Template talk:Outdent

Currently the template uses basic {{#switch:...}} which is a bit speghetti-like and is not very flexible.

I have created a new version using {{#var:...}}, {{padleft:...}} and {{#expr:...}}: User:Leduyquang753/NewOutdent.

It functions almost as the same as before, the only difference is when {{{1}}} is not a number, the outdent length will be the length of it instead.

The new version is fully backward-compatible.

Lê Duy Quang (Make some words | Contributions) at 10h21:20 | 2/10/2019 (UTC)

I think both versions are fine. We can also use Lua like Module:Outdent too.--skylord_wars (talk) 08:25, 2 December 2019 (UTC)

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 Done. I implemented Wikipedia's version of outdent, which supports reverse outdentation (i.e. indentation) and uses no text characters. However, it cannot be subst'ed. Make sure somebody updates the documentation. Fadyblok240 (talk) 02:20, 11 October 2020 (UTC)

As there can be multiple outdent times (and now reindent times), I suggest adding the amount of outdent to the right of the outdent by default, so that we can easily calculate the level of a comment:

┌───────────────────────┘ +9

Lê Duy Quang (Make some words | Contributions) at 13h19:24 | 2/10/2019 (UTC)

Sorry, but the new version of the template does not show the number of outdents. Fadyblok240 (talk) 02:20, 11 October 2020 (UTC)

Now that mw:Extension:DiscussionTools has been implemented, it seems like this template is hard to be used, and if used, can somewhat break the formatting (like the lines in the indentation). Furthermore, it can cause ambiguity. For example, consider the below:

The original comment. blahblahblah. ~~~~
: Reply ~~~~
:: Reply to reply ~~~~
::: Reply to reply ~~~~
:::: Reply to reply ~~~~
::::: Reply to reply ~~~~
:::::: Reply to reply ~~~~
{{outdent|7}} Outdented reply ~~~~
: Another reply ~~~~

Here, it's unclear whether the "Another reply" is replying to the original comment or the outdented reply.

Therefore, I propose to deprecate this template. --MinecraftExp123^{(talk|contribs)} 01:28, 9 November 2025 (UTC)

After doing a few tests, I 👁 Image
 support deprecating this template. In theory it looks very confusing (because it is), and it does not fulfill its function correctly. –Redz ^t/_c 03:18, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

I deprecated it, as no one appears to oppose. --MinecraftExp123^{(talk|contribs)} 03:25, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

The talk page guidelines mention this template as a way of formatting talk pages. If this template is going to be deprecated, we can't recommend its use in wiki guidelines. Out of curiosity, do we never outdent now? Is there a new way to handle discussions with too many indents? I know not many people participated in the discussion, but I'm not sure there was enough discussion to follow through with deprecating. Rampage455 (talk) 03:55, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

I didn't realize it's recommended in the talk page guidelines. Then I guess a larger-scale discussion is needed; I'm undoing the change. --MinecraftExp123^{(talk|contribs)} 03:57, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

I know @Simanelix created a thing to replace outdents, but I dont know if it would be suitable for non user/user talk namespaces. 👁 Image
amethyst_hhh👁 Image
04:22, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

Also, on my talk page here, Simanelix created a way to make one-to-one conversations not increase indent. This is not applicable though outside of user talk pages. --MinecraftExp123^{(talk|contribs)} 04:24, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

You can achieve the same thing by simply replying to the same head comment repeatedly. --   Simanelix   (T|C) 18:36, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

Portals could probably be used on any page. Perhaps it would make more sense if referred to as a "thread". Applications like Discord and Zulip have that feature for a reason. --   Simanelix   (T|C) 18:37, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

Yeah, they probably could, though it would most likely require a large discussion to make it an "official" talk page template. And by large I mean a large amount of people, not just us 5 in this topic 👁 Image
amethyst_hhh👁 Image
19:35, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

You mean a forum discussion, right? --   Simanelix   (T|C) 20:32, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

probably yeah 👁 Image
amethyst_hhh👁 Image
20:33, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

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 Oppose — The limit on indentation still exists and is there for a reason. If you can't add the template with DiscussionTools, just use the regular editor. — BabylonAS 06:04, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

It's not that you can't add it, it's that it looks weird with it and DiscussionTools gets kinda confused which reply is for which and makes the vertical lines draw incorrectly. Also, as shown in the example, using this also causes ambiguity (w/o DiscussionTools you would just put all the replies above the outdent, but the extension doesn't really understand that). ‑‑MinecraftExp123^{(talk|contribs)} 06:14, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

The vertical lines are not a DiscussionTools feature, that's custom EnMCW styles. — BabylonAS 06:34, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

Oh, I didn't know that. But still, it breaks them. ‑‑MinecraftExp123^{(talk|contribs)} 06:40, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

Im thinking that if maybe theres a way for some part of the system to tell when the outdent template is used, someone could make it where it hueshifts (a very small anount, but enough that its noticeable) the background of the outdented comment and all replies to said outdent? I know its possible to change the background color because of this discussion. Please note that I have no idea how code or whatever works, and Im just throwing out an idea that may or may not be possible 👁 Image
amethyst_hhh👁 Image
06:42, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

Hue shift? Why? Why would you hue shift? --   Simanelix   (T|C) 20:49, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

Here is more hue shift. --   Simanelix   (T|C) 20:49, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

And even more! --   Simanelix   (T|C) 20:49, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

Yeesh my eyes on dark mode.  Nixinova  T ⁄ C  20:52, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

I had to go in and edit the text color to read that. It would obviously have to be some kind of global thing and also made to work with dark mode 👁 Image
amethyst_hhh👁 Image
20:52, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

I moved the CSS to Template talk:Outdent/Hue.css so it now adjusts to dark mode. --   Simanelix   (T|C) 21:47, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

The Reply button does not work. --   Simanelix   (T|C) 21:47, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

Anyways, my template solves a lot of these problems. You can even add it with disucssion tools. Comment {{User:CF/Portal|Your portal name}} ~~~~ as a reply to the comment you want to reply to. Then comment {{User:CF/Portal|Your portal name|1}}
[Your comment text here.] ~~~~ in the place where you want to reply. You'll need to use two newlines between portal your comment text if you putting it at the start of a new topic. You could theoretically put the second portal anywhere you want. So wherever makes sense for the scope of the topic is good. --   Simanelix   (T|C) 20:55, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

I like the portals idea. Clearer + also Minecrafty.  Nixinova  T ⁄ C  20:58, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

I feel like it could also be an easier way to link to relevant discussions, like someone on Discussion A could reply "[portal] Bringing this up on another discussion" and on Discussion B they could say "[portal] Linking Discussion A due to relevance" or something (thinking out loud here) 👁 Image
amethyst_hhh👁 Image
21:26, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

Yes. The portals work like threads on Discord. And stating that you are splitting the discussion next to your portal is a great idea. --   Simanelix   (T|C) 21:48, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

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 Oppose Whydeletemyaccs * talk * contributions 19:50, 13 June 2026 (UTC)