Template:About

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Module:About

This template is used on approximately 171,000 pages.
To avoid major disruption and server load, any changes should be tested in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. The tested changes can be added to this page in a single edit. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them.

{{About}} is a commonly used hatnote template on Wikipedia for linking the reader to other articles with similar titles or concepts that they may have been seeking instead.

This template should be used on articles only if other topics and articles exist with very similar names. For most articles, this is not true, so do not use this template on them.

Usage

This template should be placed at the top of an article (but following {{Short description}}, if present). The template has several formats, including:

{{About}} →
{{About|Use1}} →
{{About||Use2|Article2}} →
{{About|||Article (disambiguation)}} →
{{About|Use1||Article2}} →
{{About|Use1||Article2|and|Article3}} →
{{About|Use1|Use2|Article2}} →
{{About|Use1|Use2|Article2|and|Article3}} →
{{About|Use1|Use2|Article2|and|Article3|and|Article4|and|Article5}} →
{{About|Use1|Use2|Article2|Use3|Article3}} →
{{About|Use1|Use2|Article2|other uses}} →

The template {{For-multi}} produces the same hatnote, but without the initial This template is about.

Styling in italics

Please see Wikipedia:Hatnote § Hatnotes with italics in the links (WP:ITHAT) for details about how to use italics in hatnotes.

Parameters

Alternately, a |section=yes parameter can be added to the {{About}} template for use at the top of a section. When using this parameter, the wording in the template changes to specify that it is being used in a section:

{{About|Use1|section=yes}} →
{{About|Use1||Article2|section=yes}} →
{{About|Use1|Use2|Article2|section=yes}} →
{{About|Use1|Use2|Article2|and|Article3|section=yes}} →
{{About|Use1|Use2|Article2|other uses|section=yes}} →

A |text= option adds text to the end; this should only be used when truly necessary, when the other hatnote templates listed below don't suffice.

The |selfref=yes option marks the entire hatnote as a Wikipedia self-reference, causing it to be omitted when the page content is reused outside of Wikipedia (see {{self reference}} and MOS:SELFREF for more details).

For more options, see section "TemplateData" below.

Tracking categories

Templates in articles that link to nonexistent pages are tracked in Category:Articles with hatnote templates targeting a nonexistent page (0).

TemplateData

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

TemplateData for About

This template is a hatnote in the format "This page is about … For other uses …".

Template parameters[Edit template data]
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Page description	`1`	What the page this template is placed on is about ("This page is about …")	String	suggested
Other page 1 description	`2`	What the first other page is about. If unused or blank, defaults to "other uses".	String	suggested
Other page 1 title	`3`	The title of the first other page. If unused, defaults to "[page title] (disambiguation)".	Page name	suggested
Other page 2 description	`4`	What the second other page is about.	String	optional
Other page 2 title	`5`	The title of the second other page. If unused or blank and parameter 4 exists, defaults to "[page title] (disambiguation)".	Page name	optional
Other page 3 description	`6`	What the third other page is about.	String	optional
Other page 3 title	`7`	The title of the third other page. If unused or blank and parameter 6 exists, defaults to "[page title] (disambiguation)".	Page name	optional
Other page 4 description	`8`	What the fourth other page is about.	String	optional
Other page 4 title	`9`	The title of the fourth other page. If unused or blank and parameter 8 exists, defaults to "[page title] (disambiguation)".	Page name	optional
section	`section`	Pass "yes" in this parameter to get wording appropriate for use at the top of a section. Auto value `yes`	String	optional
Custom text	`text`	Text to be appended to the end.	String	optional

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 Hatnote templates
Generic
For and about
Other topics
Redirect
Distinguish
For use in sections
Special
Subject specific

Template:About

Contents

Usage

Styling in italics

Parameters

Tracking categories

TemplateData

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