Template:ArticleHistory/doc

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This template combines all the featured content-related templates into one, to reduce clutter on talk pages, and make it less confusing when an article has had multiple FACs, FARs or been demoted and repromoted etc. Good Article status, Articles for Deletion, Peer reviews and WikiProject reviews can also be included.

This template should not (and cannot) be used for placing good article nominations on hold or for nominating articles for processes such as featured article candidate, good article candidate, peer review or featured article review; those items are added to the template after they are closed.

The parameter currentstatus controls what text appears at the top of the box, a set of parameters of the form |action1= |action1date=|action1link=|action1result=|action1oldid= produces a row in the history section at the bottom of the box. Action1 refers to the earliest event.

This template employs intricate features of template syntax. You are encouraged to familiarise yourself with its setup and parser functions before editing the template. If your edit causes unexpected problems, please undo it quickly, as this template may appear on a large number of pages. Remember that you can conduct experiments, and should test all improvements, in either the general Template sandbox or your user space before changing anything here.

[edit] Syntax

Note: DO NOT put html comments inside this template.

{{ArticleHistory
| action1       = 
| action1date   = 
| action1link   = 
| action1result = 
| action1oldid  = 

| action2       = 
| action2date   = 
| action2link   = 
| action2result = 
| action2oldid  = 

| currentstatus = 
| dykdate       = 
| topic         = 
| maindate      = 
| small         = 
}}

Most syntax errors place the talk page in Category:ArticleHistory error. After adding or modifying ArticleHistory, please check the base of the talk page for this error category.

[edit] How to use in practice

FAC and FAR are not valid statuses, because it is necessary for maintenance that {{FAC}} and {{FAR}} be kept separate.

[edit] Example

Example for Talk:Fermi paradox:

{{ArticleHistory
 | action1       = FAC
 | action1date   = 2 June 2004
 | action1link   = Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Fermi paradox/archive1
 | action1result = Promoted
 |
 | action2       = FAR
 | action2date   = 4 Apr 2006
 | action2link   = Wikipedia:Featured article removal candidates/Fermi paradox
 | action2result = Removed
 |
 | action3       = PR
 | action3date   = 28 Apr 2006
 | action3link   = Wikipedia:Peer review/Fermi paradox
 | action3result = 
 |
 | action4       = FAC
 | action4date   = 6 June 2006
 | action4link   = Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Fermi paradox
 | action4result = Promoted
 | action4oldid  = 61126325
 |
 | maindate      = 13 January 2005
 | currentstatus = FA
}}

[edit] How to find and use oldid

The "oldid" is a several-digit number which refers to the exact version of the page at the time of that particular action. This version can then be viewed when a user clicks on the date in the list of milestones. If the oldid is not provided, a bot can determine it from the action date.

There are multiple ways to obtain an oldid. For example, while looking at a page's history, it should be possible to hover the mouse over the date of a particular change, and then the URL will appear at the bottom of the window in the browser's status bar:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Main_Page&oldid=89723590

In the above example, the final number, 89723590 is what should be used in the oldid field.

This number can also be obtained by stepping through the diffs in an article's history, and looking for the oldid in the URL line.

When dealing with a large number of possible changes, researching each oldid can become tedious. In this case, it can be helpful to use a javascript tool made by Dr pda. To use it:

• Add {{subst:js|User:Dr pda/articlehistory.js}} to your monobook.js page.
• Refresh your browser cache
• In your browser toolbox along the lefthand side of the page, you should now see an additional link entitled "Article History"
• Clicking on the link while you are at an article's talkpage, will search the talkpage history for notable events related to the article, and then display a list of these dates and the associated edit summaries
• Next to each summary is the word (oldid) Clicking on it will provide the associated article oldid for that timestamp.
• For further documentation, see: User:Dr pda/articlehistory.js.

[edit] See also

• Template:WikiProjectBanners and Template:WikiProjectBannerShell - For combining and collapsing multiple Wikiproject banners
• Template:Oldafdmulti - For listing multiple deletion debates