Wikipedia:WikiProject Succession Box Standardization/Guidelines

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Succession Box
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The following guidelines regard the proper usage of the various succession templates used throughout Wikipedia. This includes the proper use of headers, titles, succession lists, and references. It also includes information on style issues and the proper orders of listing. For instructions about the creation of different types of succession boxes, please see the Documentation page. For a continuously growing list of offices tracked by succession boxes, see the Offices page. For a list of all succession box templates currently being tracked by this project, see the Templates page.

Contents

I. General

The following guidelines apply to all succession boxes across Wikipedia, except in special cases as deemed necessary.

Terms to know:

  • succession box – A column of templates that designate titles, awards, and various other honours held by the subject of the page (usually an individual).
  • succession chain – A set of pages linked together by a succession list (such as a chain of monarchs).
  • succession line – A single row of a succession box (generally consisting of s-bef, s-ttl, and s-aft).
  • header – A header sits atop a succession line to differentiate it from other succession lines.
  • pipe – A pipe is a "|" (located as a shift-option beneath the slash key) that separates a template from a parameter.
  • pipe-link – A term used to denote a pipe in a link such as in [[Henry VIII of England|Henry, Prince of Wales]], where the pipe allows the link to be renamed (and HTML formatted).

A. Inclusion of images

i. Images of any kind, including but not restricted to flags, coats of arms, and badges shall not be incorporated into any succession boxes for any reason, despite often being relevant to the offices tracked.
ii. Reason: Apart from the fact that they cannot always be correctly displayed due to technical issues connected to the mechanics of succession boxes, they also create problems of general inconsistency.

B. Years and dates

i. The time period for which a person has held a title is filled in the |years= parameter of the succession box code. Although only the years of reigns or terms are written in most cases, write full dates whenever it is possible to find such information for the whole chain of succession (except for regents or other people included in the s-ttl part of a succession box, who should always have years without dates).
ii. Dates constitute the de facto ascension to a title, either the assumption of power (in an office) or the death of the subject's predecessor (when the title is hereditary, as in noble and regnal successions).
iii. Full dates should be sourceable (if necessary, include references at the bottom of the box using the s-ref template) and, if possible, there should be information about all the dates of the entire succession chain (i.e., do not write full dates for one person and just years for another person in the same chain).
iv. There are three categories of succession boxes which only need one year and no dates: electoral candidacies, awards, and sporting positions (in case of championships or tournaments). In those cases, write nothing but the year in question in the |years= parameter.
v. If the subject holds the same award or trophy, or is a candidate for the same office, for two or more times in a row, then one succession line is used and all the years are given in the title field, separated from each other by commas. The format is the following:
|years=first year, second year, third year
vi. There are two categories of succession boxes which do not need years under any circumstance: lines of succession and orders of precedence. In those cases, leave the |years= parameter empty.
vii. Formatting
a. Two years (or two dates, years) should be joined by an n-dash ("–"), either written in code (–) or simply as – (Windows: Alt+0150; MacOS: option + shift + -) [Note: Do not confuse with an m-dash, which appears as —]. A space should be added on either side of the n-dash for better readability. It should resemble this:
|years=start year – end year (for plain years)
or this:
|years=start date(,) start year – end date(,) end year (for years and dates).
b. When the succession box concerns an incumbent, then the incumbent variant should be used for the successor cell ({{s-inc}} instead of {{s-aft}}), and no second year (or date, year) should be given; the word "present" ought to be written instead. The format in this case is:
|years=start year – present (for plain years)
or this:
|years=start date(,) start year – present (for years and dates).
c. If a person has only held an office or title for a time period within a single year and no dates are known, or the subject has won an annual award, championship, or tournament, then only the year in question should be written, and the format in this case is the following:
|years=year
However, if the subject has held an office or title for a time period of which the specific dates are known, then the usual format applies (the year should be written twice despite being the same year):
|years=start date(,) year – end date(,) year
d. Dates are not to be Wikilinked as all the dates contained within a succession box should already appear elsewhere on the subject page.
Note: Date links that can offer additional information to the reader can be excepted from the above. The most basic exception is that legislative dates under the header s-par should link to a particular election. (See the relevant section for details.)
e. Dates should reflect the dominant style of the nation of the office or title as per Wikipedia Manual of Style guidelines. Thus, offices and titles in North America should be rendered as Month DD, YYYY, while offices and titles in most of Europe (as well as Australia and New Zealand) should be rendered as DD Month YYYY.
f. Dates listed in a succession box that regard something other than the subject should be only listed with the years (no days or months) and should never be wikilinked. (This regards especially "regent" and "alongside" parameters found in s-ttl.) Spaces may also be omitted for these years.

II. Titles

The following guidelines regard titles as they appear in the core templates within succession boxes.

