Wikipedia talk:Userboxes/Archive 8

How do you name a userbox?-BlakJak664 13:59, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

As simply and succinctly as possible. --BlueSquadronRaven 21:46, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

i have a question how do you get a userbox that you made with the little template on the main article from the 8 lines it is now, to one of those neat little one liners with a name

peace-Three ways round 00:25, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

I really don't understand how to make a userbox. I would like to make one that uses this

Never mind!

Is there a userbox to describe yuir hair or lack thereof? Bald, Afro, Buzzcut or Pageboy. Chivista

Whatever happened to userboxes about politics? I know they used to exist once. Jack Daw 05:16, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

They have been moved to user space. See

Donald Albury

01:18, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

(Comments moved from

Hey; I noticed that you re-added a paragraph about what policies apply where in Wikipedia:Userboxes, and you said that "this consensual compromise was arrived at after a great many words were spilled on the floor...". I can't see where this idea expressed in the article comes from, though; might it be some sort of misreading of the userbox migration compromise? Could you please clarify? Thanks in advance, and happy editing. —AySz88\^-^ 06:30, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

Actually, now I think I see where it might come from, and I'll generalize it a bit so it isn't so vague.... If it's not what you meant, feel free to improve or revert. —AySz88\^-^ 06:40, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

I am a little confused by your comment too... Where has this compromise been agreed by the community? Ian¹³/t 12:43, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

I have moved this discussion here, where it belongs, from my user talk page.

AySz88 and Ian13, I think the passage I restored reflects current practice on Wikipedia, which evolved from many discussions in many different places over the past year. This practice was not codified in a single discussion. There were many polls taken, and many unilateral actions taken. Some prominent editors have left the project (some would say they were hounded off), and prominent admins have lost their admin bit. I really would want to see a wider discussion before disturbing the balance that has emerged from the Great Userbox Wars of the past year. --

• It is probably worth noting that this page is neither policy nor guideline. Rather, it is a how-to page that describes how to create and format userboxes. >Radiant< 13:09, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

It is worth introducing new editors to the concept that there are limits on what kinds of userboxes will be tolerated in Userspace and in Templatespace and other project spaces. It's beneficial to introduce them to current practice before they try to create a userbox making a political statement in Templatespace. --

Donald Albury

02:26, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

• Certainly. >Radiant< 10:54, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

A question came up in a TfD nomination over a confusing passage on this page. Section 1.4: Category inclusion lists as its first rule: "Userboxes that include Category markup which adds the bearing userpage to a category must only categorize within subcategories of Category:Wikipedians."

Now, the rule Do not create categories which could potentially include all Wikipedians. For example: "This user is a Wikipedian."; "This user is human."; "This user uses the internet"; etc. would not make sense if it is referring to a Wikipedia:Category, for no Category:Wikipedians subcategory would start with "This user is"; that phrase is obvious the text of the userbox.

I thus propose to take the latter rule out of the subsection. Comments? Xiner (talk, email) 02:29, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Looks to me like you are misunderstanding the intent of the sentence (which probably means it could use some clarity). The idea is that a category which has the criteria of "wikipedian", "human", or "internet-user", would eventually include all Wikipedians, which obviously would not be a useful category. - jc37 12:01, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

In quotes are not "wikipedian", "human", or "internet-user", but "This user is a Wikipedian."; "This user is human."; "This user uses the internet". Xiner (talk, email) 14:45, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

And those are examples of *userboxes* that should not categorize. It clearly says that a userbox that says "This user is a Wikipedian", etc. "should not include category markup based on such criteria." --

Donald Albury

22:22, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

To be fair, it should be noted that I edited the section somewhat to increase clarity after responding to the above concerns... - jc37 22:28, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

I guess I was confused because Xiner's most recent comment was made three days after you edited the project page. --

Donald Albury

04:08, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

Well, I'm not sure what happened when, but the current version makes a lot more sense. Thanks. Xiner (talk, email) 05:49, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

Has political correctness taken over wikipedia? Or are userboxes with religious and political beliefs just not included? is there a valid reason like they havent been made? just curious..I would love to know (Fethroesforia 22:49, 27 December 2006 (UTC))

First of all, there are quite a few political and religious userboxes; they're just in userspace. See here for a list of galleries of such boxes.

