Contents

Template:Infobox

This template is used on approximately 3,300,000 pages, or roughly 5% of all pages. To avoid major disruption and server load, any changes should be tested in the template's /sandboxor/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.

This template uses Lua: Module:Infobox (sandbox)

Template:Infobox is intended as a meta template: a template used for constructing other templates. Note: In general, it is not meant for use directly in an article, but can be used on a one-off basis if required. Help:Infobox contains an introduction about the recommended content and design of infoboxes; Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Infoboxes contains additional style guidelines. See WP:List of infoboxes and Category:Infobox templates for lists of prepared topic-specific infoboxes.

Usage

{{Infobox}} is a meta-template: used to organise an actual {{Infobox sometopic}} template (like {{Infobox building}}).

For [[Template:Infobox sometopic]], template code then looks like this, simplified:

{{Infobox
| name     = {{{name|{{PAGENAME}}}}}
| image    = {{{image|}}}
| caption1 = {{{caption|}}}

| label1   = Former names
|  data1   = {{{former_names|}}}

| header2  = General information

| label3   = Status
|  data3   = {{{status|}}}
... <!-- etc. -->
}}

Optional control parameters

name

If this parameter is present, "view, talk and edit" links will be added to the bottom of the infobox pointing to the named page, prefixed by Template: if no namespace is specified. You may use the value {{subst:PAGENAME}}; however, this is rarely what you want because it will send users clicking these links in an infobox to the template code rather than the data in the infobox they probably want to change.

child

See the Embedding section for details. If this is set to "yes", this child infobox should be titled but have no name parameter. This parameter is empty by default, set it to "yes" to activate it.

subbox

See the Subboxes section for details. If this is set to "yes", this subbox should be titled but have no name parameter. This parameter is empty by default, set to "yes" to activate it. It has no effect if the |child= parameter is also set to "yes".

decat

If this is set to "yes", the current page will not be autocategorized in a maintenance category when the generated infobox has some problems or no visible data section. Leave empty by default or set to "yes" to activate it.

autoheaders

If this is set to any non-blank value, headers which are not followed by data fields are suppressed. See the "hiding headers when all its data fields are empty" section for more details.

Content parameters

Title

There are two different ways to put a title on an infobox. One contains the title inside the infobox's border in the uppermost cell of the table, the other puts it as a caption on top of the table. You can use them both together, or just one or the other, or neither (though this is not recommended):

title

Text to put in the caption over the top of the table (or as section header before the whole content of this table, if this is a child infobox). For accessibility reasons, this is the most recommended alternative.

above

Text to put within the uppermost cell of the table.

subheader(n)

additional title fields which fit below |title=} and |above=}, but before images.

Examples:

{{Infobox
 | name       = {{subst:PAGENAME}}
 | title      = Text in caption over infobox
 | subheader  = Subheader of the infobox
 | header     = (the rest of the infobox goes here)
}}

{{Infobox
 | name       = {{subst:PAGENAME}}
 | above      = Text in uppermost cell of infobox
 | subheader  = Subheader of the infobox
 | subheader2 = Second subheader of the infobox
 | header     = (the rest of the infobox goes here)
}}

Illustration images

image(n)

images to display at the top of the template. Use full image syntax, for example [[File:example.png|200px|alt=Example alt text]]. Image is centered by default. See WP:ALT for more on alt text.

caption(n)

Text to put underneath the images.

Main data

header(n)

Text to use as a header in row n.

label(n)

Text to use as a label in row n.

data(n)

Text to display as data in row n.

Note: for any given value for (n), not all combinations of parameters are permitted. The presence of a |header(n)= will cause the corresponding |data(n)= (and |rowclass(n)= |label(n)=, see below) to be ignored; the absence of a |data(n)= will cause the corresponding |label(n)= to be ignored. Valid combinations for any single row are:

• |class(n)= |header(n)=
• |rowclass(n)= |class(n)= |data(n)=
• |rowclass(n)= |label(n)= |class(n)= |data(n)=

See the rendering of header4, label4, and data4 in the Examples section below.

Number ranges

To allow flexibility when the layout of an infobox is changed, it may be helpful when developing an infobox to use non-contiguous numbers for header and label/data rows. Parameters for new rows can then be inserted in future without having to renumber existing parameters. For example:

 | header3  = Section 1
 |  label5  = Label A
 |   data5  = Data A
 |  label7  = Label C
 |   data7  = Data C
 | header10 = Section 2
 |  label12 = Label D
 |   data12 = Data D

It is also possible to automatically renumber parameter names by using User:Frietjes/infoboxgap.jsorModule:IncrementParams.

