Help:Template types

Template classification is the act of assigning your templates a type that then determines how that template will appear on mobile web. Types also make your wiki smarter and your templates easier to manage.

The biggest difference is what happens in the mobile experience. Classification tells the software whether to employ certain editing tools – like the Infobox Builder GUI – and it helps give an accurate census on which to base Fandom's development priorities.

When do you need to classify a template?


 * When you create a new template and you are classifying it for the first time
 * When a template isn't showing up properly on mobile and you need to change its classification

If you don't have a specific reason to think you need to change a template's classification, you probably can ignore its classification.

How it works


A template's current type is shown just under the page title on a template page. This type can be changed by logged-in users who have edit permissions on that template.

Updates can be made via the template page and via the right rail of the editor when you're editing the template. Clicking the listed type or the pencil icon next to it will open a dialog that lets you select the template type.

Additionally, a dialog will ask you for the template type when creating a new template or when publishing an edit to a template page which has no type set.

Any automated classifications - those detected by the "machine" systems - are overridden by your classification choices.

Bulk edits
Admins can bulk edit template types via category pages. If a category contains one or more templates, an option to 'Bulk edit template type' will appear under the 'Edit' button dropdown.

When a bulk edit is saved, all previously set types will be overwritten.

If the category contains 150+ pages in any namespace, there may be a delay between saving your changes and seeing the correct type populated.



Log
Changes made to a template's classification can be seen on Special:Log and be filtered under the 'Template type' option.

Template types
The current template types are listed below. There are some overlaps between the types, so we recommend you choose the type that is most specific to each template.

Infobox
Infoboxes display the most essential information about an article in a box at the top of the page. These usually float to the right side of the page but sometimes they span the entire width of the page. Giving an infobox the classification of "Infobox" will help the server's census to identify infoboxes correctly.

A template should only be classed as an infobox when its contents only and entirely create an infobox. Templates that help constitute an infobox – that is, parts of an infobox – are better classed as "non-article" templates. Conversely, if the infobox is merely a part of a template that creates a page – or a substantial part of a page – then it's actually better to use "Design".


 * Examples
 * IndianaJones – Template:Infobox Artifact
 * Scrubs – Template:Character
 * DragonBall – Template:Volume Infobox

Quote
Many communities use quote templates to highlight notable snippets of text such as lyrics, book passages, spoken phrases, or extracts from interviews or news articles. These templates usually contain a quote from a single source.


 * Quote templates strip most formatting on mobile web and enclose the text as an italicized and indented block. As such, this classification should not be used for dialogue between two parties (where "Design" is suggested).


 * Examples
 * TheHungerGames – Template:Quote
 * Ben10 – Template:Quote

Navbox
Navbox templates display a list of organized links in a box for readers to navigate to related articles, usually at the bottom of the page.


 * Elements that use the  class are hidden by default on mobile web, unless the immediate parent element has the   class.


 * Examples
 * RuneScape – Template:Weapon
 * Undertale – Template:Navbox characters
 * Disney – Template:Rescue Rangers

Notice
Also known as message boxes, alerts, or maintenance tags, these templates notify the reader about the status of the article itself. Most notices are editing notes (like "delete this page", "update these sections", or "clean up the links") – notes that most non-editing mobile users will disregard.

Notice templates often appear at the very top of an article page or section.


 * Hidden by default on mobile web.


 * Examples:
 * Fallout – Template:Update
 * FinalFantasy – Template:Section
 * Warframe – Template:Speculation


 * Notices meant for all readers should be classified as "Design"; if it links to an internal article (for example, a "spoiler warning" notice linked to the spoilers policy), Context-link may also be appropriate.

Context-link
These templates (often called "hatnotes") suggest another page that is related to the current page or section. The two most frequent uses of this type are "Main article" or "See also" and display as italicized text. These are used at the top of an article page or at the top of a section within an article page.
 * On mobile web, this type is an indented block element, offset by significant vertical space.