As for the reason many of us avoid them, and the reason they're kept out of template space, I don't think it's political correctness, so much as the idea of staying within an appropriate role. When I'm teaching in the classroom, I don't bring my politics into it, not out of some "political correctness", but because it has nothing to do with my role as a teacher. Similarly, at Wikipedia, where we're trying to build and maintain a free and neutral encyclopedia, my politics just don't have anything to do with that. It would be as relevant as if I described the details of my sex life on my user page, which is to say: totally irrelevant. I don't want to give the impression that I'm editing Wikipedia as a liberal, or a conservative, or what-have-you. -GTBacchus^(talk) 23:37, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

Jimbo spoke up against "templates that are divisive and inflammatory". Of course, religious or political belief isn't necessarily inflammatory, but related userboxes have a tendency to be worded in divisive manner. In pursuant discussion, the community decided it's hard to define which reli/poli boxes were the bad ones, so it would be easiest to move all of them into userspace (which, apparently, makes them seem less official to some). >Radiant< 09:53, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

I can't find any nationality userboxes which disappoints me. I believe that wikipedians should be able to proudly display their nationalities in their userboxes. Yelir55 00:15, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

If you don't find what you want at

Donald Albury

14:56, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

I want to display on my user page that I am a proud Christian, as I am sure many other religious people do for their own religion. The religion userbox page has been recently deleted, the editor citing that it has no encyclopedic value, yet the purpose of user boxes and user namespace are not to be encyclopedic, but to provide information about fellow wikipedians. Since user boxes are not intended for use outside user namespace, how is this a valid argument? If the religion userboxes are still available somewhere, could someone let me know please? Alternatively, could someone consider restoring them? Jonaboff 04:03, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

• You can always construct one of your own.
  Wahkeenah
  04:07, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

I believe the userbox you are looking for is {{User:Xoloz/UBX/User Christian}}. I have it displayed on my user page. AuburnPilot^talk 04:11, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

If you are a

Just a clarification, but if you make an image yourself and upload it, are you allowed to use that as an userbox? (I'm assuming yes, but I'd want to make sure). And if so, how would you add it in? VelocityEX 05:42, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

There should be no reason why not, as long as it is a "free" license, not fair use. Once your image is uploaded (keep track of what you named it), you can include it in a userbox just like any other image. Contact me on my talk page if you need help. --NThurston 14:59, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

I actually figured out yesterday how to include images into userboxes, I was using some fuddled code so it was confusing at first. But yeah, thanks for everything!!! VelocityEX 20:51, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

I had this idea myself about 2 months ago, but decided to go with it today, and it appears as if someone else already had the idea. Is it a bad idea to put all userboxes in this user's namespace? What's the problem with this? I haven't created any templates in my userspace, but can we move all of them there? I think it's a great idea. Comments? McKay 15:55, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

i think it would be useful and helpful, but that's just me.Three ways round 00:20, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

I do think we should put ALL the userboxes on one particular page. But not on a userpage. Besides how would we do this in the first place? 65.34.72.52 17:35, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

Specifically, this one: [1] I'm assuming I'd save it to my computer and re-upload it on Wikipedia, right? And what tag should I use? I really have no idea what I'm doing n.n --MessengerCrow13 ~Listen*To*Your*Heart*Beat~ *talk*contributions* 22:31, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

This may sound silly, but several sections of this page read like a policy page, should this page have a policy template at the top? --Matthew 08:41, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Since this page isn't generating responses and I don't want to act without consensus to label this as a policy page, this is being added to RfC. --Matthew 21:42, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

What sections are refering to specifically? It all seems fine to me. Thernlund ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 02:34, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

Much of the current version seems to be more of a How-to than a policy. We already have a guideline at

WP:UP. Perhaps the policy bits should be merged over there and this relablled a how-to? AndrewRT(Talk

) 21:45, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

How to you make your userbox into a template that can simply be summoned by typing it? I will not hesitate to eat you. 00:09, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Put "{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/I Hate the Chicago Cubs}}" on your user page. It is a simple page. However, if you copy the text in quotes, you get the user box. Will (Talk - contribs) 01:52, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

I'm terribly sorry, but I'm slightly baffled about organizing my userboxes. If you were to look at my userspace, you'd understand what I mean - the boxes are jumbled-looking, disorganized and there are gaps running here and there across the page, all of which annoys me. I've tried the {{userboxtop}} and {{userboxbottom}} formatting and it put all of my userboxes in one vertical line, even when I tried to make several stacks of userboxes with repeated use of such stacking codes. How to organize userboxes is gone over in the project page, I'm aware, but it is rather unintelligible for me, a person with practically no experience with computer programing of any sort. By the way, if the Village Pump would be a better place for me to place this, please tell me so. Thank you; --Dark Green 23:55, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Where did the template to navigate through userbox categories go? - Patricknoddy 8:24pm, January 15, 2007

I made a recent edit [2] which was blanket reverted (Dalbury, Jmaynard) without considering in any way time or effort which may have gone into it.

I have made a few minor edits in one go to make the page more clear, and remove the bias. This page is to inform people about Userboxes, not to lobby personal views ("Userboxes are tools which are intended for communication purposes, such as helping Wikipedians collaborate more effectively on articles, in order to create the best encyclopedia we can." - The uncited 'man' comes to mind.)

If you have a problem with my edits, please talk rather than blindly reverting. I therefore invite you to state your concerns about aspects to my edit, and what you think it should change to. Obviously, if no-one replies I can only assume that the majority agrees, and I will reinstate it, for people to collaborate on rather than destroy.

