Template talk:ASIN

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Remove date auto-linking

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{{Editprotect}} Please remove the set of square brackets around [[{{{date}}}]] which I believe is responsible for attempting to autolink the provided date. This will fail in many circumstances, e.g. {{ASIN|42|date=12 April 2008}} -> ASIN 42 (12 April 2008). -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 07:09, 9 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

 Done PeterSymonds (talk) 11:47, 9 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Why advertise Amazon

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I don't see why Wikipedia should designate or link to Amazon, or any particular vendor, of a work mentioned in the encyclopedia.—Finell 22:35, 27 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

{{cite}} also links to Amazon with ASINs... , unlike this template, that one is used directly for references... 70.49.127.65 (talk) 03:14, 27 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I have put this template up fro deletion. See Wikipedia:Templates_for_discussion/Log/2012_June_25#Template:ASIN. -- Alan Liefting (talk - contribs) 03:18, 27 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Tweak for print

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{{edit protected}} Simply copy paste this. 

<!--
-->{{hide in print
    |[[Amazon Standard Identification Number|ASIN]]&nbsp;[http://www.amazon<!--
     -->{{#if:{{{country|}}}
         |{{#ifeq:{{{country|}}}|uk|.co}}.{{{country}}}
         |.com
        }}/dp/{{{1}}} {{{1}}}]<!--
-->{{#if:{{{title|<noinclude>x</noinclude>}}}
    |, ''{{{title}}}''
   }}<!--
-->{{#if:{{{date|<noinclude>x</noinclude>}}}
    |&nbsp;({{{date}}})
   }}
}}<!--
-->{{only in print
    |ASIN:&nbsp;{{{1}}}<!--
  -->{{#if:{{{title|<noinclude>x</noinclude>}}}
      |, ''{{{title}}}''
     }}<!--
   -->{{#if:{{{date|<noinclude>x</noinclude>}}}
      |&nbsp;({{{date}}})
     }}
}}<!--
--><noinclude>
{{pp-template|small=yes}}
{{documentation}}
</noinclude>

This will help clean up PDFs and Books. The code has been tested and works. Headbomb {ταλκκοντριβς – WP Physics} 22:13, 3 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

 Done  Ronhjones  (Talk) 22:50, 6 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Many thanks. Headbomb {talk / contribs / physics / books} 22:57, 6 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

blank lines and messed up formatting

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{{editprotected}} I am trying to use this template in a list but it is messing up the line spacing and more if there is any text after:

I don't know how to fix it. —Eekerz (t) 08:23, 22 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Problem solved. Thank you for the report. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 10:24, 22 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Other tweak for print

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{{edit protected}} Could you please replace 

    |ASIN:&nbsp;{{{1}}}<!--

with 

    |ASIN{{#if:{{{country|}}}|&nbsp;({{lc:amazon{{#ifeq:{{{country|}}}|uk|.co}}.{{{country|}}}}})}}:&nbsp;{{{1}}}<!--

This would add some missing information in PDFs. Headbomb {talk / contribs / physics / books} 12:26, 20 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Could you give a little more detail about what effect this change will have? — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 21:32, 21 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]
It would display as ASIN (amazon.fr): B000F8S4A0 instead of ASIN: B000F8S4A0 (for a link to the French Amazon) in the PDFs. Online output is unaffected. Headbomb {talk / contribs / physics / books} 21:40, 21 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Okay, I don't really understand the benefit or purpose but there is no opposition, so  Done! — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 16:14, 23 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

When to use this

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Is there any guideline as to when using this template is appropriate? Is it meant to be used in the external links section for common items like books and music? I see the old deletion discussion talking about "an ID of last resort". Yet I see this template used in External links sections for albums which are readily available in hundreds of other shops. Is it not promoting Amazon in such a case? It also seems directly against WP:ELNO #5 in this specific case. I have much less problem with it being used to source information, it is External links that bother me. Would there be objection to adding comments about apropriate usage to the documentation? --Muhandes (talk) 15:45, 27 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

It is very much an ID of last resort. I'm fine with it if it's used for referencing purposes, but alternatives should be used if available. Headbomb {talk / contribs / physics / books} 15:56, 27 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
As I said above, I'm find with its use for references, my concern is with its use for external links, especially when many free alternatives exist (discogs and allmusic to name just two).--Muhandes (talk) 18:25, 27 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Then yeah, it's inappropriate in those cases. Still clue must be exercised. A link to Amazon is better than no link at all. But if there are links to Discogs / Allmusic / other sites, then it should be safe to remove then. Headbomb {talk / contribs / physics / books} 19:13, 27 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Up for deletion