There is no upper limit on numbers but there must be at most 50 between each used number.

Making data fields optional

A row with a label but no data is not displayed. This allows for the easy creation of optional infobox content rows. To make a row optional use a parameter that defaults to an empty string, like so:

 | label5 = Population
 |  data5 = {{{population|}}}

This way if an article doesn't define the population parameter in its infobox the row won't be displayed.

For more complex fields with pre-formatted contents that would still be present even if the parameter wasn't set, you can wrap it all in an "#if" statement to make the whole thing vanish when the parameter is not used. For instance, the "#if" statement in the following example reads "#if:the parameter mass has been supplied |then display it, followed by 'kg'":

 | label6 = Mass
 |  data6 = {{ #if: {{{mass|}}} | {{{mass}}}kg}}

For more on #if, see here.

Hiding headers when all its data fields are empty

You can also make headers automatically hide when their section is empty (has no data-row showing).

Consider this situation:

{{Infobox
 | title   = Example: header with & without data
 | headerstyle = background: lightgrey

 | header1 = Header1 with empty section
 |  label2 = label2 text |  data2 =
 |  label3 = label3 text |  data3 =
 |  label4 = label4 text |  data4 =

 | header5 = Header5 with data below
 |  label6 = label6 text |   data6 = Some value
}}

If you want hide the header when no |dataN= values are present, use |autoheaders=y:

{{Infobox
 | title   = Example: header with & without data
 | autoheaders =y| headerstyle = background: lightgrey

 | header1 = Header1 with empty section
 |  label2 = label2 text |  data2 =
 |  label3 = label3 text |  data3 =
 |  label4 = label4 text |  data4 =

 | header5 = Header5 with data below
 |  label6 = label6 text |  data6 = Some value
}}

So, header1 will be shown if any of item1, item2, or item3 is defined. If none of the three parameters are defined the header won't be shown and no empty row appears before the next visible content.

Note: if the data has empty css elements, like |data=<span style="background:yellow;"></span>, this will be treated as non-empty (having data).

If|autoheaders=y but there are items that you do not want to trigger a header, place |headerX=_BLANK_. This will serve as an empty header and separate it from the subsequent items.

{{Infobox
 | title   = Example: blank header with & without data
 | autoheaders =y| headerstyle = background: lightgrey

 | header1 = Header1 with empty section
 |  label2 = label2 text |  data2 =
 |  label3 = label3 text |  data3 =
 |  label4 = label4 text |  data4 =

 | header5 = _BLANK_
 |  label6 = label6 text |  data6 = Some value, but does not trigger header1 or show header5
}}

Footer

below

Text to put in the bottom cell. The bottom cell is intended for footnotes, see-also, and other such information.

Presentation parameters

Italic titles

Titles of articles with infoboxes may be made italic, in line with WP:ITALICTITLE, by passing the italic title parameter.

• Turn on italic titles by passing |italic title={{{italic title|}}} from the infobox.
• Turn off by default (notably because only Latin script may be safely rendered in this style and italic may be needed to distinguish foreign language from local English language only in that script, but would be difficult to read for other scripts) but allow some instances to be made italic by passing |italic title={{{italic title|no}}}
• Do not make any titles italic by not passing the parameter at all.

CSS styling

HTML classes and microformats

This template supports the addition of microformat information. This is done by adding "class" attributes to various data cells, indicating what kind of information is contained within. Multiple class names may be specified, separated by spaces, some of them being used as selectors for custom styling according to a project policy or to the skin selected in user preferences, others being used for microformats.

To flag an infobox as containing hCard information, for example, add the following parameter:

 | bodyclass = vcard

And for each row containing a data cell that's part of the vcard, add a corresponding class parameter:

 | class1 = fn
 | class2 = org
 | class3 = tel

...and so forth. "above" and "title" can also be given classes, since these are usually used to display the name of the subject of the infobox.

See Wikipedia:WikiProject Microformats for more information on adding microformat information to Wikipedia, and microformat for more information on microformats in general.

