Template talk:Infobox magazine/Archive 1

Sample usage

Here's an example of how to use the Infobox Magazine template (note these example values are fictitious, please replace all of the values to the right of the equal signs with the proper content!):

{{Infobox Magazine
 | title          = Name of Magazine
 | image          = [[Image:This_mag_image.zzz|thumb|center|200px|''Name of Magazine'' #1, cover dated [[31 November]] [[1909]]]]
 | editor         = Alan Smithee
 | frequency      = 8 weekly
 | circulation    = 25,000 / month
 | category       = [[Imaginary magazine]]
 | company        = [[Enron]]
 | firstdate      = [[30 February]] [[1909]]
 | country        = {{Flag|Iceland}}
 | language       = [[English language|English]]
 | website        = [http://www.bogus-web-address.int/ This Website]
 | issn           = 0000-0000
}}

If the magazine is defunct, include these final date/number parameters. Otherwise, using these for magazines that still publish will create a pessimistic "tombstone" effect:

 | finaldate      = [[31 April]] [[1999]]
 | finalnumber    = Vol 77 No 88

Dl2000 19:04, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

New ISSN field; comment on Final issue fields

Note that a new field, ISSN, was added since most periodicals have this identification. Default value will read "unknown" until an "issn=####-####" type parameter is filled in.

Dl2000 19:04, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

Removed the {{ISSN search link}} from the ISSN field since a) there are magazines with more than one ISSN, and the current search link doesn't handle that; b) the current search link seems to miss many magazines, and only one ISSN search engine is used. It would be better wait for a more comprehensive ISSN linking before reintroducing ISSN search linking e.g. for ISBNs, Wikipedia:Book sources allows search on many external sites. Dl2000 13:36, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Problem with ISSN field

Theorbtwo 00:11, 24 April 2006 (UTC) - Note that (some?) periodicals will have a new ISSN field for each "volume", this is often one per year. Also, some? periodicals seem to have an EAN+2 or UPC+2 barcode on the front, and the ISSN buried within. It may be more useful to list this EAN or UPC rather then the ISSN.

added

I added a language and circulation options. Im also going to put and outline of how to use this the main template page as people often don't check here and miss things! --Errant Tmorton166^(Talk)(Review me) 13:52, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Company/Publisher

Who added the comment "The company parameter is also available for backwards compatibility. The publisher parameter should be used instead."? This is incorrect - the two are very different - the publisher of a magazine is a person; he works for the company. Stephenb (Talk) 11:49, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Restoration of {{ISSN search link}} in ISSN field

I've just edited {{ISSN search link}} to replace the old search engine with one from WorldCat that appears to be far more comprehensive and user-friendly (though I've yet to check how it handles multiple ISSNs). It seems to work fine, so I've put the {{ISSN search link}} template back into the ISSN field here.

This is my first attempt at making major edits to semi-complex templates (newbie coder here), so if anyone finds a single mistake in anything I've done on Template:ISSN search link or on this template, please rv it immediately and let me know. Even if you just don't like it, feel free to rv, but please let me know anyway; I won't challenge any reverts. But, hey, it seems to work, and it's much more simple than that German site's search engine was. All you have to do is enter:

http://worldcat.org/issn/xxxx-xxxx

...and boom, you're there. The hyphen is optional on Worldcat, but I didn't want to mess with whatever potential consensus may have been reached already regarding ISSN hyphens.

Anyway, hope this is a help, and not a hindrance... --Aaron 23:09, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Magazine circulation

Since this template automatically creates a redlink to magazine circulation if a circulation figure is entered, I redirected it to newspaper circulation, which is substantially similar. I proposed on Talk:Newspaper circulation that the two could coexist and language of the article adjusted to incorporate both. If anyone has an objection, please raise it there. --Dhartung | Talk 10:04, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Tweak to background color

I'm considering slightly tweaking the background color, just an eensy bit darker, so white magazine covers don't blend in. ~ Kathryn NicDhàna ♫♦♫ 08:44, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Sure, let's try it. The colour should be reasonably neutral, though, since there are all kinds of cover images. Dl2000 01:59, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

multiple issn numbers

How would I go about using multiple ISSN numbers in the template? This is handy, because multiple ISSN's might have been used over a magazine's life (because of name changes etc.). --LC 19:35, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

