

This template is used on approximately 4,500 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 uses TemplateStyles :

Template:Contains special characters/styles.css

This template flags potential font/encoding issues for users when an article contains text which may not be rendered correctly on out-of-the-box installations of current operating systems.

Use this only in articles in which the presence of special characters is likely to confuse readers of affected articles; it is not needed on articles where special characters are ordinarily expected (mathematics articles, for instance).

Usage

Place at the top of affected articles, below any infobox. Specific languages have pre-programmed values installed in "Contains special characters" that hard-code the following (as appropriate for that language, see list below ).


Code	Renders as
Typical implementations, with generally useful values:
{{ Contains special characters \| special = uncommon [[ Unicode ]] characters \| fix = Help:Multilingual support \| error = [[ Specials (Unicode block) # Replacement character \| question marks, boxes, or other symbols ]] \| characters = the intended characters \| image = Replacement character.svg \| link = Specials (Unicode block)#Replacement character \| alt = <?> \| compact = }}	This page contains uncommon Unicode characters. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of the intended characters.
{{ Contains special characters \| special = uncommon [[ Unicode ]] characters \| fix = Help:Multilingual support \| image = Replacement character.svg \| link = Specials (Unicode block)#Replacement character \| alt = <?> \| compact = yes }}	You may need rendering support to display the uncommon Unicode characters in this page correctly.
Language-specific simplification
{{ Contains special characters \| Armenian }}	This page contains Armenian text. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Armenian letters.
{{ Contains special characters \| Runic \| section }}	This section contains runic characters. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of runes.
{{ Contains special characters \| Baybayin \| compact = yes }}	You may need rendering support to display the Baybayin script in this page correctly.

Parameters

|special=: The languages or special content the page includes. This is the text immediately after "This page contains". Free-form, so you can specify as many as you like. Remember to link to the articles for the characters / languages.
|fix=: The "rendering support" link to a page with the solution (installing fonts, etc.). This should just be the title of the fix page, unlinked. This should usually be Help:Multilingual support unless you have something more specific to point to for a particular language or use case (e.g. Help:IPA#Rendering issues, used in the {{ Contains special characters |IPA}} variant of this template).
|error=: (optional; must be given a value or omitted entirely) The type of rendering error that will observed without the required support. Free-form wikicode, and will appear between "you may see" and "instead of". Defaults to: [[Specials (Unicode block)#Replacement character|question marks, boxes, or other symbols]], though ''[[mojibake]]'' may be good for East Asian languages.
|characters=: The specific type of characters that might be missing (i.e. kanji , kana ). This is the final wording of the template, after "instead of". Free-form, remember to use links, if not already linked in |special=. The entire "instead of" clause will not appear if this is blank (i.e., the template will end with the wording of |error= or its default value).
|section=: (optional) By default, this display "article" in an article and "page" on all other pages. You can manually specify a replacement for that word, usually |section=section, but other values might be list or table. Note: The " |section=y" syntax does not work; it will output the letter "y". Support for that option can be added if it is desired.
|image=: (optional) Just the title (no File: or Image: prefix) of an image of the characters, ideally legible at 65x50px and either square or slightly wider than tall. The template defaults to blank, but a reasonable suggestion for many circumstances is Replacement character.svg : , which can be given an | description. (This is the default replacement character on Windows systems.)
|alt=: (optional) The alt text for the image, for visually-impaired readers. See WP:ALT . If the image is merely some text, the alt text should simply repeat that text.
|link=: (optional) Name of the article that the image should link to. This should just be the title of the page, unlinked, usually Specials (Unicode block)#Replacement character, but perhaps Mojibake for East Asian languages. By default, the image is considered to be purely decorative and does not link to any article. If this parameter is specified, the alt parameter should also be specified.
|width=: (unusually unused) The default width of the image is 22em. This can be made larger with this parameters, for a very small character, or considerably smaller for a short word.
|compact=y: (optional) If set to any value, it will display a shorter form of the standard text, to save space. I suppresses display of the values of |characters= and |error= (so having an image |link= that goes to the same page as |error= is particularly useful, in case someone later turns on the |compact=y feature.

