This template is used in system messages, and onapproximately 986,000 pages, or roughly 2% of all pages. Changes to it can cause immediate changes to the Wikipedia user interface. To avoid major disruption and server load, any changes should be tested in the template's/sandbox or/testcases subpages, or in your ownuser subpage. The tested changes can be added to this page in a single edit. Please discuss changes on thetalk page before implementing them.
This template marks text asimportant, serious, or urgent using the HTML<strong> tag. It usually renders in bold, but there is additional significance explained in§ Purpose.
Purpose
{{strong}} makes it faster and easier to apply the<strong>...</strong>HTML element to text, which indicatesimportance, seriousness, or urgency. More importantly, this template indicates to human editors andWikipedia bots they should not use'''...''' or<b>...</b> typographic boldfacing to replace the intentional andsemantically meaningful<strong>. The<strong> element is usually rendered visually in a bold (heavy) typeface by default on graphical browsers, but can be parsed and acted upon in customizable ways withstyle sheets,apps, and text-to-speechscreen readers. It issemantic markup, i.e. markup that conveys meaning or context, not just visual appearance.
Simple boldfacing (''' or<b>) is purely typographic and is semantically meaningless. It is most often used forarticle names in body text, but hasa few other uses. The average reader and average editor may be unaware of this distinction as it is unimportant most of the time, but editors who understand it can use this template as a baseline insurance against accidental replacement by bots and human editors, as well as to addweb accessibility.
Usage
{{strong|important text}}
or, if the important text contains an equals sign:
{{strong|1=important text}}
These both render as:
important text
It is safest to always use the|1= syntax.
Optional parameters
Advanced HTML values can be passed through the template to the HTML code:
|role= takes a WAI-ARIA role; addsrole="rolename" to the HTML code
|class= takes a class name (or multiple class names, separated by spaces); addsclass="classname[s]" to the HTML code
|style= takes inline CSS input; addsstyle="CSS directive[s]" to the HTML code
|id= takes a valid, unique HTML id (must begin with an alphabetic letter); addsid="name" to the HTML code
|title= takes text and displays it as a pop-up "tooltip" when the cursor hovers over the{{strong}} span. This text cannot be marked up in any way.
This template is made to mark important words or phrases in a text, in a way that is (unlike simply boldfacing it)semantically meaningful markup. With this technique, the important text strongly stands out from the rest in most if not all visual browsers and some text-to-speech screen readers (which usually ignore purely typographic boldfacing), and can also be parsed by user agents and other software as definitively indicating importance, not just some typographic boldface effect for appearance's sake. It should therefore only be used very sparingly in articles to highlight the most important words or phrases in the entire article (and, rarely in encyclopedic writing, to represent relative importance). Use of this template has a strong effect onscannability, drawing the eye from elsewhere on the page to words marked up with the template.
After the lead, itcan be used to highlight crucial terms of importance only slightly secondary to that of the article title and its synonyms. For example, the article on a viral infection might use{{strong}} to highlight the names of two identified strains of the disease in a "Varieties" section, as an aid to scannability. If such crucial terms are redirected terms, the style guideline atMOS:BOLDREDIRECT recommends formatting boldface as in the article title.
In unusual cases (most often direct quotations) it is used to represent contextually important text, if the passage were spoken rather than written (e.g., because it indicates shouting).
Outside articles, itcan be used (but as of July 2021[update] isn't yet common) in polls, XfD processes, RfX votes, and similar comments and debates where users indicate that they approve of or disagree with a view or proposal. Example: "Support, because of this and that reasons [...]" or "Oppose, because of this and that reasons [...]". However, please note the use oftemplates in voting is generally discouraged.
When this template should not be used
Because{{strong}} is strictly for semantic (meaningful) importance, it should not be used for layout, typography conventions and such. In these different cases, bold'''...''' (which resolves to<b>...</b> in the browser or other user agent) should be used instead. It also should not be used when the text to which it is applied is boldfaced for some other reason (e.g., it is part of a heading); in such cases use{{em}} instead. Avoid using{{strong}} in non-quoted sentences that end in an exclamation point. And it is usually excessive to use it on terms that are Wikilinked, since the link markup acts to indicate importance itself.
To indicate text is a variable name. Use for any variable names except those including "I" (uppercase i) and/or "l" (lowercase L); for these, {{var serif}} should be used to ensure a noticeable distinction
To display parameters as used in code (i.e. with triple braces), especially to indicate relationships between them. May be combined with {{para}} above
To display parameter values lightly bordered; replaces <code>...</code>, especially when value contains embedded or leading/trailing blanks; visualized here withmiddot (·) but can use ␠, ▯, or any character.
To showcase with colors in horizontal format the syntax of any template, while providing an easy way to display placeholder texts using colons as separators
To indicate text is source code. To nest other templates within {{code}}, use<code>...</code>.{{codett}} differs only in styling:someMethod becomessomeMethod
( or{{dc}}) To indicatedeprecated source code in template documentation, articles on HTML specs, etc. The{{dc2}} variant uses strike-through (<blink>) while{{dcr}} uses red (<blink>).
To showcase with colors and multiple lines (vertical format) the syntax of any template, while providing an easy way to display placeholder texts using colons as separators
