Template:Bird list header

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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.

Example: {{Bird list header|dialect=US|family=Anatidae}}

Ducks, Geese, and Swans

Order: Anseriformes Family: Anatidae

The family Anatidae includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl, such as geese and swans. These are birds that are modified for an aquatic existence with webbed feet, bills which are flattened to a greater or lesser extent, and feathers that are excellent at shedding water due to special oils.

Introduction

This template includes a large amount of heading text that has been throughout hundreds of bird lists. This text has been put in template form for standardization and to make it easier to update.

Usage

Use {{Bird list header|dialect=US|family=Anatidae}} to create a heading for a list of birds (use "GB" for British spelling). If you would like to add an adendum, like to show how many birds are in a region, you may type it in after the template normally. Example: {{Bird list header|dialect=GB|family=Anatidae}} There are 38 Canadian species. An implemented example may be viewed at List of California birds. See /Code for code to copy and paste from and to see a list of currently supported families. The references section can be transcluded like the family headers with {{Bird list header|family=references}}.

Modifying template

Dialects

If you wish to modify some of the text for a particular dialect of English, replace the text with {{#switch: {{{dialect}}}| US = color| GB = colour| #default = color}}. More dialects can be added if necessary. The last word, "color", in this example is the default in case the parameter "dialect" is not specified. It will be best to keep the default standardized to one dialect, so US will be used (not that it matters if you specify the dialect when using the template).

Expansion

More families of birds may be added and of course existing entries can be changed and expanded; just carefully follow the format already in place. If a family is added, please add the family to /Code in taxonomic order.

References

It is probably a good idea to reference the text now. Since some families will not be transcluded to each page and because references are likely to be duplicated, using the Harvard referencing system is probably best. In-text citation can be done in the form (Hocking 2006) and the full citation can be given in a references section.

Edit button

The section edit button has been disabled because of an inherent limitation of using parser functions on headings. The magic word to disable those buttons is a part of the duck family. It is assumed that all pages will include ducks, but if they don't, the magic word can be added to another section too.

Assistance

You may ask User:Basar or others for assistance if you would like some part of this template added or expanded and do not know how to yourself.