Forum:How to implement Custom Infoboxes?

Now, I'm relatively new to the wiki building scene, but I figure I should make some priorities first. While it isn't as important as many would think it is, I'm a stickler for neat Infoboxes. My problem? I'm not really fond of the default infobox that wikia has set up, and I'd like to utilize some other Infobox templates for my wiki here: http://omnipedia.wikia.com/wiki/OmniMundus_Wiki

So, not fond of the default infobox template wikia has to offer. Too bland and not quite detailed enough for my tastes. While it is reccommended to use the default, I'm just not too into it. The Infobox templates I am interested in making use of however, are the ones over at Wookiepedia here. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Infobox_templates

While they're not going to be total cut and pastes; going to have to edit some of the Information provided in the Infoboxes to suit my needs; they are what I'm looking for. My question is, how exactly do I implement custom infoboxes into my wiki?

Sergeant-Captain Scorps00:07, September 24, 2010 (UTC)

Hello! To add a new infobox, you will need to create a new page called "Template:Infobox (Your Name Here)". Next import the infobox you want to copy from Wookieepedia into your new template page. Finally, you can put it in your article by typing

Let me know if this helps! MontagnaMagica|Talk 01:03, September 24, 2010 (UTC)

I believe it will help. Thank you very much.


 * Note: - Just copying Wookipedia infoboxes will NOT work generally, like Wikipedia ones they use several other (sub) templates to create them and require css code adding to the sites MediaWiki:Common.css file (to create the look) and may require additional code for the collapsing function to work. (wikia change from time to time so what code is issued as 'standard' with a new wiki changes depending when it was created).
 * They (wookipedia) also have the documentation included the template page which includes a section for re-generating the infobox that is very confusing to update to create you own version. Seperate documentation as used on wikipedia has several advantages & Wikia now offer a cut down (simplified version) of the documentation template to place it on a sub page.
 * See also several recent posts in the forum here about infoboxes issues. And the Templates Wiki has a number of Wikia optimised / compatible versions of common template types. - BulldozerD11 11:46, September 24, 2010 (UTC)

This is all quite difficult to understand fully. Is it possible to use Wookieepedia's Infoboxes for my own or is there something more I have to do other than create a template pages to house them all? I've tried doing it for a Government Infobox, but most of the information seems to be screwing up on its own as I integrate them into my Wiki. Alot of unknown characters start appearing, and messages like "This page does not exist" start popping up. Speaking of which, how do I take care of redlinks?

Sergant-Captain Scorps23:04, September 25, 2010 (UTC)


 * Yes you can create them like Wookipedia but as i said above it involves more than one 'simple' template being copied. If you link to a page were you have tried to implement an infobox and are having problems its alot easier to explain/fix specific problems than talk in general terms, based on guessing the issues.
 * Redlinks are 'major feature' of wiki and indicate a page does not exist (sort of a note saying 'create me' for readers). But when pages are copied from other wikis/wikipedia the redlinks may not be very relevant (i.e are an item that is unlikly to have a page created for it as the subject is not directly related to the new wikis content/subject area) then they may be best removed from the page to clean it up (by deleting the link(s)). In edit mode remove the  (wiki code) that form the link, (only visible when in source mode if using the Rich Text Editor) - Help:Editing. Also terms that are relevant to the wiki subject should be linked so pages can be added later to define them. Any pages without links are dead end roads for readers. - BulldozerD11 14:00, September 26, 2010 (UTC)

Alright, I've made a Template page for a Character Infobox. I plan on using this format: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Infobox_character

Only problem is that once I posted the page, the Template image changes to a seemingly default one that Wikia provided: http://omnipedia.wikia.com/wiki/Template:Infobox_Characters

Another thing is that I'd like to include certain factors from this Wookieepedia Infobox Template: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Template:Character_infobox such as Biographical, Physical, Chronological and Political Information. As well as the Background Colors format they've included; BG 1 and BG 2.

Speaking of Wookieepedia, I'd like to make eventual use of the Templates listed here whenever this problem is sorted out: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Wookieepedia:Template_messages/Infoboxes

The one that appears in my wiki however doesn't have the information that I put in there at all, and instead features a default Wikia Character Infobox with sub-categories seemingly pulled from a video game character Infobox.

Is this sufficient?

Sergeant-Captain Scorps 03:45, September 27, 2010 (UTC)


 * Your Infobox "Characters Template"is calling the default Wikia version, Infobox character and the inputs e.g |gender= has to have a corresponding entry in the template; Your Character Template is not realy a template is is just the inputs to Wikia template called "Infobox character". This is wah you would put in an article to feed the dat to the template.

within the Character template every line above should have a corresponding row code in the form | Gender which create the row label (in wikipedia the are nameded labelx and pass the text to the core infobox template) and | which is the variable in the list above that passes the data to put in the Gender row (in wikipedia they are labelled datax in the core infobox template (were x= the row no.) you then havea end of row marker |- that signifies the end of the row. Infoboxes are in effect 1 and 2 column tables. The wikia template does not use a Core template like Wikipedia:template:Infobox does to hide most of the complex coding and basic styling.

To add other items you add more lines to the templates code; e.g Biographical,

In the template add the row (positioned were you want it to appear in the list)
 * Biographical

and in the input list add;

| biograph= Note use of lower case for variables ! (position in list not critical, so new items can be added to bottom of existing template input lists, as actual template controls were it appears) Compare the code (in source edit mode) for wikia, wikipedia and wookipedia infobox templates as they all use different methods to do basically the same thing.

To add variable bacgrounds you needa item in the template in place of the fixed bacground item. Then it can be set by havinge | stylebg=BG 1 in the input list in the article. The actual coult being defined within a separate template so changing that changes EVERY page using the template that has its colour set to BG 1.

The other wookipedia template you link to is a list of many different templates all based on the same basic design, but with the inputs and row labels/ suited to the specific page/data type they are designed to go on/display.

Start with a very simple infobox and customise it in stages, as the bigger wookipedia or wikipedia ones are very complex and intimidating a first. The wikia version is a little basic but is a good starting point to learn from. What you have here - Is NOT the infobox template code, but the list of variables (parameter) that goes in an article to display the infobox called  that is why you are getting part of the default wikia version, as some match and other do not exist in the template. - BulldozerD11 13:50, September 27, 2010 (UTC)