A. Peers and nobility

i. All peers should be referred to by their titles, not their names.
ii. Legal peers should use the Wikipedia format which is "The Earl of Somewhere", as in the following example:


Preceded by
The Earl of Aberdeen		 Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1855 – 1858		 Succeeded by
The Earl of Derby


Note: "Earl" can be replaced with any noble title and the inclusion of "of" depends on the specific title (hereditary barons, for example, rarely use it).
iii. If two or more different peers with the same title are named in a succession box (the case often being that one is the other's successor), then the titles ought to be disambiguated by the addition of a numeral, as in the following example:


Preceded by
The 2nd Earl of Pembroke		 Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire
1601 – 1621		 Succeeded by
The 3rd Earl of Pembroke


iv. A courtesy peer, whose title is mostly social and is not recognised by the law, lacks the definite article the, which indicates a substantial peer with a real, legal title. The format for a courtesy peer is "Earl of Somewhere", as in the following example:


Preceded by
Viscount Milton		 Chief Secretary for Ireland
1795 – 1798		 Succeeded by
Viscount Castlereagh


Note: Courtesy peers usually succeed their father to the peerage and are subsequently known by their proper title (more details about this can be found lower in this section). In the above example, Viscount Milton inherited the earldom of Dorchester in 1798 and Viscount Castlereagh the marquessate of Londonderry in 1821; their articles' titles reflect this state of things.
v. Younger sons (that is, all but the eldest) of dukes and marquesses should receive the prefix "Lord" before their name and surname in succession boxes, while daughters of dukes, marquesses, and earls should receive the prefix "Lady". This is so because only the eldest sons of peers receive a courtesy title, and their other children make use of their proper name and surname. However, they are still entitled to honorary prefixes before their name which are used in society and which they may keep for life. Wikipedia's naming conventions dictate that only children of senior peers should be written with their styles, and thus these are entitled to a prefix in succession boxes. The following is an example:


Preceded by
Andrew Bonar Law		 Lord Privy Seal
1921 – 1922		 Succeeded by
Lord Robert Cecil


Note: Daughters and younger sons of peers should only be written with the aforementioned prefixes for as long as they have no substantial titles (for which case the guidelines on legal peers should be followed). Furthermore, daughters of peers change their style if they marry peers.

B. Baronets and knights

i. Baronets, an exclusively British honour, retain their original names both legally and socially. However, their name in succession boxes is preceded by the title "Sir" (for baronets) or "Dame" (for baronetesses). Also, their name may be followed by "Bt" (for baronets) or "Btss" (for baronetesses) when that is necessary for disambiguation purposes, as in the following example:


Preceded by
Sir Robert Peel, Bt		 Chancellor of the Exchequer
1835 – 1839		 Succeeded by
Francis Baring


Note: "Bt" and "Btss" are correctly written without a full stop, as an abbreviation in British English is only written with a full stop when it does not end with the last letter of the word it is derived from (compare "Dr" for "Doctor" to "Dr." for "Drive"). Forms like "Bt." and "Btss." should thus be avoided.
ii. Like with peers, if two or more different baronets with the same name are given in a succession box, then they ought to be disambiguated by the addition of the word "Baronet" after their name, preceded by a numeral, as in the following example:


Preceded by
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet
William Yates Peel		 Member of Parliament for Tamworth
with Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Bt 1847–1850
Sir Robert Peel, 3rd Bt 1850–1855
1847 – 1855		 Succeeded by
Sir Robert Peel, 3rd Baronet
Viscount Raynham


iii. Knights also should be referred to by their names, preceded by "Sir" for male knights or "Dame" for female knights, unless they are Ladies of the Garter or Ladies of the Thistle, in which case the appropriate prefix is "Lady".

C. General guidelines regarding titles

i. Remember to pipe-link the names to the correct article titles which, in cases of peers and baronets, are almost always dissimilar from the format demonstrated here.
Note: When viewing a page, one may see what the correct article title for a person in a succession box is by leaving the cursor on the link without clicking on it and waiting for a few seconds until the label with the name appears. In Wikipedia, this is called "hovering".
ii. When a noble passes down, or succeeds to, an office, they should be named in the succession box with the title they held at that time of ascension.
In the following example, Fox Maule had no titles until he inherited the barony of Panmure in 1852, while Charles Wood was only a baronet until he was created Viscount Halifax in 1866.


Preceded by
Fox Maule		 President of the Board of Control
1852		 Succeeded by
Sir Charles Wood


Likewise, a baronet/baronetess should not have the prefix "Sir"/"Dame" in succession boxes before their succession to the baronetcy, and a knight should not receive the prefix "Sir"/"Dame"/"Lady" before they are awarded the knighthood.
iii.. If a monarch inherits a title, it often merges into the crown. If it does not, the monarch should be mentioned in the succession box by their name and ordinal. If they were not on the throne at the time of the succession, they should be written with the title they held then; below the name add in small lettering the phrase:
<br /><small>'''later became<br />King/Queen [name] [ordinal]''</small>
as in the following example:


Preceded by
Edward of Middleham,
Prince of Wales		 Prince of Wales
1486 – 1502		 Succeeded by
Henry, Duke of York
later became
King Henry VIII


iv. In the event that a title becomes over-long, include a <br /> somewhere in the middle of the title to shift the second portion down a line. This allows the succession line to feel more balanced. In some cases, a second break may be necessary.
v. Post-nominal letters are not to be included in succession boxes under any circumstance except for the aforementioned special case of baronets/baronetesses and the succession boxes for orders of precedence. Social titles like "Mr", "Mrs", "Miss", and "Ms" are likewise excluded, as are professional titles like "Prof." and "Dr".
vi. The above stated guidelines for peers and baronets do not apply to cases of succession to a peerage or baronetcy; in these cases, only the predecessor/successor's name and surname are used; for details, see the relevant sections for peers and baronets lower in this page.

