Wikipedia talk:Userboxes

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Is there a master list of all babel user boxes available as templates? That would be sweet if there was. So far, if I want to explore all the possible user boxes out there, I have to visit a boat load of user pages and look at the template tags. Solarusdude 00:55, 18 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I have just gone through all the of the subcategories of Category:Wikipedians and extracted all of the babel user boxes available as templates. However, IMHO, this page should really be on the Wikipedia namespace. -- Ianblair23 (talk) 01:39, 19 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Wow, great job on adding all those boxes! That must have been a lot of work finding all those templates and adding them on here. I also see a lot of duplicate templates, maybe we should merge them together or something. I'll let a veteran deal with that since I don't want to mess anything up. I agree with you on the namespace though, I have no idea why someone created this page as a user page, unless it really is a user page. Solarusdude 05:47, 19 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I have seen some the improvements. A few things though, the individual skill levels don't all need to be on a single page, these are accessible on the sub categories of the programming languages / instruments. This page is designed to document the use of the userbox templates and provide some popular examples. It was not designed to be a master list, so I have removed some of the duplicates. There is a page in development though, which is designed to list the various boxes, that covers all such templates, not just ones based on userbox, see Wikipedia:Babel Templates. This is part of my user page, as I created this template, so it should stay as part of my space. NSR (talk) 01:49, 23 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Ninja

If there is interest, I can turn the Ninja userbox into a template. Otherwise, I think it is funny anyways, taken in context of Real Ultimate Power and meta:Religion and Wikipedia. If there already is a ninja userbox, please tell me: I created this one from scratch and would welcome a better one. --CannotResolveSymbol talk 03:40, 19 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Internet Explorer

Hi, sorry about the logo, I thought it might be preferable, but nevermind. I was wondering, if you can't use the image on your page, will it be deleted from wikipedia entirely? Can I upload it onto wikipedia commons?

Official logos can only be used on articles relating to the subject, user pages are a bit of a grey area, but it is best to not have it on this page because it is a high profile user page. This page had icons removed before due to licencing restrictions. Logos are usually not allowed on the commons, and Microsoft logos would be deleted pretty quickly. NSR (talk) 14:26, 29 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]


Also, you can have this one if you want. --Ballchef 13:52, 29 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
This user's future is so bright he's gotta wear shades.
I added it to the funny boxes section. NSR (talk) 14:26, 29 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

3 letter codes

Please do not make any new not-language 3 letter code user categories! Any code that you invent for a programming language or another thing may be a language code! See my talk at the categories lua, pas, pig (I know, it is a language, but not officially existing!!), bas, ada, sax and for. Belgian man 09:53, 13 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

If someone has any comments on this subject, please go to my discussion. Belgian man 10:22, 10 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Grad Student

For all you who are enduring the trials and terror of grad school, I created User:Alfoor/Template:User gradstu. If there is interest, I'll put it into general circulation. --Alfoor 05:24, 15 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Create a page

Very cool page. But why don't you create a page in the Wikipedia namespace where you list these templates along with guideline on how to create them. CG 20:18, 18 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Nevermind, I've created it at Wikipedia:Userboxes. CG 21:42, 18 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

No longer maintaining this page

As the creator of the userbox template, I would like to focus on other projects, so I will no longer maintain this page or templates. The community is free to adopt this page. NSR (talk) 10:18, 25 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

That comment of NSR was on his/her (User namespace) page of Userboxes; someone else has created this page within the Wikipedia project namespace, and I've moved this corresponding talk page here, now, too. —msh210 19:26, 28 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Music: Composition

Please add Composition (maybe to Instruments but that may not be the best place)

Moved to userbox

I started by moving webbrowsers to userbox, with the intent that user should only be used for languages AzaToth 19:21, 30 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm, the problem with that is that i cant put them in my babel box anymore. I know that the babel box by name should just be used for languages, but still - should there be some sort of box to put userbox* templates in? ---- jeffthejiff (talk) 15:19, 2 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

don't subst!

I think some people have been subst:ing some of them. It makes the page harder to read when editing, and also near impossible to figure out what the template name was, I think. I recommend no subst:ing on this page. pfctdayelise 23:34, 30 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Zodiac boxes

Boxes removed herefrom now that they're on the main page.