Languages

The following languages have hard-coded values, removing the necessity of the above § Parameters . Note that |section= and |compact= are available for use even if the language is specified.

"Simplified" languages available for direct input
Language parameter	Template rendering	Examples of characters in question
{{Contains special characters\|AA}}	This page contains Shift JIS art . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of kanji and kana .	＿＿＿_∧∧ ～'　＿＿__(,,?Д?) 　ＵU 　　Ｕ U
{{Contains special characters\|APL}}	This page contains APL source code . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of APL symbols .	`??? ? ? ? ← ?? ?`
{{Contains special characters\|Armenian}}	This page contains Armenian text. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Armenian letters.	???????
{{Contains special characters\|Balinese}}	This page contains Balinese alphabet . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Balinese characters.	????????
{{Contains special characters\|Baluchi}}	This page contains Balochi text , written from right to left with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support , you may see unjoined Balochi letters or other symbols instead of Balochi script .	?????
{{Contains special characters\|Baybayin}}	This page contains Baybayin script. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Baybayin characters.	???????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Braille}}	This page contains Unicode Braille characters . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Braille characters .	?????????
{{Contains special characters\|Burmese}}	This page contains Burmese script . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Burmese script .	????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Canadian}}	This page contains Canadian Aboriginal syllabic characters . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of syllabics.	???????????
{{Contains special characters\|Cherokee}}	This page contains Cherokee syllabic characters . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Cherokee syllabics.	??? ??????
{{Contains special characters\|Coptic}}	This page contains Coptic text. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Coptic letters.	????????????? ??????????????
{{Contains special characters\|cuneiform}}	This page contains cuneiform script . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of cuneiform script.	????????????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Deseret}}	This page contains Deseret alphabet characters . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Deseret letters.	?????????????? ??????????????
{{Contains special characters\|emoticon}}	This page contains Unicode emoticons or emojis . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of the intended characters.	???????????????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Ethiopic}}	This page contains Ethiopic text . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Ethiopic characters.	?????????????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Georgian}}	This page contains Georgian text. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Georgian letters .	???????
{{Contains special characters\|Glagolitic}}	This page contains Glagolitic text. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of letters.	?????????
{{Contains special characters\|Gothic}}	This page contains Gothic characters. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of letters.	??????????????????????????????????????????????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Hebrew}}	This page contains Hebrew text . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Hebrew letters.	??????????? ???????
{{Contains special characters\|Hindko}}	This page contains Hindko text , written from right to left with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support , you may see unjoined letters or other symbols instead of Hindko script .	?????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Hokkien}}	This page contains Hokkien text. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Han-j? , Pe?h-?e-j? and Tai-lo .	福建??南語Pe?h?ej?Tailo
{{Contains special characters\|Indic}}	This page contains Indic text . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks or boxes , misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text.	????????????????????????????????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Javanese}}	This page contains letters from the Javanese script . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Javanese characters.	???????
{{Contains special characters\|Karen}}	This page contains Karen script . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Karen script .	??????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Khmer}}	This page contains Khmer text. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Khmer script .	?????????
{{Contains special characters\|Khoekhoe}}	This page contains click symbols from the Khoekhoe language . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols .	????????????????????????????????????????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Lao}}	This page contains Lao text . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Lao script .	???????
{{Contains special characters\|Lanna}} {{Contains special characters\|Northern Thai}}	This page contains Lanna text . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Tai Tham script .	????????
{{Contains special characters\|Lontara}}	This page contains Lontara script . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Lontara characters.	????
{{Contains special characters\|Manchu}}	This page contains Manchu text. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Manchu alphabet .	????? ?????
{{Contains special characters\|Meitei}}	This page contains the Meitei alphabet . Without proper rendering support , you may see errors in display.	???? ????
