Using variables for colors in table cells

Question

Using the variables extension, I want to change the background color of a cell in a table. So far I've done this:

{{#vardefine:green|<span style="background:Green; color:White">text</span>}}

The problem is that, when I add {{#var:green}} to the cell, only the text itself has a green background. Ideally, I want the whole cell to have a background color, like it does if I use this:

| bgcolor="#ff00ff" | test

or this

| style="background:silver" |silver

in the cell.

Does anyone know how to solve this?

Answer 1

That's simply not going to work. I presume your table row looks like this:

 | Not in span {{#var:green|Text}}

That means you're defining a span within the cell, not defining the color of the cell itself.

 | Not in span <span style="background:Green; color:White">Text</span>

Cell styles have to go before the content:

 | bgcolor="green" | Now it's all green

Instead, why not tag the row with a CSS class called 'green' and then define that in your Wiki CSS? See Help:Table#Style classes.

Answer 2

The answer was provided on the mwusers forum.

Essentially I need to:

1. Create Template:! - which contains only | (see it on Wikipedia)

2. Define the variables, e.g.:

   {{#vardefine: sample1 | bgcolor=green{{!}}Test}}

3. Enter this in a cell:

   {{#var:sample1}}