It is probably best to introduce this as an "issn2" parameter. It would be a bit of trouble to fix the current issn parameter, which only works for only a single ISSN due to its linking. The current issn parameter could then be made optional, or could be substituted over if issn2 is present. Dl2000 03:02, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

website optional?

hi folks, currently reviewing Beyond Fantasy Fiction, a mag from the 50s. A website doesn't exist. Doesn't it make sense to change the website parameter to optional? Best wishes, Johnnyw talk 12:41, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

I just noticed this with with Mother Earth (magazine). I think the entire row should be suppressed if there is no website provided. If that isn't acceptable, perhaps a special value like "none" could cause the row to be suppressed. I can make the template changes if people agree to them. Mike Dillon 02:50, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

I agree. I'd like to suppress the entire line in case of no value. --Johnnyw talk 16:41, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

Done. Now suppressed if empty. - X201 10:49, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

Explanation & Examples

I've added a table to the documentation page for the template. It lists each field, what it does and is accompanied by an example entry. I saw something like it over at Infobox TV program and found it a massive help whilst adding info for a TV show so I thought I'd add one here to make life easier for people using the magazine template for the first time. I've cleared the example info out of the template example to make copying & pasting easier. Hope you like it, if not add some comments below. Have also archived the usage instructions on the talk page to avoid confusion.- X201 12:08, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

needs updating

This looks primitive compared to the journal template, and the image isn't centered. --Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) 23:18, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

I agree. Anybody object to it being upgraded to look similar to {{Infobox Journal}} ? I think it should have a slightly different colour to the journals. Any suggestions? John Vandenberg 14:00, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

I find the journal template to be one of the worst. The coloured bars are distracting and make reading it hard. I'm all for a tidy up and re-design but without the "Publication", "Indexing" and "Links" horizontal headers. - X201 14:38, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

Im not a big fan of the coloured bars in the middle of that template either. Is that the only part of the Journal infobox that you dont like ? John Vandenberg 19:50, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

Interwiki

Please add interwiki to id: [[id:Templat:Infobox Magazine]]. Thanks! Meursault2004 13:29, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

Done. - X201 13:56, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

Art Director and related fields

What about Art Directors, designers, and/or related titles? They often have at least as much of an impact on the magazine as the editorial itself.Jdfreivald (talk) 16:41, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

Price

What about pricing? In the Newspaper template there's a "price" category, I don't see why magazines shouldn't have it. And I agree with JDfreivald - section editors, art directors and such deserve an option to be listed in the infobox.Timbouctou (talk) 17:47, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

It's policy not to. WP:NOT#DIR Item 4 - X201 (talk) 18:36, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

OK, and what about the "headquarters" category which is also included in the Newspaper template? Timbouctou (talk) 19:57, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Yep. A Headquarters field is needed, but I don't think it should be called headquarters. I think a headquarters field would lead people to put in the address of the company that owns the magazine, which for large magazine empires could be miles (or even continents) away from the magazine's intended market and the location that its published in.

How would you feel about a Publisher address field? (We could work on the actual title of the field). A publisher location field would cover cover the need for a headquarters field and be specific enough to not be confused with the owners address. - X201 (talk) 09:36, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

Sounds alright, but I think a Based in category would be a better option. It's short enough to be understood in any context, most magazine articles already formulate it that way in the article's lead section - and it would simplify entering multiple locations for magazines that are published worldwide which have regional head offices. I'm not sure if a detailed address is necessary at all, perhaps stating the city/town and the country should be enough.

As for the price, if there's a consensus already that the price shouldn't be included, that's fine by me - but there are already examples of articles which clearly break the WP:NOT#DIR Item 4 rule. For instance, it clearly states that therefore prices of a product should not be quoted in an article unless the price can be sourced and there is a justified reason for its mention. Examples of justified reasons include notable sales of rare collectors items, prices relating to discussion of a price war, and historical discussion of economic inflation. On the other hand, street prices are trivia that can vary widely from place to place and over time. Therefore, lists of products currently on sale should not quote street prices. In addition, Wikipedia is not a price guide to be used to compare the prices of competing products, or the prices of a single product across different countries or regions. However, if you take a look at Wii launch or PlayStation 3 launch articles, you will find an extensive list of street prices across different countries for the same product. With that in mind, I should also add that magazine/newspaper price could be an important component in determening its target audience or place in the market - which is in itself an important characteristic of publications. Timbouctou (talk) 13:30, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

Problem with image_file tags?