Thank you Ian¹³/t 18:49, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Just from somebody who has this page on his watchlist, I'd say this comment should have come before the edits. Blanket changes to wikipedia and project pages should be discussed first. Had such changes been made to a Wiki/project page I frequent, I probably would have reverted too. As to the specific changes, I have no real opinion. I'll leave that up to those of you who frequent this page. AuburnPilot^talk 18:53, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

I haven't looked through the changes, but I think it was stated in one of the reverter's edit summaries, that you should discuss in more detail (here) the kinds of things that you're changing. You're making changes to a policy page (well mostly?) so the changes should be discussed before taking them live. Maybe you should make a proposed page in the user or talk namespace to discuss future possibilities for the article? McKay 19:06, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

This is not a policy page... Ian¹³/t 17:12, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

I reverted the change because it was a massive change to the page made without any sort of attempt to reach consensus beforehand. I'm sympathetic to the work that went down the tubes, but what about the work that was thrown out in the massive revision? I also believe that there is no need for NPOV in an unencyclopedic page (indeed, that is central to the userbox wars in the first place), and given the massive, unrelenting attacks on userboxes from some quarters, the changes that were made could easily be interpreted as a continuation of those attacks. Jay Maynard 20:37, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

"Massive unrelenting attacks"? When was the last one? Every remotely reasonable userbox I've seen at XfDs lately has been a speedy keep. Tony's not a sysop anymore, and Cyde has been going around saying things like "early closures are a bad idea because they generate drama". Who's attacking userboxes anymore? -GTBacchus^(talk) 23:02, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Tony's no longer a sysop? Color me astounded, as I'd thought he was firmly entrenched here. Cyde's backed off, too? Amazing. In light of those facts, I'll have to revise my opinion: There were unrelenting attacks on userboxes, but they've abated. Perhaps there will indeed be peace. That just makes the massive edits to this page worse: they could reignite the old, and apparently cooled-down, war. Jay Maynard 00:47, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

Being very active at

WP:GUS and is not blatantly offensive or disruptive it's not going anywhere. That being said, boxes in Template: space are still likely to be axed in TFD. — xaosflux ^Talk

05:57, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

Personally, if anything I think my edits support userboxes. To my view, this page is an informative page, that tells people about userboxes, and I don't think this is a good place to try and push any certain point of view. If we just try and keep it neutral then this cannot happen. Ian¹³/t 17:22, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

As I reverted Ian the first time, I'll have my say. The edit summary struck me as a big problem, indicating that Ian was not really familiar with Wikipedia policies. NPOV does not apply to project pages, and many project pages, especially policies and guidelines, have a very definite and well-established point of view. The most important point of view is that we are building an encyclopedia. Userboxes have been a very contentious issue in the recent past (starting a little over a year ago), and the struggle over the role of userboxes in Wikipedia caused many harsh and bitter words to be exchanged. A number of editors left Wikipedia at least in part because of that struggle. The present arrangements regarding the content, placement and 'storage' of userboxes is a compromise that eventually achieved consensus as something that almost everyone could live with. Changing this page without finding a new consensus to support the changes is likely to open old wounds. Everyone can edit pages in Wikipedia. But then, anyone can revert those changes. Controversial changes are quite likely to be reverted. Citing incorrect interpretations of policy for making major changes ups the odds that the changes will be reverted. --

Donald Albury

22:30, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

I am very aware of policy, and I do know that NPOV doesn't apply here, however I think it is good practice to try and keep things neutral and make this page just informative. Policies and guidelines will obviously display a POV since that is what they are aiming to enforce, but this page is not a guideline nor policy, and I therefore think we can just avoid argument over this page if we just keep it rather neutral. Anyway, I don't think what edits I tried to make were that much of a big deal - infact besides trying to make it more clear, I didn't do much at all. Obviously this makes no difference to any 'power' I should or may have to edit the page, but I started the Userboxes WikiProject and directed it for a while (until it just got so attacked it wasn't worth bothering) with the pure aim of organisation and simplification whilst trying to keep it all neutral so no-one is offended in any way. Ian¹³/t 17:22, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

And can I just ask, what bits of my edit don't people like (i.e. give line references ans say what you think it should be)? I think we should at least try and sort that out. Ian¹³/t 17:22, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

The problem for me was that your edit removed any mention of the possible benefit userboxes have to the encyclopedia. That is what I object to. Any attempt to make the page NPOV by removing such mentions can easily be construed as saying they do not have such benefits, and so as an attack on userboxes. Since project pages don't need to be NPOV in the first place, I would recommend abandoning anything of the sort. Jay Maynard 22:09, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

I am certainly not saying it has no benefit, I just think it is not really something that is hugely notable in that I wouldn't really expect anyone to say why they demerit the project. I can see your point though. Looking at my edit does this mean that it is only the removal of the top box that you dislike? Ian¹³/t 17:40, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

Ian13, in cases like this, it's often helpful to break one's edit into individual changes, and implement it one change at a time. This isolates the controversial bit, and allows other improvements to be made to the page without getting caught up in reversions. In that spirit, I've added a slightly edited version of the first paragraph from your edits, and I'm interested to see whether it has consensus approval.