I made these zodiac signes for the users. What do you think. — Hurricane Devon (Talk) 22:13, 1 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I think they're great put them on the page :)--Ewok Slayer --(U | T | C) 20:35, 3 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Userbox overuser

I'd like to see a userbox along the lines of "This user uses far too many userboxes." The repetition is intended ;) I'm not particularly good at graphic design, but if someone does create such a userbox please let me know! Midg3t 13:20, 6 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

See the {{User ubx}} series. The {{User ubx-4}} template, for instance, is for "expert" userbox users, while {{User ubx-N}} is for users who "communicate only through userboxes." This whole family of "ubx" userboxes is a parody of the Babel language userboxes whereby users may claim levels of skill in various languages. I suppose we could create a {{User ubx-5}} for your suggestion. (Real Babel templates usually do not exceed level 4 for "near-native" or level N for "native." Level ubx-5 would indicate an unhealthy obsession with userboxes!) I'll see what I can do. --TantalumTelluride 16:28, 6 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I created a template {{User ubx-5}}, but I have no idea what colors to use. If you would like to choose the default colors, feel free to replace "black" and "white" with more appropriate colors. Thanks. --TantalumTelluride 19:03, 6 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Adding Userbox templates to a category

There seems to be no list of all user boxes. Perhaps all userboxes should be put in a category (placed in noinclude tags, so only the templates themselves are categorised, not pages that include/use them).

Is there a list somewhere?

  • if so where is it? a link should be added to this page.
  • if not, i'm willing to have a go at adding them.

I think there should be a category (and perhaps several sub categories) for userboxes, and am willing to do it, but i wont start without agreement or say-so, preferably from an admin.

Thanks - Trevor Peacock 14:08, 8 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

After my somewhat reorganization, there are some base-boxes, like userbox os, userbox browser, userbox zodiac etc... AzaToth 14:16, 8 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I did notice those, but as you can see with a quick search, there are plenty of userboxes (even more than i had imagined) that are hard to find. -- I do wonder if the whole thing is a bit petty, after all they dont really contribute to the encyclopedia much, but if theyre there they should be collected sorted and easy to find. BTW:nice work with the fast reply - Trevor Peacock 15:12, 8 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Suggestions
  1. Category = Userbox User which later would have sub-categories
    1. Use Userboxes that are not standard templates
  2. Start a discussion thread in here, or in a Wiki project on the practicality of applying this concept to the improvement of the encyclopaedia itself.
    1. Help desk Do your own Homework, check out the Wiki arrticle on ____, promote search engines for this particular type of question.

User:AlMac|(talk) 10:29, 21 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Order of religious boxes

They should be ordered in alphabetic order, so no POV is inflicted (like which religion should come first etc...) AzaToth 16:53, 8 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Then all of the other ones should be in alpha asc. order, too. No? --Chèvredansante 15:23, 10 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
That positive, why it was made so for religious boxes, is because I personaly think som people can take their religion a bit to personally. AzaToth 15:25, 10 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I think the general practice is to add boxes at the bottom as they are created. --Dschor 20:10, 14 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I moved up the second Catholic box so that it is directly underneath the first Catholic box. I realize one of the boxes is Roman Catholic but the other is Catholic. No POV debate being embarked on. This is just to make it easier for Catholics to know that, if they're Roman Catholic, there are two boxes for them to choose from. Otherwise, they might overlook the second one. --Aquarius Rising 01:48, 20 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Whore for teh Wiki

I figured, since I am indeed a whore for the wiki, I added the following userbox to the "funny" section.

whoreThis user is a whore for Wikipedia.

Cernen 09:09, 12 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Changed SQL-4 to SQL-N. Feel free to change it back; I just thought mine was funnier and a little more specific, esp. since SQL isn't a programming language, it's a query language... Cernen 07:37, 13 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Userboxes for games and other interests

I'd like to see userboxes for other interests, particularly games (chess, poker, etc). Bubba73 (talk), 21:45, 13 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I'll cobble together some sort of table-y thingy and put it on the page. (Also, shameless plug, I added AppleScript to the programming language section because it's my new batch now that I no longer own a PC, and have discovered (GASP!) that people who know how to use AppleScript do not want to admit to it?) Cernen 10:36, 14 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Big Long Edit Session Thing

Adding the Interests section. (Prolly going to move the traffic lights thing into the interests section.) I'm not going to re-add applescript back just yet; I'd like to know, however, why someone stole it away from me. The userboxes section got broken, so I'll put that back. Oh. And I'm moving the discordian pope thing to the religion section. Aside from that, I'm not doing much.

