Template:Update after

A checked version of this page, approved on 21 October 2020, was based on this revision.

This content is in the Template Namespace. Used for page-templates that can be re-used across the wiki.

^{[needs update]}

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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. Click here to see a monthly parameter usage report for this template based on this TemplateData.

TemplateData for Update after

Places an in-line note in an article that marks information as [dated] and in need of an update after a given time

Template parameters[Edit template data]
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Year	`1`	The year the template should activate, if not specified the template will activate immediately. Enter a four-digit year.	Number	optional
Month	`2`	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.	Number	optional
Day	`3`	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.	Number	optional
Category	`4`	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.	Line	optional
Reason	`reason`	An optional note for future editors about what exactly needs to be changed or where to find the new information. Displayed in tooltip.	String	optional
Text	`text`	Dated statement. Becomes highlighted when template activates; displayed normally before activation.	String	optional

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; 2026 implies 1 January 2027.	`Some text that will be outdated after today.{{Update after\|2026\|04\|7}}`	Some text that will be outdated after today.
	`Some text that should be checked next year.{{Update after\|2026}}`	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\|2026\|04\|7\|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 wrapped within template.	`{{Update after\|text=Some text that should be checked.}}`	Some text that should be checked.^{[needs update]}