I seem to have a bit of a problem utilizing the recommended image_file, image_size and image_caption tags, the example is here: La Civiltà Cattolica. Inside the box, above the image, "[[Image:" appears; the image_size tag doesn't seem to affect the image at all, and under the image (above the caption) the image size and caption tags appear! Lwangaman (talk) 00:52, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

This was a bug that happened in the wiki software a couple of months a go, looks like its back again. I'll have a look into it. - X201 (talk) 08:16, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

Whatever you've done is causing images to disappear from articles all over the place. I'm going to revert for not. -MrFizyx (talk) 15:13, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

Well I must say his fix on the template did fix my problem... Perhaps if you give a link to the articles that have been affected someone could check them out to see thoroughly into the problem... -Lwangaman (talk) 16:11, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

Hmmm... I suppose it could just be the two I was looking at. The images disappeared from Fast Folk and Sing Out!. Feel free to take a look. Thanks. -MrFizyx (talk) 16:44, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

The problem with those articles is that the image has been added to the template as if it were just a normal image in an article. In plain English the syntax is wrong. I'll revert the template back to the fixed versions and then fix those articles. - X201 (talk) 17:44, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

Fixed - X201 (talk) 17:55, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

Great! Thank you. -MrFizyx (talk) 18:21, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

Frequency: biweekly

The term biweekly seems to be ambigous between "once in two weeks" and "twice per week". I suggest we add recommended unambiguous terms for those cases to the description of the 'Frequency' field. Ideas? --Apoc2400 (talk) 15:11, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

Compulsory parameters?

What does it mean that a parameter is compulsory, and how were they selected? I don't know if Hanako (magazine) even has an ISSN, but the infobox seems to work just fine without. --Apoc2400 (talk) 16:35, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

I believe it was used to mean required. I reworded it to that, and removed the asterisk from ISSN, since it really isn't though preferred where available. I believe all modern magazines have them, but finding them is another whole matter unless you have a copy of it. -- AnmaFinotera (talk · contribs) 16:40, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

editor_title broken

I use it on Later (magazine) but it doesn't show up. —Eekerz ^(t) 14:17, 12 April 2010 (UTC)

It's showing fine for me? "Deputy editor Sam Delaney" -- AnmaFinotera (talk · contribs) 14:52, 12 April 2010 (UTC)

Pages with incorrect protection templates?

Transclusion of this template puts the respective articles into Category:Wikipedia pages with incorrect protection templates - anyone knows how to fix it? GregorB (talk) 19:30, 22 April 2010 (UTC)

{{editprotected}} As per the above poster. I think this Template has got article protection instead of template protection. After searching the protection documentation I could find, I think the PP template is causing the problem. - X201 (talk) 08:24, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

 Fixed — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 09:13, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

Handle empty editor_title correctly

{{editprotected}} When the editor_title is specified, but empty, it doesn't show up correctly (see Sneaker Freaker). I fixed this in the sandbox, could you implement that change? Thanks. Svick (talk) 19:58, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

 Done  Ronhjones  ^(Talk) 20:41, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

Note: May take a while to work everywhere - I had to force a null edit to make Sneaker Freaker look OK.  Ronhjones  ^(Talk) 20:45, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

New rows: Founder and Photographer

{{editprotected}} See the sandbox version, Template:Infobox_magazine/sandbox, for the display of new optional rows "Creator" "Founder" and "Photographer" as well as listing optional "ISSN" at the bottom of the empty template. The new rows, renumbering internal labels to 21, are needed for magazine article "A&F Quarterly" which has used a custom infobox, and now was used to verify the sandbox version works ok. After update, the /doc page can be expanded to list "Founder" and "Photographer" as rows ready for use. -Wikid77 (revised) 07:32, 1 August 2010 (UTC)

I don't agree with the Creator field being called that. A better fit would be Founder next to the Year founded field. - X201 (talk) 21:14, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

Yes, I have renamed it as "Founder" (founder=xx) and moved that row above the "Year founded" in the sandbox version, as noted. -Wikid77 (talk) 07:32, 1 August 2010 (UTC)

 Done.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:06, 1 August 2010 (UTC)

