Wikipedia:Userboxes

This page documents an English Wikipedia project content guideline.

It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though it is best treated with common sense, and occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

Shortcuts

The following guidelines apply equally to all user templates (including any userbox or userbox-like markup), regardless of where the code resides; and regardless of whether they have been transcluded, substituted, or written from scratch. Such templates which fail to meet these guidelines may be subject to deletion.

A guide to the userbox galleries

An alphabetical list of all userbox galleries

A userbox is a small rectangular box that looks like this. More examples below.

Userboxes can come in many different styles and colors.

Userboxes can have one or two sideboxes.

A userbox (commonly abbreviated as UBX) is a small colored box (see examples to the right) designed to appear only on a Wikipedian's user page as a communicative notice about the user, in order to directly or indirectly help Wikipedians collaborate more effectively on articles.

The first userboxes were introduced to support the Babel inter-language effort by indicating the skills of users in other languages.

Be mindful that like anything else you add to Wikipedia, userboxes you add will likely be public forever, even if you later have your user page deleted. (Like other Wikipedia pages, your user page will be regularly archived in the database dumps and may be archived by third parties such as the Internet Archive.)

Using existing userboxes

Userboxes belong on their users' pages. In some cases, it may be considered uncivil to place userboxes on other users' pages without their permission (especially in a mean-spirited way—such as accusing a user of transphobia, homophobia, racism, sexism, etc.). However, userboxes may be placed on non-mainspace talk pages by anyone. (See also Wikipedia:Talk page.) The {{clear}} template can be placed after the plain userbox if text is added on a new line immediately after it.

A gallery of existing userboxes can be found at Wikipedia:Userboxes/Galleries.

Syntax

The standard syntax for adding a userbox to your user page (also known as transclusion) is: {{user name_of_box}}.

Optional substitution

You may decide to substitute the template code onto your user page using the syntax {{subst:user name_of_box}}. The use of "subst:" will ensure that the template is always displayed in its form when you add it to your user page (i.e. it will not reflect subsequent edits to the template). This method will lead to large amounts of code on your user page.

Creating a new userbox

Shortcuts

If you wish to offer an idea for a userbox, do so on the ideas page.

If you have designed a userbox that you would like to make available to others, you may wish to first display it on the New Userboxes talk page for community comment.

Namespace

Shortcut

WP:UBXNS

The namespace you place your userbox in matters. Userboxes may only be created or displayed in the User, Project (Wikipedia), or Template namespaces.

So which prefix is best for your userbox: User:, Wikipedia:, or Template:?

Since content in User:space represents individual editors more than the community, they are traditionally given more leeway than in other namespaces. Thus, userboxes in User:space may not be as directly collaborative in nature as those in Template:or Wikipedia:namespaces, which are expected to adhere more tightly with certain policies and guidelines, especially Neutral point of view and What Wikipedia is not. This should also be considered before moving a userbox from userspace to any other namespace.

User:: To host a userbox in the user namespace, simply create a subpage of your own user page or User:UBX.
Wikipedia:: Userboxes in the project namespace are generally for WikiProject or task force usage. Simply create it as a subpage of the WikiProject (e.g. Wikipedia:WikiProject Board and table games/Userbox).
Template:: In the template namespace, userbox names must begin with "User " (e.g. Template:User Brazil or Template:User en)

If you are uncertain if your userbox is in the correct namespace, consider presenting the userbox at the New Userboxes talk page for community comment.

Userboxes and category use

Shortcut

WP:USERBOXCAT

A userbox can be coded to autocategorise any user pages which transclude the userbox into one or more user categories. However, do not use autocategorisation without good reason.

Most userboxes refer to a single isolated characteristic of the user; unless the characteristic directly relates to the user's ability or willingness to collaborate on certain areas of or topics within Wikipedia, a user category should not exist for it and the userbox should not be used for categorisation.
Users of the userbox can be located using the Special:WhatLinksHere tool from the userbox template. Networking between editors with similar interests or views is best done using a projectspace essay with a signup section for editors interested in networking.
If there is a good reason for the user category, first create the category pages and include a description that explains its purpose and scope.
User categories must be sub-categories of Category:Wikipedians.
Names and descriptions of user categories are subject to the same rules and restrictions as userbox content.

