Pre-save transform skips extensions using wikitext (gallery, references, footnotes, Cite, status indicators, pipe trick, subst, signatures)
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Description

Problem

The PST features in wikitext are things like ~~~~ (becomes a signature on-save), pipe trick on links [[Title (disambig)|]] (becomes [[Title (disambig)|Title]] on save), and {{subst:#time:}} which can insert the current date.

These can be used in templates and in passing text, but not inside extension tags such as <ref> or <gallery>.

Use cases

Adding a signed caption inside a gallery, for example on a wikiproject page, or talk page. <gallery>File:Example|I like this one. ~~~~</gallery>.
Using the pipe trick in links inside gallery captions.
Using the current date as the default for template parameters. <ref>{{Cite web|title=|url=|access-date={{subst:#time:Y-m-d}}}}</ref>

Details

Reference: bz2700

Related Gerrit Patches:

mediawiki/core : master	Pre-save transform inside extension tags
mediawiki/extensions/Cite : master	Pre-save transform inside extension tags
mediawiki/extensions/ImageMap : master	Pre-save transform inside extension hooks

Related Objects
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Status	Assigned	Task
Duplicate	None	T26774 rvexpandtemplates=true does not expand templates in ref tags
Open	None	T28213 Strip marker (UNIQ / QINU) issues (tracking)
Open	None	T58772 VisualEditor: When using citation templates, the page title and access date fields should be filled automatically
Stalled	None	T99426 [Migrated] Fix incorrect piped wikilinks
Open	None	T4700 Pre-save transform skips extensions using wikitext (gallery, references, footnotes, Cite, status indicators, pipe trick, subst, signatures)

Event Timeline

There are a very large number of changes, so older changes are hidden. Show Older Changes

This bug is not only/mainly about tag extensions: see pipe trick, subst, signatures.

this has surely gone on long enough, with maqsses of lost resources.

This task has not suddenly become more urgent than before, hence reverting the recent Priority change. See https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Phabricator/Project_management#Setting_task_priorities for more information. Thanks.

Yellowcard added a subscriber: Yellowcard.Dec 1 2015, 3:56 PM

XanonymusX added a subscriber: XanonymusX.Dec 1 2015, 4:18 PM

Lokal_Profil added a subscriber: Lokal_Profil.Feb 1 2016, 9:01 AM

matmarex merged a task: T126490: Subst: not substituted.Feb 10 2016, 7:02 PM

matmarex added subscribers: SaraMortsell, StudiesWorld, Josve05a.

Meno25 removed a subscriber: Meno25.Feb 22 2016, 7:18 PM

Change 272916 had a related patch set uploaded (by Cenarium):
Pre-save transform inside extension tags

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/272916

• Elitre added a subscriber: • Elitre.Apr 18 2016, 4:35 PM

Umherirrender merged a task: T139845: subst: of a template didn't work in some cases .Jul 9 2016, 11:17 AM

Umherirrender added subscribers: Boshomi, Zppix.

Boshomi awarded a token.Jul 10 2016, 9:31 AM

MGChecker added a subscriber: MGChecker.Jul 10 2016, 4:00 PM

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Pols12 added a subscriber: Pols12.

He7d3r merged tasks: T10125: Pre-save transform not applied to markup inside <ref> container, T8222: any links inside <gallery> won't autopipe, T8157: template substitution does not work inside <ref> tags, T8814: Pre-save transform not executed for references (signatures, pipe trick, subst don't work), T10929: When a subst: is used inside a <ref> it doesn't get subst'ed, T12927: "pipe trick" links don't work, T14016: subst: don't work inside <ref> tags, T15072: refs fail to parse the piped link trick, T15959: Problem with <ref> and [[xxx (yyy)|]], T16007: Auto-piping does not work in galleries, T15120: New parser breaks signatures inside gallery tags, T16550: Cannot substitute templates withing <ref> tags, T17547: Automatic conversion of the wikitext doesn't work in references, T17467: Pipe trick not working when used as template parameter that is in turn used in a reference citation, T20064: The "pipe trick" does not work in footnotes, T22359: Subst: prefix does not work in image captions inside <gallery></gallery> tags., T15141: Pipetrick doesn't work in gallery image caption, T24258: Five tildes don't produce timestamp in en.wikipedia article namespace, T26131: ~~~~ in <gallery>, T26160: Magic words, templates and parser functions not substituted in <ref> tags, T26446: Automatic signatures (~~~~) do not work in <ref></ref>, T28859: Template substitution doesn't work inside <ref> tags, T30680: Pipe trick doesn't work within ref, T31775: <ref>...</ref> in template, T32135: Substitution not working in gallery tags, T36999: <ref> doesn't expand triple-brace template parameters, T37954: Inter-project links into <ref> do not work when alternative text is empty, T44078: {{subst:foo}} does not work in <ref>, T74079: {{subst: doesn't work inside <ref>...</ref>.Sep 3 2016, 12:53 PM

He7d3r added subscribers: • bzimport, Wtmitchell, Krinkle and 14 others.