Former names

{{editprotected}} Please can a "formernames" field be added, as per {{Infobox journal}}? Thanks, Jonathan Oldenbuck (talk) 12:38, 3 September 2010 (UTC)

Not done for now: This is the kind of proposal which should probably be discussed first. At least give people a chance to comment. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 15:10, 3 September 2010 (UTC)

I dont see why it would be controversial; magazines do occasionally change their names, so it might be a useful addition. Anyone else care to comment? Thanks, Jonathan Oldenbuck (talk) 09:23, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

As no one has commented, we could give this a spin if you are still interested? — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 13:00, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

Italic title

{{editprotected}} Can we place {{Italic title}} into the code as per WP:ITALICTITLE? Adabow (talk · contribs) 05:59, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps we could leave this proposal standing for a couple of days in case anyone would like to comment? — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 13:03, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

See my comment at Template talk:Infobox newspaper#italic title for why I think this shouldn't be done. Svick (talk) 13:51, 13 November 2010 (UTC)

I've read your comment. I agree that we should be careful about this and that the default setting should not be set to "italic" unless it is appropriate for the vast majority of uses. I think we need a bit more information. Could you do a bit of research and see if your scenario acutally happens anywhere? Of course the same reasoning could be applied to all italic titles implemented in infoboxes, which is becoming quite widespread now. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 11:24, 18 November 2010 (UTC)

It does happen, although rarely. Of the 2590 transclusions of this template, 10 of them are not in the first section (e.g. Armenian Sport in the Ottoman Empire, David Langford or National Museum of the American Indian) and I think that only one of those should have its title italicized – PC Gamer. For {{Infobox journal}}, it's 8 articles. Svick (talk) 23:33, 18 November 2010 (UTC)

That's great. Therefore do you have any objections to implementing this with an optional parameter to turn the italics off (|italic title=no) which we can add to the 10 articles you mentioned? Mhiji (talk) 23:51, 18 November 2010 (UTC)

I guess I don't have any objections to that. Svick (talk) 23:59, 18 November 2010 (UTC)

Agree. This should be done. It would make this consistent with {{Infobox film}}, {{Infobox album}} {{Infobox television}}, {{Infobox book}} {{Infobox newspaper}} and {{Infobox video game}} to name just a few. Why is there any need to treat this differently? Mhiji (talk) 03:05, 15 November 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps this could be implemented in the same way as at {{Infobox film}}, {{Infobox book}}, {{Infobox album}} and others. Doing it that way means that it can then be disabled using |italic title=no for the few articles where the title should not be italicised. Mhiji (talk) 14:43, 16 November 2010 (UTC)

Agree with Mhiji. There should be some way to turn it off. A default setting of ON with the field |italic title=no to turn it off where necessary. - X201 (talk) 12:22, 17 November 2010 (UTC)

Could someone implement this then please? Mhiji (talk) 00:13, 18 November 2010 (UTC)

An editor has raised valid objections. Please discuss and resolve differences before applying {{editprotected}}. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 11:24, 18 November 2010 (UTC)

 Done — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 09:24, 19 November 2010 (UTC)

Infobox captions

Editors might be interested in this discussion at WikiProject Academic Journals as it concerns a very similar template. mgiganteus1 (talk) 18:23, 27 November 2010 (UTC)

Logo

So, how am I supposed to include the magazine logo? The missing logo key in this infobox is very inconsistent with Infobox:Newspaper. --Morn (talk) 11:44, 30 January 2011 (UTC)

{{Editprotected}}

I request adding the line "| above = {{{logo<includeonly>|</includeonly>}}} " to the template to allow inclusion of a logo image, just like Template:Infobox newspaper does. --Morn (talk) 18:49, 7 February 2011 (UTC)

This infobox handles images slightly differently to that one. (On Template:Infobox newspaper you need to specify the full image syntax, whereas on this one you just pass the name of the image file.) I think it would be confusing to have two different systems on the same template, but I can try to code it in a similar way, if there is support for this addition. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 19:29, 7 February 2011 (UTC)

One usually has to customize image width anyway, because a relatively square logo will otherwise take up too much vertical space in the infobox, so I don't think using standard image syntax is a big issue. But if you would like to implement this based on just the image name and a customizable default width (e.g., logo_size=180px), that would also be fine by me of course. --Morn (talk) 19:54, 7 February 2011 (UTC)