Examples

Notice how the row doesn't appear in the displayed infobox when a label is defined without an accompanying data cell, and how all of them are displayed when a header is defined on the same row as a data cell. Also notice that subheaders are not bold by default like the headers used to split the main data section, because this role is meant to be for the above cell :

Test Infobox

Above text
Subheader above image
Second subheader
Caption displayed below File:Example-serious.jpg
Header defined alone
Data defined alone
All three defined (header, label, data, all with same number)
Label and data defined (label)	Label and data defined (data)
Below text
v t e

{{Infobox
 |name         = Infobox/doc
 |bodystyle    = 

 |titlestyle   = 
 |abovestyle   = background: #cfc;
 |subheaderstyle =
 |title        = Test Infobox
 |above        = Above text
 |subheader    = Subheader above image
 |subheader2   = Second subheader

 |imagestyle   = 
 |captionstyle = 
 |image        = [[File:Example-serious.jpg|200px|alt=Example alt text]]
 |caption      = Caption displayed below File:Example-serious.jpg

 |headerstyle  = background: #ccf;
 |labelstyle   = background: #ddf;
 |datastyle    = 

 |header1 = Header defined alone
 | label1 = 
 |  data1 = 
 |header2 = 
 | label2 = Label defined alone does not display (needs data, or is suppressed)
 |  data2 = 
 |header3 =
 | label3 = 
 |  data3 = Data defined alone
 |header4 = All three defined (header, label, data, all with same number)
 | label4 = does not display (same number as a header)
 |  data4 = does not display (same number as a header)
 |header5 =
 | label5 = Label and data defined (label)
 |  data5 = Label and data defined (data)

 |belowstyle = background: #ddf;
 |below      = Below text
}}

For this example, the |bodystyle= and |labelstyle= parameters are used to adjust the infobox width and define a default width for the column of labels:

{{Infobox
 |name        = Infobox/doc
 |bodystyle   = width: 20em

 |titlestyle  = 
 |title       = Test Infobox

 |headerstyle = 
 |labelstyle  = width: 33%
 |datastyle   = 

 |header1 = 
 | label1 = Label 1
 |  data1 = Data 1
 |header2 = 
 | label2 = Label 2
 |  data2 = Data 2
 |header3 = 
 | label3 = Label 3
 |  data3 = Data 3
 |header4 = Header 4
 | label4 = 
 |  data4 = 
 |header5 = 
 | label5 = Label 5
 |  data5 = Data 5: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

 |belowstyle = 
 |below = Below text
}}

Embedding

One infobox template can be embedded into another using the |child= parameter. This feature can be used to create a modular infobox, or to create better-defined logical sections. Long ago, it was necessary to use embedding in order to create infoboxes with more than 99 rows; but nowadays there's no limit to the number of rows that can be defined in a single instance of {{infobox}}.

{{Infobox
 | title = Top level title
 | data1 = {{Infobox | decat = yes | child = yes
    | title = First subsection
    | label1= Label 1.1
    | data1 = Data 1.1
   }}
 | data2 = {{Infobox | decat = yes | child = yes
  |title = Second subsection
  | label1= Label 2.1
  | data1 = Data 2.1
  }}
 | belowstyle = 
 | below = Below text
}}

Note, in the examples above, the child infobox is placed in a data field, not a header field. Notice that the section subheadings are not in bold font if bolding is not explicitly specified. To obtain bold section headings, place the child infobox in a header field (but not in a label field because it would not be displayed!), either using

{{Infobox
 | title = Top level title
 | header1 = {{Infobox | decat = yes | child = yes
    | title = First subsection
    | label1= Label 1.1
    | data1 = Data 1.1
   }}
 | header2 = {{Infobox | decat = yes | child = yes
    | title = Second subsection
    | label1= Label 2.1
    | data1 = Data 2.1
   }}
 | belowstyle = 
 | below = Below text
}}

or,

{{Infobox
 | title = Top level title
 | header1 = First subsection
   {{Infobox | decat = yes | child = yes
    | label1 = Label 1.1
    |   data1 = Data 1.1
   }}
 | header2 = Second subsection
   {{Infobox | decat = yes | child = yes
    | label1 = Label 2.1
    |  data1 = Data 2.1
   }}
 | belowstyle = 
 | below = Below text
}}

Note that omitting the |title= parameter, and not including any text preceding the embedded infobox, may result in spurious blank table rows, creating gaps in the visual presentation. The garbage output can be suppressed using |rowstyleN=display: none, replacing N with the data/header number.

Wikipedia:WikiProject Infoboxes/embed includes some links to Wikipedia articles which include infoboxes embedded within other infoboxes.

