Template:Aka/doc

This template provides the string "a.k.a." (or alternatively "AKA") marked up as an abbreviation, with a mouse-over tooltip explaining that it means "also known as". It is intended for first use of "a.k.a." or "AKA" in an article, and need not be used in subsequent cases on the same page.

Usage

Example:
     ...funded by ARPA {{aka}} DARPA. gives:
     ...funded by ARPA a.k.a. DARPA.

Parameters

• |uc=y (for "uppercase") or |AKA=y – Will change the "a.k.a." output to read "AKA". This should not be used in contexts which contain a lot of acronyms. However, it is useful in contexts that already have a lot of periods (full points).

There is no parameter to output the substandard "aka", which is not a word in English, and is not recommended by style guides in any dialect. Even British English, which eschews full points (periods) for abbreviations that begin and end with the same letters as the full word (e.g. "Dr" rather than "Dr." for "Doctor") still uses them for acronyms that are given in lower case ("r.s.v.p.", "i.e.", "e.g.") and which have not been assimilated into English as words (as "scuba", "laser", and "radar" have been). One of the intended uses of this template is to replace instances of aka in article leads with {{aka}}.

There is no parameter to output "A.K.A.", an obsolete style of treating all-uppercase acronyms and initialisms, which is recommended against by the PBC:Manual of Style.