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Television Template‑class

	Television portal This template is within the scope of WikiProject Television, a collaborative effort to develop and improve Wikipedia articles about television programs. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page where you can join the discussion. For how to use this banner template, see its documentation.TelevisionWikipedia:WikiProject TelevisionTemplate:WikiProject Televisiontelevision articles
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Documentation

*Infobox television*
Infobox television
	File:DSC02502 modified.jpg Look, it's Jimmy Wales.
Created by	Random person
Starring	John Doe; Jane Doe; Jim Doe; Jill Doe
Narrated by	Random person
Opening theme	Random
Ending theme	Random
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of episodes	1
Production
Executive producer	Random person
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	60 minutes
Original release
Network	TNT
Release	July 2, 2000 –; July 3, 2000

Syntax

{{Infobox Television
| show_name          = 
| image              = 
| caption            = 
| format             = 
| camera             = 
| picture_format     = 
| audio_format       = 
| runtime            =
| creator            = 
| developer          = 
| executive_producer = 
| starring           = 
| narrated           = 
| opentheme          = 
| endtheme           = 
| country            = 
| language           = 
| network            = 
| first_aired        = 
| last_aired         = 
| num_episodes       = 
| list_episodes      =
| preceded_by        =
| followed_by        =
| website            = 
| imdb_id            = 
| tv_com_id          = 
}}

Usage

Parameters in red are required fields. Link people if they have articles.

Parameter	Explanation
show_name	The name of the show.
image	An image relevant to the show. Should be resized to a width of 300 pixels or below.
caption	A caption explaining the image. An image with the title logo of the show does not need a caption.
format	The format of the show (examples listed at television program). Link if an article is available.
camera	Either Single-camera or Multi-camera
picture_format	The video or film format in which the show was released. Black-and-white, Film, 405-line (360i), NTSC (480i), PAL (576i), SECAM (576i), HDTV 720p, HDTV 1080i
audio_format	The format in which the show’s sound is broadcast. (Monaural sound, Stereophonic sound, Surround sound)
runtime	How long each episode runs; should not include commercials and should be approximated (i.e. 22-26 minutes approx. for most half-hour TV shows).
creator	Who created the show. Separate multiple people with line breaks (<br />).
developer	Who developed the show.
executive_producer	The executive producer(s).
starring	Who stars in the show. Separate multiple people with line breaks (<br />).
narrated	The narrator for the show, if applicable.
opentheme	The name of the opening theme for the show.
endtheme	The name of the ending theme for the show.
country	The country of origin for the show. (See Category:Flag templates, e.g. {{USA}} for United States.)
language	The original language(s) of the show. Please be sure that you link to an article that is actually about the language; for example, use [[English language\|English]], not [[English]]
network	The original network(s) or channel(s) on which the show appears. Do not add the foreign broadcasters here. Use a link if an article is available.
first_aired	The first day the show aired. Use full dates like: [[February 2]], [[1981]] because these are properly formatted according to a reader's time and date preferences.
last_aired	The last day the show aired. Use Present if it is ongoing.
num_episodes	The number of episodes currently produced.
list_episodes	If a Wikipedia entry exists for a list of the show's episode, put the 'List of ... episodes' page name here. Do not use a link (no [[]]).
preceded_by	If the show was preceded by another show in some form of chronology, put the title and the years here, with the title in italics and linked if an article is available, e.g. ''[[Show Title]]'' (Year–Year).
followed_by	If the show was followed by another show in some form of chronology, put it here, as for preceded_by.
website	The show's official website (usually hosted by the network or production company). Only type in the website. Formatting is automatic.
imdb_id	The relevant IMDb number. Only type in the number. Formatting is automatic.
tv_com_id	The relevant TV.com number. Only type in the number. Formatting is automatic.