 * Examples
 * VampireDiaries – Template:Main
 * MLP – Template:See also
 * PowerListing – Template:For

Infoicon
These templates are used for creating a link or text with a small icon. These are very popular on gaming communities to represent currency, items, or controller symbols. The icons are sometimes linked to other pages.

Infoicons can appear inside paragraph text, inside infoboxes, or in bulleted lists.


 * On mobile web, these templates render only the icon, with no corresponding text nor any other content beyond the image.


 * Visual Examples
 * Horde icon.png Horde
 * &uarr; image is part of Infoicon template, but text is not


 * PlayStation X Button.png X-button
 * &uarr; image is part of Infoicon template, but text is not


 * Smiley.gif


 * Example Templates
 * Fallout – Template:Icon
 * Wowpedia – Template:Horde

Scrollbox
These templates display their contents in a scrollable box. Scrollboxes are used to conserve space on article pages for very long lists.


 * Examples
 * StarWars – Template:Scroll box
 * Simpsons – Template:Scroll
 * LotR – Template:Scroll

Citation or reference
These templates organize and standardize the display how sources of content on an article page are annotated. These can be either used to place a single reference in an article or to build a references list at the bottom of the article page.

These templates can optionally use tags or build in-line citations.


 * Examples
 * ArrestedDevelopment – Template:Ep
 * Fringe – Template:Crossref
 * Logos – Template:Reflist

Image, video, or gallery
The purpose of any template in the image, video, or gallery type is to standardize or modify the display of one or more images or videos on an article page.

These are often used to build a gallery or to format how an image thumbnail displays.


 * Examples
 * OnePiece – Template:Gallery
 * Lostpedia – Template:I
 * DragonAge – Template:Icon

Data
Any templates that do not fall into the types above but add information or data to an article page should be classified as data. This includes (but is certainly not limited to) templates that are used to build tables, templates that are used to generate math equations, or pieces of data (e.g. price of an item, release version of a game, etc.) that are inserted on multiple pages.


 * Examples
 * YuGiOh – Template:DM card
 * Borderlands – Template:Item table row
 * ArrestedDevelopment – Template:Season 3 Episodes

Design
If a template's sole purpose is to modify how an article page (or a piece of an article page) looks, it should be classified as design. Common uses include adding tabs, modifying the visual display of text or tables, or relocating the table of contents. This is also the suggested classification for multi-person dialogue, due to quote handling on mobile devices.


 * Examples
 * StarWars – Template:Credits
 * Simpsons – Template:Tab
 * LadyGaga – Template:Scroll box
 * GameOfThrones – Template:Dialogue a-b

Navigation
If a template's sole purpose is to help readers or other editors find another article page or category it should be classified as navigation. Example uses include page-top icons, recommended links to other websites, categorizers, or succession boxes.

The most popular types of navigation templates are navboxes and context links, which are listed above.
 * Navigation templates that contain ,   , or   elements are hidden by default on mobile web.


 * Example
 * Scrubs – Template:Music floater

Non-article
Assign this type if a template is not used on any article (content) pages. For example, if the template is only used on talk pages, template pages, file pages, user pages, or only on your community's main page. Examples of what can go into this classification are documentation templates, main page modules, sub-templates, and image licensing templates.

"Non-article" does not mean, "This template won't appear on article pages". It means only that the template is not meant to be used directly on article pages. Template documentation pages (namely, those in /doc sub-pages) should always be "Non-article", regardless of what they're documenting.

Examples:
 * TheodoreTugboat – Template:Talk header
 * AssassinsCreed – Template:CC-BY-SA

Unknown
This type is used by default if no other template type is chosen.

Template types and categories
The template types feature is separate from template categories. Since the usage of such categories vary hugely across Fandom, template classification and categories do not affect each other. You can continue to use template categories exactly as the same as before.

Further help and feedback
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