This is one of the pages around here that's best edited very slowly and incrementally, it turns out. -GTBacchus^(talk) 22:51, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

You are obviously welcome to reinstate my edits as you wish, but I think it is rather silly that it has got to such a stage that that is required. Ian¹³/t 17:40, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, maybe so. :) Maybe it's just the top box, and the rest doesn't have to be broken up. It's just a trick that works sometimes. -GTBacchus^(talk) 08:52, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

I thought that userboxes expressing user preferences or sentiments that were not directly contributing to the building of an encyclopedia were supposed to not be found outside User space. So what, then, is the deal with

That rule,

WP:UM, refers to where the templates themselves are displayed. How are we supposed to find out about new boxes if the there is no gallery? Will (Talk - contribs

) 01:32, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

{{userbox
|orange
|yellow
|[[Image:Cry-tpvgames.gif|40px]]
|This User is [[sad]] because he/she feels bad about stealing another user's user page design.
}}

{{userbox|orange|yellow|[[Image:Cry-tpvgames.gif|40px]]|This User is [[sad]] because he/she feels bad about stealing another user's user page design.}}

It is to do with how Wikicode is processed. In the second instance, it is passed with number references (1,2,3 etc), whereas on the multiline it is not thus breaking the code. You basically have to use one line, or pass exact references (ie info=This User is

sad because he/she feels bad about stealing another user's user page design.). Good luck. Ian¹³/t

17:47, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

Actually, you can. See User:Royalguard11/userboxes/UBX essay for an example. If you still have questions, post to my talk page. --NThurston 17:34, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

I have created {{User published author}} for Wikipedians who have published in academic journals. Please include it where appropriate. --NThurston 16:41, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Is there a politics section of the userboxes. I have seen people who have 'this user thinks its every citizens duty to vote', or 'this user agrees with some aspects of conservatism'; but i cant find them, would anybody be able to point me in the right direction please. :) freedom4korea 17:51 30 January 2007 (UTC)

click on the following link: Category:Political user templates. Not every political userbox is here, since some people haven't yet created a link to this category, and some just created their own userboxes.--Sefringle 00:01, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

Any reason the non-header text in this section is entirely italicized? I know of no guideline suggesting it, and for readability's sake I suggest that it be changed to non-italic text. I'd go ahead and do it, but I don't know if this is a topic already considered. -- Tim (Littlebluedog 03:41, 31 January 2007 (UTC))

At the very bottom of the page one of the listed categories is "Wikipedians interested in ancient Rome", this should not be there, as the page does not discuss Ancient Rome. Does anyone know how to fix this? i.e How do I change the category list? --Jackaranga 14:34, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

If there's a userbox saying "This user is interested in Ancient Rome", the category just appears.--

SUIT^-n-tie

05:51, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

The problem is that such user boxes inevitably create a straw man argument: the other group is labelled with the negative feature or attribute, which the user is then self-posited as being rightfully against. Such labels are inevitably capable of being inflammatory, but it's a specific recipe that is worth highlighting in the page.

I've therefore added an item which I hope is non-controversial: "Userboxes which imply a negative attribute of some person or group to which the userbox creator then expresses objection, are usually not acceptable."

(To clarify, it's not the objecting to something, but the expressing of a pejorative (hostile/negative) view as being factual, to which one then objects, which is not really okay.)

FT2 ^{(Talk | email)} 11:30, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

I agree with the proposal but is it not covered by this section:

Content restrictions

All items in template and user space are governed by the civility policy. Userboxes must not include blatant incivility or personal attacks. Userboxes must not be intentionally inflammatory or divisive. Wikipedia is not an appropriate place for political campaigning. Userboxes which imply a negative attribute of some person or group to which the userbox creator then expresses objection, are not usually acceptable. Simply: If content is not appropriate on a user page, it is not appropriate within userboxes.

