Template:Article history

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This template is used on approximately 49,000 pages and changes may be widely noticed. Test changes in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them.

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Module:Article history (sandbox)

This template combines all the "content milestone"-related templates into one, to reduce clutter on talk pages, and make it less confusing when an article has had multiple FACs, FARs or been demoted and repromoted etc. Good Article status, Articles for Deletion, Peer reviews and WikiProject reviews can also be included. If the article is moved, the actions within the milestones do not usually need to also be moved; the template tacks the milestone actions for an article through article moves and name changes.

This template cannot be used for placing Good article nominations on hold or for nominating articles for processes such as Featured article candidate, Good article candidate, Peer review or Featured article review, and should never be used for processes that are still in progress; items are only added to the template after they are closed.

The parameter |currentstatus= controls what text appears at the top of the box. If the article is a GA, |topic= is needed to show the article topic within the top of the box. A set of up to twenty parameters of the form |action1=|action1date=|action1link=|action1result=|action1oldid= produces a row in the history section at the bottom of the box. Action1 refers to the earliest event.

Syntax

Note: DO NOT put HTML comments inside this template.

A simple use would typically include:

{{Article history
| action1       = 
| action1date   = 
| action1link   = 
| action1result = 
| action1oldid  = 

| currentstatus = 
| topic         = <!--If the article is a GA-->
}}

More complex uses might include other fields:

{{Article history
| action1       = 
| action1date   = 
| action1link   = 
| action1result = 
| action1oldid  = 

| action2       = 
| action2date   = 
| action2link   = 
| action2result = 
| action2oldid  = 

| currentstatus = 
| itndate       = 
| dykdate       = 
| dykentry      = 
| dyknom        = 
| topic         = 
| collapse      = 
}}

Most syntax errors place the talk page in Category:Article history templates with errors. After adding Article history or adding/removing a milestone, please check the bottom of the talk page for this error category.

How to use in practice

Process	actionX	actionXdate	actionXlink	actionXresult	actionXoldid	Possible current statuses^[1]

