Template:Archive

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This template is used on approximately 335,000 pages.
To avoid major disruption and server load, any changes should be tested in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. The tested changes can be added to this page in a single edit. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them.

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Module:Archive (sandbox)

{{Archive}} adds a banner to the top of archive pages. The template suppresses section editing and the new section button on the page to discourage editors from posting comments to archived pages where they won't be seen.^[a]

Usage

No parameters are needed for this template to work; just place {{Archive}} near the top of each archive page.^[b] It will automatically add a row of links to navigate through numbered archive pages that are named in the standard "Archive n" format. Some optional parameters are detailed below.

Links

Standard navigation

The template creates navigational links below the banner. All archives from Archive 1 to Archive n, must exist consecutively. If there is a gap in numbering, where some archive pages don't exist, the template may not display the links to the higher numbered archives. The header shows the previous 3 and next 3 pages in the archives (only if they exist). The first and last navigable links intelligently search out pages 5 back or ahead and, if they do not exist, show the next nearest.

Archives must also be named in standard "Archive n" form. If they are not, you can move them to the appropriate names first; see Wikipedia:Moving a page for more information. Alternatively, you can use the |prefix= parameter to let the module know what prefix it should use.

Annual archives

The template will check for annual archives based on the title of the page where it is invoked. For archives ending in a plausible year (20XX), the template will check for other years with the same formatting and create a list of annual archives using {{yearly archive list}}.

For example, if used on User talk:Example/Archive 2025, the template will check for User talk:Example/Archive 2024 but not User:Example/Archive/2024.

Arbitrary names

The template can also point to any archive by using the |prev= and |next= parameters, for situations where:

Some archives have a descriptive name.
The archives switched from one format to another.
The archives have an idiosyncratic naming scheme.

Optional parameters

|omit=banner/archives - Use |omit=banner to display only the navigation bar links with no message text, or use |omit=archives to display only the message box text with no archive links. Example: {{Archive|omit=banner}}.
|prefix=archive prefix - Manually specifies the prefix of the archive page for archives in a non-standard naming format. For example, for Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive902, you would use |prefix=IncidentArchive. HTML entities are decoded for this parameter; for example, to insert a space at the end of the prefix, you can use  .
|links=n - Specifies the maximum number of links to be used. The default is 7.
|noredlinks=yes / no - Normally, the template does not display red links. To display the first red link after the highest archive, you can use |noredlinks=no.
|image=none / [[File:Some image.svg|40px]]
|imageright=[[File:Some image.svg|40px]] - Use your own image, or none, as the logo in the navigation bar. Alternatively, you can place an image on the right hand side or have images on both sides.
|text=alternative message text - Replaces the header message with your own message.
|period=date range - Specifies a date range for the period covered, e.g. |period=March 2006 to April 2007. This parameter is free-form, so you can use whatever format you like.
|style=CSS box style settings
|textstyle=CSS text style settings - Formats the box and text in any way you prefer. You may find the guidance at MOS:COLORCODING helpful.
|type=index - Only for manually-curated indexes, this will offer alternate blurb text. If this template is added to an index curated by a bot, it will be removed on the next update to that index.
|next= - Specify the next archive location. Use the full page title, not just a number. This suppresses the automatically generated navigation links.
|prev= - Specify the previous archive location. Use the full page title, not just a number. This suppresses the automatically generated navigation links.

TemplateData

TemplateData documentation used by VisualEditor and other tools

See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:Archive in articles based on its TemplateData.

TemplateData for Archive

This template adds a banner to the top of archive pages.

Template parameters[Edit template data]
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Omit	`omit`	Use 'omit=banner' to display only the links with no banner, or use 'omit=archive' to display only the banner with no links to archives.	Unknown	optional
Prefix	`prefix`	The prefix used instead of "Archive" in the expected naming system of "Archive n". Example IncidentArchive	String	optional
Links	`links`	Maximum of navigation links to display below banner. Default is 7.	Number	optional
Final red link	`noredlinks`	Defaults to "yes" and does not display a final red link. To display the first red link after the highest archive, use "no".	String	optional
Image	`image`	Use a custom image in the banner, or "none" for no image.	String	optional
Image right	`imageright`	Displays an image on the right side of the banner. Defaults to "none".	String	optional
Text	`text`	Replaces the default message in the banner.	String	optional
Time period	`period`	Specifies a covered time period to display in the banner.	String	optional
Box style	`style`	CSS properties for the box/banner.	String	optional
Text style	`textstyle`	CSS properties for the text style.	String	optional
Index	`index`	Changes the blurb text for a manually-curated index pages. Do not use for bot-curated index pages.	Unknown	optional
Suppress message	`1`	This will suppress displaying the message within in the box, only if it's value is "1". Any other value will have no effect.	Number	optional

Examples

Examples of archived talk pages using this template:

Tracking category

Category:Archive pages whose parent page is a redirect (5,435) tracks pages where archive subpages weren't properly moved together with the parent page.

Notes

^ Edit buttons are suppressed by emitting __NONEWSECTIONLINK__ and __NOEDITSECTION__ into the wikitext.
^ Alternatively, if a page is using User:Lowercase sigmabot III to automatically archive the page, you can add |archiveheader={{Archive}} For details see archive header.