Liuxinyu970226 awarded a token.Sep 3 2016, 12:58 PM

Izno added a project: Cite.Sep 3 2016, 7:25 PM

Basilicofresco added a subscriber: Basilicofresco.Sep 4 2016, 7:17 AM

mgrabovsky removed a subscriber: mgrabovsky.Sep 4 2016, 12:13 PM

Izno moved this task from Unsorted backlog to Defect backlog on the Cite board.Sep 6 2016, 9:25 PM

The bug is referenced at dewiki Wikipedia:Technik/Werkstatt#insource

demon removed a subscriber: demon.Oct 17 2016, 8:11 PM

Anomie mentioned this in T149282: Improved editability, tooling, reasoning, and performance by adopting DOM-based semantics for wikitext.Nov 23 2016, 4:47 PM

UltrasonicNXT mentioned this in T145943: Using the shortcut pipe trick for links doesn't output correctly in MediaWikiChat.Dec 22 2016, 5:15 PM

UltrasonicNXT merged a task: T145943: Using the shortcut pipe trick for links doesn't output correctly in MediaWikiChat.Dec 23 2016, 5:17 PM

UltrasonicNXT added subscribers: SamanthaNguyen, ashley, UltrasonicNXT, Brickimedia.

UltrasonicNXT removed a subscriber: UltrasonicNXT.Dec 30 2016, 11:23 AM

Liuxinyu970226 added a project: Community-Wishlist-Survey-2016.Jan 1 2017, 2:49 AM

Liuxinyu970226 removed a subscriber: • wikibugs-l-list.

Liuxinyu970226 removed a project: Community-Wishlist-Survey-2016.Jan 2 2017, 12:49 AM

Liuxinyu970226 rescinded a token.Jan 3 2017, 1:34 PM

Liuxinyu970226 awarded a token.

Anomie mentioned this in T155813: Decide on storage and delivery method for TemplateStyles CSS.Jan 20 2017, 8:11 PM

MarkTraceur removed a subscriber: MarkTraceur.Jan 27 2017, 10:36 PM

Wargo added a subscriber: Wargo.Apr 19 2017, 5:42 PM

Krinkle removed a subscriber: Krinkle.Apr 19 2017, 7:30 PM

matmarex merged a task: T168076: Subst inside ref tag doesn't work.Jun 16 2017, 5:49 PM

matmarex added subscribers: Dvorapa, Jdforrester-WMF, Framawiki.

SamanthaNguyen removed a subscriber: SamanthaNguyen.Aug 12 2017, 1:40 AM

Bdijkstra added a subscriber: Bdijkstra.Oct 5 2017, 7:03 PM

Thryduulf added a subscriber: Thryduulf.Nov 7 2017, 9:11 PM

Am I correct in thinking that {{subst:CURRENTMONTH}} and {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}} not being substituded in this edit is due to this bug?

Yes, substituting within refs won't work if this bug is not resolved!

@Thryduulf use {{#tag:ref|}} or {{subst:#tag:ref|}} and it will work

and I would love to see this added to the projects for fixing that are coming up. It is truly time that this got resolved for all wikis.

@Billinghurst add an entry to https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/2017_Community_Wishlist_Survey (I guess it would fit in the editing section?).

(Notice: Proposed to Community-Wishlist-Survey-2017 by @Bdijkstra)

Liuxinyu970226 rescinded a token.Nov 15 2017, 1:39 PM

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gpaumier removed a subscriber: gpaumier.Jul 18 2018, 5:57 PM

Tacsipacsi mentioned this in T40435: Sortkey for categories is ignored when category is inside a <ref> and DEFAULTSORT comes after <references/>.Jul 25 2018, 11:26 AM

Dvorapa awarded a token.Aug 1 2018, 9:13 AM

Liuxinyu970226 rescinded a token.Nov 11 2018, 7:02 AM

Liuxinyu970226 awarded a token.

Izno mentioned this in T212725: Template arguments are not parsed between <ref></ref>.Jan 19 2019, 1:32 AM

Izno merged a task: T212725: Template arguments are not parsed between <ref></ref>.Apr 9 2019, 5:49 PM

Izno added subscribers: Ericfreyss, Izno.

Krinkle updated the task description. (Show Details)Apr 15 2019, 8:57 PM

Krinkle updated the task description. (Show Details)

Krinkle removed a project: Patch-For-Review.

Dvorapa mentioned this in T221344: Change subst option in template.py.Apr 18 2019, 9:27 AM

Dinoguy1000 merged a task: T232045: ifexists function not working inside <gallery> .Sep 5 2019, 2:32 AM

Dinoguy1000 added a subscriber: ClaytonVE3AUO.

Umherirrender merged a task: T239490: can not write sign (~~~~) in <gallery>.Nov 29 2019, 8:34 PM

Umherirrender added subscribers: Janbery, Urbanecm.

Needs proper reassessment of priority

Not sure why this needs triage now. It's a long standing broken part of the system, which should have been fixed a long time ago. If the foundation can't fix it in 14 years, and with, I suppose, about $1bn to spent, I despair of having anythung useful done. Certainly lowering the priority won't help, and raising it seems unlikely to either.

TOKEN FOR RICH!

TerraCodes removed a subscriber: TerraCodes.Jan 6 2020, 10:26 AM

Ciencia_Al_Poder updated the task description. (Show Details)Jan 6 2020, 11:35 AM

@Rich_Farmbrough: Please bring up meta-level discussions on priorities or who should spend money on what in a better suited place. Also see https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Bug_management/Development_prioritization about prioritization and wrong expectations. Thanks for your understanding.

Ammarpad removed a subscriber: Ammarpad.Jan 6 2020, 12:24 PM

• Elitre removed a subscriber: • Elitre.Jan 21 2020, 6:49 PM

Umherirrender mentioned this in T246442: Using {{PAGENAME}} as part of the filename in a gallery is not parsed.Thu, Mar 19, 8:43 PM

Umherirrender mentioned this in T232045: ifexists function not working inside <gallery> .

Umherirrender merged a task: T246442: Using {{PAGENAME}} as part of the filename in a gallery is not parsed.

Umherirrender merged a task: T232045: ifexists function not working inside <gallery> .

Umherirrender added a subscriber: Dinoguy1000.