Module:Featured

This module is used to dynamically render and archive "featured" content on HopperWiki. Common themes include featured people, resources, and species. It provides a clean and maintainable way to manage, display, and update featured content using the Template:Featured register template and Cargo for automatic registration and querying.

Features

Dynamically displays the most recent featured item on the front page
Supports archive rendering for all previous featured items
Uses Template:Featured register on each subpage for automatic Cargo registration — no separate index page required
Driven by simple metadata (date_featured) stored directly in Cargo

Usage

Display the most recent featured item

Use this to show the latest featured item of a specific type (e.g., on the front page):

{{#invoke:Featured|render|person}}
{{#invoke:Featured|render|resource}}
{{#invoke:Featured|render|species}}

Display an archive of all featured items

Use this to show all featured entries of a given type, in reverse chronological order:

{{#invoke:Featured|render_archive|person}}
{{#invoke:Featured|render_archive|resource}}
{{#invoke:Featured|render_archive|species}}

This will transclude each featured item subpage and display them all together.

Adding a new featured item

Creating a new featured item requires only one step: create a subpage under the appropriate template and call {{Featured register}} at the top (no wrapping tags needed on the subpage itself).

For example, to add a new featured person, create Template:Featured person/Hector Medina with:

{{Featured register|type=person|date_featured=YYYY-MM-DD}}
Content of the featured card goes here...

Substitute person with resource or species as appropriate. The Cargo table updates automatically on save — no index page edit required.

Scheduling future featured items

Setting date_featured to a future date will suppress the item until that date arrives, since the module only selects entries on or before today.

Template:Featured register

This template handles Cargo registration for all featured subpages. It declares and stores to the Featured_content Cargo table with the following fields:

type — content type (person, resource, or species)
featured_page — full page name, auto-populated via {{FULLPAGENAME}}
date_featured — ISO date string (YYYY-MM-DD) controlling display order

Configuration

This module supports multiple content types via internal configuration. Each type defines:

template_prefix — base template namespace (e.g., Template:Featured person/)

To add a new type, add an entry to the featured_types table in the module — no changes to {{Featured register}} or the Cargo table are needed.

-- Module:Featured
-- Renders featured content using Cargo for registration and lookup.
-- Replaces index-based discovery with direct Cargo queries.
-- Table: Featured_content | Fields: type, featured_page, date_featured

local p = {}

local featured_types = {
    person = {
        template_prefix = "Template:Featured person/",
    },
    resource = {
        template_prefix = "Template:Featured resource/",
    },
    species = {
        template_prefix = "Template:Featured species/",
    }
}

-- Returns the subpage slug from a full page title
-- e.g. "Template:Featured person/Hector Medina" -> "Hector Medina"
local function slug_from_page(featured_page, prefix)
    return featured_page:sub(#prefix + 1)
end

-- Queries Cargo for all featured items of a given type, sorted by date descending
local function query_featured(type_key)
    return mw.ext.cargo.query(
        'Featured_content',
        'featured_page,date_featured',
        {
            where   = 'type="' .. type_key .. '"',
            orderBy = 'date_featured DESC',
        }
    )
end

-- Renders the most recently featured item of a given type
-- Usage: {{#invoke:Featured|render|person}}
function p.render(frame)
    local type_key = mw.text.trim(frame.args[1] or "")

    if not type_key or not featured_types[type_key] then
        return "❌ Invalid or missing featured type."
    end

    local config = featured_types[type_key]
    local results = query_featured(type_key)

    if not results or #results == 0 then
        return string.format("❌ No featured %s entries found in Cargo.", type_key)
    end

    -- Most recent item is first due to ORDER BY date_featured DESC
    local slug = slug_from_page(results[1].featured_page, config.template_prefix)
    return frame:preprocess("{{" .. config.template_prefix .. slug .. "}}")
end

-- Renders an archive of all featured items of a given type, sorted by most recent
-- Usage: {{#invoke:Featured|render_archive|person}}
function p.render_archive(frame)
    local type_key = mw.text.trim(frame.args[1] or "")

    if not type_key or not featured_types[type_key] then
        return "❌ Invalid or missing featured type."
    end

    local config = featured_types[type_key]
    local results = query_featured(type_key)

    if not results or #results == 0 then
        return string.format("❌ No featured %s entries found in Cargo.", type_key)
    end

    local output = {}
    table.insert(output, '<div class="featured-archive">')
    for _, item in ipairs(results) do
        local slug = slug_from_page(item.featured_page, config.template_prefix)
        table.insert(output, frame:preprocess(string.format(
            "{{Front page card|header=Featured %s|content={{%s}}}}",
            type_key, config.template_prefix .. slug
        )))
    end
    table.insert(output, '</div>')

    return table.concat(output, "\n")
end

return p