User:Remsense/infobox

The following are short commentaries on common pitfalls regarding infoboxes in the context of Wikipedia's policies and guidelines:


 * 1) Infoboxes should be limited to key information about the topic.
 * 2) * On many pages, many or most infobox parameters should not be populated.
 * 3) Infoboxes should be limited to information that can be communicated clearly at a glance.
 * 4) * If a list has more than five or six entries, there may be room for trimming.
 * 5) * As an exercise, try perusing an infobox for 20 seconds. Then, stop looking at the page entirely. How much did you remember?
 * 6) Infoboxes should (usually) only contain content also reflected the body of an article.
 * 7) * Exceptions include technical reference codes and links to lists of works for a given creator.
 * 8) * Exceptions do not include additional military commanders who are not mentioned in the article.
 * 9) Infoboxes should not attempt to describe controversial or nuanced information.
 * 10) * If one feels the need to attach footnotes or parentheticals to a given piece of information, one should interrogate (a) whether the footnotes or parentheticals are truly necessary to understand the information, and (b) if so, whether the infobox is really designed to carry the information.
 * 11) * Are you really describing the topic in the way that sources do? The format of infoboxes do not give us permission to present original research.