AndrewRT(Talk) 23:48, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

Hi, please comment here. Thanks: --Sadi Carnot 19:02, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

Hello. Is it possible to use userboxes from English Wikipedia on other language Wikipedia? I want to use some userboxes on my user page at the Norwegian Wikipedia. DJLarZ 21:42, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Im new but logicly i would think so. try & see what happens ok?Kanpai!--Lolicon3043910 18:22, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

• It is NOT possible to directly use (transclude) a template or userbox from a different Wikipedia. You can however copy-paste the markup for the userbox to make a copy of it on your desired Wikipedia. If you do so, please credit the source in your edit summary. —dgies^t_c 18:51, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Has there been any investigation as to the Userbox templates compatibility with the Opera browser? The ID formatting is off in all the templates when I view userboxes in Opera, and the entire Userbox template is out of whack. It looks fine in Firefox and IE on my computer, it's only Opera that seems to have a problem. El Cid 03:52, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

Since I can't find this anywhere else, I'll ask here: Is it forbidden for a non-admin to have the administator userbox on his/her userpage? It seems like it should be, as it's deceptive, but I can't find it written anywhere. And no, this isn't a hypothetical question; I'm asking because there's a user who won't remove the admin userbox from his/her userpage. Heimstern Läufer 07:27, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

It could be considered disruptive. Wikipedia is about building an encyclopedia, not about trying to prescribe in detail every possible infraction that works against that goal. That's what

Donald Albury

11:50, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Are we talking about an actual userbox that says "this user is an admin", or the little "logo with mop" icon in the upper right corner? I think that the latter is more of a grey area because what if a user wants to use that image to mean something other than being an administrator. It's a _mop_, that could mean something like doing vandalism cleanup or something, i've never understood the symbolism why a mop means admins. --

Random832(tc

) 13:34, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

It should be forbidden. Since when were the non-admins allowed to use the admin userbox? It is deceptive, as Heimstern stated above, and harmful to the newbies. If someone refuses to remove the userbox himself, just do it. If he reverts, then you report. This is actually ridiculous PeaceNT 14:21, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Random832: We're talking about the userbox that says "This user is an administrator on the English Wikipedia". Donald Albury: The user appears to have voluntarily removed the userbox, so the immediate issue is apparently over. It looks to me like it's reasonably accepted that we should remove the admin userbox from non-admins' pages, so I'll plan on doing that where necessary and reporting if that fails. Heimstern Läufer 16:28, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

When i tried to put userboxes on my page, when i grouped them it didn't end the grouping with the Userboxbottom thing (i know there are two squiggly brackets around it but if i put them there it would not display here. Is this the right code to use to end the grouping? When i use it it displays |} instead. Yaanch 00:16, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

What did you start your user box list with? Use {{Userboxbottom}} only if you started the list with {{userboxtop}}. {{Babel}} is designed to stand alone. Don't combine it with other boxes. Will (Talk - contribs) 04:41, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

How come Userbox templates need "migration"?----Invader Soap^{Evil Jokes}_{Gir's Dog}February 13^th, 2007 (UTC)

The short version is that the community decided a few months ago that userboxes that do not directly contribute to building an encyclopedia (such as the language boxes) should be allowed only in user space. The long version is not for the faint of heart. --

Donald Albury

04:05, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

I cant figure out where i put an image in the box! As a matter-of-fact i dont even know how to use one! Whaer do you put an image in the box?--Lolicon3043910 18:25, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Here's an example that you could use {{user USMA}} --NThurston 18:31, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

now im more confused! Where does the image go?--Lolicon3043910 18:35, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

First, have you uploaded the picture to Wikipedia? If not, use the "upload file" link on the left of this page to take care of that. Make sure to remember the file name. Now, in the example code noted above, look for [[Image:U.S. Military Academy COA.png|45px]]. This is the code for inserting an image. Replare "U.S. Military Academy COA.png" with the file name of your image and save the box. Does that help? If not, perhaps you could point me to the box you are working on and I can see what needs to be done still. --NThurston 19:18, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

I have just created a userbox I am wondering if I can place it on Wikipedia:Userboxes/Animals (User:Sereh888/Userboxes/Pets)— Preceding unsigned comment added by Sereh888 (talk • contribs)

I created a userbox User:TJ Spyke/Userboxes/HD DVD, but i'm having trouble setting it up so that putting the userbox on their page they will automatically be put in the category Category:Wikipedians who prefer HD DVD. Any help? TJ Spyke 14:37, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

Did that do it? Bladestorm 15:04, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

Yep, thank you. TJ Spyke 22:47, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

Yay! You're welcome. :) Bladestorm 22:55, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

Example 2 Userbox grouper at

I have also found this javascript to be rather cumbersome as I am a Firefox user--I really appreciate example 2's functionality, but the trouble that Getonyourfeet describes worsens as more subcategories are added (see my own userpage).--Einmyria 03:36, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

who deleated all the religious boxes and why? Richardkselby 18:50, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Probably it was part of the

Help Desk. YechielMan

19:40, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

yeah, but this makes it less accessable to find a a bog, it's like going on a freaking treasure hunt!!! Richardkselby 03:29, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

