Template:Original research span/doc

This is a documentation subpage for Template:Original research span.
It may contain usage information, categories and other content that is not part of the original template page.

__EXPECTED_UNCONNECTED_PAGE__

Shortcuts

{{or span}}
{{OR span}}

Usage

Do not substitute this template.

The {{Original research span}} template may be used to nudge fellow editors who may inadvertently (or otherwise) introduce text that appears based upon original research, into supporting such text through demonstrating its previously researched origins. This template provides a good faith means for editors to allow given text of fellow editors to remain temporarily in a given article until such time as the text's previously researched origins are supported. In the event that researched origins for the text are not produced after a relatively small passage of time (i.e., no more than a few days), the tagging editor would generally be right in assuming that it could be edited or otherwise removed from the article to comply with Wikipedia:No original research. When a given editor adds this template they must concurrently add corresponding text to the tagged article's talk page to explain their concerns relative to original research for the given tagged text unless talk already exists relative to such concerns. If a given article has been tagged and the tagging editor doesn't ensure that corresponding article talk relative to the tag isn't either already available or added within a short amount of time (i.e., no more than 24 hours) then fellow editors are within their rights to remove the tag or alternatively, add talk in support of its use.

This template is an alternative to {{original research inline}} that attaches explicitly to a portion of text, for example one or more specific sentences, by surrounding the text with the template. This is especially useful for flagging a block of multiple facts or multiple sentences as possible original research, and for singling out a specific fact that may be based upon original research among many attributable ones. It will categorise tagged articles into Category:Articles that may contain original research. This template is a self-reference and so is part of the Wikipedia project rather than the encyclopedic content.

Avoid use for multiple paragraphs or around a list without closing and opening each template around each paragraph or list item. This kind of use causes linting errors and may disrupt the page display. An alternative with multiple paragraphs is {{Original research section}}.

Once the issue is resolved, please remove this template from the surrounded text.

{{original research span|date=October 2026|Passage(s) that may be based upon original research}}, or:

{{original research span|date=October 2026|text=Passage(s) that may based upon original research}}

The date is optional, so the minimal syntax is:

{{original research span|Passage(s) that may be based upon original research}}

Example of usage:

Material attributable to reliable sources. {{original research span|date=October 2026|Possibly OR material.}} Material attributable to reliable sources.

Material attributable to reliable sources. Possibly OR material.^{[original research?]} Material attributable to reliable sources.

Compare usage of {{original research inline}}:

Material attributable to reliable sources. Possibly OR material.{{original research inline}} More possibly OR material.{{original research inline}} More material attributable to reliable sources.

Material attributable to reliable sources. Possibly OR material.^{[original research?]} More possibly OR material.^{[original research?]} More material attributable to reliable sources.

Parameters

There are three parameters to the template:

|text= (or no parameter): The content that may be based upon original research.
|date=: The date in the form October 2026. If omitted, AnomieBOT will add it if there are no new edits for a few minutes.
|certain=: If set to a value such as y or true, will remove the "?" in the tag, displaying it as ^{[original research]}.

TemplateData

This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:Original research span in articles based on its TemplateData.

TemplateData for Original research span

Marks a specific piece of text as possibly based on original research.

Template parameters
This template prefers inline formatting of parameters.
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Text	`text` `1`	The content that may be based upon original research Auto value	Content	required
Month and year	`date`	Provides the month and year; e.g., 'January 2013', but not 'jan13' Example June 2015 Auto value `{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}`	Date	suggested
Certainty indicator	`certain`	If set to any value such as y, yes, true, etc., it will remove the '?' and show '[original research]'.	String	optional

Categorization of articles

Adding this template to an article places the article into Category:All articles that may contain original research and/or dated subcategories thereof.

Usage

This template can be used to make a standard navigation box. It is intended for use within another template that standardises the title and contents of the box (see Template:ShipNavbox). This template SHOULD NOT be used directly within articles, as it creates a maintenance burden to do so whenever the contents of the box have to be updated.

The purpose of this template is to standardise the attributes of all navigation boxes, for example, their colours and other CSS attributes. The template is fairly simple, and could be extended to add other features in the future. Using this template allows changes to be implemented much quicker and easier than editing each template separately.

Syntax

{{navbox
|state      = uncollapsed, collapsed, plain, autocollapse (default)
|name       = mandatory - name of the template
|style      = optional - style for the whole table
|title      = mandatory - navbox header
|gtitleN    = optional - title of N-th group of items
|styleN     = optional - style for groupN; i.e. text-align
|groupN     = mandatory - list of groups of items
|fstyle     = optional - style for footer ; i.e. text-align
|footer     = optional - navbox footer
}}

Groups: Currently there is no technical limit to the maximum number of groups.
- Groups of items can be added as parameters: group1, group2, group3, ... up to groupN.
Group title: Each group has its own title parameter: gtitle1, gtitle2, gtitle3, ... up to gtitleN. Note that the default width for the first column is 15%.
Group style: Style may also be customised to each group in: style1, style2, style3, ... up to styleN.
- Note that neither the title nor the items have any wiki-links built into the template. As a result, users of the template are free to use wiki-links as they wish.
Line breaks: Line-breaks (<br />) are unnecessary, as text wrapping is done automatically by the template. This also includes links and text in gtitleN and groupN.
Bullets: Create unordered lists with lines beginning with *.
Pipe links: Because of the nature of template syntax, it may be necessary to use Template:! ({{!}}).

States

Autocollapse: By default, the state of a navbox is "autocollapsed". This means that if the number of navboxes in a page exceeds the maximum allocation of the collapsible navboxes, then the remaining navboxes are collapsed automatically. For more information (or to change the setting), see MediaWiki:Common.js.
- Currently, the autocollapse allocation is 2 (see MediaWiki:Common.js). This means that if there are 3 navboxes in a page, the third and subsequent navboxes will be collapsed automatically.
Uncollapsed: Forces the navbox to be displayed.
- All of the navboxes in this documentation are in the uncollapsed state.
Collapsed: The reverse of uncollapsed. Forces the navbox to be hidden instead.
- Navboxes with a height of more than 300 pixels will also be collapsed automatically. For more information (or to change the setting), see MediaWiki:Common.js.
Plain: Removes the "show/hide" link.

Sub-groups

For larger navboxes, it may be necessary to include sub-groups within a particular group of items. It is also possible to collapsible navboxes within the parent navbox, see Collapsible sub-groups.
To create sub-groups within {{navbox}}, certain parameters are to be included:
- The parent navbox group (i.e. group2 in the example below) requires the type parameter (gtype2 = Subgroup).
- The nested navbox (sub-group) requires the inclusion of the sub-group parameter (subgroup = yes). This enables the template to differentiate between the sub-group and the parent navbox.

{{navbox
|name    =
|title   =
|gtitle1 =
|group1  =
|gtitle2 =  
|gtype2  = Subgroup (mandatory)
|group2  = 
  {{navbox
  |subgroup = yes (mandatory)
  |gtitle1  = 
  |group1   =
  |gtitle2  = 
  |group2   = 
  }}
}}

Collapsible sub-groups

For extremely long navboxes, it is recommended to use collapsible navboxes within the parent navbox. Further sub-groups can then be added to these collapsible navboxes.
To create collapsible sub-groups within {{navbox}}, these parameters need to be included:
- The parent navbox is almost always uncollapsed (state=uncollapsed).
- The parent navbox group (i.e. group1 in the example below) requires the type parameter (gtype1 = Subgroup).
- The nested collapsible navbox requires the inclusion of the collapsible parameter (collapsible = yes). This enables the template to differentiate between the collapsible navbox and the parent navbox.
- The nested collapsible navbox is forcefully collapsed (state=collapsed).

{{navbox
|state  = uncollapsed
|name   = 
|gtype1 = Subgroup
|group1 = 
  {{navbox
  |collapsible = yes
  |state   = collapsed
  |title   = 
  |gtitle1 = 
  |group1  = 
  |gtitle2 = 
  |group2  = 
  }}
}}

Use of images

The use of images in navboxes is permitted, but please resize the images to keep them small. Inventory-sized images (25-30 pixels) are recommended.
Please use {{t|plink}} to create links with images. Use {{t|plink}} for any case where text is not desired after the link. It functions the same as {{t|plink}}, but it does not produce a wikilink in text. Use {{t|chatl}} to link chatheads. These templates create links for both the image and text (except for {{t|plink}}) using far less wikicode than the standard syntax.

