The template minor planet easily formats the nomenclature of those minor planets that are known in whole or in part by their provisional designation. The template minor planet link obeys exactly the same syntax but outputs a wikilink to an article at the appropriate namespace. Use of these templates avoids Unicode complexities in article titles while still rendering subscripts.

The templates have been designed to allow the designations to be entered with a minimum of modification needed; pipe | characters replace transitions to and from subscript, as well as slashes / and parentheses ( ).

• To quickly format a minor planet identified solely by its provisional designation (i.e. without a catalogue number), use the following pseudocode:

  {{minor planet|<leading numbers and letters>|<subscript number, if applicable>}}
  

  For example, to create 2004 MN₄, use:

  {{minor planet|2004 MN|4}}
  

• To quickly format a minor planet known by a combination of a permanent catalogue number and a provisional designation, use the following pseudocode:

  {{minor planet|<catalogue number>|<provisional designation's leading numbers and letters>|<provisional designation's subscript number, if applicable>}}
  

  For example, to create (15788) 1993 SB, use:

  {{minor planet|15788|1993 SB}}
  

  Or, to create (15760) 1992 QB₁, use:

  {{minor planet|15760|1992 QB|1}}
  

  Note that similar results as the above can also be obtained by placing both the catalogue number (in parentheses) and the provisional designation in a single field. For example, (15760) 1992 QB₁ can also be created by using:

  {{minor planet|(15760) 1992 QB|1}}
  

• The provisional designations for satellites of minor planets make reference to the primary (the "parent body"): either to the primary's permanent catalogue number, or to the primary's provisional designation, but never both. To quickly format the provisional designation of a satellite of a minor planet, use the following pseudocode:

  {{minor planet|S|<satellite's year of discovery>|<primary's catalogue number OR primary's provisional designation's leading numbers and letters>|<primary's provisional designation's subscript number, if applicable>|<satellite's trailing number>}}
  

  Note that the template functions with either four or five fields used; in the event there is no subscripted text to be included, one can use only four fields and the last field will be assumed to define the trailing number.

  For example, to create S/2000 (1998 WW₃₁) 1, use:

  {{minor planet|S|2000|1998 WW|31|1}}
  

  Or, to create S/2005 (1994 XD) 1, use:

  {{minor planet|S|2005|1994 XD|1}}
  

  Or, to create S/2003 (11264) 1, use:

  {{minor planet|S|2003|11264|1}}
  

To create a wikilink in the same way, use Template:minor planet link. It obeys exactly the same input syntax as described above, but instead outputs wikilinks to the appropriate namespace.

For example, to create a wikilink to 2009 YE7, use:

{{minor planet link|2009 YE|7}}

Or, to create a wikilink to (15760) 1992 QB1, use:

{{minor planet link|15760|1992 QB|1}}

Note, as with Template:minor planet, that a similar output as the above can also be obtained by placing both the catalogue number (in parentheses) and the provisional designation in a single field. To use the above example again, (15760) 1992 QB1 can also be created by using:

{{minor planet link|(15760) 1992 QB|1}}

Finally, to create a wikilink to S/2000 (1998 WW31) 1, use:

{{minor planet link|S|2000|1998 WW|31|1}}

Sometimes, you may wish to create a wikilink to a minor planet with a permanent catalogue number while abridging the catalogue number from in-line display. For this purpose use Template:minor planet link abridged

{{minor planet link abridged|<catalogue number>|<provisional designation's leading numbers and letters>|<subscript number, if applicable>}}

To create a wikilink to (15760) 1992 QB₁ without showing the "(15760)" part (like so: 1992 QB₁), use:

{{minor planet link abridged|15760|1992 QB|1}}

To create a wikilink to a minor planet's moon (where the minor planet is known by a provisional designation), use the following pseudocode:

{{minor planet moon link|<leading numbers and letters>|<subscript number>|<trailing letters and numbers>}}

For example, to create S/2000 (1998 WW₃₁) 1, use:

{{minor planet moon link|S/2000 (1998 WW|31|) 1}}

To format the name of a minor planet's moon (where the minor planet is known by a provisional designation), use the following pseudocode:

{{minor planet moon link abridged|<leading numbers and letters>|<subscript number>|<trailing letters and numbers>}}

For example, to create S/2000 (1998 WW₃₁) 1, use:

{{minor planet moon link abridged|S/2000 (1998 WW|31|) 1}}