Wikipedia:WikiProject Plants/Automated taxobox system

Given the complicated nature of the "automatic taxobox system" (Automatic taxobox, Speciesbox, etc.), this (incomplete) page is aimed at assisting WP:PLANTS editors in utilizing the new templates for most possible cases encountered in article space. The automated taxobox system uses back-end templates (e.g. Taxonomy/Plantae) that all use the form. The back-end templates are connected in a hierarchy so that future changes to classifications will be easy to manipulate by editing a few templates rather than hundreds or thousands of individual taxoboxes.

There are three "automated taxoboxes", used in plant articles in different cases.
 * Automatic taxobox – for articles about taxa at the level of genus or above (and a few other very special cases – see below).
 * Speciesbox – for articles about species
 * Infraspeciesbox – for articles about subspecies or varieties covered by the ICN, i.e. requiring a "connecting term" in their name (Subspeciesbox is only for zoological taxa)

Automatic taxobox example
Suppose we started with the following manual taxobox and wanted to convert it to use the automated taxobox system.


 * We're dealing with a genus, so the right template to use is Automatic taxobox. To convert to an automatic taxobox, begin by changing the title of the template from  to   (with the lowercase "t" in taxobox).
 * Now let the automatic taxobox know which taxon the template is supposed to be about by adding ; this can usually replace name. This step is not strictly necessary when taxa are titled at their taxon name, but if the page were ever to be moved, the automatic taxobox would be broken without the   parameter.
 * Now remove all classification from regnum (or domain) down to the article's taxon authority.
 * Finally change  to plain.
 * Any other parameters can be left alone.

This gives the following (template setup on left, new automatic taxobox on right), :

(Because the taxobox isn't on the right page, live version needs name.)

When you create a new automatic taxobox, the back-end templates need to exist or be generated: in this case Template:Taxonomy/Magnolia and upwards. If the template doesn't exist, various information/error messages will appear. Among them will be "Unrecognized taxon (fix)" where "fix" is a link. Follow the "fix" link, which will lead you to a pre-filled back-end template with instructions on how to complete it. Basically you fill in rank (don't forget to latinize the ranks, e.g. "familia" not "family") and parent. The key part of Template:Taxonomy/Magnolia looks like this:

If the parent's back-end template doesn't exist (here Template:Taxonomy/Magnoliaceae), then the process needs to be repeated until you reach a taxonomy template that does exist.

Speciesbox example
Suppose we started with the following manual taxobox and wanted to convert it to use the automated taxobox system.


 * We're dealing with a species, so the right template to use is Speciesbox. To convert to an automated taxobox, begin by changing the title of the template from  to.
 * Now let the taxobox know which taxon the template is supposed to be about by adding ; as for a genus, this can often replace name and is not strictly necessary when taxa are titled at their species name rather than their English name.
 * Now remove all classification from regnum (or domain) down to the article's taxon authority.
 * Finally change  to plain.
 * Any other parameters can be left alone.

This gives the following (template setup on left, new automated taxobox on right):

If the relevant back-end template doesn't exist (here Template:Taxonomy/Magnolia), then it will need to be created as described above for a genus article. If, exceptionally, subdivisions of genera are to be displayed, then a species taxonomy template will be needed.

A normal genus article
Here we use authority for the genus authority. The template knows the rank of the template since this information is supplied at Template:Taxonomy/Levenhookia and places the authority in the proper place.

Monotypic genus
Assume the article is under the genus name, as is the normal policy. Then it needs to show the genus the only species. The correct taxobox to use is Speciesbox.

Notice that to display the authority for the genus, we use parent_authority and genus_authority. If the genus were in a monotypic family, we would add grandparent_authority, and so on.

Note: because this page doesn't have the title "Calluna", a non-bold link to "Calluna" is shown in the taxobox; in the real article the circular link is detected and shown as bold non-linked text.

Monotypic plant family
See Emblingia.

Here not only do we need  for the genus authority, but we also need   for the familia authority. I then had to create Template:Taxonomy/Emblingia and Template:Taxonomy/Emblingiaceae, which linked to the already-existing parent Template:Taxonomy/Brassicales.

It is important to note that at Template:Taxonomy/Emblingiaceae, that  be used. This makes the term bold in the taxobox. If we had used, relying on the redirect, the term would have just been blue-linked. This is problematic when pages are moved.

For another example of this, see Welwitschia. If we could identify a reliable source that notes the authority for the order Welwitschiales, we would use.

Disambiguated article
See Cadia (plant).

The back-end taxonomy template needed in this case is at Template:Taxonomy/Cadia rather than at the disambiguated "Template:Taxonomy/Cadia (plant)" because the disambiguation doesn't include an organism under a different nomenclature code. The key part of this template is:

We need to set link in this case to ensure that in the generated taxobox, "Cadia" links to "Cadia (plant)" rather than the disambiguation page.

A species article, such as Cadia rubra, can then have a Speciesbox with Cadia rubra.

If there were an animal with the genus name Cadia, then
 * in the taxobox, use Cadia (plant)
 * create the back-end taxonomy template at "Template:Taxonomy/Cadia (plant)"; this also needs to have Cadia (plant)

In this case, a species article, such as Cadia rubra, must use Cadia (plant) and rubra rather than Cadia rubra.

Genus article with tribus and subfamilia displayed
The advice at WP:TX on minor taxa suggests we should not show minor taxa unless they are critical to the understanding of the article's topic. This is largely true for subgeneric taxa being displayed on species articles, e.g. Levenhookia pauciflora. In these cases, the immediate minor rank parent will always display; here the section Levenhookia will display on this article. If there was ever a subspecies or variety described under this species, it would not display the section rank unless  was inserted into Template:Taxonomy/Levenhookia sect. Levenhookia. Only use the "always display" parameter if the taxon should be displayed in all descendant taxoboxes.

In some articles, especially in the Fabaceae and other families, both tribus and subfamilia are important. Here's how you make sure both ranks display in the automatic taxobox:

See Acacia.

Here we use  to let the automatic taxobox know that it is supposed to display not only the tribus Acacieae, but also the subfamilia Mimosoideae. This only works if Template:Taxonomy/Acacia lists Acacieae as its parent and Template:Taxonomy/Acacieae lists Mimosoideae as its parent. You can display more parents if necessary, e.g. in situations with subtribes. Remember, WP:TX suggests we not show minor ranks if the context is not necessary, e.g. you don't necessarily need a tribe being displayed on a species article, especially if the genus article shows it clearly.

EncycloPetey's comments
Perhaps a list of linked model pages would be better at this point. Pages in which various problems and their solutions are immediately illustrated. Such as: a group that displays subfamilies / tribes ; groups that combine more than one rank on a single page ; a group with a fossil range; groups with unranked parent taxa; groups with incertae sedis; a fossil taxon; and a group that is still used as a taxon even though its monophyly is no longer considered realistic.