imported>PrimeHunter: /* Examples */ {{la}} was fixed by using this template so change example to {{Article talk links}} which is still broken and explain the difference. Add a test link for the broken example without disrupting this page with broken code

2025-07-14T13:46:00Z

Examples: {{la}} was fixed by using this template so change example to {{Article talk links}} which is still broken and explain the difference. Add a test link for the broken example without disrupting this page with broken code

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{{Documentation subpage}}
{{High-use}}


This template replaces the first character of the argument with its [[HTML entity]] if it is one of four wiki markup characters <code>:</code> <code>;</code> <code>*</code> <code>#</code>. This can sometimes fix the issue at [[Help:Template#Problems and workarounds]] where a character may be processed as though it were at the beginning of a line.

== Usage ==
{{Tlx|Encodefirst|<string>}}

== Examples ==
The output looks like the input whether a character is replaced or not.

{{Tlx|Encodefirst|*Lisp}} produces: {{Encodefirst|*Lisp}}

But the output will behave differently from the input in some situations where it is processed. For example, {{tl|Article talk links}} fails as of 2025 if its argument starts with <code>*</code>. Some other templates like {{tl|Article links}} have been modified ([https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Article_links&diff=prev&oldid=1164482475 diff]) to automatically use {{tl|encodefirst}} so the caller doesn't have to do it.

<code><nowiki>{{Article talk links|*Lisp}}</nowiki></code> causes the asterisk to be processed as [[Help:Wiki markup#Lists|list markup]] and produces broken display ([{{fullurl:Special:ExpandTemplates|wpInput=%7B%7BArticle%20talk%20links%7C*Lisp%7D%7D}} test]).

<code><nowiki>{{Article talk links|{{Encodefirst|*Lisp}}}}</nowiki></code> works correctly:

{{Article talk links|{{Encodefirst|*Lisp}}}}

<includeonly>{{sandbox other||

[[Category:Text-specific formatting and function templates]]
}}</includeonly>

Template:Encodefirst/doc - Revision history

imported>PrimeHunter: /* Examples */ {{la}} was fixed by using this template so change example to {{Article talk links}} which is still broken and explain the difference. Add a test link for the broken example without disrupting this page with broken code