The Monkey Island Insults userbox should probably be moved from funny to interests as well, as it denotes a fan of the Monkey Island adventure game series.
gorgan_almighty 10:28, 15 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Templatization

Many of the boxes on this page have not been made into templates - this is a simple process that makes the boxes much easier to use and maintain. Does this sound like a good project? Also, don't miss the new funny box - Template:User clownfear --Dschor 11:51, 15 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Proposal

Okay, I plan to ensure all boxes are templates, and supply code that can be used. I welcome any comments, and as I undertake this project I ask that any conserns are raised here on on my talk page. Thanks! Ian13ID:540053 17:49, 16 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

template box

Please, could someone create a template that creates a box where these userboxes can be put (like Babel), and takes and indefinite number of parameters, thus an indefinite number of userboxes can be included. Thank you. CG 20:05, 16 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Since I introduced an easier to use box template for Babel, you asked me on my user page if I could implement that here as well. Unfortunately, that's not possible, as it requires an empty base template, while all Userbox templates have their base cases defined. However, I didn't want to leave you without a solution, so I added two boxbox templates that can be used together to create a box for userboxes with the same characteristics the Babel box currently has. For now, the bottom is merely the end of the box; if there happens to be a category system for User boxes, then the link to the top of that system should probably go in Boxboxbottom, similar to Babel. I treated the boxes box at the bottom of Wikipedia:Userboxes as the third heading. That might not be the ideal location, though. Aliter 02:05, 18 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Central location for Country/State userboxes?

Just wondering if this is a good place to add them, or if there is another place that would be better?

--Dschor 22:36, 16 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The Merge Issue

  • Hell no. This page is already too long. (And it's mostly all my fault; why, since I joined, I'd say this page gone done expanded exponentially...either that or I pay too much attention to my watchlist. ^_~) Cernen 20:14, 17 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
This page already covers pretty much everything that WP:UCT does, so I doubt merging would change the length significantly. —Andux 09:32, 18 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Seems to me like that page covers everything this page covers. Though I'm loathe to say it...delete it. Cernen 14:44, 18 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
  • Regardless of merger, it might be wise to create an article for each category - although some boxes appear to fit more than one category, so this could be troublesome. It seems like this page could get overwhelmingly long very easily. Perhaps a few basic examples, a brief tutorial on how to create a userbox, and maybe how to use a template to make one. Then a list of categories. It is nice to have everything in one place, but the page will get out of hand if every userbox is included. Maybe I am taking this too seriously? --Dschor 20:44, 17 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
You're right. I'm glad that this project has got a lot of attention, but this page must be split into these different subpages (eg: Wikipedia:Userboxes/Browsers, Wikipedia:Userboxes/Zodiac...) CG 20:49, 17 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
  • I support seperation of key long catagories, say 15 boxes or more (eg. programming), to a subpage eg. (wiki:Userboxes/Programming). Also may I suggest giving all userboxes a fixed prefix since we have user, userbox and some with no prefix, making it even harder to identify. Ian13ID:540053 21:30, 17 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Damnit, Jim...

The *Interests* section has become a pain in the ass! People are putting too much stuff in there. I'm making a subpage, then sorting it all out, and y'all can play with it there. Cernen 13:16, 18 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Apologies & Comment

I need to apologize for creating a number of templates without completely understanding the categories feature. I have fixed the templates now, and for further reference, would like to note that the [[Category | {{PAGENAME}}]] tag will list pages correctly. If you have used one of my templates, please edit and save your page to list it correctly in the category. My apologies! --Dschor 00:57, 20 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Gender boxes

I have another idea. Userboxes that show your gender. I made Male, Female, & Hermaphrodite (you never know). — Hurricane Devon ( Talk ) 01:22, 21 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

There are already some,

Template:User male

This contributor to Wikipedia is male.

Template:User female

This contributor to Wikipedia is female.

Template:DaGizza/Sg 01:29, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

===>Oh no. This will inevitably lead to someone making "userbox trans-female cross-gender neuter-male eunuch". Sigh. Justin (koavf) 01:35, 21 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, I didn't know. — Hurricane Devon ( Talk ) 01:39, 21 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

===>Didn't mean to dissuade you I think it's a good idea (how do I know if "User:CaptainRocket" is a boy or a girl?), but I think people will abuse it to push some political agenda. Sorry if I came across as rude. Justin (koavf) 01:43, 21 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Why would a template like this be a problem? How is it different from generating your own template or just writing "I am a male" on your userpage? If someone wants to post that they are a transgender being they already can. Everyone has a right to post their own content on their userpage, as long as it follows Wikipedia guidelines. And if some people take offense to it, that's their right, too. But we haven't done away with the template for an athiest user, or the template for editing pages naked because of that. ^_~ Aubray1741 14:44, 21 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