Okay I'll try and get to this later, unless someone beats me to it. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 09:36, 8 February 2011 (UTC)

Code is now in the /sandbox. Please test it and let me know what you think. There is a test case on /testcases. The size of the logo can be specified with |logo_size=, otherwise it will default to the same size as the image (if it exists). — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 15:26, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, looks good, but I think the default should be a fixed pixel value, not the actual logo size. Those SVG logos normally have a nominal pixel size of around 300 to 400 px, so they are too large for the infobox at 1:1. --Morn (talk) 15:35, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

 Done. When I said "size of the image" I meant {{{image_size}}} not the logo image size! — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 16:00, 11 February 2011 (UTC)

Ah, OK, then I misunderstood. But thanks a lot again for the template modification! --Morn (talk) 13:08, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

Null edit

{{Edit protected}} Could an admin null edit this template? I fixed a dablink in the documentation and would like to see the change in the template. Thanks, --JaGa^talk 18:22, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

A purge should do the trick, which anyone can perform. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 21:20, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

database with magazine info

if i want to make a database with magazine info from all the articles which use this template, how would I proceed? -- eiland (talk) 09:26, 6 May 2011 (UTC)

Have replied on your talk page. More appropriate place for this sort of question. - X201 (talk) 11:24, 6 May 2011 (UTC)

Editors

Any issues with adding a few more fields for editors? ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 13:33, 7 May 2012 (UTC)

There's already an editor field. If you mean multiple editors, just separate each one with a line break <br>. - X201 (talk) 14:09, 7 May 2012 (UTC)

True, but you only get the one title. Most publications have a managing editor, senior editor and the like. No need for assistants and so on. Now in sandbox. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 15:04, 7 May 2012 (UTC)

Markup	Renders as
{{Infobox magazine/sandbox | title = Wikipedia Magazine | editor = Sam Drucker | editor_title = Managing Editor | editor2 = Fred Ziffel | editor_title2 = Senior Editor | editor3 = Eunice Douglas | editor_title3 = Associate Editor }}	Wikipedia Magazine Managing Editor Sam Drucker Senior Editor Fred Ziffel Associate Editor Eunice Douglas

 Done ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 02:12, 17 May 2012 (UTC)

Have added them to the documentation. - X201 (talk) 08:17, 17 May 2012 (UTC)

Ah. Was just doing that myself. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 08:35, 17 May 2012 (UTC)

Is there a way for anyone to create an editors (plural) parameter for multiple editors? It looks a bit silly to label multiple people as "editor". ThemFromSpace 15:47, 9 October 2012 (UTC)

circulation

has anyone inadvertently edited the template? the circulation parameter doesnt show... mijotoba (talk) 05:44, 2 June 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 15 August 2012

Please amend "labe21" to "label21", to (hopefully!) fix an error introduced in this edit. The failure to include the second "l" results in an infobox like the one that can be seen at Searchlight (magazine) where the frequency floats in the middle of the infobox without any label next to it. Thanks. 2 lines of K₃₀₃ 12:49, 15 August 2012 (UTC)

Agreed, so Done --Redrose64 (talk) 17:18, 15 August 2012 (UTC)

Ah— my fault. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 18:15, 15 August 2012 (UTC)

Borders

Does this template allow a border around the image? Is there a workaround for incorporating one? Gobōnobō ^{+ c} 21:36, 2 January 2013 (UTC)

Images in infoboxes are normally frameless. Where would you need a frame? --Redrose64 (talk) 12:09, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

It's true that this is not needed for most images, but when magazine covers have a white background it can difficult or impossible to tell where the border is. This makes it difficult to know what the aspect ratio is or where the title and graphics are positioned in relation to the border (e.g. see The Nation). Sometimes it looks as if the text and graphics are just floating in the void. Extended image syntax is enabled for other infoboxes such as newspapers (The Wall Street Journal makes use of a border, for instance). Gobōnobō ^{+ c} 19:32, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

Use either of the following two lines:

|image_size = border{{!}}frameless
|image_size = frameless{{!}}border

It doesn't matter which way around they are, but the two words must be separated by the {{!}} template and not by using the pipe | otherwise the second will be ignored. They both need to be present: the frameless keyword is like thumb in that it uses default size, but does not generate a frame. The border keyword adds a narrow border. Compare Rolling Stone both with and without the border. --Redrose64 (talk) 16:27, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