Example

{{Infobox Television
| show_name          = Random show
| image              = [[Image:DSC02502 modified.jpg|200px]]
| caption            = Look, it's Jimmy Wales.
| format             = [[Comedy-drama]]
| camera             = [[Single camera setup|Single-camera]]
| picture_format     = [[1080i]] [[HDTV]]
| audio_format       = [[Surround sound]]
| runtime            = 60 minutes
| creator            = Random person
| executive_producer = Random person
| starring           = [[John Doe]]<br>[[Jane Doe]]<br>Jim Doe<br>Jill Doe
| narrated           = Random person
| opentheme          = Random
| endtheme           = Random
| country            = {{USA}}
| language           = [[English language|English]]
| network            = [[Turner Network Television|TNT]]
| first_aired        = [[July 2]], [[2000]]
| last_aired         = [[July 3]], [[2000]]
| num_episodes       = 1
| website            = http://en.wikipedia.org/
| imdb_id            = 10000
| tv_com_id          = 10000
}}

Discussion

Template name

I guess it's probably because there are (too many) exceptions, but any reason why this infobox not named "Television series"...? ("Television" alone seems a little vague...) Regards, David Kernow (talk) 04:02, 11 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Smaller names are better until it becomes a problem. – Someguy0830 (T | C) 08:43, 13 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Smaller names also more ambiguous and/or less helpful, especially to those not regularly editing code. Regards, David (talk) 09:20, 13 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

...Just been reminded that there's {{Infobox Television episode}}, so {{Infobox Television series}} would seem logical...? David (talk) 19:23, 15 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Num episodes..

It had been bothering me for sometime that the number of episodes was floating a few px below where it should be.. I couldn't see what was up.. it turns out there was a rogue line break, haha! Matthew Fenton (talk · contribs · count · email) 10:25, 14 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Format vs. Genre

It's confusing to have the infobox say "Genre" but you have to put the information under the header "Format" when you go to edit the box. I don't want to mess anything up so I won't do it myself, but I highly recommend that the coding be changed to the word "genre" too. 23skidoo 00:39, 27 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Done, format or genre will now both work when called. thanks/Fenton, Matthew Lexic Dark 52278 Alpha 771 01:06, 27 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Force consistent style?

OK, so I'm being a bold newbie to this area. I noticed that a couple of shows didn't have infoboxes, or didn't have them fully filled out, so I added them. That led me to have to research what I should put into some of these fields, which in turn led me to record my observations back into the documentation and update the example to match observed common style.

It occurs to me that consistency could be aided by using strongly stylized values, with the template turning them into common presentations. (imdb_id and tv_com_id are good examples of what I mean.)

For instance:

Parameter	Comments
format	Automatically link. Note that a red link will be a hint that you haven't picked a good value.
camera	Automatically link. Perhaps automatically expand to some canonical values.
picture_format	Automatically link
audio_format	Automatically link
country	use ISO 3166 country codes; automatically generate flag template references
language	use ISO 639 language codes; automatically generate appropriate link
preceded_by	It'd be nice to standardize the formatting here, but I suspect too complex.

I've only got a very little bit of experience with MediaWiki templates, so I don't know how practical those all are, but most of them seem possible. Thoughts?

Jordan Brown 03:14, 30 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Documentation of code to use in values

It seems to me that if a particular code style is desired for a particular value, the documentation should show the <nowiki> code rather than the as-formatted code, to make it easy to copy-and-paste into your article. language and first_aired show examples of this. I already did this to preceded_by; it seems like it's also appropriate in camera, picture_format, and audio_format. audio_format especially draws my attention, since it seems to want "[[Monaural]] sound" but "[[Surround sound]]". (I didn't do it, because picture_format looked like it would just get gross.)

Note that my standardization comments above might reduce the need for code examples.

Thoughts?

Jordan Brown 03:24, 30 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Merge Template:Telenovela into this template?

Like the section header says. Telenovela appears to fill the same ecological niche as this template. Thoughts? I suggest discussing it over on Template talk:Telenovela. Jordan Brown 08:32, 9 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Reimplement in modular form?

Over in Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Television#Infoboxes on articles covering multiple media I've proposed reimplementing this template on top of a modular framework based on the one used in WP:ANIME, and have done some experiments. The intent would be to have a way to support articles that need to have infoboxes covering several "releases" - The Addams Family and Dragnet (series) come immediately to mind. One eventual goal of such a restructuring would be commonality with the anime template set, Template:Infobox Film, Template:Infobox Radio Show, and probably others.

Comments would be appreciated.