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See Wikipedia:Templates_for_discussion/Log/2012_June_25#Template:ASIN. Not sure if some sort of indication of the discussion can be added to the template. -- Alan Liefting (talk - contribs) 19:55, 26 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

plus Added — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 21:50, 29 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Number of usages for ISBN

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If the first digit in the parameter is a numeral the item is a book with an ISBN. Can someone pull out a list of these occurrences? I would like to get them converted to a {{cite book}} format. -- Alan Liefting (talk - contribs) 23:02, 28 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

RFCs on citations templates and the flagging free-to-read sources

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See

Headbomb {talk / contribs / physics / books} 17:05, 29 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

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This template generates a link to an Amazon page for a specific ASIN. Using HTTPS instead of HTTP when generating a link to Amazon should provide increased privacy and security to users. If all Amazon sites, regardless of country (such as http://www.amazon.ca/ and http://www.amazon.de/) support HTTPS, then it should be possible to have the template generate an HTTPS link in all cases. If, on the other hand, there are only some specific Amazon sites that support HTTPS, then it might be possible to have a whitelist of HTTPS-supporting domains or country codes stored in the template, and to have the template only generate an HTTPS link when a country code on the whitelist is specified. Thoughts? --Elegie (talk) 10:57, 22 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]

In this sandbox revision, I have put together an enhanced version of the template. This enhanced version automatically handles the situation where the country parameter is a two-character country code for one of the country-specific Amazon sites listed under Amazon.com#Website. (Depending on the specific country code, the template may add .co or .com before the country code, so in each case, only the country code needs to be specified.) In addition, for most of the country codes and for the situation where no country code is specified, the enhanced version of the template uses HTTPS for the Amazon link. (The exception is that HTTPS is not used in the case of amazon.in, for India.) By doing this, users get increased privacy and security. Test cases for the original and sandbox versions of the template are available at Template:ASIN/testcases. --Elegie (talk) 08:24, 22 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Please adjust the template so that its content matches this sandbox revision. (View the diff between the template and the sandbox revision.) The purpose of this edit is to have the template automatically use HTTPS for Amazon links (in most cases) in order to provide increased privacy and security for users, and also to have the template automatically handle two-letter country extensions such as au or de (by adding .co or .com before the country extension as needed) for the country-specific Amazon sites listed under Amazon.com#Website.

Note: When copying material within Wikipedia, the information at WP:Copying within Wikipedia may be relevant, particularly with regard to copyright licensing and attribution requirements. Thanks. Elegie (talk) 08:38, 24 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Done GeoffreyT2000 (talk, contribs) 01:11, 27 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Template-protected edit request on 29 May 2024

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United Kingdom is not the only Amazon country that precedes its TLD with ".co" (.co.uk), for Japan & South Africa also do the same (".co.jp" & ".co.za" respectively). Also, the current code does not take into account that some countries also precede their TLDs with ".com" (specifically, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Mexico, & Turkey as ".com.au", ".com.be", ".com.br", ".com.mx", & ".com.tr" respectively). This can be done by changing 

     -->{{#if:{{{country|}}}
         |{{#ifeq:{{{country|}}}|uk|.co}}.{{{country}}}
         |.com
        }}/dp/{{1x|1={{{1}}} }} {{{1}}}]<!--

to 

     -->{{#if:{{{country|}}}
         |{{#switch:{{{country}}}|jp|uk|za=.co|au|be|br|mx|tr=.com}}.{{{country}}}
         |.com
        }}/dp/{{1x|1={{{1}}} }} {{{1}}}]<!--

‐⁠‑🌀⁠SilSinnAL982100⁠💬 05:59, 29 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

 Done * Pppery * it has begun... 03:10, 30 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Edit request to complete TfD nomination

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Template:ASIN has been listed at Templates for discussion (nomination), but it was protected, so it could not be tagged. Please add:

{{subst:template for discussion|help=off|type=tiny}}

to the top of the page to complete the nomination. Thank you. Guy (help! - typo?) 19:09, 8 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

 Done – Jonesey95 (talk) 15:39, 9 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Reopened - the link is broken, it should point to Wikipedia:Templates_for_discussion/Log/2025_April_8#Template:ASIN instead. Regards, HaeB (talk) 20:36, 9 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
 Done — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 21:27, 9 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Use of {{ASIN}} for other things than books

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Hello

I am from frwiki, and we are probably going to delete this template from our version ([1], in French).

