Examples

A few examples of contextual names:

• _
• _self
• _user
• +address
• _left+address

Note: to understand the following examples, you will need a basic understanding of link syntax and inclusion syntax.

Context: who is signed in

 

Let's consider the contextual name "_user".  The meaning of this name varies depending upon who is using the site.  For example, here is what we see if we link to _user with this link syntax "[[_user]]":

Anonymous

If you are not logged in, you will see this as a link to Anonymous.  If you're logged in as "Bob Dylan", you'll see a link to Bob Dylan. 

 

Context: card content

 

Here is the raw content of a card named Earth:

Our planet is named {{_self|link}}. {{_|name}} has seven continents.  See [[+continents]]

And here is what Earth looks like when it is rendered:

Our planet is named Earth. Earth has seven continents.  See +continents

Note how in the context of the "Earth" card, both "_self" and its short form "_" refer to "Earth".

 

Also note what happens to the "+continents" card.  In the context of the Earth card, the absolute name is "Earth+continents".  In order to be less visually noisy, the text of the link is still just "+continents", but the link itself points to "Earth+continents".  You can confirm by clicking or mousing over the link.

 

Context: plus card content

 

Plus cards support still more contextual names, including _left and _right.  Here is the raw content of a plus card named Earth+continents (the one we linked to in the previous example):

Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe, Antarctica, and North and South America are all [[_right]] on planet [[_left]].

And here is what that card looks like rendered:

Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe, Antarctica, and North and South America are all continents on planet Earth.

 

 

How To

Use these terms in links, inclusions, or searches:

_user

the card of the person currently signed in (see above)

 

_main

the main card of the page.  Required in Layout cards, but can be used anywhere.

E.g., the main card of this page:

• [[_main]] gives us: contextual names

_self, _, +

the card's name. You can also use _ for short.

E.g., in the context of the Earth card, these refer to Earth:

• _self
• _

...and these refer to Earth+continents

• _self+continents
• _+continents
• +continents

Note that cards beginning or ending with "+" are contextual cards, and that "+address" refers to the same card as "_self+address".

_left, _right

the parts of a plus card's name.   _right is the rightmost part; _left is everything else.

E.g., in the context of Earth+continents

• _self is "Earth+continents"
• _left is "Earth"
• _right is "continents"

...and in the context of Earth+continents+image

• _self is "Earth+continents+image"
• _left is "Earth+continents"
• _right is "image"

_L, _R, _LL, _LR,  etc 

_L and _R are short-hand for _left and _right.  You can string L's and R's together to handle arbitrarily complex plus cards.

E.g., in the context of hay+bee+sea+dee

• _L is "hay+bee+sea"
• _R is "dee"
• _LL (left's left) is "hay+bee"
• _LR (left's right) is "sea"
• _LLL (left's left's left) is "hay"
• _LLR (left's left's right) is "bee"

 

_1, _2, _3, etc

Another way to refer to plus card parts.

E.g., in the context of hay+bee+sea

• _1 is "hay"
• _2 is "bee"
• _3 is "sea"

Tips

1. These terms can be used as variables in regular web addresses - see contextual web addresses.
2. In the context of Searches, _self refers to the left side of the card's name.
   E.g., if John+friends is a Search card, then _self  refers to John, not John+friends.  (This is considered a legacy issue and will be addressed in an upcoming release).