User:Thomas Connor/Sandbox

In the past, computer and video games had a motley assortment of navigation templates (typically called "navboxes") scattered at the bottom of many different pages. Such templates are useful for linking series of articles, such as a series of games, but they can easily become too large, garish, or even malfunction, which impairs usability. Following are some suggestions on how to make useful navigation templates that can guide users within an article series.

Where to begin
First, you need to have a template. Luckily, a starting point has already been made at Template:CVG Navigation. Once you have a new page, preferably with a name along the lines of Template:XYZseries or Template:XYZ series, with XYZ being the name of the series, copy and paste the following code: &lt;noinclude&gt;

&lt;/noinclude&gt;

Once you have that pasted, give it a title (usually the name of the series the template is for), and insert the articles into the body section.

Things to remember

 * Game names should be italicized. Any thing else, such as (video game), that may be part of the article name, should not.
 * Games should be linked without subtitles or prefixes. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind should simply be listed as Morrowind.
 * Make sure you use non-breaking spaces (&amp;nbsp;) in the middle of game names so they don't end up separated over a line. Similarly, separate games in a serial list with a non-breaking space followed by a bullet followed by a regular space (&amp;nbsp;• ).
 * To produce XYZ Title • XYZ Sequel you would write:
 * Alternatively, you can use, which would look like:

Unreleased games
Unreleased games are a controversial topic for inclusion in nav boxes. The general rule of thumb is that they should not be stubs and should be able to pass a vote for deletion. The key word is pass; if no consensus is reached, the inclusion of the game should wait until a little more information is released. Of course, this is not a hard and fast rule. Exceptions can be made.

Canceled games
Once again, the stub/deletion test is the main factor. If the project was announced, released a few screenshots, then died, the game can probably stay out of the template. If, however, the game had a working engine, released a trailer or two, and had a release date finalized, then the game is most likely worth inclusion.

What to do if the template gets too big?
Trim it down! If a template is over-powering whatever pages it is on, trim it down. Even if all the articles are featured articles, the template can be split into multiple templates. If someone is preventing you from trimming the template down, insert the following:

which will produce:

Then, discuss the template and what can be done to make it better. Remember, there are no guidelines concerning these templates, and each should be treated on its own individual merits, needs, and functions.