III. Headers and parameters

A. General guidelines

i. The headers currently managed by this project are divided into the following three classes:
  • offices (holders elected or appointed)
  • hereditary titles (their holders inherit their title(s) from their ancestors)
  • distinctions (not actual offices or regular succession chains, rather than lists of holders changing at fixed time periods).
ii. Each succession line may only have one header above it, despite the fact that some titles may merit multiple headers. In the event that multiple headers qualify for a title, choose the most appropriate (e.g., President of the United States may qualify as a military position; however, it is above all else an elected leadership position, and thus falls under the "Political offices" header).
iii. Each header should only be used once in a succession box and all similar succession lines should go under a single header, irrespective of chronological or other orders.
iv. The order of the various headers (and thus office/title categories) in any succession box should be the following. However, whichever set of positions that commands the most political power should top the list. (The links lead to the relevant sections in this page.)
Notes:
1. These positions are connected to either substantial or nominal political power, both officially and unofficially.
2. Whichever set of positions that commands the most political power should top the list. Although regnal titles and political offices are rarely held by the same person, the former should take precedence in case they are. Other offices might also precede s-off, like religious titles and titles of nobility.
3. Normally, royal titles are to follow regnal titles (if there are none, they should come first); however, if the subject holds offices with considerable political power, it should come after them.
4. Government offices usually follow political offices, but if there are royalty titles in the succession box these should generally take precedence.
5. The relative positions of diplomatic and legal offices should rely on their comparative importance.
6. Religious titles should occupy this position in the list, unless they include offices like Pope, Patriarch, or Caliph, in which case they ought to come first.
7. Media offices should precede business titles in most occasions, as the media are a more politically powerful category than general businesses.
8. If there are no offices in a succession box that precede s-other in the order of headers, then this header should not be used at all—it makes no sense to have a header titled "Other offices" without previous offices to distinguish it from.
9. Although devoid of power nowadays, many titles of nobility used to be connected to significant political power in the past and might rank in the top positions of succession boxes (especially in the Holy Roman Empire, and somewhat less in mediaeval France). It should be noted, however, that such titles might qualify as regnal if their holders are free of overlords and fully independent as rulers of their lands.
v. Honorary titles may be difficult to determine given that most such titles were once substantive. Honorary titles held concurrently with other titles (e.g. Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay for Prince of Wales) are not necessary to list. (The only exception is when these titles were not always held together by the same individual, in which case they should only be listed separately for the period they were held by different people, and then be shown to merge into (or split from) the higher title.)
vi. In groups of headers specialised by region or type, like those for parliamentary seats, the same template is used but it is disambiguated with a parameter. The same template may be used multiple times in a single succession box if it recognises different parameters (s-par recognises more than a hundred) and a different parameter is used. The parameter is added after the template and separated by it with a pipe in the format {{template|parameter}}. As of October 2007, the ten templates that accept parameters are s-par, s-rel, s-civ, s-npo, s-reg, s-roy, s-ach, s-sports, s-prec, and s-wea, and lists of parameters for each can be found in their corresponding sections lower in this page.

B. Offices

This category, the largest of the three, includes various offices, the incumbents of which were either appointed or elected to their positions. These offices are or were usually connected to a certain amount of power, although in most cases the extent of this power has fluctuated through time, and has sometimes been lost altogether at one point or another in their history.
After categorised under their respective headers, succession lines for offices should be placed in ascending chronological order; this way the subject's career can be seen more clearly.
Please note that the order of the sections that follow slightly deviates from the proper order that headers should have in succession boxes, which is given in the previous section.

i. Parliamentary seats (s-par)

