Templat:Automatic taxobox/doc

This page gives more details on using the {{Automatic taxobox}} template, one of a number of "automated taxobox templates". Please ensure that you are using the right template; see Which taxobox should I use?. In particular, articles about species should almost always use {{Speciesbox}}, not this template.

If this is your first time using any of the automated taxobox templates, the pages linked in the navigation box provide information on different parts of the system. It's a good idea to at least read the introduction.

Every automatic taxobox should contain the following general layout, often with many additional parameters:

For zoological taxa:

{{Automatic taxobox
|taxon=Canis
|authority=[[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758
}}

For botanical taxa:

{{Automatic taxobox
|taxon=Nepenthes
|authority=[[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
}}

The taxon is the scientific name for whatever the article is about. If you've never entered an authority, you can get help with that from the relevant WikiProject (see a directory at WP:TOL#Scope and descendant projects.

Hit "preview". If it looks correct, you're done. Save your changes. Please don't save the page until you've first checked for and resolved all issues with the automatic taxobox.

At the end of this guide is a list of all parameters available as well as definitions for all the parameters introduced by {{Automatic taxobox}}. Most parameters from the manual {{Taxobox}} template are valid in an automatic taxobox, and for descriptions of some of the parameters, see the documentation for that template.

Creating and manipulating

"Missing taxonomy template"

If you see the message "Templat:Red (fix):", you didn't mess up the automatic taxobox. This error means that there isn't yet a taxonomy template for the value you've given |taxon=.

Creating the taxonomy template

To begin resolving this ugly red error, right-click the "fix" link and open that link in either a new tab or a new window. On the landing page, you should be editing a template corresponding to whatever taxon is at the end of the page's title. (For a complete guide to taxonomy templates, start at Introduction to taxonomy templates.)

First, fill in the rank parameter. Use the Latin name. Your options are pretty vast here (see Wikipedia:TX#Complete blank template for an extensive list of supported ranks). Some examples are as follows:

• regnum
• phylum
• classis
• ordo
• familia
• tribus
• genus
• clade or cladus
• unranked

If what you need is something extremely atypical, you can actually just type it there instead of one of the supported ranks. It might break the taxobox, but that's what Wikipedia talk:Automated taxobox system is for.

You'll see |link= is already filled in for you with to give

link={{subst:#titleparts:{{subst:PAGENAME}}|2|2}}

which happens to be wikisyntax for "the part of the title of the page that comes after "Template:Taxonomy/". In other words, it will be the name of the taxon. You can leave it alone unless the name of the taxon isn't the name of the page it links to. For example, the taxon Spheniscidae is at Penguin. In this case, you would add Penguin| before {{subst:#titleparts:{{subst:PAGENAME}}|2|2}} to give

link=Penguin|{{subst:#titleparts:{{subst:PAGENAME}}|2|2}}

or you could replace what is there already to give

link=Penguin|Spheniscidae

Next, we have the |parent= parameter. All that you need to type here is the name of the immediate parent taxon, beginning with a capital letter. Use the |refs= parameter to cite a source which says that the taxon belongs in that parent taxon – in case someone challenges it later. (The only case in which you might consider omitting this parameter is if you're using a WikiProject approved taxonomy, e.g. APG for flowering plants.)

If it's an extinct taxon, fill in the |extinct= parameter with Templat:Code (or Templat:Code). If it's extant, you can delete the whole line (or leave the value blank).

Now preview the taxonomy template page. If there are no error messages, then close it. Go back to the automatic taxobox you were making. Press "preview" again and now it should be ok. If there are error messages on the taxonomy template page, it probably means you have to repeat the process to create the taxon's parent' taxonomy template. Continue previewing and creating taxonomy templates for the ancestor taxa until the "taxonomy missing" errors cease.

Special instructions for species

Species articles only use this template in exceptional circumstances; instead use {{Speciesbox}}. See that page and its documentation.

The reason is that whenever {{Automatic taxobox}} is used with |taxon=taxon-name, a template named "Template:Taxonomy/taxon-name" must either exist or be created in order to specify the taxonomic position of taxon-name. However, for species this is not necessary, because the taxonomic position of the species can be found by extracting the genus name from the full binomial, and then looking for "Template:Taxonomy/genus-name". So using {{Speciesbox}} considerably reduces the number of taxonomy templates needed and avoids there being different taxonomies for different species in a genus.

Making the links bold

When a taxobox appears in an article, the taxon the article is about should have its name displayed in bold. For this to work, the |link= parameter in its taxonomy template must be right. Suppose the taxon in question has the name taxon-name and the article it appears in has the title article-title. Then in the template "Taxonomy/taxon-name":

• if taxon-name and article-title are the same, you should see |link=taxon-name
• if taxon-name and article-title are different, you should see |link=article-title|taxon-name.

Ensure the link is entered so that it points directly to the article on that taxon without being redirected first. If the page gets moved, the taxon template that links to that article will need to be updated in order to maintain the proper bolding.

Change the taxobox header

By default the header to the taxobox will be based on the target taxon and the page title and it will automatically be italicized if it's a genus (this template, {{Automatic taxobox}}, shouldn't normally be used for species).