How do I name my userbox? And where in my userpage do I put it? I can get the template to show up, but it isn't named. Iiartisanii 00:10, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Hey guys. I created this temporary template to post on editor talk pages for those who use fair images in userboxes (it's against policy). I think this message is pretty self-explanatory and eases any disruptiveness caused by simply deleting the image. I tried to find a similar notice but couldn't find one. What do you guys think? Post your opinions on the Wikiproject Userboxes talk page. - Mtmelendez ^{(TALK|UB|HOME)} 21:12, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Rather cool. At least it tells people why and shows you have good reasons. Make use of it I say... Ian¹³/t 22:06, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. I was hoping to reach some sort of consensus to create the template in the Wikipedia template space. I'll wait a few more days for comments and then either create it or modify it. - Mtmelendez ^{(TALK|UB|HOME)} 22:15, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Done! I created the new template here: {{Images on userboxes}}. - Mtmelendez ^{(TALK|UB|HOME)} 16:49, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

hey i have a questions i made a few userboxes for my page, and how do i name them. Right now they are about 10 lines, and are really big, so how do i get them to be small and have a name with my username in the name and all that jazz.

peace-Threewaysround 22:35, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Today I tried to use {{

Is it alright if this is made into some sort of userbox with a short name? I took the idea of the example user box shown on the page and transformed it into this:

Psychic Potato 15:02, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

I've managed to fit all sorts of legal stuff onto this small box, I was just wondering if it would work. Thanks.

I, the author, hereby agree to license all of my text contributions under the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication.

{{

So, what do you think? I'm still new here, any advice would be much appreciated. and I know this is not the place to put these things, but the proper page just doesn't get enough attention.

Just a heads-up in case stupid stuff starts happening. [3]

-- That Guy, From That Show! 19:57, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

I didn't even know those userboxes existed!

Complain

23:38, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

I have a user box design,

But, I cannot figure out how to make it into somthing like {Template: WYWH}}. The explanation in the article is confusing on how to do this (to me anyways). Thanks. --ASDFGHJKL=Greatest Person Ever+Coolest Person Ever 01:16, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

Is there any way to use my template-generated boxes on my Commons account? --Padraic 19:00, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

Nope. I suggest putting a link there pointing to your userboxes here. Reywas92^Talk 20:49, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

(Copied from WikiProject page because no one responded) I have noticed that there are three templates for userbox navigation, all at the bottom of User:UBX. If one is searching the directories for possible user boxes for his page, he would need to scour through about four pages for each topic. Multiple users and the wikiproject all have pages full of boxes that are rather redundant and unneeded. If one created a new box, he wouldn't want to add it to all of the pages, one is enough. I heard Rfrisbie is moving his boxes, but I think User:UBX should be deleted and it would be simplest if all userboxes are listed in the Wikiproject Userboxes directory. Thank you, Reywas92^Talk 20:53, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

I know it may sound rather stupid (given the fact that I've made 5 boxes in my userpage), but I can't find a way of putting an image into the id box of my userbox. Can anyone please help me? —The preceding

Do you mean like this?

This user wishes you were here.

Just look at the source code. Regards, Lynbarn 11:51, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

Thanks a lot! Iakd87 21:28, 16 April 2007 (UTC).

Someone removed the image from this example because it was non-free and therefore not suitable for templates. I guess they didn't see the context, which was asking about how to use images in userboxes! I fixed the example by adding a generic image. Jruderman 05:29, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

NOTE: I'm not watching this page, so at the minute you responde make SURE you also leave me a message on my talk page.

I am aware of how to customize my userboxes, and I know exactly how to look for them. But the problem is I want something like "This user likes to collect DVDs." and be added to a category. So is there any userbox similar that will add me to a category? Thanks.

P.s. Is there any quick way to find what I'm looking for without having to go through hell lotta possible categories?

clunky . This is a flat userbox. It uses less space. You can have lots of pretty colours. Or not.

The normal sized userboxes are clunky -- normally have alot of blank space in them. I threw together

I don't like flat boxes they are hard to see, Scorry.Anubiz 14:49, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

I did not know about this ibea at the time that I saw the 2 you made me, you made me think my ideas were not worth a proper size userbox!

Anubiz 14:55, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

Sorry I didn't mean to offend at all. I just find that the flat userbox template is easier to throw together. Monkeyblue (talk) 02:30, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

Well you did. I still don't like them. --Anubiz 18:10, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

Considering many userboxes are actually larger than the recommended size (it's difficult to list the 10 commandments on a normal box) I welcome this as a way of balancing tables of boxes but a bit too small for regular use. Barfbagger 18:12, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

Whare is the 10 commadments one? I think I would like that one.

This is a flat userbox . It uses less space. This user is a member of WikiProject Userboxes. clunky .