a. S-par regards seats in important legislative bodies like Parliaments, Congresses, and Assemblies. This includes any and all current and historic national and regional bodies.
b. This template requires the use of one of the following parameters to properly function. Although simply writing {{s-par}} will result in an "Assembly seats" header, it is too vague and is thus not encouraged.
  • Legislatures of the United Kingdom:
    • uk for the Parliament of the United Kingdom (modern-day, national)
    • gb for the Parliament of Great Britain (historical (1707–1801), national)
    • en for the Parliament of England (historical (to 1707), national)
    • sct for the Scottish Parliament (modern-day (since 1999), devolved)
    • wal for the National Assembly of Wales (modern-day (since 1998), devolved)
    • ni for the Parliament of Northern Ireland (historical (1921–1972), devolved)
    • ni/ass for the Northern Ireland Assembly (modern-day (since 1998), devolved)
  • Legislatures of the United States of America:
    • us-sen for the United States Senate (modern-day, national)
    • us-hs for the United States House of Representatives (modern-day, national)
    • (see the relevant section for the legislatures of the U.S. states and territories lower in this section)
  • Legislatures of Canada:
    • ca for the Parliament of Canada (modern-day, national)
    • ca-p for the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada (historical, pre-confederation)
    • ca-ab for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta (modern-day, provincial)
    • ca-bc for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (modern-day, provincial)
    • ca-mb for the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (modern-day, provincial)
    • ca-nb for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick (modern-day, provincial)
    • ca-nl for the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly (modern-day, provincial)
    • ca-ns for the Nova Scotia House of Assembly (modern-day, provincial)
    • ca-on for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario (modern-day, provincial)
    • ca-qc for the National Assembly of Quebec (modern-day, provincial)
    • ca-qc-l for the Legislative Assembly of Quebec (historical, provincial)
    • ca-pe for the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island (modern-day, provincial)
    • ca-sk for the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan (modern-day, provincial)
    • ca-nt for the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories (modern-day, territorial)
    • ca-nu for the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut (modern-day, territorial)
    • ca-yt for the Yucon Legislative Assembly (modern-day, territorial)
  • ie for the Parliament of Ireland (historical (to 1801), national); parameter not to be used for Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann
  • ie/oi for the Oireachtas (i.e. Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann) (Ireland, modern-day, national)
  • jp-upr for the House of Councillors of Japan (modern-day, house of bicameral parliament)
  • jp-lwr for the House of Representatives of Japan (modern-day, house of bicameral parliament)
  • eu for the European Parliament (modern-day, international)
  • au for the Parliament of Australia (modern-day, national)
    • au-vic for the Parliament of Victoria (modern-day, state)
    • au-wa for the Parliament of West Australia (modern-day, state)
    • aw-nt for the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly (modern-day, territorial)
  • dk for the Folketing (Denmark, modern-day, national, single house of bicameral parliament up to 1953)
  • dk-lt is for the Landsting (Denmark, historical (to 1953), house of bicameral parliament)
  • gh for the Parliament of Ghana (modern-day, national)
  • in-upr for the Rajya Sabha (India, modern-day, house of bicameral parliament)
  • in-lwr for the Lok Sabha (India, modern-day, house of bicameral parliament)
  • fr-upr for the Senate of France (modern-day, house of bicameral parliament)
  • fr-lwr for the National Assembly of France (modern-day, house of bicameral parliament)
  • sp-upr for the Spanish Senate (modern-day, house of bicameral parliament)
  • sp-lwr for the Spanish Congress of Deputies (modern-day, house of bicameral parliament)
  • rs for the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska (modern-day, entity legislature)
c. Parliaments of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom
1. The parliaments of England and Great Britain were, and the Parliament of the United Kingdom is, bicameral. The House of Commons is a democratically elected chamber and falls under the header of s-par. The House of Lords is partly hereditary and partly appointed, but never elected and thus does not qualify for the s-par header. Templates s-reg and s-rel should be used for members of the House of Lords, with a label to indicate that they were in the Lords (see the Documentation page for details). Note that Life Peers are not entitled to succession boxes for their peerage at all, as it is not inherited.
2. Members of Parliament for a given constituency in England before 1707, in England or Scotland from 1707 to 1801, and in the United Kingdom after 1801, should have the correct header above the succession box for that constituency.
3. Members of Parliament who served for one constituency before one of those dates and another (or the same, non-consecutively) after that date should have headers for both Parliaments, but each header should only appear once. Example: a person serving in the Parliament of England for constituency 1 and the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies 2 and 3 should have the following templates, in this order: s-par|en, succession (1), s-par|gb, succession (2), succession (3). (Note that the order of the parliament headers should be ascending chronological, with England coming first, followed by Great Britain and then by the United Kingdom.)
4. Members of Parliament consecutively serving for a single constituency in multiple Parliaments should have the header of the later Parliament. Example: a Member of Parliament representing an English constituency from 1689 until 1710 should have that succession box placed under an s-par|gb header.
5. In constituencies which returned multiple members, all predecessors and successors should be listed, separated by a single <br />to break to the next line. Members of Parliament simultaneously representing the constituency should be listed after the name of the constituency in small type (use <small> before the words you want to appear in small type and </small> right after them). If one of the other members represented the constituency throughout the length of the subject's term, the date range may be omitted; otherwise, the years between which that member served should appear after the member's name.
6. When a Member of Parliament is the first or last to represent a particular incarnation of a constituency because it has just been created or abolished, different templates should be used. For newly created constituencies, replace the s-bef template with s-new, using the proper parameter as well: {{s-new|constituency}}. For abolished constituencies, replace the s-aft template with s-non and in the reason field write "Constituency abolished".
7. Years should be wikilinked to the election at which a given Member of Parliament was elected to the seat, or at which a successor was chosen, e.g. 1983 – 1989. Note that in the second example the Member of Parliament ceased to represent the constituency in 1989 (due to death), but the successor was not chosen until 1990, in a by-election.
For lists of elections in the United Kingdom see United Kingdom general elections and List of UK by-elections.
Here follows a fictional example that showcases several of the above standards (names and dates have not been linked). Writing...
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|gb}}
{{s-bef|before=Richard Roe<br />Lord Sunway}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Member of Parliament]] for [[Swevenham (UK Parliament constituency|]]<br /><small>with Richard Roe 1689–1700<br />Thomas Atkins 1700–1710</small>
|years=1689 – 1710}}
{{s-non|reason=Constituency abolished}}
{{s-new|constituency}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Member of Parliament]] for [[Higham (UK Parliament constituency|]]<br /><small>with Thomas Atkins</small>
|years=1689 – 1710}}
{{s-aft|after=Thomas Atkins<br />Richard Teague}}
{{end}}
...will produce this:
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Richard Roe
Lord Sunway		 Member of Parliament for Swevenham
with Richard Roe 1689–1700
Thomas Atkins 1700–1710
1689 – 1710		 Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for Higham
with Thomas Atkins
1710 – 1715		 Succeeded by
Thomas Atkins
Richard Teague
d. Legislatures in the United States
1. Apart from the federal Congress, there are 108 legislative houses in the United States (distributed throughout 50 state and 6 territorial legislatures), and there are headers for all of them. The parameters for these headers use the following format:
  • us-[xx] for unicameral legislatures of U.S. states and territories
  • us-[xx]-sen for the upper houses of bicameral legislatures of U.S. states and territories
  • us-[xx]-hs for the lower houses of bicameral legislatures of U.S. states and territories
Note: [xx] stands for the two-letter postal abbreviation of each state/territory as given below (within parentheses).
Note: All upper houses are called "Senate", while various names are used for the different lower houses, like "House of Representatives", "House of Delegates", and "Assembly".
Note: The unicameral legislatures are four: the Nebraska Legislature (ne), the Council of the District of Columbia (dc), the Legislature of Guam (gu), and the Legislature of the Virgin Islands (vi).
Note: All states but one (Nebraska) have bicameral legislatures: Alabama (al), Alaska (ak), Arizona (az), Arkansas (ar), California (ca), Colorado (co), Connecticut (ct), Delaware (de), Florida (fl), Georgia (ga), Hawaii (hi), Idaho (id), Illinois (il), Indiana (in), Iowa (ia), Kansas (ks), Kentucky (ky), Louisiana (la), Maine (me), Maryland (md), Massachusetts (ma), Michigan (mi), Minnesota (mn), Mississippi (ms), Missouri (mo), Montana (mt), Nevada (nv), New Hampshire (nh), New Jersey (nj), New Mexico (nm), New York (ny), North Carolina (nc), North Dakota (nd), Ohio (oh), Oklahoma (ok), Oregon (or), Pennsylvania (pa), Rhode Island (ri), South Carolina (sc), South Dakota (sd), Tennessee (tn), Texas (tx), Utah (ut), Vermont (vt), Virginia (va), Washington (wa), West Virginia (wv), Wisconsin (wi), and Wyoming (wy).
Note: Three territories also have bicameral legislatures: American Samoa (as), Northern Mariana Islands (mp), and Puerto Rico (pr).
A full list can be found in Template:S-par.
2. U.S. legislative positions should be listed chronologically, beginning with the first elected title and continuing down to the last. If an individual was elected to a position in another legislative body, that title should be below a new header reflecting the change.