Userbox content

Content restrictions

Shortcut

WP:UBCR

All userboxes are governed by the civility policy.
- Userboxes must not include incivility or personal attacks.
- Userboxes must not be inflammatory or substantially divisive.
Wikipedia is not an appropriate place for:
- Propaganda, advocacy, or recruitment of any kind (commercial, political, religious, or otherwise)
- Opinion pieces, particularly on current affairs or politics
- Self-promotion or advertising

Simply: If content is not appropriate on other parts of a user page, it is not appropriate within userboxes.

Caution about image use

Wikimedia Commons has a large range of icons for use within boxes. However, if you select an image from somewhere else, make certain the image has a free license. Templates (which includes userboxes and topicons) on user pages may not contain any copyrighted content not under free license; so, for example, "fair use" images are explicitly forbidden. This is interpreted strictly and without exception. See Wikipedia's fair use policy guidelines for more details.

Caution about colours

Please be mindful of the colour contrast guidelines at WP:COLOUR – low-contrast colours present accessibility barriers to people with colour-blindness or other visual disabilities.

Content examples

The following section is not to be considered all-inclusive. As such, other word combinations (both appropriate and inappropriate) are obviously possible.

Typical userbox content:

This user <verb phrase> <noun phrase>.
This user <verb phrase> <noun phrase> <prepositional phrase>.

Typical verbs:

verbs of action: contributes (to), drives, eats, edits, plays, uses, watches
verbs of comprehension: reads, speaks, understands
verbs of preference: enjoys, likes, loves

Additional examples, using the linking verb is:

This user is <noun phrase>.
This user is a fan of <noun phrase>.
This user is a member of <noun phrase>.
This user is interested in <noun phrase>.

Another option is to allow changing the verb phrase using a template parameter. This is especially useful in location userboxes:

This user {{{1|lives in}}} <location>.

To avoid the awkward third-person phrasing ("This user"), you can use "{{#titleparts: {{PAGENAME}} | 1 | 1 }}" (without the quotes) to insert the name of the user that includes it on their page (e.g. "{{#titleparts: {{PAGENAME}} | 1 | 1 }} uses second-person phrasing" produces "Userboxes uses second-person phrasing").

Potentially divisive words

Avoid verbs (often followed by the word "that") which may be used to suggest negative comparison and would thus be potentially divisive, such as:

believes, considers, finds, knows, prefers, thinks, wishes

Avoid negative verb phrases which can be potentially divisive, such as:

dislikes, despises, hates, loathes

Also avoid compound sentences which are positive and negative, such as:

This user likes <noun phrase>, but does not like <another noun phrase>.

Essentially: Express what you do like, rather than what you don't like. Express what you comprehend, rather than what you don't comprehend. Express what you do, rather than what you don't. Express who you are, rather than who you aren't.

Design: How to construct the box

There are a number of box types to select from when deciding to make a userbox. The most commonly used design is the "Standard box". It has one square shaped area on the left ("id") and a rectangular area on the right ("info").

For ease of use, userboxes are typically made using maker-templates that have a number of parameters.

Template Parameters	Meaning	Value type
border-c	The border color of the userbox.	CSS color value (#hex or color name)
border-s	The border size of the userbox.	Width in pixels
id-c	The background color of the id box.	CSS color value
id-s	The font size of the id box.	Size in PostScript points
id-fc	The font color of the id box text.	CSS color value
id-p	The distance between border and content of id box.	CSS padding width value. px, pt
id-lh	The distance between text lines of id box.	CSS relative line height/length value. em
info-c	The background color of info box.	CSS color value
info-s	The font size of info box.	Size in PostScript points
info-fc	The font color of info box.	CSS color value
info-a	The horizontal alignment of text in info box.	left/right/center/justify
info-lh	The distance between text lines of info box.	CSS relative line height/length value. em
id	This is the content of the id box.	Free-form
info	This is the content of info box.	Free-form

The id and info boxes can include text, links, and images using the usual Wikipedia syntax. Generally, the info box will contain a sentence with a link or two, while the id box will contain a few letters or a 43px image.

