Wikipedia:Automated taxobox system/method

It is assumed that you have read the introduction to the system. This page gives some brief step-by-step instructions.

Step 2: starting to generate taxonomy
Next, the template needs to work out which taxon's taxonomy to display. If the parameter taxon is set, which is best practice, it will use this taxon. (Otherwise, it will try to guess the taxon name from the name of the article that it is on, but this is deprecated.)

Step 3: generating the taxonomy
The template is now going to consult the database to build a taxonomy for our subject taxon. Let's say we want to generate a taxobox for the dinosaurs, using Dinosauria.

The template generates the taxonomy list a row at a time, starting at the bottom. It will start off by looking at the database page for our taxon, that is, "Template:Taxonomy/Dinosauria". This page contains details about the Dinosauria: the rank of the taxon, the link to display in the taxobox, and the parent taxon. Using this information, the taxobox displays the bottom row of the taxonomy.

Step 3b: generating the next row up
Once the template has completed this row, it moves up a level. But how does it know what taxon should come above the dinosaurs? This information is also stored in the database entry at "Template:Taxonomy/Dinosauria".

Step 3c: generating the rest of the taxonomy
This process continues all the way up the taxobox, until the taxonomy is complete.

Where to now?
Hopefully that gives you an overview of how the template works. For more detail, take a look at one of the other documentation pages: