Template:Self-sourcing examples
 | This article gives self-sourcing popular culture examples whose notability is not verifiable or meaningful in the context of the main topic. |
| Template documentation follows |
|---|
| Note: the template above may sometimes be partially or fully invisible. |
| Visit "Template:Self-sourcing examples/doc" to edit its documentation if it is available. (How does this work?) |
Example template usage for copy-pasting:
{{Self-sourcing examples|section|date=October 2026}}
{{Self-sourcing examples|section|small=y|date=October 2026}}
{{Self-sourcing examples|date=October 2026}}
{{Self-sourcing examples|date=October 2026|talk=Talk page section}}
Self-sourcing examples
Examples should be meaningful in the context of the article, explained in the prose and cited to reliable sources
A self-sourcing example in popular culture, according to current consensus by discussion on WT:V, is an example that is cited to primary sources, or an example with citations that only establish the verifiability of the example. An example in popular culture should have sources that not only establish its verifiability, but also discuss its significance in the context of the article.
Examples of self-sourcing examples
A self-sourcing example might look like the following:
- References
- 1. Walt Disney (1940). Pinocchio.
- 2. Nugent, Frank S. (February 8, 1940). "Pinocchio - The Screen in Review". The New York Times.
The provided sources establish the verifiability of the example. They might even establish its notability. However, they do not discuss the example in the context it's given in the article. Such an example may be challenged or removed.
A source that does discuss the significance of an example in the context of the article might look like the following:
- References
- 1.Vincent H. Resh; Ring T. Cardé (2009), "Insects in Movies", Encyclopedia of Insects, Academic Press, pp. 668–674, ISBN 9780080920900,
Arguably the most well-known animated arthropod was Jiminy Cricket, who initially appeared in a supporting role in the 1940 Walt Disney feature Pinocchio. Disney animators used a talking cricket, a minor character that appeared in the original Pinocchio story by Carlo Collodi, to unify disparate elements within the film. The character proved to be popular as a "voice of conscience" and appeared in several series of subsequent short subjects and educational films. Jiminy exemplifies the liberties taken with insect morphology by animators; although early sketches depicted the character with more insect-like features, the final film version, with its two arms and two legs, eyes with pupils, and morning coat and vest, resembles a dapper elf more than any arthropod.
The source discusses the example, in the context of the article, at relative depth, while explaining the example's significance in that context.
A source that discusses an example as significant in one context does not necessarily show its significance in another context:
- References
- 1.Vincent H. Resh; Ring T. Cardé (2009), "Insects in Movies", Encyclopedia of Insects, Academic Press, pp. 668–674, ISBN 9780080920900
The source discusses the example in a different context than the one provided.
Some examples may be of questionable importance.
Usage
When to use
This template indicates that the article or section needs additional inline citations that do not fall under self-sourcing examples. This template should be used only for articles where there are insufficient inline citations to support the material currently in the article.
Inline alternatives
Please consider marking individual poorly-referenced statements with {{Better source needed example}} or {{importance example}} instead of placing this template.
How to use
According to MOS:LAYOUT, maintenance templates such as this one ought be placed after hatnotes, at the start of the article. That placement is supported by consensus obtained in an RfC at Template talk:More citations needed § RfC: Location of Tag.
The optional |talk= parameter is allowed; setting this to any non-empty value will result in the message "See talk page for details." being included in the tag. If the value is a valid anchor on the talk page (e.g., the title of a section or subsection heading), then the talk page link will go directly to that anchor; if not, to the top of the page.
The optional |small= parameter is allowed; setting this to any non-empty value will result in a smaller, left-aligned message box.
The optional |date= parameter is allowed; it requires using a non-abbreviated month name and four-digit year. Adding this parameter sorts the article into subcategories of Category:Articles needing additional references and out of the parent category, allowing the oldest problems to be identified and dealt with first. A bot will add this parameter if it is omitted. This parameter adds the article to Category:Articles needing additional references from October 2026, and Category:All articles needing additional references, both hidden categories. The simplest way to use this parameter manually is to copy the following example:
{{Self-sourcing examples|date=October 2026}}
A user warning template, {{Uw-refexample}}, is available to notify contributors that an article they created needs its referencing improved.
Template data
TemplateData for Self-sourcing examples
This template generates a tag to indicate that the article needs additional inline citations that do not fall under "self-sourcing examples".
| Parameter | Description | Type | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type (typically section) | 1 | Something to replace "article" in the template, typically "section" | String | optional |
| Date | date | The month and year that the need for citations is identified, such as 'June 2013'; may use '{{subst:DATE}}' template instead
| String | suggested |
| Talk | talk | Any value (such as 'y') will result in the addition of 'See talk page for details.' to the tag | String | optional |
| small | small | Any value (such as 'y') will result in a smaller message box | String | optional |
See also
- WP:INDISCRIMINATE
- Discussion and consensus about the verifiability of examples
- Template:Citation needed/doc#Inline templates
- {{Importance example}} — an inline variation of this template
- {{Better source}}
- {{Refimprove inline}}
- {{Example farm}}
- Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup/Verifiability and sources
| Sourcing | |
| BLP-specific | |
| Topic-specific | |
| Dispute-related | |
| Citation improvements | |
| General advice |
- Template:Self-sourcing examples invokes Module:Navbox using Lua.
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.