Userbox types

Types of Userboxes

Code

Appearance

Standard box

{{Userbox |border-c=#000 |border-s=1 |id-c=#FFF |id-s=12 |id-fc=#000 |info-c=#039 |info-s=8 |info-fc=#FFF |id=ID |info=Content}}

or {{Userbox |side-box colour |main box colour |side-box content |main box content}}

ID

Content

Reverse box

{{Userbox-r |border-c=#000 |border-s=1 |id-c=#FFF |id-s=12 |id-fc=#000 |info-c=#039 |info-s=8 |info-fc=#FFF |id=ID |info=Content}}

or {{Userbox-r |side-box colour |main box colour |side-box content |main box content}}

Content

ID

Double box

{{Userbox-2 |border-c=#000 |border-s=1 |id1-c=#FFF |id1-s=12 |id1-fc=#000 |id2-c=#000 |id2-s=12 |id2-fc=#FFF |info-c=#039 |info-s=8 |info-fc=#FFF |id1=ID 1 |id2=ID 2 |info=Content}}

or {{Userbox-2 |side-box 1 colour |main box colour |side-box 1 content |message |side-box 2 content |border colour |side-box 2 colour |main box font-colour |box border thickness}}
Note: If omitted, border colour and side-box 2 colour default to the same colour as side-box 1, and font colour is black. Default border thickness is 1.

ID 1

Content

ID 2

Mini box

{{Userbox-m |border-c=#000 |border-s=1 |id-c=#FFF |id-s=12 |id-fc=#000 |id=ID}}

or {{Userbox-m |box colour |box content}}

ID

Userbox sampling templates

To make it easier to quote the generation code for a userbox in a uniform format, a template {{Userbox sample compact}} has been made available, which produces a picture of the userbox along with the code necessary to create it. To use it, just give it exactly the same parameters you would give the {{Userbox}} template. You must use subst:, or the template will not work properly. An example is shown below:

{{subst:Userbox sample compact|id=UBX|id-c=red|info=This is a '''[[WP:UBX|Userbox]]'''.}}

Produces:

{{Userbox | border-c = #999 | border-s = 1 | id-c = red | id-s = 14 | id-fc = black | info-c = #EEE | info-s = 8 | info-fc = black | id = UBX | info = This is a '''[[WP:UBX|Userbox]]'''. | float = left }}

UBX

This is a Userbox.

There are not yet any similar templates available for userboxes created by the templates Userbox-r, Userbox-2 and Userbox-m.

Grouping userboxes

Using the Userboxtop template

Example 1

This user is a member of WikiProject Userboxes.

This user is interested in ancient Rome.

This user wants to be your friend.

As with the Babel box, there is a box to group userboxes together. Just make a list of userboxes with {{Userboxtop|box-name}} at the top, followed by your list of userboxes, and {{Userboxbottom}} at the bottom. For example, the box to the right is created using the following list:

{{Userboxtop}}
{{User WikiProject Userboxes}}
{{User:UBX/Rome}}
{{User:Nihiltres/Userboxes/Friendly}}
{{Userboxbottom}}

Using collapsible tables

Example 2

My yellow userboxes

Sample userbox #1.

Sample userbox #2.

Sample userbox #3.

My purple userboxes

Sample userbox #4.

Sample userbox #5.

Sample userbox #6.

If you wish to group your userboxes into expandable lists in the {{Userboxtop}} template, one way of doing this is by using collapsible tables with certain classes. Wikipedia's Mediawiki configuration attempts to make this happen through a combination of ECMAScript and CSS. This method is accessible to users with ECMAScript (jScript/JavaScript) disabled, and should work in most modern browsers (it is the method used by {{Navbox}}).

Using the codes in Help:Collapsing works much better and simpler using normal wiki table markup!

 {{Userboxtop|Example 2}}
 <table class="collapsible collapsed" style="width: 100%; background: transparent; color: inherit;">
   <tr><th style="background:lavender;">(Caption)</th></tr>
   <tr><td>
     (Place your userboxes here...)
   </td></tr>
 </table>
 {{Userboxbottom}}

Include 'collapsed' if you want the box to start closed, omit it if you want the box to start open. You can also use multiple tables to get separate collapsible parts like in the example to the right.

