Template:Infobox too long
The infobox on this page contains an excessive amount of indiscriminate data or imagery, and may be in need of cleanup. Infoboxes should contain only a summary of key facts and images should be selected with care. Please help to improve this article's infobox in accordance with the Manual of Style for infoboxes. |
This template flags articles which contain an infobox with an excessive amount of indiscriminate data or imagery.
Rationale for usage
[edit]Protocols
[edit]- Data
- MOS:INFOBOXPURPOSE – The purpose of an infobox is to summarize, but not supplant, the key facts that appear in an article. The less information that an infobox contains, the more effectively it serves its purpose, allowing readers to identify key facts at a glance.
- MOS:INFOBOXDESIGN – Creating overly long templates with a number of irrelevant fields is not recommended. How important is the field to the articles that will use the infobox? Is it summary information, or more extended detail that may be better placed within the body of an article?
- WP:UNDUE – Undue weight can be given in several ways, including but not limited to... the prominence of placement.
- WP:NOTDATABASE – Statistics that lack context or explanation can reduce readability and may be confusing.
- WP:NOTDIRECTORY – Wikipedia is not a directory of everything in the universe that exists or has existed.
- Images
- MOS:LEADIMAGE – Avoid lead images that readers would not expect to see there....lead images should be selected with care.
- WP:GALLERY – Wikipedia is not an image repository. A gallery is not a tool to shoehorn images into an article. Be aware different screen size and browsers may affect accessibility for some readers even with a well-crafted gallery.
- MOS:INFOBOXUSE – Like navigation templates, infoboxes should generally not contain flag icons. For more information about flag icons, and exceptions to the general guideline, see MOS:FLAG.
- MOS:IMAGEREL – Not every article needs images, and too many can be distracting or cause undue weight: usually, less is more.
- WP:UNDUE – Undue weight can be given in several ways, including but not limited to the... use of imagery.
Advice
[edit]- Help:What infoboxes do – They quickly summarize important points in an easy-to-read format. However, they are not "statistics" tables in that they (generally) only summarize material from an article—the information should still be present in the main text
- Help:What should an infobox contain? – Infoboxes, like the introduction to the article, should primarily contain material that is expanded on and supported by citations to reliable sources elsewhere in the article.
- Help:What should an infobox not contain? – A common problem is including material in the infobox which is trivial and would not otherwise be included in the article body...Infobox templates should not be used for details that are too trivial to include in the article body (there are some exceptions, such as chemical properties)
Placement in articles
[edit]Examples:
- Generic
-
{{Infobox too long|date=December 2025}}
- Output:
The infobox on this page contains an excessive amount of indiscriminate data or imagery, and may be in need of cleanup. Infoboxes should contain only a summary of key facts and images should be selected with care. Please help to improve this article's infobox in accordance with the Manual of Style for infoboxes. |
- With rationale
-
- {{Infobox too long|reason=rationale for usage|date=December 2025}}
- Output:
The infobox on this page contains an excessive amount of indiscriminate data or imagery, and may be in need of cleanup. The specific issue is: rationale for usage. Infoboxes should contain only a summary of key facts and images should be selected with care. Please help to improve this article's infobox in accordance with the Manual of Style for infoboxes. |
Categorization
[edit]- This template will categorize tagged articles into Category:Pages with an infobox that contains too much information.
See also
[edit]- Templates
- {{Cleanup infobox}}
- {{Lead extra info}}
- {{Lead missing}}
- {{Lead rewrite}}
- {{Lead too long}}
- {{Lead too short}}
- {{Not verified in body}}
- {{Infobox requested}}
- {{Too many photos}}
- {{Too many charts}}
- {{Cleanup gallery}}
- How to
- Essays
- Wikipedia:Disinfoboxes
- Wikipedia:Disinfoboxes can be useful
- Wikipedia:Disinfoboxes: a refutation
- Wikipedia:Icons in infoboxes
- Wikipedia:Infobox consolidation
- Arbitration decision about infoboxes
- Project
- This template contains a self-reference (it refers to Wikipedia in its contents).
- This template should not be substituted. Bots rely on the transcluded form for dating and categorisation.