This is the {{key press}} template primarily designed to illustrate keys and keystrokes on a computer keyboard. With additional parameters, a single template can even illustrate a combination of multiple simultaneous keystrokes. A sequence of keystrokes, on the other hand, need to be demonstrated with separate templates.
Example
{{key press|<A>}}→ A
As lower-case alphabetic characters a–z do not appear on most keyboards, they should not be used as parameters.
Keystroke combinations
To illustrate keystroke combinations, just use extra parameters:
{{key press|<Alt>|<P>}}→ Alt+P
{{key press|<Ctrl>|<Alt>|<Del>}}→ Ctrl+Alt+Del
When you feed several key names to this template, it adds a "+" (or whatever the contents of the optional chain parameter) with no spaces around. This means it won't line wrap. But when you show key combinations for instance in a table that might cause items to be too wide. Instead manually build the key combination with spaces around the "+" so it can line wrap:
{{key press|<Ctrl>}}+{{key press|Alt}}+{{key press|Del}}→ Ctrl
+ Alt + Del
{{key press|<Ctrl>|<Alt>|<Del>|<chain= + >}}→ Ctrl + Alt + Del
To illustrate sequences where all keys do not need to be pressed simultaneously, the plus signs can be omitted by setting chain=. For example, in most Windows systems in North America and Western Europe, Alt codes can be used to insert the plus-minus sign (±) by holding down the Alt
key while typing 0177 with the numeric keypad:
{{key press|<Alt>|<0>}}{{key press|1|7|7|chain=}}→ Alt+0
177
An example of a use case where more than 5 might be used is explaining usage of a macro (keyboard shortcut) created by a third-party application:
{{Key press|<Ctrl>|<Alt>|<Shift>|<Win>|<Menu>|<fn>|<L>}}→ Ctrl+Alt+⇧ Shift+⊞ Win+≣ Menu+fn+L
Wikilinks
If there is an article about the key you can wikilink the key's name like any other wiki text. Like this:
If you are wikilinking the keys, please ensure that you are piping to the correct page (e.g. [[Alt key|Alt]] instead of [[Alt]], which leads to a disambiguation page).
Wiki markup characters
Some wiki markup characters, like the pipe symbol, the semicolon and the equals sign, need to be entered using the {{!}}, {{;}} and {{=}} templates or as an HTML entity |, ;, = respectively:
{{key press|<→ Template:Pipe{{pipe}}>}}
{{key press|<|>}}→ |
{{key press|<→ Template:;{{;}}>}}
{{key press|<;>}}→ ;
{{key press|<=>}}→ =
However, if the characters are marked as wikilinks, they can be entered as such:
Most markup characters also have aliases:
{{key press|<pipe>}}→ |
{{key press|<semicolon>}}→ ;
{{key press|<equals>}}→ =
{{key press|<colon>}}→ :
{{key press|<asterisk>}}→ *
{{key press|<hash>}}→ #
Key symbols
Some key names have a fitting Unicode character. This template automatically adds such "icons" to the following key names among others.
{{key press|<Shift>}}→ ⇧ Shift
{{key press|<Tab>}}→ Tab ↹
{{key press|<Enter>}}→ ↵ Enter
{{key press|<Option>}}→ ⌥ Option
{{key press|<Opt>}}→ ⌥ Opt
{{key press|<Command>}}→ ⌘ Command
{{key press|<Cmd>}}→ ⌘ Cmd
{{key press|<Caps Lock>}}→ ⇪ Caps Lock
{{key press|<Up>}}→ ↑
{{key press|<Down>}}→ ↓
{{key press|<Left>}}→ ←
{{key press|<Right>}}→ →
There are no characters for the Windows key and Menu key. So this template shows approximate characters for them, namely the Template:Sc2 and Template:Sc2 from the Mathematical Operators Unicode block:
{{key press|<Win>}}→ ⊞ Win
{{key press|<Menu>}}→ ≣ Menu
In some cases, the automatic recognition of tokens and consequently the addition of symbols may not be desired; in these cases the token recognition can be suppressed by HTML encoding the text, e.g. {{key press|Enter}} will give Enter
(plain text) instead of ↵ Enter (token).
Video games
Video game controllers often have specialized input labels that do not map easily. The following are mappings for various game consoles and input features.
Directional input
The following should only be used when the input sequence uses something other than the primary input or mixes input between directional devices.
{{key press|<l-down>}}→ L↓
{{key press|<c-left>}}→ C←
{{key press|<r-up>}}→ R↑
Stick specific diagonals are also supported:
{{key press|<l-nw>}}→ L↖
{{key press|<c-se>}}→ C↘
{{key press|<r-ne>}}→ R↗
PlayStation
{{key press|<ex>}}→ ×
{{key press|<circle>}}→ ○
{{key press|<triangle>}}→ △
{{key press|<square>}}→ □
TemplateData
Illustrates keys and keystrokes on a computer keyboard. Keys can include: Ctrl, Alt, Del, Opt, Menu, Left etc. console keys: ex, circle, triangle, square, and left right and center analog sticks: l-down, c-left, r-ne. The names are case insensitive.
| Parameter | Description | Type | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First key | 1 | First key | Line | required |
| Second key | 2 | Optional key press in combination as the first. | Line | optional |
| Third key | 3 | Optional key press in combination as the first. | Line | optional |
| Fourth key | 4 | Optional key press in combination as the first. | Line | optional |
| Fifth key | 5 | Optional key press in combination as the first. | Line | optional |
| Sixth key | 6 | Optional key press in combination as the first. | Line | optional |
| Seventh key | 7 | Optional key press in combination as the first. | Line | optional |
| Eighth key | 8 | Optional key press in combination as the first. | Line | optional |
| Ninth key | 9 | Optional key press in combination as the first. | Line | optional |
| Tenth key | 10 | Optional key press in combination as the first. | Line | optional |
| Chaining character | chain | Character between chained key presses
| Line | optional |
| Chaining character | chain first | Character between first and second key to press
| Line | optional |
| Chaining character | chain second | Character between second and third key to press
| Line | optional |
| Chaining character | chain third | Character between third and fourth key to press
| Line | optional |
| Chaining character | chain fourth | Character between fourth and fifth key to press
| Line | optional |