Template:As of/doc

This is a documentation subpage for Template:As of.
It may contain usage information, categories and other content that is not part of the original template page.

This template is used on approximately 125,000 pages.
To avoid major disruption and server load, any changes should be tested in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. The tested changes can be added to this page in a single edit. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them.

Usage

The template {{As of}} is used to mark potentially dated statements, and will add an article to the appropriate hidden sub-category of Category:Articles containing potentially dated statements. This allows editors to catalogue statements that may become outdated over time. The date used for a given statement should be the date of the most recent reliable source (for currently valid statements), or the date on which the cited reference was produced (for example, when using census data). It should not be used for future dates (use {{update after}} instead). This template should not be substituted.

Notes:

This template MUST NOT be used in infoboxes that emit a microformat, as its emitted date markup will conflict with that.
This template is not necessary within quotations, and use of the template in such cases should be avoided.

This template does not generate a visible hyperlink in text where it is used.

Usage guidelines

The {{As of}} template is meant for cases where an article aims to provide the most current information and will need future updates. It should not be used for historical facts that won't change, such as "population of Toledo, Ohio, was 13,768 as of the 1860 Census." Instead, use it for statements that will need updating with new data, like "the population of Toledo as of the 2020 Census was 287,208" which should be updated when a newer census is conducted. The date used for a given statement should be the date of the most recent reliable source (for currently valid statements), or the date on which the data were obtained (for example, when using census figures).

"As of" should not be used with future dates, as it will place the article in nonexistent categories. Instead use {{Update after}} to mark when the next event will occur. Here are two ways to correctly mark statements with future dates:

{{As of|2024|post=,}} construction is expected to finish in 2034 and cost US$28 billion.

Construction is expected to finish in 2034 and cost US$28 billion.{{update after|2034}}

Remember to always use precise language when writing about future or current events. The statement should make sense to a reader years into the future, even if the information has changed. If it is possible to predict when a statement will need updating, use the {{Update after}} template to indicate when it should be updated. In the above statement the most obvious date is 31 December 2034, after which time construction will have finished or the statement will have become inaccurate. In either case the article should be updated to reflect this.

When "As of" phrasing is not ideal, you can improve encyclopedic prose in either of two ways:

{{As of|since=y|2024|12|post=,}} the head of the congregation has been the Rev. Ann O. Nymous, which gives: Since December 2024,^[update] the head of the congregation has been the Rev. Ann O. Nymous
{{As of|alt=Beginning in early 2024|2024|01|post=,}} production of the series moved to Toronto, which gives: Beginning in early 2024,^[update] production of the series moved to Toronto

Avoid starting multiple paragraphs or sentences with "As of" to prevent a distracting list-like effect. Both "As of" and "Since" can be made lower-case for use in mid-sentence, by addition of the |lc=y parameter, and any use of |alt=... can contain text beginning with lower case.

Using this template with values such as {{As of|now}} or variables such as {{As of|{{CURRENTYEAR}}}} is a relative time reference and the equivalent to using "currently", which is generally against the precise language guideline.

Syntax

The template can be used in the following forms, with numeric date information:

{{As of|year}}

{{As of|year|month}}

{{As of|year|month|day}}

Leading zeroes are optional.

Please do not use {{As of|{{CURRENTYEAR}}|{{CURRENTMONTH}}}} or similar; that defeats the purpose of the template.

Several additional named parameters can also be used, including some non-numeric input (see below).

Parameters

Required

year (first parameter) – must be in full numerical four-digit format (yyyy)

Optional

month (second parameter) – full, abbreviated, or two-digit numerical formats supported (01 indicating January, 02 February, etc., but also accepting Jan and January)
day (third parameter) – numerical two- or one-digit format only (dd or d)

Named

alt – optional; allows substitution of different wording and case for the visible text output (including the date). If present with no value defined, this parameter is ignored; if a value is defined, values for |df and |lc and |since parameters are ignored.
df – "date format", optional; allows use of American date format with |df=US. This only has an effect when the full |year|month|day format is also used.
lc – "lower case", optional; if given any value at all (e.g. |lc=y) gives lower case "as of date", for use mid-sentence.
since – optional; if given any value at all (e.g. |since=y) it changes "As of" to "Since". Use of |lc=y with |since=y gives "since date. Use of |alt= will replace the entire output, including the "Since", as it will with the default "As of".
bare – Set to yes to display only the date with no accompanying text.
pre – text to insert before the date, and after "[A|a]s of" or "[S|s]ince", e.g. |pre=the first week of used like this: {{as of|1997|pre=the first week of}} produces "As of the first week of 1997^[update]".
post – text (almost always punctuation) to insert between the date and the superscripted note that is displayed if the user has ".asof-tag { display: inline !important; }," ".asof-tag.ref { display: inline !important; }" or ".asof-tag.ref { display: inline !important; }" added to their common.css page .
For these users,
{{As of|2024|12|22|post=,}} no more bears were found

gives
"As of 22 December 2024,[update] no more bears were found"

