The magic word {{!}} is used to escape a vertical bar character "|" in wikitext markup, causing the parser to temporarily not interpret it as a special character.

This used to be a template, but for speed reasons, the MediaWiki parser was changed in July 2014 to instantly interpret {{!}} as "|" and ignore this template, making {{!}} a magic word. You can continue to use the code in exactly the same way as before.

Do not use syntax like {{Template:!}}, and do not supply a parameter, for example {{!|foo}}. In those cases, the template transcludes as an error message: Error: The retired template {{!}} has been transcluded; see mw:Help:Magic words#Other for details. To fix this, use only the code {{!}} to generate the | character.


Usage

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The code {{!}} is used to escape the vertical bar character, |, so that it is interpreted later than it would be otherwise. This is mostly useful when trying to include a table in a template. For example,

{{cquote|text=
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Caption text
|-
! Header text !! Header text
|-
| Example1 || Example2
|-
| Example3 || Example4
|}
}}

yields nonsense:

However escaping the bars with this magic word and similar templates gives:

{{cquote|text=
{{(!}} class{{=}}"wikitable"
{{!+}} Caption text
{{!-}}
! Header text !! Header text
{{!-}}
{{!}} Example1 {{!!}} Example2
{{!-}}
{{!}} Example3 {{!!}} Example4
{{!)}}
}}


For how to include a table in a footnote, do:

Example 1{{refn|group=note|This is a note before}}

Example 2{{refn|group=note|1=<nowiki></nowiki>{{(!}}class{{=}}"wikitable"
{{!}}+ Example table with two columns
! A column
! Another column
{{!}}-
{{!}} Some data
{{!}} Some more data
{{!)}}<nowiki></nowiki>}}

Example 3{{refn|group=note|This is a note after}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

Be careful to follow this formatting, otherwise the table may gobble up the subsequent footnote. This can be unnoticeable if there is only one footnote, only causing an issue if a second footnote is added.

Example 1[note 1]

Example 2[note 2]

Example 3[note 3]

Notes

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  1. ^ This is a note before
  2. ^
    Example table with two columns
    A column Another column
    Some data Some more data
  3. ^ This is a note after

See also

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Template call
(m for magic word)
Output (delayed interpretation as wikimarkup) HTML alternative (never interpreted as wikimarkup)
{{!}} (m) | &#124; or {{pipe}}
{{=}} (m) = &#61;
{{!!}} || &#124;&#124;
{{!(}} [ &#91;
{{)!}} ] &#93;
{{!((}} [[ &#91;&#91;
{{))!}} ]] &#93;&#93;
{{(}} { &#123;
{{)}} } &#125;
{{((}} {{ &#123;&#123;
{{))}} }} &#125;&#125;
{{(((}} {{{ &#123;&#123;&#123;
{{)))}} }}} &#125;&#125;&#125;
{{(!}} {| &#123;&#124;
{{!+}} |+ &#124;&#43;
{{!-}} |- &#124;&#45;
{{!)}} |} &#124;&#125;

Documentation for the magic word may be found in the MediaWiki documentation at mw:Help:Magic words#Other.