Template:Infobox Album/doc

The standard infobox for album articles is the Infobox Album template. The box to the right is an example. The infobox code should be placed at the top of the article.

Code
Most articles only need the following fields. For the full list of fields see advanced usage). If a value is unknown, do not remove fields but leave the value blank.

Please note that the field names are case-sensitive.



Details
Try to fill in as many of the details as you can. If some details are unknown, leave the section blank or fill it with  to make it obvious to other editors that the info is needed. Wikilink wherever appropriate, but make sure you check your links and disambiguate accordingly.

Name
The album's title should be entered using text (not a logo), which will be automatically italicized.

Type
The Type field refers to the general type of album. Enter a code from the following chart. The type will appear with the appropriate color and wikilink. If the type is unknown, leave the field blank.

Cover
An image of the official front cover of the original version of the album (or a reissue, if no original cover can be found) should be included at Cover. If you cannot find a cover image, just leave this field blank.


 * Fill the template's Cover field with the name of your file (the full image syntax is not required here – just the file name with the extension).

Released
Only the earliest known date that the album was released should be entered. Use a single occurrence of Start date, for example  (or   or   if the exact date isn't known). Later release dates can be mentioned in the article.

Recorded
Details on where and when the album was recorded should be included.

Genre
The one or more music genres of the album should be entered. Separate each genre with a comma. Genres should be linked (piped linked (|) where needed), for example, "Rock, pop" should link to rock music and pop music. Most genres are not proper nouns. They do not need to be capitalized. The first word in the list should be capitalized.

Length
The length of the album should be entered in minutes and seconds, even if the album is longer than one hour. For example an album that is 1 hour and 14 minutes long would be entered as 74:00. A source may be added as a comment, such as.

Label
Only the record label that the album was originally released on should be entered. Sometimes very different versions have been released, such as alternate track listings in the U.S. and UK. The later release date and/or record label should be mentioned in the article. Delete words like "Records" from the end of the label's name. For example, use, not  ).

Producer
The name of the producer should entered. The name would be wikilinked. If there is more than one producer, separate the names with commas.

Professional reviews
Professional reviews may include only reviews written by professional music journalists, DJs, or found within any online or print publication having a (paid or volunteer) editorial and writing staff. Personal blogs are not acceptable. The standard for inclusion always is that the review meet Wikipedia's guideline for reliable sources and that the source be independent of the artist, record company, etc. A list of some sources of professional reviews is available at WP:ALBUM. Due to their proliferation and dubious value, lists (e.g. Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Punk Rock Albums of the Early 1980s) may not be included.

The reviews should be listed alphabetically in the Reviews field. Start each one on a new line, beginning with an asterisk (*). The first part should be the name of the source (most commonly a magazine like Rolling Stone—note that magazines are italicized).

The second part should be the rating given in the review (e.g. 4/5). The rating should use the same format as in the review, to accurately portray the score of the review. For star ratings you should use the star rating template, for example, entering, will render:. For reviews by Robert Christgau you should use the Christgau review template, for example, entering, will render:. Numerical ratings, letter grades and other non-symbol ratings should be shown using plain text in parentheses, like (3.5/10), (B) or (90%). If no rating is given in the review you should use the word (favorable) or (unfavorable) to describe the review, possibly allowing for (ambivalent), (mixed), (extremely favorable) and more, but keep it short and simple. If you cannot summarize the review, just leave this second bit blank.

The third part is should a link to the actual review on an official page. It may also be a summary of the review located elsewhere (if the original publisher doesn't include it online). The link should display as the year that the review was published. If the year of publication cannot be found, the word link will be ok. If there are no online sources, you may include no link at all, but must then cite the information properly. The citation should include the full date of publication and preferably the page number.

Include no more than ten reviews. When choosing which reviews to include, consider the notability of the review source and keeping a neutral point of view. For older albums, try to include not just contemporary but also some more recent reviews.

Chronology
The chronology section should link to the previous album on the left (using the Last album field) and the next album on the right (using the Next album field). The current album should be in the middle (using the This album field). Only studio albums, usually excluding live albums, compilations, singles and EPs should be included in the chronology.

The current album should always be in boldface. All album titles should be italicized. The year of release of the albums should be listed in parentheses, separated from the album title by. Wikipedia's date style guidelines recommend that years should not be linked. Cover images should not be included in the chronology. For first albums the left box should be left blank. For latest albums the right box should be left blank. At least one of the two fields, previous or next, must have a value filled in, for the chronology to display.

No more than one album should be included in any of the three slots in the chronology. Additional chronologies may be used if necessary (see below). Albums released on the same day should be listed separately, ordered using the standard ordering of those albums, or alphabetically if no such standard exists.

=== Advanced usage===

In special situations, additional fields may be applicable. Unused fields may be either left blank, or deleted.



Longtype
This field can be used to include information such as the title of the film that an album is the soundtrack to, or the name of the artist that a tribute album is in honor of. The text in this field appears between the type and the word "by".

Cover size
This field should be used if the image being used is less than 200px. Fill in this field with the width of the image, using only a numeric value (i.e. "150", not "150px"). If set to "0", this hides the cover image, whether one is specified in "Cover" or the default cover image is used.

Caption
If the album has been issued with different front covers, which version the image refers to should be noted here.

Language
This field should identify what language or languages are used in the lyrics of the album (assuming the music contains vocals). Do not forget to disambiguate and pipe link (|) when necessary. For example, if an album's lyrics are in English and French, you would use.

Director
This field is only applicable to video albums. The name of the director should be linked to the corresponding article. If there is more than one director, the names should be separated by commas.

Compiler
This field is only applicable to compilation albums of any kind. Enter the person or group responsible for selecting the album's track listing.

Chronology
This field can be used when the album belongs to an overall series when more explanation is needed. The text entered in this field replaces the artist name that would normally be displayed preceding "chronology". Examples include series of compilation albums compiled by different people, and series of soundtracks (which are often "various artists" collections).

Misc
A number of templates exist that can be inserted in the Misc field, including Extra album cover, Extra chronology, Singles and Audiosample. If any of these templates are used, do not forget to add the second set of closing brackets for the nested template.

Template:Extra chronology
Additional chronologies are generally useful for split albums, collaborative albums, and series of albums.



The Artist field should be the artist that this additional chronology reflects, for example one of the artists on a split album. The Type field should contain the same type as the rest of the infobox. The format of the other fields is the same as the standard chronology (see above).

Template:Extra album cover
If the album has been released with different album covers, they can be added to the infobox using this template.



The Upper caption field allows an optional header to be inserted and Lower caption allows for an optional explanatory label. For alternate covers the upper caption should be "Alternate cover" and the lower caption should mention where that cover was used (int'l release, re-release, censored original, etc.). As with the template, the Type field should contain the same type as the rest of the infobox.

Template:Singles
The Singles template may be used as a miscellaneous addition to the infobox providing concise information about the album's single releases in sequence of their release (with the date provided also).

You may list up to twelve (12) singles per album. This infobox should be placed in the "Misc" field as shown below, using the field cases also shown below. Any unused fields may be left out. Further usage information can be found on the template page.




 * Name : The name of the album.
 * Type : The album type (as specified above in the section "Type").
 * Single # : The name of the single. Should be wikilinked to the single's article, if applicable.
 * Single # date : The date of single release. Should be entered in wikidate format.  If the full date is unknown, just use "Month Year" or "Year".

Note that all fields are already properly formatted, so italics or quotation marks need not be entered in fields.