Author: emddudley

Description:
Many people get confused on Wikipedia on whether or not they should subst a
template, despite the extensive [[Wikipedia:Subst]] page describing the topic. I
am tired of people substing templates when they shouldn't, and not substing when
they should.

I propose the addition of a new namespace type which acts as a template in every
way except that it is automatically substed. Essentially it should be a shortcut
for going to the template, viewing the source, copying it (being careful not to
select any <noinclude> text) and copying it into the new page. Perhaps it could
somehow get substed prior to the "save edit" stage so if the user wanted to make
a change to the substituted text, they could do so without making two edits.

Templates could still be substed using the subst keyword, but I wouldn't mind
seeing the keyword get removed entirely.

My argument is that the *creator(s)* of the template should be the ones that
determine whether or not a template should be substed, not the users. The
creators know what the proper use is, and users just get confused or make
mistakes. It would be more clear to have a separate namespace.

Version: 1.9.x
Severity: enhancement