Thank you Redrose. That's exactly what I was looking for. Gobōnobō ^{+ c} 16:30, 5 January 2013 (UTC)

Editprotected

{{Editprotected}}

Please add:

{{Tfm/dated|page=Infobox magazine|otherpage=Infobox journal|link=Wikipedia:Templates for discussion/Log/2013 August 9#Template:Infobox journal|help=off|type=sidebar}}

to this template. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 23:16, 9 August 2013 (UTC)

Done. Nyttend (talk) 23:48, 9 August 2013 (UTC)

Edit request

Many magazines nowadays have 2 ISSNs, one for their print version, the other for an electronic version. Could this be implemented in this infobox in the same was as is done for the academic journal infobox? Thanks! --Randykitty (talk) 08:54, 20 April 2014 (UTC)

Not done: please make your requested changes to the template's sandbox first; see WP:TESTCASES. Jackmcbarn (talk) 18:40, 21 April 2014 (UTC)

I'm sorry, but the reason I did not make this edit myself is that I have no clue about template editing. If the above description that I gave is not enough and the sandbox/testcase thing really is necessary, then let's just forget about it. Thanks anyway for responding so fast. --Randykitty (talk) 20:10, 21 April 2014 (UTC)

@Randykitty: I added |eissn= as a companion to |issn=. it will append print and web if both issn and eissn are used. Frietjes (talk) 20:15, 21 April 2014 (UTC)

Varying publishing companies

Magazines that have been running for a long time (i.e. decades) often change publishing companies throughout their run, as they get bought and sold by various companies. What's the general view on reflecting these changes in the infobox? Is it worth listing the different companies over the years, or would this make the infobox too long and full of unnecessary information, and therefore only the current publisher should be listed? Richard3120 (talk) 12:54, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

• I think infoboxes should be limited to essential info and not be cluttered too much. So I would only list the current publisher and list the other ones in the body of the text. This will also make things easier for wikidata, once it starts importing stuff from infoboxes. --Randykitty (talk) 13:06, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

That seems fair enough: I've come across instances where I've cited magazines from the 1970s and 1980s and it would have been useful to know who was publishing the magazine at the time. If this information was included in the relevant article on Wikipedia it would be helpful. Richard3120 (talk) 17:36, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

The general rule on the Video Games project is that it should be in the prose before its in the infobox. I think the same here would be good, the box should be just an essential info thing. - X201 (talk) 18:45, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

ISO 4 abbreviation - new parameter request

I would like to add a new 'abbreviation' parameter as used in Template:Cite journal and which is meant to hold the ISO 4 abbreviation for the periodical? Thanks for considering this. If there is consensus supporting this, or no concerns about adding it, I can do that myself. --User:Ceyockey (talk to me) 02:36, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

• Abbreviations are much less used for magazines than for academic journals. Having said this, I see no real objection to adding this field. --Randykitty (talk) 09:45, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

Title

Does anyone know how to suppress the title parameter? I'd like to move a front-page image into the infobox at The Hollywood Reporter. The logo is already there, and the image says "The Hollywood Reporter," as of course does the article title. To have it repeated in the title looks bad, so I'd like to leave that blank, but when I do that, it leaves an odd mark. SarahSV ^(talk) 04:17, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

The "odd mark" is a boldfaced apostrophe - this is what you get when there is markup for italics (two pairs of apostrophes) but nothing inside them. Four apostrophes together are not parsed as two and two but as three and one - the three turn on boldface and the extra one is taken as a literal apostrophe.