I know that on enwiki it has been proposed for deletion and kept four times, with an overwhelming majority, but you should know that this template can be used to link to Amazon products that are not books, therefore using Wikipedia for commercial purposes.

ASIN codes are equivalent to ISBN10 numbers, but if the book doesn't have an ISBN (because it is too old for example, but this in not the kind of books sold on Amazon), its ASIN begins by a B.

The problem is that ASIN codes that begin by B can link to many other things, such a DVDs, CDs, etc.

On frwiki, we are using the ASIN code about 5,500 times (either with its own template, like here, or as a parameter in the equivalent of {{Cite book}}), but after checking, only 180 are constituted of 10 numbers/X (= ISBN), the rest are either bad links or links to different products.

For example:

Maybe you should reconsider using this template on enwiki, especially since it can be replaced with {{ISBN}} for the ASIN codes of books with an ISBN10.

Kind regards,  Şÿℵדαχ₮ɘɼɾ๏ʁ 20:44, 11 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Notification to the participants of the latest deletion proposal : Headbomb, House, Jo-Jo Eumerus, Jonesey95, Klbrain, Michael Bednarek, Rich, Guy.
 Şÿℵדαχ₮ɘɼɾ๏ʁ 20:52, 11 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
This seems like a valid concern, but I don't know that it invalidates the whole template. I have created Category:Articles using Template:ASIN with an all-numeric value to check for ASIN templates using ISBNs. Those can be converted to use ISBN templates or parameters. After that, we can spot-check transclusions to see if this template is being used in a valid way. – Jonesey95 (talk) 21:57, 11 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I am asking myself the same thing, but if an ASIN isn't an ISBN10, how can it be useful to Wikipedia, knowing that published books should have another identification code ? If they haven't, they are either too old for that, but then are not sold on Amazon, or are probably not reliable sources (self-published material for example).
On frwiki, a colleague said that for example {{ASIN}} should be used for this book, as he wasn't able to find it on OCLC/Worldcat. But I found if using Google, and in its paper version it has ISBNs and is even readable on Google Books [2] (which is far better than having to buy it on Amazon).
On frwiki, we have 180 ASIN codes that seem useful, for about 5,400 that probably aren't (≈97%), so spot-checking isn't a valid option. I guess it is the same here.  Şÿℵדαχ₮ɘɼɾ๏ʁ 22:41, 11 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
At one of the recent TFDs, I picked a random article and found an ASIN being used for an e-book that had no other identifiers and which I was unable to find in any databases. I figured that the likelihood of similar instances was high, given that I picked an article at random. – Jonesey95 (talk) 22:55, 11 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Picking only one seems good enough to get a complete overview of the issue.
I guess it is a problem occurring only on frwiki, so I won't bother you anymore.  Şÿℵדαχ₮ɘɼɾ๏ʁ 23:03, 11 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Wikipedias need maintenance, documentation, and guidance for editors. I notice that the documentation on the French Wikipedia page for Template:ASIN does not contain any guidance about how and when to use it. In that situation, and in the absence of editors checking the template's usage and adjusting the documentation, people will use a template for anything that seems to work. My addition of a tracking category to the en.WP version will eventually cut the usage of our version of the template in half. Once we have fixed those, the remaining 2,500 or so transclusions will be less difficult to inspect. – Jonesey95 (talk) 01:36, 12 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
It's an ID of last resort. All the best: Rich Farmbrough 00:11, 12 August 2025 (UTC).[reply]
And, of course, the use of an identifier is mandated by WP:IDENTIFIER, which overrides all other policies, thus allowing us to mandate the use of links to the world's most exploitative retailer. Guy (help! - typo?) 12:34, 12 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Category:Articles using Template:ASIN with an all-numeric value

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Category:Articles using Template:ASIN with an all-numeric value currently contains 2,758 articles, out of 4,996 articles that use this template. It looks like some cleanup is in order. – Jonesey95 (talk) 01:29, 12 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Is it just a simple find/replace? (This is not an offer to do the finding/replacing!) Best, HouseBlaster (talk • he/they) 14:29, 12 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I have done about a dozen of them, and it has been a simple find and replace in most cases. The most popular format, which uses |id= inside a cite template, can be replaced with (this is AutoEd code): str = str.replace(/\| *id *= *{{ASIN *\| *([\d]+) *\| *country *= *[a-z][a-z]}}/gi, '\|isbn=$1'); Sometimes there is already an |isbn= parameter, so removal of the ASIN is the right fix. Each scripted edit needs to be examined manually before saving, because editors are creative. – Jonesey95 (talk) 15:17, 12 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]