If you want a different header (e.g. the common name), then specify |name=.

Add an image

Use the |image= and |image_caption= parameters just like you would with the {{Taxobox}}.

If you want a second image, add |image2= and |image2_caption=.

Synonyms

Here's an example of what to add to a taxobox where Genius and Geniosus happen to be synonyms of the named zoological taxon:

 |synonyms=
 * ''Genius'' {{small|[[Baggins]], 1934}}
 * ''Geniosus'' {{small|[[Harvey]], 1734}}

(Dates are omitted for botanical taxa.) For long lists of synonyms, {{Genus list}} and {{Taxon list}} make entry easier. Don't forget to complete |synonyms_ref=.

Forcing a taxon to display

If there's a particularly notable taxon of a minor rank, such as Theropoda (which contains all carnivorous dinosaurs) chances are that you'd like the taxon to display in every single taxobox that it could possibly be displayed in. Navigate to that taxon's taxonomy template. The link should be "Template:Taxonomy/" followed by the name of the taxon. In the case of Theropoda, the link would be "Template:Taxonomy/Theropoda". Add the code |always_display=true anywhere you'd like inside braces, and that should force the taxon to display all the time regardless of its rank.

Correcting a taxonomy

Every automatic taxobox has an edit link on the right end of the bar that says "Scientific classification" (it was a red pencil icon per April 2019). That link should give you access to a full listing of that taxon's taxonomy.

From there, you may edit a taxon by clicking "Edit" next to its name. Doing so allows you to access the corresponding Template:Taxonomy/ page, where you can assign a different parent, rank, display text, link, references, extinction status, or "display always" value. Any edits you make to one of these templates will affect all its descendent taxa, so keep that in mind while editing.

Available parameters and how to use them

Available parameters (note that all parameters are optional, although to produce the desired results, many may be required):

Italic title

It is not usually necessary to add {{Italic title}} to an article that uses the Automatic taxobox template. If the title should be italicized, based on whether the page title matches the name of the taxon and the taxon's rank is genus or below, it will be added automatically.

In a few cases, the italicization produced by {{Italic title}} is incorrect. For example, if the article title is a subgenus formatted like "Mus (Coelomys)", the parenthesized subgenus will be treated as a disambiguation term, so that the title would appear incorrectly as "Mus (Coelomys)". In such cases:

• put |italic_title=no in the taxobox to prevent the automatic addition of {{Italic title}}
• use {{DISPLAYTITLE:...}} to italicize the page title, e.g. {{DISPLAYTITLE:''Mus'' (''Coelomys'')}}

Parameters unique to {{Automatic taxobox}}

In the following sections, parameters used by {{Taxobox}} may not be covered in detail. See its documentation.

Parameter |taxon=

Generally, this is the name of the taxon the article is about. In the resulting taxobox, this parameter is the one that is bolded. (To bold multiple taxa, see #Making the links bold.)

More accurately, if |taxon=TAXON, the system will expect there to be a page at "Template:Taxonomy/TAXON". In some circumstances, TAXON may not be the name of the taxon, e.g. if a plant and animal share the same genus name, there may be two taxonomy templates called "Template:Taxonomy/GENUS (plant)" and "Template:Taxonomy/GENUS (animal)". In such cases, something like the following is required:

{{Automatic taxobox
| taxon = GENUS (plant)

This ensures that the system links to the right taxonomy template.

If this parameter is omitted, per December 2012 the system will attempt to infer what its value should be from the page name. Omitting the taxon parameter is strongly deprecated and may not be supported in future.

Parameter |name=

If the title of the taxobox should be different from the default value, enter it here. This is most commonly used for common names.

Parameter |authority=

This parameter is similar to the authority parameters in the {{Taxobox}}. The only difference is that you don't have to specify the rank this authority matches up with – it will pair it with the taxon listed in the |taxon= parameter.

Parameter |fossil_range=

There are two ways of using this parameter.

1. |fossil_range=recognized period name, e.g. |fossil_range=Devonian – assumes the taxon has fossils only in this period and produces a display accordingly.
2. |fossil_range=any other value – displays the value provided. Often this will be a use of the template {{Geological range}}, e.g. |fossil_range={{Geological range|Devonian|Jurassic}}; however, it can also be plain text, e.g. |fossil_range=Probably Devonian–Jurassic.

See also |oldest_fossil= and |youngest_fossil= below.

Parameter |edit_link=

In most cases, there is no reason to use this parameter. If used, whatever is entered here will display in single brackets in place of the letter "e". This is the "edit taxonomy" link which allows readers to easily access the taxonomy for quick, universal edits.

Parameters |oldest_fossil= and |youngest_fossil=

These parameters are an alternative way of specifying the fossil range. If |youngest_fossil= is omitted, its value defaults to "Recent". |oldest_fossil=Devonian with |youngest_fossil=Jurassic has the same effect as |fossil_range={{Geological range|Devonian|Jurassic}}. If either parameter has a value that is not recognized as a period name, then plain text is output.

Parameter |display_parents=

If you need to display a certain number of parent taxa, adding a number here will force that many parent taxa to appear.

