View source for Template:Kbd/doc

== Purpose ==

This template is for explicitly indicating that the content inside it represents input from a keyboard or other source (speech recognition software, [[wikipedia:standard input|standard input]], etc.)  It uses the [[wikipedia:XHTML|XHML]] element {{tag|kbd}} (''keyboard input'') which exists for this purpose, and applies some styling to it, namely a faint grey background (borrowed from the related template {{tlx|key press}}) and slight [[wikipedia:Cascading style sheets|CSS]] letter-spacing to suggest individually entered characters. It retains the default monospaced (non-proportional) font style of the {{tag|kbd|open}} element.  Because it uses {{tag|kbd}} instead of simply applying visual style effects, it is [[wikipedia:semantic markup|semantic markup]] that conveys meaning, and it can be further acted upon by the user agent (e.g. with custom local style sheets). This tag is the exact opposite of {{tlx|samp}}, which is for example output.

== Usage ==

The template takes one mandatory parameter, the content to be marked up.  If this content contains "=" (an equals sign), the parameter '''must''' be explicitly named {{para|1}}, or the template will fail. (This is a limitation of the MediaWiki software, not the template.) It is always safer to use {{para|1}} syntax. It may be used as a container for {{tlx|var}} or {{tag|var}} when the example keyboard input contains or consists entirely of a variable. It may also be used with (but not inside) {{tlx|code}}, or with {{tag|code}} (it generally should not be used inside the latter, as input is not a part of source code, but something that interacts with it; however, this style can be used to illustrate computer display of mixed type, as illustrated below).

There is an optional parameter {{para|spacing=no}} (or {{para|spacing=n}} or any other value), to get rid of the slight letter spacing, which can look awkward on long passages of input.

== Examples ==

* {{tnull|kbd|71077345}}: "Entering {{kbd|71077345}} on a calculator and turning it upside down appears to spell ''[[wikipedia:Royal Dutch Shell|ShellOil]]''."
* {{tnull|kbd|1{{=}}ssh <nowiki>{{var|hostname}}</nowiki>}} with {{tnull|samp|%}}: "At the {{samp|%}} prompt, the user must enter {{kbd|1=ssh {{var|hostname}}}}."
* {{tnull|kbd|1{{=}}ssh <nowiki>{{var|hostname}}</nowiki>}} with {{tnull|samp|%}} and {{tnull|key press|Enter}}: "At the {{samp|%}} prompt, the user must input {{kbd|1=ssh {{var|hostname}}}}{{key press|Enter}}."
* Inside {{tag|code}}: "The commandline should read: <code>% {{kbd|1=ssh {{var|hostname}}}}</code> (where {{var|hostname}} is the IP address or domain name of the system to connect to); if this is correct, press {{key press|Enter}}."

[[Category:Templates]]
[[Category:Templates documentation]]