Commons:Template standardization

Shortcut: COM:TS

Status

There is currently no consensus (largely due to a lack of discussion) to standardize Commons' templates with the styles presented here. Much of our focus has been on a content-based level (e.g. internationalization), rather than on an aesthetic level. There's also no consensus about not using these templates and users have indeed started to use them. Thus, while templates do not have to conform to these styles, users may use the style templates documented below if they wish.

Templates

Currently, there are two "template style" templates. {{Mbox}}, the general message box for any namespace, and {{Cmbox}}, a message box for categories. More specialized versions may be added in the future (like one for talk pages), however, you can use {{Mbox}} for everything since it will switch styles based on namespace. The current style {{Mbox}} uses was created for the file and gallery namespaces. If you use this elsewhere (like on your userpage), keep in mind that it may change drastically in appearance at some point in the future if a new type of style template is created for that namespace.

Examples of {{mbox}}

This is a featured picture on Wikimedia Commons. We think it is one of the finest images on Commons; see its nomination. If you have an image of similar quality that can be published under a suitable copyright license, be sure to upload it, tag it, and nominate it.

This image has been assessed using the Quality image guidelines and is considered a Quality image. If you have an image of similar quality that can be published under a suitable copyright license, be sure to upload it, tag it, and nominate it.

This featured picture is fairly large and has an aspect ratio of approximately 4:3 or 5:4', making it suitable as a computer wallpaper. See the gallery of such images, or the gallery of widescreen images.

This image contains digital watermarking or credits in the image itself. The usage of visible watermarks is discouraged. If a non-watermarked version of the image is available, please upload it under the same file name and then remove this template. Ensure that removed information is present in the image description page and replace this template with {{Metadata from image}} or {{Attribution metadata from licensed image}}. Caution: Before removing a watermark from a copyrighted image, please read the WMF's analysis of the legal ramifications of doing so, as well as Commons' proposed policy regarding watermarks. If the old version is still useful, for example if removing the watermark damages the image significantly, upload the new version under a different title so that both can be used. After uploading the non-watermarked version, replace this template with {{Superseded|new filename|version without watermarks}}.

In order to create a license template, please refer to Help:Authoring a license-template.

Examples of {{cmbox}}

This image was (or all images in this article or category were) uploaded in the JPEG format. However, it contains information that could be stored more efficiently or more accurately in the PNG format or SVG format. If possible, please upload a PNG or SVG version of this image without compression artifacts, derived from a non-JPEG source or with existing artifacts removed.

This category requires frequent maintenance to avoid becoming too large. It should list very few (if any) images or pages directly, and should mainly contain sub-categories. Media files and pages in this category should be moved to subcategories where appropriate.

This category is in the process of being merged into Category:ABC. Please do not edit this page. Any changes should be made to Category:XYZ. See its talk page for more details. If you disagree with this action, you may discuss it there. When the merge is done, tag this category as a {{Category redirect}}

Related links

• Commons:WikiProject Templates (about standardizing templates on a content-based level)