{{Contains special characters\|Mongolian}}	This page contains Mongolian script . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of text in Mongolian script .	?????? ?????
{{Contains special characters\|Nom}}	This page contains ch? Nom text. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of ch? Nom .	???
{{Contains special characters\|Ogham}}	This page contains Ogham text . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Ogham letters.	????????????????????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Old Hungarian}}	This page contains Old Hungarian text. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Old Hungarian characters.	??????????????????????????????????????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Old Persian}}	This page contains Old Persian text. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Old Persian cuneiform .	????????????????????????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Ottoman Turkish}}	This page contains Ottoman Turkish text , written from right to left with some Arabic letters and additional symbols joined. Without proper rendering support , you may see unjoined letters or other symbols.	???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Pashto}}	This page contains Pashto text . Without proper rendering support , you may see unjoined letters or other symbols instead of Pashto script .	?????????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Perso-Arabic}}	This page contains Persian text . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols .	???????????????
{{Contains special characters\|PIE}}	This page contains characters used to write reconstructed Proto-Indo-European words (for an explanation of the notation, see Proto-Indo-European phonology ). Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode combining characters and Latin characters.	*h₂??t?os
{{Contains special characters\|Runic}}	This page contains runic characters. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of runes.	?????????????????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Saraiki}}	This page contains Saraiki text , written from right to left with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support , you may see unjoined letters or other symbols instead of Saraiki script .	????????????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Shavian}}	This page contains Shavian text. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Shavian characters.	??????????????????????????????????
{{Contains special characters\|SignWriting}}	This page contains symbols from the SignWriting Script . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of SignWriting symbols.	??????????????????????????????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Sindhi}}	This page contains Sindhi text , written from right to left with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support , you may see unjoined letters or other symbols instead of Sindhi script .	?????? ????? ????
{{Contains special characters\|Sundanese}}	This page contains Sundanese script . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Sundanese characters.	?????????°???
{{Contains special characters\|Syriac}}	This page contains Syriac text, written from right to left in a cursive style with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support , you may see unjoined Syriac letters or other symbols instead of Syriac text .	??? ??? ??????
{{Contains special characters\|Tamil}}	This page contains Tamil script . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks or boxes , misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Tamil script.	????? ????????
{{Contains special characters\|Tangut}}	This page contains Tangut text. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Tangut characters .	????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Thai}}	This page contains Thai text . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Thai script .	?????????????????????????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Tibetan}}	This page contains Tibetan script . Without proper rendering support , you may see very small fonts, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Tibetan characters .	???????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Tifinagh}}	This page contains Tifinagh text . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Tifinagh letters .	?????????????????
{{Contains special characters\|Urdu}}	This page contains Urdu text . Without proper rendering support , you may see unjoined letters running left to right or other symbols instead of Urdu script .	???? ????
{{Contains special characters\|Uyghur}}	This page contains Uyghur text . Without proper rendering support , you may see unjoined letters or other symbols instead of Uyghur script .	?????? ??????
{{Contains special characters\|Vietnamese}}	This page contains Vietnamese text. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of ch? Nom , ch? Han and ch? Qu?c ng? .	Ti?ng Vi?t
{{Contains special characters\|IPA}}	This page contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA .	ø??????d???????t?t?o??
{{Contains special characters\|Uncommon Unicode}}	This page contains uncommon Unicode characters. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of the intended characters.	?

v t e Unicode templates
General	{{ Unicode navigation }}
Inline	{{ Unichar }} {{ U+ }} {{ GB18030 }} {{ #invoke:Unicode convert }}
Character properties	Bidi Class General Category Punctuation marks in Unicode Hexadecimal digit Numeric Type Whitespace Alias names and abbreviations
Code points	Planes Unicode blocks Private Use Area
Scripts	{{ ISO 15924 script codes and related Unicode data }}
CJK-specific	{{ CJK ideographs in Unicode }} {{ CJKV }} {{ Unihan }} {{ Lang-zh }}
Wikipedia related	{{ Contains special characters }} (with 'Uncommon Unicode' or more specifically) {{ PUA }} ( MOS:PUA )
Unicode blocks Unicode charts Unicode templates

Usage

Parameters

Languages

See also