Would the middle one be a better size? Monkeyblue (talk) 09:56, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

The middle size one is ok, and I am scorry my "problam" makes me think strange things sometimes. Anubiz 00:50, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

(Whatever happened to threaded discussions...) Although I personally prefer how the middle one looks, I think consistency is preferred. A default size has been chosen and is fairly workable; it should therefore be adhered to, for now. --oKtosiTe talk 13:17, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

Just what is necessary for an admin to delete a userbox? I recently had one deleted from a series of political parties after only a few days - allegedly because no one had linked to it but in fact it was being used by two other Wikipedians (User:Barfbagger/Userboxes/Ukip). This smacks of abuse of power. How can I get it reinstated? Barfbagger 18:09, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

Go to

CSD so someone was taking their own initiative. Not good. Explain what you posted here as well as any other details you can offer. Good luck. --StuffOfInterest

18:12, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

• From what I've seen, the policy on userboxes is like so:
  • Any userbox related to politics or religion WILL be deleted without discussion, without warning, without explanation, and without apologies, unless the admin thinks it's a "good" group like the Audubon Society.
  • Any userbox advertising a commercial product WILL remain in template space, e.g. Template:User Raw and all other sports templates. The fact that the policy cited for deleting political boxes mentions "Propaganda, advocacy, or recruitment of any kind, commercial, political, religious, or otherwise" is irrelevant. Anything you read anywhere in Wikipedia policy contrary to advertising/commercial interests generally doesn't actually mean anything. We WILL be assimilated.
  • Apparent unfairness such as the deletion of all religion boxes from template space vs. the maintenance of astrological templates will be ignored.
  • If you are not an admin nobody actually cares what you have to say, and it wouldn't matter anyway. 204.186.117.104 19:00, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

HELP please!! Can someone PLEASE tell me how to resize an image so my custom userbox isn't so HUGE?? I'm not looking for saving the image, resizing it, and then uploading it again. It takes WAY too long. --AngelArlia 22:17, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

Rather than simply placing the image in the userbox as [[Image:Exquisite-kmencoder.png]], add |48px within the coding so that it appears [[Image:Exquisite-kmencoder.png|48px]]. Then change 48 to whatever size appears to be correct. - auburnpilot talk 22:23, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

Thank you SO much!!! --AngelArlia 22:52, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

"I'm confused. In this message you say "you may do what ever you want," but on the image description page you said "I had permission to use the photos for WIKIPEDIA ONLY!!!." Which is it?--Werdan7T @ 21:53, 15 May 2007 (UTC)"

When I said "you may do what ever you want," This states that the people at Dayton CVB told me that I can do anything I want with the photo as long as I had created an account. Then I said "I had permission to use the photos for WIKIPEDIA ONLY" I told the operaters that Im using it for WIKIPEDIA only. So they told me I had permission to use it on wikipedia...Because I told them about how I wanted to Change the photo of Dayton. Yes it is confusing but and mybe I needed to change my wording a litte.

• Anyone can use the photos for their uses.
• If you want High Quality Photos you need an account. Once you have that then your fine.

Does that make it too the point or answer your questin? I hope that figured things out. All I want is for the photo to stay. It shouldnt be deleted because I was givin permison to use it. (Sorry for the Spelling)

User:MarkDonna

I have created a slew of new userboxes (see my

P.S., I would appreciate a reply on my Talk Page's Messages Section -- FastLizard4 04:38, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

Could we highlight what not to do with Userboxes more prominently? Mathiastck 09:11, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Is there a generic userbox I can just insert my own message into? Trevor GH5 01:08, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

The reason I don't believe this is a good idea is because each userbox is customized to its particular message. It may be possible to enter a variable into the ID field of the userbox, but you wouldn't be able to control other aspects, such as color and font size, bold, italics, and that sort of thing. Since I don't yet know of one, you could try to make your own "generic" userbox. Or take the simpler approach, make your own that is customized to your message! Userbox Creator has a nice template, and the coding for userboxes can be found on various userboxing pages. You could also search for an already existing userbox that would fit your needs.

I hope you find this information helpful.

--FastLizard4 (Talk|Contribs) 02:17, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

There's isn't anything where I pick a couple of capital letters to appear on the left and then add a small message on the right? Trevor GH5 00:00, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

That would be {{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}} where "ID" is the couple letters and "Content" is your small message. - auburnpilot talk 00:10, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

On my

One way to sort this is to use a wiki table - I have put an example (with four userboxes across each row) of how it works on

your page, with the original below it. You might want to re-size/re-order some of the userboxes to make the rows appear more consistant, but I think the overall effect is the sort of thing you are looking for. Hope this is of some help - if not, please ask! Regards,  Lynbarn  (talk)

16:53, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

--Java7837 16:02, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

I accidently replaced the page with (ironically) a userbox. I was trying to make one for my user page, and I clicked Save instead of Preview. Remember,

I found someone saying it isn't good to have too many user boxes. Is this true, and if so, why?--LtWinters 22:47, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Mostly, it's a stigma of certain editors that userboxes make wikipedia too much like myspace, and there are many editors who would like them completely erradicated. Adam McCormick 02:03, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

Is there a "This user ain't nobody's lackey" userbox?