Featured content process
Featured article candidate	`FAC`	Date ended^[2]	Link to FAC page	One of `promoted` or `failed`	oldid number of version.	FFAC/FA/FFA
Featured article review	`FAR`	Date ended^[3]	Link to FAR page	One of `kept` or `removed`	oldid number of version.	FA/FFA
Refreshing brilliant prose	`RBP`	Date ended	Link to RBP page^[4]	One of `kept` or `removed`	oldid number of version.	FA/FFAC^[5]
Brilliant prose	`BP`^[6]	Date nominated	N/A	`nominated`	oldid number of version.
Featured list candidate	`FLC`	Date ended^[7]	Link to FLC page	One of `promoted` or `failed`	oldid number of version.	FFLC/FL/FFL
Featured list removal candidate	`FLR`	Date ended^[8]	Link to FLR page	One of `kept` or `removed`	oldid number of version.	FL/FFL
Featured topic candidate	`FTC`	Date ended^[9]	Link to FTC page	One of `promoted` or `failed`	oldid number of version.	Any. See `ftname` below if promoted
Featured topic removal candidate	`FTR`	Date ended^[10]	Link to FTR page	One of `kept` or `removed`	oldid number of version.	Any. Do not include `ftname`
Good article process
Good article nomination	`GAN`	Date ended^[11]	Talk:Name of article/GA1	One of `listed` or `failed`	oldid number of version.	FGAN/GA/DGA or any FA code
Good article reassessment	`GAR`	Date ended^[12]	Link in talk page archive where reassessment ended, or to GAR archive entry	One of `kept`, `delisted`, or `listed`	oldid number of version.	GA/DGA or any FA code
Good topic candidate	`GTC`	Date ended^[13]	Link to GTC page	One of `promoted` or `failed`	oldid number of version.	Any. See `ftname` below if promoted
Peer reviews
Wikipedia:Peer review	`PR`	Date ended^[14]	Link to PR page	leave blank or use `Reviewed` or `Not reviewed`	oldid number of version.	N/A
WikiProject Peer review^[15]	`WPR`	Date ended	Link to PR page^[16]	leave blank or use `reviewed`	oldid number of version.	N/A
(Any stable or approved version) Defunct process			Project page	`approved`	oldid number is required.
A Wikiproject collaboration			Project or "collaboration of the week" page	`collaborated`	oldid number of version.
WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors			Link to GoCE subpage^[16]	`copyedited`	oldid number of version.
WikiProject A-class review^[17]	`WAR`	Date ended	Link to PR page^[16]	One of `approved` or `failed` or `kept` or `demoted`	oldid number of version.	N/A
Deletion processes
Articles for deletion	`AFD`	Date ended^[18]	Link to AFD page	One of `kept`, `deleted`, `merged`, `no consensus`, `speedily kept`, `speedily deleted`, `redirected`, or `renamed`	oldid number of version.	N/A
Proposed deletion	`PROD`	Date ended	N/A	One of `kept`, `deleted`, `speedily kept`, `speedily deleted`, `redirected`, `afd` (sent to articles for deletion), or `renamed`	oldid number of version.	N/A
Deletion review	`DRV`	Date ended	Link to DRV archive of that date	One of `endorsed`, `relisted`, `overturned`, or `no consensus`	oldid number of version.	N/A
Miscellaneous
Main Page Date	`maindate`	Date the article appeared (or will appear) on the Main Page as Today's featured article or Today's featured list. You can use the parameter `maindate2` for a subsequent date.
In the news	`itndate`	Date the article appeared in the In the news column on the Main Page. The parameters `itn2date`, `itn3date`, etc. can be used for subsequent dates.
In the news	`itnlink`	ITN entries from January 2005 or later are automatically linked to the relevant archive page. However, if you want to link an older ITN entry, or if you want to link an ITN entry to a custom page, you can use this parameter to do so. The parameters `itn2link`, `itn3link`, etc. can be used to link entries for subsequent dates. Links to a specific historical version of Template:In the news should specify its permanent link.
Did you know	`dykdate`	Date the article appeared in the Did you know? column on the Main Page. The parameters `dyk2date`, `dyk3date`, etc. can be used for subsequent dates.
	`dykentry`	The text of the entry of the DYK hook, including the three periods. `dyk2entry`, `dyk3entry`, etc. can be used for subsequent entries.
	`dyknom`	Link to DYK nomination page.
	`dykignoreerror`	Don't add DYKs with missing or invalid entries to Category:Pages with a missing DYK entry or Category:Pages with a malformed DYK entry.
On this day	`otddate`	Date the article appeared in the "On this day" column on the Main Page. The parameters `otd2date`, `otd3date`, etc. can be used for subsequent dates.
	`otdoldid`	The oldid of the anniversary page revision that links to the article. To find the anniversary page, go to What links here and enter the mainspace article. Find a link that contains "Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries"; it will be followed by the month name in which the anniversary takes place. Look in the history of that page to find the oldid. (For more details about using oldids, see #How to find and use oldid below, but note that Dr pdf's tool does not yet work for "On this day" oldid parameters.) You can also use the parameters `otd2oldid`, `otd3oldid`, etc. for subsequent revisions.
	`otdlink`	A custom link containing information about the anniversary. The `otdoldid` parameters should generally be preferred to this, but it can be used if you do wish to link to a specific oldid. `otd2link`, `otd3link`, etc. can be used for subsequent links.
Four award	`four`	=yes if the article has received a Four Award; otherwise, do not use
Article Collaboration and Improvement Drive	`aciddate`	Week that the article was selected as the ACID article. (The process has been closed and is now inactive.)
Good/Featured Topic	`ftname`	The name of the series in which the article is a good/featured topic; do not use for failed or demoted topics
Good/Featured Topic Main Article	`ftmain`	=yes if the article is the main article in the good/featured topic; do not use for failed or demoted topics
2nd Good/Featured Topic	`ft2name`	The name of the second series in which the article is a good/featured topic; do not use for failed or demoted topics
2nd Good/Featured Topic Main Article	`ft2main`	=yes if the article is the main article in the second good/featured topic; do not use for failed or demoted topics
3rd Good/Featured Topic	`ft3name`	The name of the third series in which the article is a good/featured topic; do not use for failed or demoted topics
3rd Good/Featured Topic Main Article	`ft3main`	=yes if the article is the main article in the third good/featured topic; do not use for failed or demoted topics
Good article topic	`topic`	The main topic of a good article. Use one of the following: agriculture: agriculture, food, drink art: art, architecture engtech: engineering, technology, computing, transport geography: geography, places history: history, archaeology, royalty, nobility, heraldry langlit: languages, linguistics, literature maths: math drama: drama, film, television, theater, dance music: music, albums, songs natsci: natural sciences, biology, medicine, chemistry, physics philrelig: philosophy, religion, mythology socsci: social sciences, culture, education, law, psychology, politics, journalism sports: sports, recreation, games video games: video games, computer games warfare: warfare, military
Collapse option	`collapse`	=yes to always collapse the list of actions; =no to never collapse it. The default is to collapse the list of actions when it contains four or more items.
Current Status
	`FA`	Featured article
	`FFA`	Former featured article
	`FFA/GA`	Former featured article which is now a Good article
	`FFAC`	Failed featured article candidate
	`FFAC/GA`	Failed featured article candidate which is currently a good article
	`FL`	Featured list
	`FFL`	Former featured list
	`FFLC`	Failed featured list candidate
	`GA`	Good article which is not a former featured article
	`DGA`	Delisted good article which is not a former featured article
	`FGAN`	Failed good article nominee which is not a former featured article
	`FPO`	Featured portal
	`FFPO`	Former featured portal
	`FFPOC`	Former featured portal candidate