Parameter |parent_authority=, etc.

Parameter |parent_authority=

Parameter |grandparent_authority=

Parameter |greatgrandparent_authority=

Parameter |greatgreatgrandparent_authority=

These function just like |authority=, except they match up with the parent taxon, grandparent taxon, etc.

Warning The "ancestor" taxon is the one defined by the taxonomy templates (i.e. the various "Template:Taxonomy/<taxon>" pages, where <taxon> is the name of a taxon). This "ancestor" taxon may not be the taxon you expect! Further, if someone later changes the taxonomic hierarchy defined in the taxonomy templates by adding or removing a taxon, the authority can become incorrect. For example, if you are setting up a taxobox for a genus and the parent taxon is currently the family, |parent_authority= shows the authority for the family in the taxobox. If someone later adds a subfamily between the genus and the family, |parent_authority= will now refer to the subfamily, and the authority will be displayed incorrectly. These parameters should only be used if really necessary.

TemplateData

This is the TemplateData documentation for this template used by VisualEditor and other tools; see the monthly error report for this template.

TemplateData for Automatic taxobox

An infobox for plants, animals and other biological taxa, normally at the rank of genus and above

Parameter templat

Templat ini lebih menyukai format parameter dalam blok.

Parameter		Keterangan	Jenis	Status
color_as	color_as	Taxon defining the taxobox color if needed (normally not) Contoh Animalia	Kata	opsional
name	name	Title of the taxobox; may be the English name of the group Contoh Scallop	Kata	opsional
fossil_range	fossil_range	The geologic time span during which the group is generally known to have existed, given in eras; the template {{Geological range}} is the most common method of presenting this information Contoh {{Geological range|Middle Triassic|Present}}	Kata	opsional
oldest_fossil	oldest_fossil	The geological era of the oldest known fossil; paired with youngest_fossil, an alternative to fossil_range Contoh Devonian	Kata	opsional
youngest_fossil	youngest_fossil	The geological era of the youngest known fossil; paired with oldest_fossil, an alternative to fossil_range; defaults to 'Recent' Contoh Jurassic	Kata	opsional
image	image	An image of member of the group, given without the File: or Image: prefix and without double brackets Contoh Argopecten irradians.jpg	Berkas	disarankan
image_upright	image_upright	tidak ada keterangan	Angka	opsional
image_alt	image_alt	tidak ada keterangan	Kata	opsional
image_caption	image_caption	A caption for the image, if any is necessary Contoh The Atlantic bay scallop in a feeding pose	Kata	opsional
image2	image2	tidak ada keterangan	Berkas	opsional
image2_caption	image2_caption	tidak ada keterangan	Kata	opsional
status	status	The status of the scientific group, usually presented as either Disputed or Accepted Contoh Disputed	Kata	opsional
status_system	status_system	tidak ada keterangan	Kata	opsional
status_ref	status_ref	tidak ada keterangan	Kata	opsional
greatgrandparent_authority	greatgrandparent_authority	tidak ada keterangan	Tak dikenal	opsional
grandparent_authority	grandparent_authority	tidak ada keterangan	Kata	opsional
parent_authority	parent_authority	tidak ada keterangan	Kata	opsional
display_parents	display_parents	tidak ada keterangan	Angka	opsional
taxon	taxon	Scientific name of group with no formatting Contoh Pectinidae	Kata	wajib diisi
authority	authority	The authority for the group in the appropriate format, which differs between nomenclature codes; presence or absence of parentheses is meaningful Contoh Wilkes, 1810 – animal; (L.) Mill. – plant	Kata	wajib diisi
type_species	type_species	The original name of the species that was initially used to describe the genus, without regard to its present-day nomenclature	Kata	opsional
type_species_authority	type_species_authority	The describer of the original name of the species, so without parentheses	Kata	opsional
type_genus	type_genus	tidak ada keterangan	Kata	opsional
type_genus_authority	type_genus_authority	tidak ada keterangan	Kata	opsional
subdivision_ranks	subdivision_ranks	tidak ada keterangan	Kata	disarankan
subdivision	subdivision	tidak ada keterangan	Kata	disarankan
diversity	diversity	tidak ada keterangan	Kata	opsional
diversity_link	diversity_link	tidak ada keterangan	Tak dikenal	opsional
diversity_ref	diversity_ref	tidak ada keterangan	Kata	opsional
range_map	range_map	The name of the image file, if any, showing the group's geographic habitat range, without the File: or Image: prefix and without double brackets Contoh Aplodontia rufa distribution map.png	Berkas	opsional
range_map_upright	range_map_upright	tidak ada keterangan	Tak dikenal	opsional
range_map_alt	range_map_alt	tidak ada keterangan	Tak dikenal	opsional
range_map_caption	range_map_caption	tidak ada keterangan	Kata	opsional
synonyms_ref	synonyms_ref	tidak ada keterangan	Kata	opsional
synonyms	synonyms	Other scientific names by which this group has been known Contoh	Kata	opsional

Tracking/maintenance categories

• Templat:Clc
• Templat:Clc