ii. Political offices (s-off)

Under this header may be placed all sorts of offices that are political in nature. Most of these offices are senior positions in the government of a country, and those with significant power are usually elected. Such offices usually belong to the following categories:
  • Elected heads of state, e.g. Presidents (U.S.A., France, Germany, Ireland, etc.)
    • Elected monarchs, e.g. the monarch of Malaysia
  • Heads of government
    • Elected heads of government, e.g. Prime Ministers (U.K.), Chancellors (Germany), etc.
    • Appointed heads of government (e.g. the French Prime Minister)
    • Mayors (e.g. the Mayor of Washington, D.C.)
  • Ministers, Secretaries of State (U.S. / U.K.), Cabinet members (U.S. Secretaries of ...)
  • Elected Governors, e.g. those of U.S. states (for appointed Governors, e.g. those of Australian states, see s-gov)
  • Political offices of Parliament, including and not restricted to: Speaker of the House of Commons and Lord Speaker (in the UK), Speaker of the House of Representatives and Vice President of the United States (in the USA), etc.
For political offices within party structures (like Party Leaders and Whips), see s-ppo.

iii. Government offices (s-gov)

This category includes a multitude of notable government officials whose positions are or were non-political. No elected officials should be placed under this header; they should be assigned to s-off (political offices) instead. Offices below this header include, but are not limited to:
  • Appointed Governors (e.g. Governors of Australian states, the Governor-General of Canada, etc.)
  • Civil servants (e.g. permanent secretaries, private secretaries, etc.)
  • MI5/MI6/GCHQ (and other intelligence service) officers who were not serving officers in the armed forces (in that case see s-mil)
  • Non-political offices of Parliament (e.g. the Clerk of the Parliaments, the Clerk of the House of Commons, the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, etc.)

iv. Honorary offices (s-hon)

a. These are offices that are not associated with any power, either because they were always intended to be honorary or ceremonial, or because they used to be positions of authority but lost it at some point of their history. Some of the offices now considered honorary are:
  • Custos Rotulorum (after the English Interregnum; prior to that it was political)
  • Lord Lieutenant (as above)
  • Most offices pertaining to orders of knighthood
b. If there is a strong ambiguity over whether a title is honorary or still holds some power, it should have a s-gov header.
c. More can be found in the Offices page.