Subboxes

An alternative method for embedding is to use |subbox=yes, which removes the outer border from the infobox, but preserves the interior structure. One feature of this approach is that the parent and child boxes need not have the same structure, and the label and data fields are not aligned between the parent and child boxes because they are not in the same parent table.

{{Infobox
 | headerstyle = background-color: #eee;
 | labelstyle  = background-color: #eee;
 | header1 = Main 1
 | header2 = Main 2
 |   data3 = {{Infobox | subbox = yes
    | headerstyle = background-color: #ccc;
    | labelstyle  = background-color:#ddd;
    | header1 = Sub 3-1
    | header2 = Sub 3-2
    |  label3 = Label 3-3    |   data3 = Data 3-3
   }}
 |   data4 = {{Infobox | subbox = yes
    | labelstyle  = background-color: #ccc;
    |  label1 = Label 4-1    |   data1 = Data 4-1
   }}
 |  label5 = Label 5 |   data5 = Data 5
 | header6 = Main 6
}}

Similar embedding techniques may be used within content parameters of some other templates generating tables (such as Sidebar):

{{Sidebar
 | navbar = off
 | headingstyle = background-color: #eee;
 | heading1 = Heading 1
 | heading2 = Heading 2
 | content3 = {{Infobox | subbox = yes
    | headerstyle = background-color: #ccc;
    | labelstyle = background-color: #ddd;
    | header1 = Sub 3-1
    | header2 = Sub 3-2
    |  label3 = Label 3-3 |   data3 = Data 3-3
   }}
 | content4 = {{Infobox | subbox = yes
    | labelstyle = background-color: #ccc;
    |  label1 = Label 4-1 |   data1 = Data 4-1
   }}
 | heading5 = Heading 5
}}

Note that the default padding of the parent data cell containing each subbox is still visible, so the subboxes are slightly narrower than the parent box and there's a higher vertical spacing between standard cells of the parent box than between cells of distinct subboxes.

Controlling line-breaking in embedded bulletless lists

Template {{nbsp}} may be used with {{wbr}} and {{nowrap}} to control line-breaking in bulletless lists embedded in infoboxes (e.g. cast list in {{Infobox film}}), to prevent wrapped long entries from being confused with multiple entries. See Template:Wbr/doc#Controlling line-breaking in infoboxes for details.

Full blank syntax

(Note: there is no limit to the number of possible rows; only 20 are given below since infoboxes larger than that will be relatively rare. Just extend the numbering as needed. The microformat "class" parameters are also omitted as they are not commonly used.)

{{Infobox
| name           = {{subst:PAGENAME}}
| child          = {{{child|}}}
| subbox         = {{{subbox|}}}
| italic title   = {{{italic title|no}}}
| templatestyles = 
| child templatestyles = 
| grandchild templatestyles = 
| bodystyle      = 

| titlestyle     = 
| abovestyle     = 
| subheaderstyle = 
| title          = 
| above          = 
| subheader      = 

|   imagestyle   = 
| captionstyle   = 
|   image        = 
| caption        = 
|   image2       = 
| caption2       = 

| headerstyle    = 
|  labelstyle    = 
|   datastyle    = 
| header1  = 
|  label1  = 
|   data1  = 
| header2  = 
|  label2  = 
|   data2  = 
| header3  = 
|  label3  = 
|   data3  = 
| header4  = 
|  label4  = 
|   data4  = 
| header5  = 
|  label5  = 
|   data5  = 
| header6  = 
|  label6  = 
|   data6  = 
| header7  = 
|  label7  = 
|   data7  = 
| header8  = 
|  label8  = 
|   data8  = 
| header9  = 
|  label9  = 
|   data9  = 
| header10 = 
|  label10 = 
|   data10 = 
| header11 = 
|  label11 = 
|   data11 = 
| header12 = 
|  label12 = 
|   data12 = 
| header13 = 
|  label13 = 
|   data13 = 
| header14 = 
|  label14 = 
|   data14 = 
| header15 = 
|  label15 = 
|   data15 = 
| header16 = 
|  label16 = 
|   data16 = 
| header17 = 
|  label17 = 
|   data17 = 
| header18 = 
|  label18 = 
|   data18 = 
| header19 = 
|  label19 = 
|   data19 = 
| header20 = 
|  label20 = 
|   data20 = 

| belowstyle     = 
| below          = 
}}