Template:Topic cat/doc

This is a documentation subpage for Template:Topic cat (see that page for the template itself).
It contains usage information, categories and other content that is not part of the original template page.

This template is used on over 2900 pages.
Changes to this template may cause some server load, and mistakes will be visible on many pages. Please carefully test any edits before making them, and avoid making unnecessary edits.

update use count

Usage

For a typical topic category, cut and paste the following sample code, and customize it as explained below.

{{Topic cat
 |intro = 
 |image = 
 |imagecaption = 
 |portal = no
 |offset = {{{offset|0}}}
 |sisterprojects = yes
 |wikibooks = {{subst:PAGENAME}}
 |commons = Category:{{subst:PAGENAME}}
 |wikidata = 
 |wikiquote = {{subst:PAGENAME}}
 |wikisource = Author:{{subst:PAGENAME}}
 |wiktionary = {{subst:PAGENAME}}
 |wikiversity = {{subst:PAGENAME}}
 |wikivoyage = {{subst:PAGENAME}}
}}

Customizations:

Put categories below the template. People get [[Category:News articles by person]], and at least one descendant of Category:People by occupation; countries get [[Category:News articles by country]].
Optionally, provide an intro; it completes the descriptive sentence,
This is the category for {{PAGENAME}}, {{{intro}}}.
Optionally, provide an image, and perhaps a caption for the image; additional smaller images can also be included (see below).
Check all the sister links, and adjust or remove them as appropriate.
- When looking for an alternative on any project, don't forget to check namespaces that aren't on the default search. (E.g., Wikisource default search only checks main and author.)
- commons=link overrides the default Commons link, {{PAGENAME}}. commons=no suppresses the Commons link entirely.
- wikipedia=link overrides the default Wikipedia link, {{PAGENAME}}. wikipedia=no suppresses the Wikipedia link entirely.
- If a sister doesn't have a suitable page in the English project but does in some other language, the latter may be linked by attaching the language prefix to the target; for example, if Andrés Manuel López Obrador has no page at English Wikiquote, but does have one at Spanish Wikiquote, one might specify wikiquote=es:Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Additional, less frequent customizations:

An additional parameter usage note can be used to specify a supplementary note on how to use the category, beyond what is implied by the introductory sentence. The note is displayed as a separate paragraph after the introductory sentence.
An additional parameter the can be set to non-blank, to insert the word "the" before the topic name in the descriptive sentence.
An additional parameter no comma can be set to non-blank, to suppress the comma between topic and non-blank intro in the descriptive sentence.
An additional parameter pipe can be used to specify a different name for the topic in the descriptive sentence, instead of {{PAGENAME}}.
An additional parameter target can be used to specify a different target for the primary link in the descriptive sentence; if used, this replaces the entire wikipedia target, including the "w:", so it can link to a page on any sister project, or to a page on Wikinews.
An additional parameter external can be used to specify an external URL. (Use with discretion, please.)
An additional parameter image size can be used to override the default size of the main image (default is 250px).
An additional parameter image alt can be used to override the default alt text for the main image (default is image with the file extension stripped off).
Any of additional parameters locmap, coat, emblem, logo, seal, flag can be used to provide additional smaller images. When using flag, consider suffixing the file name with {{!}}border.
An additional parameter meta can be used to specify a sister link to that project.
An additional parameter portal can be set either to no, suppressing the portal link even if the portal exists; or to a different portal-space page name to use instead of {{PAGENAME}} (so the page checked for, and linked if it exists, is Portal:{{{portal).
An additional parameter nolist can be set to non-blank, to suppress the list of latest news.
Parameter sisterprojects can be set to no, or omitted, to omit the sister links section altogether.
An additional parameter category can be used to specify what to list under Latest stories; this should be used if the category name contains any of certain special characters, such as apostrophe, that prevent {{PAGENAME}} from generating a correct article-list due to a known bug in the wiki software.
Removing parameter offset prevents the latest-article list from offering a scroll-down button.

Usage

See also