Link and file share the same name

{{plink|Item}}

File name differs from the link

{{plink|Item|File}}

Link and file share the same name, but different text is desired to display

{{plink|Item|alt=Text}}

File name differs from the link and different text is desired to display

{{plink|Item|File|alt=Text}}

Categorising

Navboxes are very useful for transcluding categories onto a large number of pages that share both a trait and the navigation box. For example: Template:ShipNavbox transcludes Category:Ships onto every page that uses it.

There are 2 methods of categorising pages with navboxes:

The first way is with {{t|Ctg}}. This is the preferred method, and can be used in most cases. The rules and operations for the Category handler template are very simple; however, they are enough to produce the desired results on most pages.

Categorisation should only be used on a template for large-scale addition. It is unhelpful, for example, to use a rule that only applies to 1 page.

Examples

To see the following navboxes in action, see Template:Navbox.

Single line navbox with centered list

{{navbox
|name    = 
|title   = 
|style1  = text-align:center
|group1  =
}}

Navbox with standard footer

{{navbox
|name    = 
|title   = 
|gtitle1 = 
|group1  = 
|footer  = Centered footer
}}

Navbox with styled footer

{{navbox
|name    = 
|title   = 
|gtitle1 = 
|group1  = 
|fstyle  = text-align:right
|footer  = Right-aligned footer
}}

Multiple line navbox

{{navbox
|name    = 
|title   = 
|gtitle1 = Group title 1
|group1  = 
|gtitle2 = Group title 2
|group2  = 
|gtitle3 = Group title 3
|group3  = 
}}

Collapsed navbox

{{navbox
|state   = collapsed
|name    = 
|title   = 
|style1  = text-align:center
|group1  = 
}}

Plain navbox with Tnavbar

{{navbox
|state   = plain
|name    = 
|title   = 
|style1  = text-align:center
|group1  = 
}}

Plain navbox without Tnavbar

{{navbox
|state   = plain
|title   = 
|style1  = text-align:center
|group1  = 
}}

Complicated navbox

{{navbox
|state   = uncollapsed
|name    = 
|title   = 
|gtitle1 = Level 1 Title 1
|group1  = 
|gtitle2 = Level 1 Title 2
|group2  = 
|gtitle3 = Level 1 Title 3
|group3  = 
|gtitle4 = Level 1 Title 4
|group4  = 
|gtitle5 = Level 1 Title 5
|gtype5  = Subgroup
|group5  = 
  {{navbox
  |subgroup = Yes
  |gtitle1  = Level 2 Title 1
  |group1   =
  |gtitle2  = Level 2 Title 2
  |group2   =
  |gtitle3  = Level 2 Title 3
  |gtype3   = Subgroup
  |group3   = 
    {{navbox
    |subgroup = Yes
    |gtitle1  = Level 3 Title 1
    |group1   =
    |gtitle2  = Level 3 Title 2
    |group2   =
    }}
  |gtitle4  = Level 2 Title 4
  |group4   = 
  }}
|gtitle6 = Level 1 Title 6
|group6  = 
|gtitle7 = Level 1 Title 7
|group7  = 
|fstyle  = 
|footer  = 
}}

Preventing unwanted documentation

The Navbox template's documentation is automatically transcluded under the navbox on any Template namespace page. It is not transcluded when used as a sub-group or collapsible sub-group template (subgroup= yes or collapsible=yes).

Should the documentation appear when it is unwanted, it can be hidden by setting the doc parameter doc=no on the template. In most cases, the doc parameter is NOT used and the parameter is removed completely.

v • d • e Inline cleanup tags
Attribution
Clarity
Miscellaneous
Neutrality
Precision
Time-sensitivity
Verifiability
Wording
General advice

Usage

Parameters

TemplateData

Categorization of articles

See also

Usage

Syntax

States

Sub-groups

Collapsible sub-groups

Use of images

Categorising

Examples

Single line navbox with centered list

Navbox with standard footer

Navbox with styled footer

Multiple line navbox

Collapsed navbox

Plain navbox with Tnavbar

Plain navbox without Tnavbar

Complicated navbox

Preventing unwanted documentation