Draft: New Countdown Template

The actual draft for the template can be found here: Template:Countdown/sandbox
This page is a draft of the documentation that will eventually be moved over to Template:Countdown.

Planned

Elements of the template found in this section are either in progress or simply hypothetical. They are used to guide the process of creating the template.

Parameters

'end_date'

• Required?: Yes
  

The date that the countdown ends. It can be in any date format that the #time parser function supports.

'end_time'

• Required?: Optional
  

The time that the countdown ends, on the day defined by 'end date'. It can be in any time format that the #time parser function supports.
If left blank, the template will default to midnight.

'utc_offset'

• Required?: Optional
  

The time zone of the 'end_time parameter, defined by the number of hours offset from UTC.
If left blank, the template will default to UTC+0.

'display_style'

• Required?: Optional
  

The style of the countdown, which can be either text or a visual clock (created by using a table with invisible borders). If left blank, the template will default to text.

'first_time_unit'

• Required?: Optional
  

The first time unit to be displayed on the countdown. For example, putting "hours" will create a countdown where the largest unit of time is hours, not days. If 'first_time_unit' is more precise than 'last_time_unit', the template will not return anything.
If left blank, the template defaults to using days.

'last_time_unit'

• Required?: Optional
  

The last time unit to be displayed on the countdown. For example, putting "hours" will create a countdown where the smallest unit of time is hours, not minutes or seconds. If 'last_time_unit' is less precise than 'first_time_unit', the template will not return anything.
If left blank and 'end_time' is also blank, the template defaults to using days as the last time unit. If left blank, but 'end time' is not blank, the template defaults to using seconds.

'when_zero'

• Required?: Optional
  

The message to return or action to do when the countdown reaches zero. This can be used either to display a message or pass on an action to another part of a larger template. 'display_style' does not affect this parameter.
The template will not use a default for this parameter when blank.

Variables

(Note: Check to see if variables can be used in this wiki before writing any documentation for this section)

Usages

• Countdown to episode broadcasts and manga file releases
• Control the newepisode and newmovie templates to display a different message when either type of program has been broadcasted/released.