Template:Infobox Album/doc

The standard infobox for album articles is the Infobox Album template. The box to the right is an example. You can click on "edit this page" and copy-and-paste the markup to a different article, replacing its information with info on the album you choose to write about.

The infobox code should be placed at the top of the article.

Code
Most articles should only need the following fields (for the full list of fields see advanced usage). Do not remove fields from this list when the value is unknown; in that case the values should be left 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 specified 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. Album cover artwork may be scanned, or downloaded from another site such as Allmusic or Amazon.com. Note that whether you scan one yourself or copy it from another site, when uploading an image, you must tag it properly and follow fair use guidelines. If you cannot find a cover image, just leave this field blank.


 * Upload a copy of the album cover (under fair use). The width of the image should ideally be no less than 200px (the default display size of the infobox), but it should be no more than 300px on at least one side (to satisfy fair use criteria). For images smaller than 200px, see the section on cover size below.
 * On the image description page, use the Non-free album cover image copyright tag. Selecting "Album or single cover" from the pulldown list on the image upload page will accomplish this.
 * Add detailed fair use rationale for each use of the image. You can also use the Album cover article rationale template (see the usage guide for an explanation on how to use it) or the Album cover fur template.
 * 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).
 * remove the request-photo or request-image template from the talk page of the article.

Released
Original album release date, formatted according to the Manual of Style for dates ("December 14, 2003" or "14 December 2003" depending on the article style, without the quotation marks). If the day is unknown, indicate only month and year ("December 2003"); if the month is unknown indicate only the year ("2003"). Only the earliest known date that the album was released should be specified; later release dates (incl. re-issues) can be mentioned in a Release history section.

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

Genre
The one or more music genres that the album reflects, delimited by a comma should be listed here. Genres should be linked (piped linked where needed), for example, "Rock, pop" should link to rock music and pop music respectively. Note that most genres aren't proper nouns, and shouldn't be capitalized, but the first word in the list should be.

Length
The length of the album should be specified in minutes and seconds, even if it is longer than one hour, for example 74:00. It may be helpful to include a source in a comment, such as.

Several albums have been released with bonus tracks or multiple track listings. In this case, just list the length of the original release. In the case of albums which are released with multiple track listings simultaneously, only list the most common length or that of the standard edition of the album.

Label
Only the record label that the album was originally released on should be specified. Where significantly different versions have been released (featuring alternative track listings) e.g. in the US vs UK, the later release date and/or record label should be mentioned in the article, for example in a Release history section. Drop words like "Records" from the end of the label's name (e.g. use  rather than  ).

Producer
The name of the producer should be linked to the corresponding article. If there is more than one producer, the names should be delimited by commas.

Professional reviews
Professional reviews may include only reviews written by professional music journalists or DJs, or found within any online or print publication having a (paid or volunteer) editorial and writing staff (which excludes personal blogs). 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   and format it according to the following guidelines:


 * 1) The first bit of info should be the name of the source (most commonly an online music service like Allmusic, or a music magazine like Rolling Stone—note that magazines are italicized). Don't forget to wikilink to the relevant article.
 * 2) The second bit 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: . Numerical ratings, letter grades and other non-symbol ratings should be shown using plain text in parentheses, like (3.5/10), (B) or (90%). For reviews by Robert Christgau you may use the Christgau rating template. For example, entering   will render: . If no rating is given in the review you should use one of the words (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.
 * 3) The third bit is a citation of the source of the review. Per Citing sources do not add reviews without a citation. This means a properly formatted footnote, in most cases providing the author, date, and source, along with an external link if available. Do not use an embedded link with no information (e.g. link) as this promotes link rot and is inconsistent with Wikipedia's policy on embedded links. If you must use an embedded link, be sure to manually provide a full citation in the article's References section per Wikipedia:Citing sources.