v. Court offices (s-court)

These are appointments in royal courts. They include:
  • Private Secretary to the Sovereign
  • Keeper of the Privy Purse
  • Lord Warden of the Stannaries
  • Page of Honour

vi. Party political offices (s-ppo)

These are offices that are part of the mechanisms of political parties. They include:
  • Party leaders/chairmen
  • Whips
  • Party candidates for the Presidency of the United States, France, etc.
  • Chairpersons of the Democratic and Republican National Committees (United States)
Only important positions in major parties should be given succession boxes.

vii. Legal offices (s-legal)

These include positions of power, whose common element is that they deal with the legal system of their respective countries. Such offices include:
  • Solicitors general
  • Attorneys general
  • District attorneys
  • Chief judges and justices

viii. Diplomatic posts (s-dip)

These are posts in diplomatic missions of various countries. This should not include the most senior foreign minister resident in the country (i.e. US Secretary of State, Foreign Minister, etc.) as they are considered political offices. Thus, the most high-ranking officials include:
  • Ambassadors
  • High Commissioners (Commonwealth of Nations)
  • Consuls-general

ix. Religious titles (s-rel)

a. Religious offices are those whose duties are restricted to religious matters, having originated from, or being intimately connected to, a certain religion. There are specialised headers for the various religions; the parameters (italicised) and the resulting headers (in bold) follow in the list below:
  • ac for Anglican Communion titles
  • bu for Buddhist titles
  • ca for Catholic Church titles
  • en for Church of England titles
  • or for Orthodox Church titles
  • is for Islamic titles
  • jw for Jewish titles
  • mo for Church of Latter Day Saints titles
  • sc for Church of Scotland titles
  • sh for Shia-Islam titles
  • su for Sunni Islam titles
b. If no parameter is given (thus simply writing {{s-rel}}), the resulting header will read Religious titles.
c. Only important titles and positions should be tracked by succession boxes, like Bishops, Archbishops, Abbots, Cardinals, Popes, and Patriarchs in the Christian religion, and Imams and Caliphs in the Islamic religion.

x. Military offices (s-mil)

a. These are positions of authority within the military. These offices must both be important and constitute succession chains that fulfil the criteria of this WikiProject. Examples include:
  • Colonelcies of regiments
  • Commanderships-in-chief (only when separate from the head-of-state)
  • Offices of the Board of Ordnance
b. Military ranks do not form succession chains, and as a result they are not included here.

xi. Civic offices (s-civ)

a. These are positions within local authorities. Falling under this category are posts in the police, fire, and medical services, and parameters are used to create these three specialised headers. The parameters (italicised) and the resulting headers (in bold) follow in the list below:
  • pol is for Police appointments
  • fir is for Fire appointments
  • med is for Medical appointments
b. If no parameter is given (thus simply writing {{s-civ}}), the resulting header will read Civic offices.

xii. Academic offices (s-aca)

These are senior posts in major academic institutions, including:
  • University rectors, chancellors, provosts, presidents, and deans
  • Headteachers and headmasters of schools and colleges

xiii. Educational offices (s-edu)

These are senior positions in important educational organisations, including:
  • Heads of significant non-political councils, companies, authorities, and unions related to education

xiv. Cultural offices (s-culture)

These are important positions in prestigious cultural institutions, including:
  • Chairmen and curators of major museums
  • Managers of famous theatres
  • Heads of important organisations, institutions, unions, and companies related to culture
    • President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

xv. Heraldic offices (s-herald)

These are positions connected to heraldic authorities around the world, including the College of Arms (for the United Kingdom except Scotland, as well as for several Commonwealth countries), the Court of the Lord Lyon (for Scotland), and the Canadian Heraldic Authority (for Canada). The senior heraldic offices are:
  • Kings of Arms
    • Garter Principal King of Arms
    • Clarenceux King of Arms
    • Norroy and Ulster King of Arms
    • Lyon King of Arms
  • Heralds
    • Heralds in Ordinary
    • Heralds Extraordinary
Note: This header is only supposed to be used for strictly heraldic offices—for offices connected to orders of knighthood, please use s-hon.

xvi. Non-profit positions (s-npo)

a. These are positions in non-profit organisations, including, amongst others, charities and labour unions. There are specialised headers for some types of non-profit organisations; the parameters (italicised) and the resulting headers (in bold) follow in the list below:
  • scout for Scouting
  • waggs for World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts
  • wosm for World Organization of the Scout Movement
  • bsa for Boy Scouts of America
  • gsusa for Girl Scouts of the USA
  • tsa for The Scout Association
  • tbsa for The Boy Scouts Association
  • mason for Freemasonry offices
  • pro for Professional and academic associations (e.g. the president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Linnaean Society, the Bar Association)
b. If no parameter is given (thus simply writing {{s-npo}}), the resulting header will read Non-profit organization positions.