Jordan Brown 08:24, 18 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Could you provide an example please? thanks/Fenton, Matthew Lexic Dark 52278 Alpha 771 08:27, 18 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

He means like that. – Someguy0830 (T | C) 08:30, 18 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Yea, just found an example. My opinion is this: That is way to excessively long, remember an infobox isn't limited to one transclusion. thanks/Fenton, Matthew Lexic Dark 52278 Alpha 771 08:34, 18 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I would agree. I dislike the anime box, though I will admit its usefulness in regards to its subject. I prefer the divided setup we have now. The anime/manga series tend to be more closely related than regular television. The current divided setup is more appropriate for mediums that don't often intertwine. – Someguy0830 (T | C) 08:37, 18 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

There's definitely room for the anamanga box to be more efficient. But I do see what you're getting at, in that the series should be closely related to share an infobox. Maybe some kind of mini box could be used for different article sections, if there are not separate articles for each part. -- Ned Scott 08:52, 18 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Or, another idea: the main topic/ part of the series/ article gets a normal infobox module, then additions get modules that are trimmed down to more basic info and don't list as much stuff. -- Ned Scott 08:54, 18 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

(indentation reset)

Sorry for not giving an example here. Over in Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Television I'd talked about the proof-of-concept that I've done at User:Jordan Brown/Dragnet (series) and its transcluded templates. (Please discuss that implementation at User:Jordan Brown/Infobox media and User talk:Jordan Brown/Infobox media.)

There are any number of stylistic questions - color schemes, exact layout, et cetera. I don't have any real opinions on those and so at the moment in my proof of concept they're the same as the animanga scheme. My goals here are:

Answer the question of what to do for works like Dragnet (series) and The Addams Family where there have been numerous "releases".
Reduce duplication between the various templates.
Improve consistency between the various templates.

From a stylistic point of view, it would be perfectly fine with me if Template:Infobox Television yielded exactly the same presentation that it does today... but its components were usable in a common way to support multi-release works and were sharable with Template: Infobox Film and others. (Of course, to the extent that the various existing templates yield different presentation, one of the goals would be to move to a common presentation. I don't have any strong opinions on what that presentation would look like.)

Jordan Brown 17:16, 18 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure if I'm in favor of this. I don't think there are enough articles that require these kinds of "crossmedia boxes". What I do see is a general duplication of elements shared by all these templates. I'm not sure however if that can be solved easily. I also think that it's undesirable to make all these different media infoboxes tooo uniform. It would make wikipedia a bit boring I fear. TheDJ (talk • contribs • WikiProject Television) 19:45, 20 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Possibly, but there's a lot of things we might not have considered yet. I still think it would be interesting just to throw up a big brain storm of different styles for infoboxes. Even if we don't exactly do a modular form there may still be some interesting ideas we can get from our "sister" project infoboxes. -- Ned Scott 20:51, 20 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Well, the film box is basically the same as this. As for Jordan's setup, that's the animanga styled infobox, just colored differently. What would be useful, though somewhat unused, would be an incarnations or versions field, identifying if a particular series has several broken apart versions. Alternatively, a Television series infobox could be designed for such purposes, somewhat akin to the channel infobox. – Someguy0830 (T | C) 20:57, 20 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know how many articles would use a "cross-media" infobox. Note that I haven't looked at all that many TV articles, and found two. However, if we did it right, single-media articles wouldn't see any coding change at all - Template:Infobox Television would invoke the modular framework internally. As for "boring", well, one man's "boring" is another man's "consistent". If there's a desire for stylistic differences, perhaps we could make one framework that could be invoked with different options to yield different colors and whatnot. (Perhaps via CSS?)

Surely there are ways that we can reduce duplication. At a minimum we could establish conventions for things like country-of-origin, but we should be able to build templates that are used for various common cases like "put this label and this value if the value is non-empty".

Note that both Dragnet and The Addams Family have not just multiple serieses but releases in multiple media (TV, film, video games, radio) and so a simple extension to Infobox Television might not be sufficient.

Jordan Brown 19:22, 21 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Does the template auto-category?

Does the template automatically add categories, like for genre, when it's entered into the infobox? JQF • Talk • Contribs 02:00, 1 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

No, but it would be possible. -- Ned Scott 02:04, 1 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

That would be a pain to code, though. Categories names are specific, and genre is often used for multiple entries. – Someguy0830 (T | C) 02:09, 1 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, it wouldn't really be a good idea for genres. There might be other types of categories that the infobox could add that are easier. I have nothing specific in mind, just thinking out loud. -- Ned Scott 04:43, 1 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]