annotation-partial-inline.tmpl

Path: template/include/annotation-partial-inline.tmpl | Language: HTML5/Pandoc | Lines: ~11

Template for rendering minimal inline annotations containing only title and author/date information.

Overview

This template produces a compact, inline annotation format suitable for embedding within text flow. Unlike the full annotation templates, it contains only the essential metadata - the title link and optional author/date information - without abstracts, thumbnails, or file includes. The entire annotation is wrapped in <span> elements to preserve inline text flow.

The template is part of gwern.net's annotation system and is used when full annotation data would be too visually heavy or disruptive for the context. This commonly occurs in running text where a link needs annotation metadata but should not break the reading flow with a large block-level element.

This layout is generated by the Haskell build system (particularly Annotation.hs and LinkMetadata.hs) when rendering annotations in contexts that require inline treatment, such as within paragraphs or list items where block-level annotations would be inappropriate.

Template Variables

Variable	Type	Description
`annotationClassSuffix`	String	Additional CSS class suffix for styling variants
`title`	HTML	The title text/content of the annotated link
`titleLinkClass`	String	CSS class(es) for the title link element
`titleLinkHref`	URL	The target URL for the title link
`titleLinkDataAttributes`	HTML	Custom data attributes for the link (e.g., `data-popup-type`)
`whichTab`	String	Text description ("a new" or "this") for accessibility
`tabOrWindow`	String	Text ("tab" or "window") for accessibility
`linkTarget`	String	HTML target attribute (`_self`, `_blank`, etc.)
`authorDateAux`	HTML	Combined author and date information
`author`	String	Author name (used in conditional logic for comma placement)

Output Structure

The template generates a minimal inline structure:

<span class="annotation[suffix]">
  <span class="data-field title [author-date-aux]">
    <a class="..." href="..." target="..." data-...>Title</a>
    [, if author present][author-date-aux content]
  </span>
</span>

Key structural features:

Double-span wrapper: Outer span for annotation context, inner span for title/metadata
Inline-only elements: Uses only <span> elements to maintain text flow
Conditional author-date-aux class: Added to inner span when author/date present
Comma separator: Inserted between title and author/date when author is present
No abstract/thumbnail/files: Only title and metadata are rendered

Conditional Logic

The template uses Hakyll's conditional syntax:

<[IF condition]>...<[IFEND]> - First-level conditional
<[IF2 condition]>...<[IF2END]> - Nested conditional

Applied to:

Author-date-aux class: The inner span gets class author-date-aux if that field exists
Comma before author-date: A comma and space (,\ ) is inserted before author/date info if the author field exists
Author-date content: The entire author/date block is only rendered if authorDateAux exists

The backslash after the comma (,\ ) preserves the space in the template output.

Use Cases

This template is ideal for:

In-paragraph citations: Links within running text that need metadata without breaking flow
List items: Annotated links in ordered or unordered lists
Table cells: Links in table content where block elements would break layout
Navigation elements: Menu items or breadcrumbs with annotation metadata
Compact contexts: Any situation where the full annotation would be too large

Comparison with Other Variants

vs. blockquote- templates*: Those use block-level elements and include abstract/thumbnail
Unique feature: Only template using <span> for fully inline treatment
Minimal data: Only renders title and author/date, omits abstract/thumbnail/files
Flow preservation: Designed to sit within text without disrupting paragraph flow

Overview​

Template Variables​

Output Structure​

Conditional Logic​

Use Cases​

Comparison with Other Variants​

See Also​