===>Why is this undesirable? I'm assuming that the motivation for this proposal is so we can easily and immediately know if we're talking to a boy or a girl over the Internet, and as such, it has utility. If someone posts a userbox saying that he's a "pansexual trans-neuter" or some-such neologism, it's 1.) not particularly helpful to anyone, 2.) more confusing than practical, and 3.) an attempt to make a simple, practical measure and manipulate it to some political end. That having been said, I do like the idea of "I'm a boy/girl" boxes; they're handy. Justin (koavf) 15:59, 21 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I also agree that it is a fine thing to have. Personally, I think that if someone wants to label themselves as a pansexual trans-neuter that is their right. I'm not quite sure what that means, but I would be interested in learning more from them about it and how it relates to their interactions with the rest of the world. People are free to define their own gender identity. Why not let them do so with a userbox? WAvegetarian (talk) (email) (contribs) 03:21, 22 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

===>Why not? I explained above why it's not desirable, so I'm not sure what exactly is your question. I don't think anyone is advocating any kind of rule or law that actually prohibits gender-based userboxes; I'm simply saying that they will almost certainly prove counter-intuitive and an opportunity for a political screed. Justin (koavf) 04:36, 22 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Generational boxes

For people born in some decade, or who are here and claim to be born in a particular decade. For example I was born in 1944 so I would have the box for 1940-1944. User:AlMac|(talk) 16:14, 21 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Adult child boxes

Some kids may desire userboxes declaring themselves to be teenagers, teenage boy, teenage girl, enrollec in a particular level of schooling.

I have seen bumper stickers:

  • A member of my family has _____ (very good grades) at _____ (fill in name of school).

User:AlMac|(talk) 10:38, 21 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Pseudohostile takeover

While I don't propose to know much about userboxes...if nobody minds, I'd sort of like to be the project maintainer? In a similar vein to what the inventor of the userbox was doing...would that be okay with you all? Cernen 08:48, 21 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

You're already maintaining it by editing it; what more do you want? Just the title of Project Maintainer for your CV? :P -- jeffthejiff (talk) 09:04, 21 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Prestige, power, money. Wahaha, no. I was just going to make a major change and not say anything about it...but I decided that'd be a bad idea. I want to move all the userboxes to seperate pages, and I have an idea of how the new page will look (at least, the categorization end). I've posted an example here for any interested parties, comments, etc. I'll adopt it if there's enough consensus... Cernen 09:31, 21 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah, i think making subpages is a good idea; otherwise this page could get (and in fact is) rather cluttered. -- jeffthejiff (talk)

This pages future

I personally feel that at the moment, this page is a mess, a BIG mess. I feel some standards do need to be set to help clear this all up, these are my ideas, please comment, and let me know what you feel could be improved:

  • Set a Global prefix like User or userbox, since there is a huge spread at the moment, and many lacking a prefix, this would also make it more efficient for babel templates, since the used prefix would appply to all boxes. Userbox seems a good option, since it is descriptive, and the main base templates are situated under that template. It would involve a lot of work, however I feel it would be a good option, since unprefixed userboxes can be hard to find and identify ect;
  • Decide how to split up this page, it is too long as a huge page, but spliting certain sections is too inconsistant, and makes the page difficult to work with. Maybe we could try to group into 5 or so groups, and create subpages, to prevent too many subpages being made;
  • A fair use image standard: do we allow them or not, and make this the standard for all userboxes. There is currently a {{user fox}} conflict, since the image tag says its allowed for userpages and the image is used non-comercially to refer to a product therefore is fair use, whereas others feel that the images should only be used on articles, and both represent valid points.

Any views? Ian13ID:540053 09:57, 21 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I’d say ‘userbox’ would be the most appropriate prefix, although I’m not sure who you’ll find willing to carry out the work necessary. Dschor's suggestion above seems a fairly neat solution for the page as a whole; "Perhaps a few basic examples, a brief tutorial on how to create a userbox, and maybe how to use a template to make one. Then a list of categories." How to categorise them, however, I’m at pains to say. Nige 17:14, 21 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Well, I am happy to take on the task of moving all the boxes, and the redirects should keep peoples babel pages alive... And that page idea sounds good to me! :) Ian13ID:540053 19:19, 21 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Maybe it would be worth considering user, since the list is huge for user, infact probably too big to work with... Ian13ID:540053 19:29, 21 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

How about a wikiproject?

Or even a wikiportal. There are plenty of people who would like to participate in this. Daykart 22:19, 21 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I'd second a WikiProject, but not a portal. Portals should only be for encyclopedic stuff methinks... but a WikiProject would be perfect. File:Anglo-indian.jpg Deano 22:24, 21 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I'd third a WikiProject. (I've started one on something entirely different myself) --Cjmarsicano 22:35, 21 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Attitude/Religion.

I would appreciate it if someone more computer savvy could whip me up a "This User is Agnostic" Userbox. And I'm sure alot of us need a "This User is Apathetic" or even a Lethargic one.Carbunkel 02:13, 22 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Somebody already made an agnostic one . :·) --¿ WhyBeNormal ? 06:38, 22 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]