Wikipedia:Automated taxobox system/all parameters

Typical setup
For a full list of available parameters, see below. Often, an automated taxobox can be set up virtually no parameters at all. Even the target taxon can be omitted, since the system will attempt to obtain the name of the taxon from the title of the article. Even when it works, however, this is not regarded as best practice; for one reason, the  parameter makes the page "move-proof" – if the page is moved, the taxobox won't get confused as long as the   parameter is filled in. This eliminates catastrophic display issues.

You can see what happens by simply placing Speciesbox or Automatic taxobox on the page where you would normally place an entire taxobox. Most likely, at least a few parameters will need to be added, though.

The standard parameters recommended for use in an automated taxobox are:

Available parameters and how to use them
Available parameters for automated taxoboxes are as follows. Note that all parameters are optional, although to produce the desired results, many may be required.

,  or other automated taxobox template taxon name authority display_parents edit_link fossil_range oldest_fossil youngest_fossil display_parents parent_authority grandparent_authority greatgrandparent_authority color_as status status_system status_ref image image_upright image_alt image_caption image2 image2_upright image2_alt image2_caption classification_status diversity diversity_link binomial binomial_authority trinomial trinomial_authority type_genus type_genus_authority type_species type_species_authority subdivision subdivision_ranks type_strain range_map range_map_upright range_map_alt range_map_caption binomial2 binomial2_authority range_map2 range_map2_upright range_map2_alt range_map2_caption binomial3 binomial3_authority range_map3 range_map3_upright range_map3_alt range_map3_caption binomial4 binomial4_authority range_map4 range_map4_upright range_map4_alt range_map4_caption synonyms synonyms_ref

In the following sections, parameters used by manual taxoboxes created with Taxobox will not be covered. Usage for those parameters is the same.

Parameter taxon
The name of the taxon the article is about. In the displayed taxobox, this parameter is the one that is bolded.

When moving an article to another title, always check to see that the taxon parameter is present, to ensure the taxonomy continues to display properly. Additionally, you will need to update the display link on the taxonomy template. See for instructions on how to do this.

Parameter name
If the title of the taxobox should be different from the page title, enter it here. This is most commonly used for English names.

Parameter authority
This parameter is similar to the authority parameters in a manual taxobox. The only difference is that you don't have to specify the rank this authority matches up with – it will pair with the taxon listed in the taxon parameter.

A reference to support the authority should be placed immediately after the authority.

Parameter fossil_range
The automatic taxobox has a couple of enhancements over the conventional taxobox; if you specify a geological period in fossil range, then Template:Geological range will automatically display that period in the geological timescale. Unsupported periods can be added at Template:Geological range. As before, more complex cases can still be handled by specifying geological range.

Parameter edit_link
In most cases, there is no reason to use this parameter. If used, whatever is entered here will display in single brackets in place of the letter "e". This is the "edit taxonomy" link which allows readers to easily access the taxonomy for quick, universal edits.

Parameter oldest_fossil
Deprecated.

Parameter youngest_fossil
Deprecated. Replace with fossil range.

Parameter display_parents
If you need to display a certain number of parent taxa, adding a number here will force that many parent taxa to appear. This should generally be used only when a taxon has only one child taxon, in which case the article would need to display the parent of that taxon.

Parameter parent_authority
This functions just like authority, except it matches up with the parent taxon, i.e. the taxon specified by parent in the taxonomy template at "Template:Taxonomy/taxon".

Parameter grandparent_authority
This functions just like authority, except it matches up with the grandparent taxon.

Parameter greatgrandparent_authority
This functions just like authority, except it matches up with the great-grandparent taxon.

Parameter color_as
In the great majority of cases, the template will automatically assign a color to the taxobox based on one of the higher taxa to which it belongs (e.g. Animalia, Fungi, Plantae, Bacteria). If this fails for some reason, use color_as to force the taxobox to have the same color as another taxon. Thus:
 * Animalia causes the taxobox to have the same color as the Animalia taxobox
 * Archaea ditto as the Archaea taxobox