xvii. Media offices (s-media)

a. These are posts in the mass media. They are based in the following areas:
  • TV and Radio, in which case they include posts such as directors-general, controllers, and others
  • Magazines and Newspapers, in which case posts may include editors-in-chief, owners, etc.
b. Both the media in question and the posts within their ranks should be of a certain notability.

xviii. Business positions (s-bus)

These include high-ranking posts in major corporations, such as:
  • Chairman/president/manager
  • Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
  • Presidents of professional sports teams

xix. Other offices (s-other)

This tag should be used if it is unclear to which area an office can be charged or a correct area does not exist yet. For this reason it should be checked on Special:Whatlinkshere/Template:S-other from time to time, where the tag comes to application. Following a choice of the present uses:
  • With the line parameter for Lines of succession to non-royal title (e.g. the President of the United States)
  • Chairman/president/manager of (CND / National Coal Board)
Note: if the offices in a succession box all belong to this category, the header should not be used as there will be no other offices from which these can be distinguished.

C. Hereditary titles

This category encompasses all important hereditary titles except for those already covered by s-off and s-gov: monarchs, peers and noblemen, and baronets.

i. General guidelines

a. Hereditary titles regard only inheritors, those whose titles were inherited, or titles that may be inherited.
b. Titles should be listed below their appropriate headers for the country in which the hereditary title exists. Thus, "Steward of York" should be below the "Peerage of England" header, while "Duke of Aquitaine" should be below the "Nobility of France" header. This provides for better subdivision of the succession box and better understanding of the countries involved.
c. The order of titles within their correct categories and under their appropriate headers is analysed separately in each of the following sections.

ii. Monarchs (s-reg)

a. For regnal titles (titles regarding the reign of a monarch), it is enough to use the s-reg template, without any parameters. The resulting header will be Regnal titles and below it may be placed various monarchical titles a person has held throughout their life, regardless of the country. Note that, although succession lines for titular monarchs are also placed under s-reg, titles in pretence should go under the corresponding header: s-pre.
b. Titles that are closely connected with each other, as in cases of long personal unions, the titles may be placed in the same box, separated by a <br />. (i.e., the Kingdoms of Castile and León)
c. Regnal titles should be placed under their header first in an ascending chronological order (oldest to newest) and, for titles inherited in the same day (or year, if date information is unavailable), in descending order of importance (from the most important to the least important).

iii. Royalty (s-roy)

a. Members of royal families with important hereditary or successive, non-noble titles use the template s-roy. Some of the titles that fall under this category include, but are not limited to:
Note: Many royal heirs have not held the titles customary for heirs (like Prince of Wales for the United Kingdom and Prince of Asturias for Spain), usually because they were heirs presumptive as opposed to heirs apparent.
b. There are headers for the royal families of many nations, and parameters are used to create these specialised headers. For example, {{s-roy|uk}} will produce the header British royalty. The full list can be found at Template:S-roy.
c. If no parameter is given (thus simply writing {{s-roy}}), the resulting header will read Royal titles.
d. The royal titles should be placed under their headers in ascending chronological order; lines of succession, which are not proper titles and for which there are no dates, should occupy the last position(s).

iv. Peers and noblemen (s-reg)

The terms peer (in the British Isles) and nobleman (in Continental Europe and other countries) are synonymous. Succession boxes should be given only to those whose titles are held by a single person at any given time. Courtesy titles are not included (as they are not proper titles and are actually part of the substantial peers' titles), and life peers are likewise excluded (as their titles are not inherited).
a. Peerages and nobility use different parameters to disambiguate between them. The parameters (italicised) and the resulting headers (in bold) are as follows:
  • uk is for Peerage of the United Kingdom (after 1801)
    • gb is for Peerage of Great Britain (1707–1801)
    • en is for Peerage of England (before 1707)
    • sct is for Peerage of Scotland (before 1707)
    • ie is for Peerage of Ireland (until 1922)
  • cm is for Cambodian nobility
  • cn is for Chinese nobility
  • de is for German nobility
  • es is for Spanish nobility (after 1555)
  • fr is for Nobility of France
  • im is for Head of State of the Isle of Man
  • it is for Nobility of Italy
  • jp is for Japanese royalty
  • nl is for Dutch nobility
  • nv is for Navarrese royalty
  • vn is for Vietnamese nobility
  • other is for Titles of nobility (titles of nobility not related to the previous peerages)
Note: There are multiple peerages for the British Isles. Choose the appropriate one for the country or the dates given. If you are unclear, check the title's page to determine the proper peerage or check the appropriate dates on the various national pages.
b. When listed below a peerage or nobility header, the titles should be listed in descending order of seniority, and for titles of the same rank, in ascending order of elevation (title granting).
c. Peerages of the British Isles
In succession boxes for peerage titles, the format "Earl of Somewhere" is used for the title passed down (in contrast to "The Earl of Somewhere" which is used to refer to people holding the title in question).
Also, the predecessor and successor are not written with their title but with their name(s) and surname (it would be pointless to have a succession box naming, e.g. the fourth Duke of Wellington's predecessor and successor as the third and fifth Duke of Wellington respectively). Still, the names must be pipe-linked because their article titles are different.
The following is an example of the above:


Preceded by
Thomas Willoughby		 Baron Middleton
1729 – 1758		 Succeeded by
Francis Willoughby


There are no disambiguation guidelines for men with the same name preceding and succeeding a person to a peerage, and so we have succession boxes like the following:


Preceded by
Hugh Percy		 Duke of Northumberland
1786 – 1817		 Succeeded by
Hugh Percy


[The guidelines on peerage headers have yet to be decided.]
For more information about titles and their proper forms, see WikiProject Peerage.

v. Baronets (s-reg)

A baronetcy is a uniquely British honour, which qualifies as upper gentry and ranks between peerage and knighthood but belongs to neither of them. There are five different baronetages, all of which have originated in the British Isles. In order to find what baronetage a specific baronetcy belongs to, see List of extant baronetcies; if it is dormant, unproven, under review, forfeit, or extinct, you can look it up in List of Baronetcies. As with peerages, it is necessary to disambiguate between them using the correct parameter.
a. The parameters (italicised) and the resulting headers (in bold) follow in the list below, when entered following the pipe in {{s-reg|}}:
  • uk-bt is for Baronetage of the United Kingdom (after 1801)
  • ie-bt is for Baronetage of Ireland (before 1801)
  • gb-bt is for Baronetage of Great Britain (1707–1801)
  • en-bt is for Baronetage of England (before 1707)
  • sct-bt is for Baronetage of Nova Scotia (before 1707)
b. The predecessors and successors are written with their names and surnames, without any titles. There are no disambiguation guidelines for the occasions when the predecessor's and successor's names are similar; it is understood by the very format of the succession box that they are different people.
c. In the s-ttl|title= prompt, the text should state that the person's title is "Baronet" and give the territorial designation "(of Somewhere)", replacing "somewhere" with the place; the word "Baronet" should link to the article for the baronetcy in question. It should follow with the years between which the individual held the baronetcy, as per general guidelines.
The following is an example of the above:
New creation Baronet
(of Scotney)
1991 – 2003		 Succeeded by
Mark Thatcher
Note: it is important to remember to add three apostrophes (''') after the word "Baronet", as well as at the beginning of the years field (that is, right before the first year/date), in order to prevent the territorial designation and the dates from appearing in bold. This measure is also necessary for other succession boxes (e.g. those for consorts) that need an explanatory sentence that will not be in bold.
d. Although it is not usual for a person to hold more than a single baronetcy, if one does hold multiple titles their corresponding lines of succession ought to be placed in ascending chronological order (order of granting).
For more information concerning proper forms about baronets, see WikiProject Baronetcies.

D. Distinctions

This category lists titles which were won by people as a result of their proficiency in the arts, sciences, or sports, and are not accompanied by any office or power.
Within each of the following two categories, the titles should be placed in ascending chronological order, unless there is a very important reason one of them should take up the first place. As of December 2007, the SBS have not found any such exception.

i. Awards and achievements (s-ach)

a. This header is used for awards, records, and miscellaneous achievements that merit a succession chain. Depending on the specific category, the template may be disambiguated with parameters. The parameters (italicised) and the resulting headers (in bold) follow in the list below, when entered following the pipe in {{s-ach|}}:
  • awards and aw are for Awards
  • records and rec are for Records
  • achievements and ach are for Achievements
If no parameter is given (thus simply writing {{s-ach}}), the resulting header will read Awards and achievements; as too general, it ought to be replaced with the appropriate specific header when possible.
b. Awards
1. This header is to be used for prestigious awards bestowed upon people for their excellence in various fields merit this header. Fields in which such awards are given include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Acting (Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Tony awards, etc.)
  • Music (Grammy Awards, MTV Awards, etc.)
  • Literature and journalism (Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prizes, etc.)
  • Science (Copley Medal, Fields Medal, etc.)
  • Arts (Pritzker Prize, etc.)
  • Beauty (Miss World, Miss Universe, Mr. Universe, etc.)
2. This category does not include awards in sporting events (see s-sports). Honours, decorations, patriotic medals, and scouting awards are also excluded, as they are not successive.
c. Records
1. These are prestigious records, of mostly but not exclusively sporting nature, including:
  • Various maritime records:
    • The Blue Riband
    • Largest ship in the world
  • Various engineering records:
    • Highest building/tower in the world
    • Various types of longest bridges in the world
  • Various sports records:
    • National records
    • World records
    • Olympic records
2. Simply because a record has been earned does not merit a succession box for that record. Succession boxes for records should only regard records that are part of a series (for example, not all Guinness Book records deserve a succession box).
d. Achievements
Various important achievements that do not constitute a record.

ii. Sporting positions (s-sports)

a. Winning sporting titles in major events such as the Olympic Games and various world championships merit this header. In addition, chairmanships and presidencies of important non-political committees and organisations pertaining to sports may be included. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:
  • Distinctions in sporting events
    • Olympic medallists
    • Winners of major sport competitions
    • Winning teams in international football, basketball and other championships
  • Presidents of the International Olympic Committee
  • Presidents of prestigious sports clubs
b. Presidencies of professional sports teams are business positions and should go under s-bus.