Template:Automatic taxobox/doc/taxonomy pages

This page provides a bit more information about the parameters used at Template:Taxonomy/ pages.

For more information, see Template:Automatic taxobox. There's always someone to help at Template talk:Automatic taxobox if you have any questions.

rank

• |rank=rank of taxon

The rank of this taxon (latinized, e.g. subfamilia).

If it is not a Linnean rank, specify clade, cohort, total group, stem group, or informal group. If none of those apply, set the rank to unranked. Stem groups (etc) should be located at, for example, Template:Taxonomy/Arthropoda/stem-group.

To use another taxon's rank, specify {{get rank|TAXON NAME}}. (This works for other parameters too.)

link

• |link=taxon name or |link=destination page|taxon name

This line determines the taxon name which is displayed in a taxobox and which article (destination page) it links to. Generally the text displayed will be the same as the last part of the name of the taxonomy template, e.g. for a genus such as Acacia, the link will be "Acacia" (causing the taxobox to contain "Genus: Acacia" and the taxonomy template will be called "Template:Taxonomy/Acer". In such cases, leave alone the preformatted code (this will enter the name for you automatically).

If the link target is different to the text that should appear in the taxobox, specify e.g. |link=Cod|Gadus. ("Cod" is the common name for the genus Gadus).

The template will take care of most of the formatting:

• To italicize the text, set |rank=genus (or any other rank that ought to be italicized);
• For botanical ranks that contain a part which is not italicized (e.g. Acer sect. Macrantha), you will need to format the link yourself;
• To add a †dagger, denoting extinction, add the parameter |extinct=true;
• To add a (?) to denote a questionable status, go to child taxon, and modify |parent=TaxonName to read |parent=TaxonName/?. If this doesn't yet exist, click the "create taxonomy" link and follow the instructions.
• Normally you should not create a taxonomy template for a species; the taxonomy can be retrieved from the genus's taxonomy template. Use {{Speciesbox}} in the article rather than {{Automatic taxobox}}. If, for example, you feed this template the parameter |taxon=Quercus robur, it will use Template:Taxonomy/Quercus to generate a taxobox displaying the binomial and "Species: Q. robur".

Note: Do not enter square brackets or (normally) italics yourself; the template will do this if it is appropriate for the rank. (E.g. link=Common oak|Q. robur will automatically be italicized because the rank is genus; link=Animal|Animalia will not.)

parent

• |parent=parent taxon

This parameter links the taxonomy template to its parent taxonomy template, i.e. to "Template:Taxonomy/parent taxon".

In most cases, enter just the name of the parent taxon (in plain text, first letter only in capitals), e.g. Fungi, Cephalopoda, since the parent taxonomy template will be named correspondingly, e.g. Template:Taxonomy/Fungi, Template:Taxonomy/Cephalopoda.

The "problem case" is when the same taxon name has been used under different nomenclature codes, e.g. Leucoptera (plant) and Leucoptera (moth). In such a case the parent has to be declared with the disambiguating term, e.g. as |parent=Leucoptera (moth) and the corresponding taxonomy template will be at "Template:Taxonomy/Leucoptera (moth)".

This taxon's "Template:Taxonomy/" page will be consulted to generate the next row up in the taxobox.

For unusual cases, such as stem-groups or questionable assignments, see Template:Automatic taxobox/Conventions.

extinct

• |extinct=yes

Show a taxon is extinct by adding |extinct=yes or |extinct=true; otherwise remove the parameter altogether or leave it blank (do not enter no or false). This will add a † before the taxon's link wherever it appears in taxoboxes.

always_display

• |always_display=yes (or "true")

If the taxon is a "major rank", e.g. kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus or species, it will always be displayed in its children's taxoboxes, and this parameter is not needed. (Setting it to no or false has no effect.)

If a genus is assigned to a subfamily, then the subfamily will be displayed where it is needed to provide context (i.e. in the subfamily's taxobox, and in the genus's taxobox), but not in lower ranks (i.e. species' taxoboxes).

If it's important to display the subfamily in a species' box, the best way is usually to add the parameter |display parents=2 in the species' box. This forces 2 parent ranks (the genus and subfamily) to display, instead of the usual 1.

In some cases, a taxon should always display as if it were a "major rank". For instance, Template:Taxonomy/Arthropoda/stem-group replaces "Phylum Arthropoda" in some taxoboxes; without displaying this rank, the taxobox lacks context. In these cases, anything in "Stem-group Arthropoda" will want to include this rank in the taxobox, and you can add the line |always_display=yes to Template:Taxonomy/Arthropoda/stem-group.

refs

• |refs=References to list on this taxonomy page

These references won't show up in the article, but allow future editors to understand why you filled out the template in the way that you did.

If you wish to include a reference for an authority in an automatic taxobox, you need to add the reference to the page itself. You could add it to the article text, or include it in the taxobox by using |authority=; |parent authority=, etc.

Technical limitations mean that we can't really automate the occurrence of references. Not all editors would want them in a taxobox, and if the same reference were used in the article text, it would show up twice in the reference list.