This module is rated as ready for general use. It has reached a mature state, is considered relatively stable and bug-free, and may be used wherever appropriate. It can be mentioned on help pages and other Wikipedia resources as an option for new users. To minimise server load and avoid disruptive output, improvements should be developed through sandbox testing rather than repeated trial-and-error editing.

This Lua module is used on approximately 17,000 pages and changes may be widely noticed. Test changes in the module's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own module sandbox. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them.

This module depends on the following other modules: Module:Arguments (sandbox) Module:Lang (sandbox)

This module is required by Module:Annotated link.

This module may, by design, output alarming informational messages under certain circumstances; if these messages are displayed on any page invoking this module directly or via any other module or template using it, the page will be added to Category:Pages displaying alarming messages about Module:GetShortDescription.

{{#invoke:GetShortDescription|main |name= |only= |prefer= |fallback= |lang_italic= |lang_nocat= |lang_size= |lang_cat= |lang_rtl= |lang_no= }}

By providing only the required page name (including namespace), the module will look for an explicit {{short description}} in that page, but if not found, will try to fetch the wikidata description. If neither are found, the result will be an empty string.

If the result is a wikidata description, and it is declared (at the source) as being of a foreign language (i.e. not en), the result will be appropriately formatted by Module:Lang (the module powering {{lang}}), in accordance with MOS:OTHERLANG; see #Foreign language wikidata descriptions (below).

Markup: {{#invoke:GetShortDescription|main |name=Wikipedia}}

Result: table

This is equivalent to stating |prefer=explicit; see #prefer (below).

Providing a value for |only= will limit the search to being only for the stated description. If no description is found, the result will be an empty string, unless a fallback is provided; see #fallback (below).

Markup: {{#invoke:GetShortDescription|main |name=Wikipedia |only=explicit }}

Result: table

Markup: {{#invoke:GetShortDescription|main |name=Wikipedia |only=wikidata }}

Result: table

Providing a value for |prefer= will initiate the search for the stated description, but try for the alternative if none is found. If no description is found, the result will be an empty string, unless a fallback is provided; see #fallback (below).

Markup: {{#invoke:GetShortDescription|main |name=Wikipedia |prefer=explicit }}

Result: table

Markup: {{#invoke:GetShortDescription|main |name=Wikipedia |prefer=wikidata }}

Result: table

If a value for |fallback= is provided, and no description is found by the expressed route, the result will be the stated fallback.

Markup: {{#invoke:GetShortDescription|main |name=Example |only=explicit |fallback=This is a fallback }}

Result:

Markup: {{#invoke:GetShortDescription|main |name=Example |prefer=wikidata |fallback=This is a fallback }}

Result: table

Should a wikidata description be retrieved, which is declared (at the source) as being of a foreign language (i.e. not en), per MOS:OTHERLANG, the return will be formatted as appropriate by Module:Lang by default. This may be disabled with |lang_no=yes or adjusted via the parameters for {{lang}}: |lang_italic=, |lang_nocat=, |lang_size=, |lang_cat= and |lang_rtl=; see lang's documentation for details.

Providing a value for |objectify_alarm= will cause alarming messages (red informational messages) to be returned as tables.

Providing a value for |report_redlinks= will cause the return of a report instead of nothing in the event that the page named is nonexistent (i.e. a WP:REDLINK) and a search for a {{short description}} template is processed.

A table will also be returned in the event that the module is instructed to |prefer=explicit (its default), and returns a Wikidata description. If the reason for there being no explicit short description is because it was set to none; the table will include a value for table.none

See below for examples of these behaviors:

local getShortDescription = require( 'Module:GetShortDescription' ).main

local short_description = getShortDescription( {
  -- required
    name = 'page name',

  -- optional
    prefer = 'explicit' or 'wikidata',
    only = 'explicit' or 'wikidata',
    fallback = 'fallback',

    objectify_alarm = true,
    report_redlinks = true,

    lang_no = 'yes',

    -- {{lang}} options
    lang_italic = <yes, no, unset, invert, default>,
    lang_nocat = <yes, y, true, t, on, 1>,
    lang_size = <CSS font-size e.g. '1.5em'>,
    lang_cat = <no, n, false, f, off, 0>,
    lang_rtl = <no (default), yes>
} )

-- If we've requested to report_redlinks or to objectify_alarm then
if type( short_description ) == 'table' then
  if short_description.alarm then
    -- An alarming message has been returned
    local alarming_message = short_description.alarm
  elseif short_description.redlink then
    -- Do something about that
  elseif short_description.wikidata then
    -- A Wikidata description was returned without being explicitly requested
    local wikidata_description = short_description.wikidata
    if short_description.none then
      -- Because the explicit short desc was 'none'
    end
  end
end