You can use the HTML entity for a space - either |title=  or |title=  - or use a dummy HTML element that does nothing, like <span /> with no attributes, i.e. |title=<span />. Whichever you pick, the infobox row is still there - it's not moved up to fill the gap where the title would have been. --Redrose64 (talk) 10:23, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

Thanks Redrose64. I used |title=  and it's working well. It would be a good idea to change the template so that the title can be left out. This problem must occur a lot when there's an image of the magazine in the infobox, given that the image will contain the title. SarahSV ^(talk) 20:27, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

Just wondering about accessibility here - the image would need WP:ALT text. --Redrose64 (talk) 20:40, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

Do you mean in general or the one I just moved into that infobox? I've mostly stopped adding alt text. I don't know what happens when it isn't added to an infobox, but I'll ask someone who uses a screenreader. SarahSV ^(talk) 22:58, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

Example for "language" parameter violates WP:OVERLINK

The "example" shows [[English language|English]]. Why? Per WP:OVERLINK, "Everyday words understood by most readers in context" should not be wikilinked. Note that it says not just "need not be", but "generally should not be". What purpose do these WLs serve? What with the "Language" heading in the displayed box, what is being referenced is very clear (e.g. it's not "the English people"). Perhaps a WL would be appropriate for an obscure language with which the typical reader of English language Wikipedia might be unfamiliar... but for English or other commonly-recognized names of languages? We should not be encouraging OVERLINK violations. Jeh (talk) 23:31, 10 April 2016 (UTC)

Please use HTTPS URL for OCLC number link

The purpose of this edit is to provide increased privacy and security for users by having the template generate an HTTPS link for the magazine OCLC number. At the current time, the template generates a regular HTTP link for the OCLC number. In the template code, please change http://worldcat.org/oclc/ to https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/ (note the different domain name) instead. Thanks. --Elegie (talk) 06:17, 10 June 2017 (UTC)

 Done -- John of Reading (talk) 07:48, 10 June 2017 (UTC)

Inconstant paramater

In newspaper there is |owner= and |publisher=, why called |company= here? Matthew_hk tc 08:18, 23 November 2017 (UTC)

Because a publisher can be a named individual working for a company. The template allows for both to be displayed. - X201 (talk) 11:56, 9 April 2018 (UTC)

Italicized article title(?)

@Zackmann08, Koavf, John of Reading, and Jonesey95: To the last few editors of this template: The title of the template is italicized, something I've never seen before. Is this a feature or a bug, and if the latter, would you please be so kind as to fix it? —DocWatson42 (talk) 11:01, 21 February 2019 (UTC)

It's just a feature of not using a method of detecting namespaces for italicizing. E.g. see {{MC}} which I recently made. It includes an if statement {{#ifeq:{{NAMESPACENUMBER}}|0|[[Category:WikiProject Albums articles with Metacritic links]]|}} that only adds things to a category if it's in the main namespace. A similar thing can be done here but I'd have to tinker with it some to make sure it works. Cf. {{Infobox album}} which has a similar feature. ―Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 11:50, 21 February 2019 (UTC)

I looked at {{Infobox book}} and {{Infobox album}}, both of which italicize the template's name on the page of the template itself. I also find it odd. I found that {{Infobox film}} wasn't italicized, so I copied that template's method here (a noinclude statement). Strangely, the same method did not work at {{Infobox book}}. – Jonesey95 (talk) 12:23, 21 February 2019 (UTC)

A little edit to Template:Infobox book/doc has fixed the display at {{Infobox book}} -- John of Reading (talk) 16:04, 21 February 2019 (UTC)

Ah, well spotted. Thanks. – Jonesey95 (talk) 19:23, 24 February 2019 (UTC)

@Koavf, John of Reading, and Jonesey95: Thank you. ^_^ —DocWatson42 (talk) 17:19, 26 February 2019 (UTC)

add writing_system parameter

For magazines in countries that use multiple writing systems for the same language, it would be helpful if there is a parameter to display that in the infobox. --193.83.26.179 (talk) 00:02, 25 April 2019 (UTC)

'number' after 'OCLC' required?

Would it be possible to remove the word 'number' in 'OCLC number'? It doesn't seem necessary, and it breaks (unsightly line return) in some layouts. Thanks, and cheers. TP ✎ ✓ 12:39, 17 May 2019 (UTC)

 Done no opposition — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 07:17, 21 May 2019 (UTC)

Thank you so much (and boy that was quick ; )! Cheers. TP ✎ ✓ 07:37, 21 May 2019 (UTC)

@ThePromenader: due to your incorrect signature I thought this request had been open for 4 days (hence my comment that there was "no opposition"!) — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 11:16, 21 May 2019 (UTC)

That's okay - but how was my signature incorrect? Cheers. TP ✎ ✓ 11:24, 21 May 2019 (UTC)