For example, entering


 * Allmusic
 * Alternative Press (favorable)
 * Robert Christgau (B)
 * Q

will render


 * Allmusic
 * Alternative Press (favorable)
 * Robert Christgau (B)
 * Q

and generate the following footnotes with the sources:

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
This group of fields establishes a chain connecting articles about an artist's albums. In a studio album article, the chain (for most artists) should include only other studio albums, excluding live albums and compilations; these other types can also have their own separate chains. For some artists it may be more appropriate to include all album types in one chain, but care must be taken to maintain the integrity of chains, so that when album "A" points to "B" as the next album, "B" points back to "A" as the last (previous) album.

All album titles should be italicized. The year of release for each should be listed in parentheses, separated from the album title by  or. Wikipedia's date style guidelines recommend that years should not be linked within the chronology section. Cover images should not be included in the chronology, as that would not be fair use.

No more than one album should be included in any of the three slots in the chronology. Some albums can be part of more than one chain, using an "additional chronologies" section. 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.

Last album field specifies the previous album in the chain. If the current album is the first album in a chain, this field should be blank.

This album field specifies the album for the current article, and should be in boldface.

Next album field specifies the next album in the chain. If the current album is the last album in a chain, this field should be blank. At least one of the two fields, previous or next, must have a value filled in, for the chronology to display.

=== Advanced usage=== {{#ifeq:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|Wikipedia:WikiProject Albums| {{for|more advanced usage|Template:Infobox Album#Advanced usage}} {{Infobox Album | Artist     = The Temptations | Type       = cover | Last album = Puzzle People (1969) | This album = Together (1969) | Next album = On Broadway (1969) }} {{Extra album cover 2 | Upper caption = Alternative cover | Type          = cover | Cover         = Example.png | Lower caption = The original American LP for Together has a cover which folds out to reveal a full illustration of The Supremes and The Temptations. The full artwork was also used for some international versions of the album without requiring the cover to be unfolded. }} {{Singles | Name          = Together | Type          = cover | Single 1      = The Weight | Single 1 date = | Single 2      = Why (Must We Fall in Love) | Single 2 date = }} }}
 * Name       = Together
 * Type       = cover
 * Artist     = Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations
 * Cover      = Example.png
 * Released   = {{Start date|1969|09|23}}
 * Recorded   = 1969
 * Genre      = Pop, soul
 * Length     =
 * Label      = Motown
 * Producer   = Frank Wilson, Smokey Robinson, Al Clevland, Terry Johnson, Tom Baird, Henry Cosby, Deke Richards
 * Reviews    =
 * Allmusic {{Rating|2|5}}{{sup|[1]}}
 * Chronology = The Supremes
 * Last album = Let the {{nowrap|Sunshine In}} (1969)
 * This album = Together (1969)
 * Next album = Cream of the Crop (1969)
 * Misc       = {{Extra chronology 2

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

 {{Infobox Album }}
 * Name             =
 * Type             =
 * Longtype     =
 * Artist         =
 * Cover           =
 * Cover size =
 * Caption       =
 * Released     =
 * Recorded     =
 * Genre           =
 * Length         =
 * Language     =
 * Label           =
 * Director     =
 * Producer     =
 * Reviews       =
 * Compiler     =
 * Chronology =
 * Last album =
 * This album =
 * Next album =
 * Misc             =

Longtype
This field can be used if you wish 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 (and you cannot locate a larger image). 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 delimited by commas.

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

Chronology
This field can be used when the album belongs to an overall series that is not adequately described by the artist's name alone; in these situations, 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 2, Extra chronology 2, Singles and Audiosample. If you use any of these templates, don't forget to add a second set of closing brackets for the nested template. However, please ensure if you add additional non-free images, that the use complies with the non-free content criteria.

Template:Extra chronology 2
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 2
If the album has been released with different album covers, they can be added to the infobox using this template. However, please ensure that if you add additional non-free images, that the use complies with the non-free content criteria.



The Upper caption field allows an optional header to be inserted and Lower caption allows for an optional explanatory label. For alternative covers the upper caption should be "Alternative 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.

Microformat
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