Template:Infobox Template/categories

Infobox Template/categories
Purpose	Infobox [list all]
Single tag	No [list all]
Multi-line	Optional [list all]
Protected	No [list all]
Game related	No [list all]
Categorization
Suppressible	Recursively [list all]
Choice	Multiple categories [list all]
Categories	Multiple: [list all]
none [category] one [category] multiple [category]
Variables
Names	One: [list all]
arg  (free for reuse)
Subpages

This template renders information about another template, a variable list of categories, under which that template may categorize its articles. Depending on the amount of specified categories, this template may also categorize that template under the category that represents that amount. Noncategorizing, (normal) Categorizing or Multi-categorizing.

Parameters

1. A category specification for the template, in the following format (no parameter name, multiple parameters allowed, case sensitive)
   1. The category name of the category the template may categorize under (if empty string, only the value part is displayed)
   2. An exclamation mark (required as separator)
   3. The value that is required to select this category (optional, required if there is no category name)
   4. An exclamation mark (required as separator)
   5. A custom string to use on the category link (optional, defaults to "category" if a value is also specified)

• nocat: Whether or not to suppress categorization under the automatically chosen category (defaults to false, which means auto categorization).

Note: the unnamed parameters must be specified in proper order if using their positional numbers, because the first number that is empty/not specified terminates the list. If the list is empty this way, the default 'none' category will be used.

Note: although this template does not limit the amount of possible unnamed parameters, the parent infobox limits to thirty.

Syntax

{{Infobox Template/categories|value!value}}

Warning: this template will often force a table cell to split in two, so do not use it outside table cells! Infoboxes use tables, so in there would be fine.

Examples

Common use includes at least one unnamed parameter to specify the category a template will categorize its pages under:

{{Infobox Template/categories|Characters}}

One: ^{[list all]}

• Characters

You can also specify multiple categories for the same template, if they are all non-optional:

{{Infobox Template/categories
 |Characters
 |Adult characters
 |Characters of unknown gender
}}

Multiple: ^{[list all]}

• Characters
• Adult characters
• Characters of unknown gender

If however, the template allows a choice between the categories, a value may be specified that is used to select each category. This would logically only apply if there are more than one categories, but this is no restriction. You can do this by specifying a second value for any unnamed parameter, separated by exclamation mark:

{{Infobox Template/categories
 |Child characters!child
 |Adult characters!adult
 |Characters of unknown age!''unknown''
}}

Multiple: ^{[list all]}

• child ^[category]
• adult ^[category]
• unknown ^[category]

It is possible to customize the text on the link, for instance "maintenance", by specifying a third value for any unnamed parameter (any value is possible), also separated by exclamation mark:

{{Infobox Template/categories
 |Child characters!child
 |Adult characters!adult
 |Characters of unknown age!''unknown''!maintenance
}}

Multiple: ^{[list all]}

• child ^[category]
• adult ^[category]
• unknown ^{[maintenance]}

To be able to customize the text on the link if there is no second value like in the first example above, you just leave the second value empty:

{{Infobox Template/categories
 |Characters!!People
}}

One: ^{[list all]}

• People

Some templates may not know in advance which categories it will categorize under, in which case the category name should be empty and the second value used to describe how the template gets the category name (for instance one of its parameters):

{{Infobox Template/categories
 |!''parameterName''
}}

One: ^{[list all]}

• parameterName

You may leave the "categories" undefined by not specifying any unnamed parameters (i.e. completely empty), or not maintaining proper ordering, so these all have the same result:

{{Infobox Template/categories}}
{{Infobox Template/categories|}}
{{Infobox Template/categories|1=}}
{{Infobox Template/categories|test=something}}
{{Infobox Template/categories||something}}
{{Infobox Template/categories|1=something|1=}}
{{Infobox Template/categories|2=something}}

none ^{[list all]}

The nocat parameter may be used to suppress automatic categorization like this (any value will do):

{{Infobox Template/categories|Characters|nocat=true}}

This would render the same result as the first example above, but would not automatically categorize under Category:Categorizing templates.