You can now use {{Userboxgroup}} to create this kind of box.

Using the Babel grouping system

The Babel grouping system can also be used, e.g. {{Babel|sv|no-4|in Rome}}, which generates:

Wikipedia:Babel

sv

Den här användaren talar svenska som modersmål.

no-4

Denne brukeren/brukaren behersker/meistrar norsk på morsmålsnivå.

This user lives in Rome

Search user languages

However, it only works for user boxes with the "User" prefix, which must then be dropped for the arguments. Also, boxes that need arguments of their own (such as {{User:UBX/Monty Python}}) cannot be used with the Babel system.

Using tables

Another alternative would be to table your userboxes:

{| style="margin: 1em auto;"
|+ example 6
|-
| {{User:AusTerrapin/Box:Jazz Fusion}} {{User_USAFo5}}
|-
| {{User helper}} {{User:The Raven's Apprentice/Userboxes/User Warm}}
|}

would produce the following:

example 6

This user enjoys jazz-rock fusion.

This user is a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force.

This user helps out newcomers.

This user prefers warm weather.

To center one userbox use this coding:

{| style="margin: 1em auto;"
|+ example 7
|-
| {{User:Saoshyant/Userboxes/User oops}}
|}

which produces:

example 7

This user tries to do the right thing. If they make a mistake, please let them know.

Creator userboxes

Wikitext

userbox

where used

{{User:Dainomite/userboxes/ubxcreator1}}

This user will create userboxes for you, if you ask them.

linked pages

{{User:Dainomite/userboxes/ubxcreator2}}

This user will make userboxes upon request.

linked pages

{{User:Urban Versis 32/Userboxes/CreateUBX}}

This user will create userboxes for you, if you ask them on their talk page.

linked pages

v t e WikiProject Userboxes
Wikipedia	Expertise Foreign Humour Personal statistics Participation Policies Related accounts Research and editing tools User status Vandalism Views WikiFauna Wikilosophy Editing WikiProjects Miscellaneous
Interests	Animals Astronomy Automobiles Aviation Cycling Chess Computing Drink Drugs Food Eating Esperantism Games History Internet Law Linguistics Mathematics Memberships Mineralogy Mobile service Motorcycles Parks Philosophy Plants Politics Science Scouting Spaceflight Sports Transportation Public transit Travel Video games Zoos
Languages	Families Celtic Constructed Romance ISO 639 languages Chinese English Italian Latin Non-ISO languages Written language Programming languages Markup languages Alphabet
Life	Age Ancestry Citizenship COVID-19 Education Equality Ethnicity Family Fire Gender Health Languages Military Name Nationality Origin Police Occupation Business Religion Residence Sexuality Miscellaneous
Location	Africa Americas Antarctica Asia Europe Oceania Oceans
Mass media	Newspapers and periodicals Podcasts Radio Television Networks & Stations
The arts	Anime and manga Books Comedy Comics Film by genre Music Theatre
TV shows	Adult/teen animation Adventures Classic Comedy Drama Family Game shows Horror News Reality shows Science fiction/fantasy Soap operas Other shows
Time	Seasonal Time zones Zodiac
Other	Animated Emoticons Userboxes
How to	Create a userbox with an image on the left Create a userbox with an image on the right Create a userbox with two images Create a userbox twice as wide as normal
New	Userboxes Userbox ideas
See also Userbox guidelines Userbox migration Grouping userboxes on your user page Userbox galleries alphabetical listing

Wikipedia:Userboxes

Contents

Using existing userboxes

Syntax

Optional substitution

Creating a new userbox

Namespace

Userboxes and category use

Userbox content

Content restrictions

Caution about image use

Caution about colours

Content examples

Potentially divisive words

Design: How to construct the box

Userbox types

Userbox sampling templates

Grouping userboxes

Using the Userboxtop template

Using collapsible tables

Using the Babel grouping system

Using tables

Creator userboxes

See also

Users who make userboxes upon request