Wait, I think I get it... my request was indeed four days ago, but I added the 'attention needed' template only this morning (without signing anything). Sorry for that misunderstanding. Best, take care. TP ✎ ✓ 11:26, 21 May 2019 (UTC)

Yep, I see, makes sense! — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 11:31, 21 May 2019 (UTC)

Native name support

Can we add support for the native name parameter (like in Template:Infobox company) for magazines that are not published in English? This would help make this template less Western-centric. Thanks! ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe · Join WP Japan! 19:46, 1 August 2019 (UTC)

@MSGJ: ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe · Join WP Japan! 20:09, 1 August 2019 (UTC)

Template-protected edit request on 10 October 2019

Please change template call {{ifempty}} to {{if empty}} to avoid the redirect. The call to that template is transcluded in over 6,000 articles through being called in this template, so that unnecessary redirect has to be followed every time one of those articles is viewed. Colonies Chris (talk) 16:01, 10 October 2019 (UTC)

 Not done for now: please establish a consensus for this alteration before using the {{edit template-protected}} template. For further discussion see User talk:Colonies Chris. --Trialpears (talk) 16:30, 10 October 2019 (UTC)

Magazines not uncommonly have cartoonists and artists

An entry for cartoonists and/or artists is needed. Larry Koenigsberg (talk) 17:49, 13 August 2020 (UTC)

Founders

Can someone please add the variant "founders" that can be used as an alternative to "founder" for when the magazine was founded by more than one person? Helper201 (talk) 23:27, 3 July 2021 (UTC)

Editor field for defunct magazines?

The documentation for the "editor" param just says The name of the editor of the magazine. It would be nice if we could suggest a best practice for defunct magazines. I can imagine several possibilities:

• The founding editor
• The most recent editor
• The editor with the longest tenure/the editor with the strongest association with the publication
• Leave the field empty

For simplicity, I would lean towards the last option most of the time (unless the magazine only had one editor throughout its run). Thoughts? Colin M (talk) 22:05, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

Former Name Parameter

Could a parameter for former names be added? As noted in a previous talk page discussion, {{Infobox journal}} already has it and {{Infobox company}} does as well. –Noha307 (talk) 00:06, 22 September 2021 (UTC)

Questions about publisher/company/issn

Is the issn # supposed to be removed from the infobox if physical printing of a magazine is paused (but digital version continues) or permanently suspended? Also, what do the asterisks next to some parameters mean? And if X co. published a magazine, then X was bought by Y co., but X co. is still publishing the magazine, who exactly should be listed under 'publisher' and 'company'? I'm a little confused since the template says it should not be a company name listed under publisher, but an actual individual, yet lots of magazines have publishing houses/cos listed in their infoboxes? -- Carlobunnie (talk) 19:11, 21 April 2022 (UTC)

Per Template:Infobox magazine#Parameter explanations and examples: Required parameters are asterisked (*). --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 21:51, 21 April 2022 (UTC)

Oh, I didn't see that actually. Could you also address my other questions if you have the time? -- Carlobunnie (talk) 22:27, 21 April 2022 (UTC)

"Publisher" is a job title for a human. Per the documentation, The publisher parameter should be the named person who publishes the magazine.

Leave the ISSN in the infobox. It is useful to editors who might want to look up back issues of a publication that has ceased publication. The ISSN is still valid and unique to that publication, whether it still exists or not.

For |company=, list the publishing company. The current publishing company name can typically be found in the publication's masthead. – Jonesey95 (talk) 23:01, 21 April 2022 (UTC)

I don't have any physical copies (Paper (magazine) to be precise), and I haven't come across any scanned archives of its pages as yet (but ik still looking). Everything I saw online says it's published by Paper Publishing Co, but a new editor showed up on the page today insisting that because it was sold to ENTtech Media Co, that name should be in the infobox instead. I couldn't revert their edits anymore wo exceeding 3RR hence my asking here for clarity, before I edit that page any further. -- 23:54, 21 April 2022 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Templates_for_discussion/Log/2022_June_26#Template:Infobox_magazine

There's a TFD/proposal for the project's main infobox to be merged with Infobox Newspaper. Please comment. Headbomb {t · c · p · b} 20:18, 3 July 2022 (UTC)

Adding Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) parameter

Would it be possible to add a Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) parameter, similar to Template:Cite book. KD5TVI (talk) 13:45, 7 July 2022 (UTC)