(comma before the superscripted note)

while
{{As of|2024|12|22}}, no more bears were found

produces the undesirable result (contrary to WP:REFPUNC) with regard to the location of the comma:
"As of 22 December 2024[update], no more bears were found"

Note: the ^[update] tag is a tag that shows when url is not specified and the user has ".asof-tag { display: inline !important; }" or ".asof-tag.update { display: inline !important; }" added to their common.css page. It contains a link to edit the page.

url – optional; adds an inline external link (hidden by default) suggesting a webpage for future editors to check for updates to the statement; use the full URL with no spaces.

Note: This will only show if the user has ".asof-tag { display: inline !important; }" or ".asof-tag.ref { display: inline !important; }" added to their common.css page. It will show as a hyperlinked ^[ref] tag after the template. See Wikipedia:As of#Article maintenance.

Examples

{{As of|2024}} – As of 2024

{{As of|2024|12}} – As of December 2024

{{As of|2024|12|22}} – As of 22 December 2024

{{As of|2024|12|22|df=US}} – As of December 22, 2024

{{As of|2024|12|22|lc=y}} – as of 22 December 2024

{{As of|2010|4|1|alt=as of the [[2010 United States census]]}} – as of the 2010 United States census

January 15, 2001 – {{As of|2024|12|22|alt=present}} – January 15, 2001 – present

{{As of|2024|12|url=https://wiki.riteme.site/}} returns:

for logged in users, with links displayed (see Wikipedia:As of) – As of December 2024^[ref]

for all other users – As of December 2024

{{As of|2024|12|22|df=US|since=y}} – Since December 22, 2024

{{As of|2024|12|22|lc=y|since=y}} – since 22 December 2024

Maintenance categories

Category:Pages using as of template with unknown parameters (1)

TemplateData

This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:As of in articles based on its TemplateData.

TemplateData for As of

Use this template to mark potentially dated statements. It will add the article to a corresponding monthly or yearly hidden subcategory of Category:Articles containing potentially dated statements. This allows editors to catalogue statements that may become dated over time. It should not be used for statements mentioning future dates (use {{Update after}} instead).

Template parameters
This template prefers inline formatting of parameters.
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Year	`1`	The year the statement is valid to (in full; yyyy) Example 2013	Number	required
Month	`2`	The month the statement is valid to. Full (January, january), abbreviated (Jan, jan) or numerical formats (01, 1) are supported. "01" provides the most consistency in wikitext, but all will be converted to "January" in articles and for categories. Example January, january, Jan, jan, 01, 1	Line	suggested
Day	`3`	The day the statement is valid to, in numerical format (01 or 1; both will be converted to 1). This will show to users, but it will not be used to categorise the article. Example 22	Number	optional
Date format	`df`	If a day has been specified, enter "US" or "us" here to use the US date format (January 1, 2013). The default format is 1 January 2013. Example US, us Auto value `US`	Line	optional
Lowercase	`lc`	Enter any text here to make the first letter of the template lowercase. Example y Auto value `y`	Boolean	optional
Alternative text	`alt`	Text to replace the "As of [date]". This will override the display of the template, but the values under month and year will still be used to categorise the article. Wiki markup is allowed. Example As of Christmas 2018	Content	optional
Since	`since`	Enter any text here to replace the text "As of" with "Since". Example y Auto value `y`	Boolean	optional
URL	`url`	(Hidden by default) A URL containing future updates to the statement for other editors to check. This will only show if the user has ".asof-tag { display: inline !important; }" or ".asof-tag.ref { display: inline !important; }" added to their common.css page. It will show as a hyperlinked superscript "[ref]" tag after the template. Enter the full URL with no spaces.	URL	optional
Pre-text	`pre`	Text to be added before the date Example the first week of	String	optional
Post-text	`post`	Text to be added after the date, usually punctuation. Only necessary if the user wishes to ensure the punctuation/text is positioned before the superscript tags that are enabled by adding ".asof-tag.ref { display: inline !important; }" to the commons.css page. Example .	Line	optional
Bare?	`bare`	Set to yes to display only the date with no accompanying text.	Boolean	suggested