I don't thinks so, and as that does not help the community collaboratively, it should not be created Adam McCormick 02:04, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm trying to make my own userboxes, but I can't figure out how to give them that short code that makes typing them easier. Can anyone help? Bad-Gy 08:39, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

See: Wikipedia:Userboxes Regards, Lynbarn 19:37, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

Maybe I'm just too normal, but Wikipedia users are on the whole much more interested in obscure subcultures, beliefs and (what would be seen by many as) pretentious ideas than the general population, without a doubt. This of course probably has to quite a lot to do with the fact that Wikipedia attracts the "geek" community. Can you answer for this?-h i s ^{s p a c e} _{r e s e a r c h} 22:16, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

Is there a userbox that says something like "This user has written encyclopedia articles in real life" (or sim)? semper fictilis 15:40, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

There is now!

Is this the sort of think you had in mind?

This user has written encyclopedia articles in real life

Lynbarn 15:58, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

Great! Now the question is whether it's pretentious to put it on my page. semper fictilis 23:47, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

Suggest a wording change to "has written articles for a paper encyclopedia". There's nothing fake about time we spend here. — SMcCandlish [talk] [cont] ‹(-¿-)› 22:10, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

Isn't it about time this page became a Guideline? If not, it should at least be added to Category:Wikipedia essays. Either way it should either get {{Guideline}} or {{Essay}} at the top, and have its introductory notice box updated (use a standard {{Nutshell}} I would say), as the scope of this document is no longer represented by the text there, which implies this is just a tech how-to manual, when in fact it offers a lot of consensus-based guidelines. — SMcCandlish [talk] [cont] ‹(-¿-)› 22:13, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

There's recently been a disscussion between me and Marycontrary on my user talk, because she was offended by my userbox that essentially said "I believe civilization cannot proggress without country music's elimination." This has grown into a multiple-user argument, some for, some against. One user has suggested deletion, but I think it should be changed, as there are no other userboxes that say anything about disliking country. Help! @_@ ~Crowstar~ 13:12, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

Hello, I'm totally new to Wikipedia and I am so confused. I want to add some Userboxes to my page, but the more I try to understand how, the more confused I get. I'm sorry I'm so slow, but can someone help me out? Thanks. PartTimeSuperHero 03:30, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Userboxes serve to provide some information about the user, some of which may be very trivial and almost nonsensical; others are interesting and informative. The original purpose of userboxes was to give a means for collaboration between individuals on topics that they might be interested in; now this has gone far beyond that and in my opinion seems to be in conflict with

The idea of Userboxes have grown far beyond its original scope (

BABEL

), but this is to be expected in a project with 47,368,126 users. I feel that userboxes allow contributors to put something of their own into their workspace, wikipedia. A userbox gives an opinion, but it is not a opinion in conflicts (as with talkpages) -- more a statement of who and what this user is and their view point. Whether they choose to adopt a new persona (eg. being gay or lesbian) while online is perfectly acceptable, we do not need to know who is behind the mask but rather how the mask stands to help.

"[A]n innately American invention". Interesting, never thought of userboxes that way. I do not see a problem with this invention; nor do I see a problem with most of the objects that surround me -- they follow the same guideline of "flashy... proud to be what [they] are" whether they are a the desklight or the desk itself, they must be American inventions? But no, my desk is from the carpenter down the road and the light is from (looks at base) China. Just a note, I am from Australia, my IP is 203.87.39.30, look it up.

Userboxes are inherently American? I'm not sure. People who have a online persona? Yes and I think adds to the colour of Wikipedia. Thanks, Monkeyblue 12:58, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

I don't find it at all odd that people with Asperger syndrome are active on Wikipedia in disproportionately large numbers. The WP page itself notes that they experience "a tendency to focus intensely on areas of interest". Sounds like Wikipedians to me.

I agree that there's a tendency to use Userboxes to make WP into something it's

NOT

, but on the other hand they serve to humanize the people involved, thereby making participation less intimidating. (At least such is the case for me.)

As for the American-specific nature of the things, I don't know that I can agree. After all, iconographic self-identification has a proud tradition around the globe, from the family crest to the union bug. -- Scartol 14:55, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't know why anybody would bother to take this editor seriously. He starts off by insulting Americans with an absurd statement: as if no one outside of the US is social. And then closes his comment by insulting users with Asperger's or who are a member of the LGBT community. Ridiculous and offensive at the same time. - Cyborg Ninja (talk) 14:22, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

Everytime i add a new userbox to my user page, it always appears seperately to the rest, as in on the left instead of the right. Steg Blob 02:33, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

I do not have any userbox on my user page that says I am a member of the football (soccer) WikiProject, but for some reason there is a category that says I am a member of the project on my user page. Why is this? ---

Somebody mistakenly included the category in {{User hip hop wikiproject}}, which you have on your userpage. I've corrected the category, so it should be fixed. - auburnpilot talk 02:17, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Thank you. ---

Realest4Life

02:41, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

I attempted to create a userbox at