What functionality is missing? What is unsatisfying with the current situation?

  Under the current system, several of the Template Specific Connections (Owning Rank, Location etc.) can only be linked to by creating a new article. In many cases this is fine, however, for some connections that don't especially justify a full article, such as for commonly used terms where a full article may not be necessary, this either prevents the user from making those connections, or requires the creation of a proper article, which repeated ad nauseum by the whole community will eventually result in negative problems for the wider website as the masses of unnecessary articles create server bloat.

How does this feature request address the current situation?

  Allowing users to link those connections to variables would reduce server bloat (by reducing the number of unnecessary articles being created, especially for empty articles).

What are other uses for this feature request?

  At the level of the reader, being able to use variables for these connections would enable readers to read the useful blurb about connections with limited information on them without needing to load another page.