Template:Smallcaps all/doc

Usage

This template shows all text in smallcaps as a hard format. That is, the caps are permanent, regardless of user preferences. For example:

• {{smallcaps all|Hello World}} → HELLO WORLD

The template performs two steps: bare text is changed into uppercase, and it is shown in small caps.

Difference from {{smallcaps}}

The {{smallcaps}} template is for soft formatting, which is more often what is desired. There are three differences between the templates:

1. All input text is shown in small caps, not just the lowercase input. Compare:

• {{smallcaps|Hello World}} → Hello World
• {{smallcaps all|Hello World}} → HELLO WORLD

Note that the initial full capitals are gone.

2. The bare, unstyled text is changed into uppercase. This is relevant for non-CSS browsers, and when one copy-pastes the page. Compare:

• {{smallcaps|Hello World}} → Hello World. Copy-paste produces: Hello World
• {{smallcaps all|Hello World}} → HELLO WORLD. Copy-paste produces: HELLO WORLD

3. To maintain initial full capitals, a second parameter is to be used. Doing this has no effect on how text is displayed in non-CSS browsers and with copy-paste. Example:

• {{smallcaps all|H|ello}} {{smallcaps all|W|orld}} → HELLO WORLD. Copy-paste produces: HELLO WORLD

General Usage

This template should only be used for words, such as acronyms, that should be capitalized regardless of typographic style. Examples are NASA and BC/AD, which are stylistic variants of NASA and BC/AD.

It should not be used for things that are not inherently capitalized, such as the use of small caps to distinguish given from family names, because it makes the capitalization permanent, and the reader cannot override it. In such cases, the template {{smallcaps}} should be used instead.

Examples

To lighten ALL-CAP words, abbreviations, or acronyms, as a matter of typographic style

• The initialism UNESCO (instead of UNESCO)
• The trademark TIME (instead of TIME)
• Dates such as 625 BCE

If the template is placed outside a link, it will capitalize the link itself, so in some cases it needs to be placed inside the link.

See also

Templates that change the display (copy-paste will get the original text):

• {{Allcaps}} – upper-case display
• {{Nocaps}} – lower-case display
• {{Smallcaps}} – small-caps display

Magic words that rewrite the output (copy-paste will get the text as displayed):

• {{lc:}} – lower case output of the full text
• {{uc:}} – upper case output of the full text
• {{lcfirst:}} – lower case output of the first character only
• {{ucfirst:}} – upper case output of the first character only