^ See bottom section of the table.
^ Use the date when {{FAC}} was replaced with a different template
^ Use the date when {{FAR}} was replaced with a different template
^ The relevant one of Wikipedia:Archive/Refreshing brilliant prose - People and culture, History and religion, Science or Others
^ Consensus at WP:FFA is to treat the Refreshing brilliant prose event as a bulk featured article candidacy; therefore articles not kept here are not former featured articles.
^ BP is only used for articles that were listed in the old Wikipedia:Brilliant Prose but not reviewed at Refreshing brilliant prose. Only three articles satisfy this criteria as of June 2015: Execution by elephant, Franks and Race (human categorization). While these articles were all later delisted at featured article review, they never went through a peer review process to become featured articles, so (arguably) shouldn't be listed as former featured articles.
^ Use the date when {{FLC}} was replaced with a different template
^ Use the date when {{FLRC}} was replaced with a different template
^ Use the date when {{FTC}} was replaced with a different template
^ Use the date when {{FTRCmain}} was replaced with a different template
^ Use the date when {{GA nominee}} was replaced with a different template
^ Use the date when {{DelistedGA}} was added
^ Use the date when {{GTC}} was replaced with a different template
^ Use the date when {{Peer review}} was replaced with a different template
^ Any topic-specific peer review
^ ^a ^b ^c If available
^ Via Wikiprojects
^ Use the date when {{AFD}} was removed from the article

FAC and FAR are not valid statuses, because it is necessary for maintenance that {{FAC}} and {{FAR}} be kept separate.

Example

Example for Talk:Fermi paradox:

{{Article history
| action1       = FAC
| action1date   = 00:44, 12 June 2004
| action1link   = Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Fermi paradox/archive1
| action1result = Promoted
| action1oldid  = 4164969

| action2       = FAR
| action2date   = 02:55, 23 April 2006
| action2link   = Wikipedia:Featured article removal candidates/Fermi paradox
| action2result = Demoted
| action2oldid  = 49669714

| action3       = PR
| action3date   = 09:31, 28 April 2006
| action3link   = Wikipedia:Peer review/Fermi paradox/archive1
| action3oldid  = 50428052

| action4       = FAC
| action4date   = 22:10, 27 June 2006
| action4link   = Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Fermi paradox/archive2
| action4result = Promoted
| action4oldid  = 60821005

| action5       = FAR
| action5date   = 14:17, 13 September 2010
| action5link   = Wikipedia:Featured article review/Fermi paradox/archive1
| action5result = removed
| action5oldid  = 384447156

| maindate      = 13 January 2005
| currentstatus = FFA
}}

How to find and use oldid

The "oldid" is a several-digit number which refers to the exact version of the page at the time of that particular action. This version can then be viewed when a user clicks on the date in the list of milestones. If the oldid is not provided, a bot can determine it from the action date.

There are multiple ways to obtain an oldid. For example, while looking at a page's history, it should be possible to hover the mouse over the date of a particular change, and then the URL will appear at the bottom of the window in the browser's status bar:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Main_Page&oldid=89723590

In the above example, the final number, 89723590 is what should be used in the oldid field.

This number can also be obtained by stepping through the diffs in an article's history, and looking for the oldid in the URL line.

Errors

This template can produce a number of errors. These are categorised into Category:Article history templates with errors. Explanation of individual errors is given below.

Invalid date

invalid date 'abc' detected in parameter 'action4date'

This error occurs when a date is specified, but the date isn't recognized as being valid. If in doubt, use the format "d Month YYYY" (for example, "4 June 2010"). If the date looks correct to you, but you still get this error, you might have inserted an invisible control character at the beginning or end of the date. This can happen when you copy and paste a timestamp. Try pressing backspace after you've pasted; if you hit backspace but the cursor doesn't move, you just deleted a control character.

The date recognition in the template relies on the #time parser function, so for all the technical details of what is allowed see the #time documentation on mediawiki.org.

No date parameter

an argument starting with 'abc2' was detected, but no 'abc2date' parameter was specified
no date specified for action 3; please add a date to parameter 'action3date' or remove the other parameters beginning with 'action3'

When certain parameter prefixes are followed by a number, e.g. "action4", "dyk2" or "otd3", a date parameter must also be specified, e.g. "action4date", "dyk2date" or "otd3date". This works for parameter names like "action4x", "dyk2abc" and "otd3blah" as well. If you get this error, then you must provide the correct date parameter, or remove all the other parameters with that prefix.

Featured article candidates

use the template {{fac}} to nominate an article for Featured article status

The status "FAC" is treated as invalid, as there is a specialized template, Template:Fac, for nominating articles for Featured status. Using two templates would mean more maintenance work. While the featured article candidacy is underway, simply leave this template with the old status. Then a bot will update the {{article history}} template when the featured article candidacy discussion is closed.

Featured article review

use the template {{FAR}} to nominate an article for Featured article review

The status "FAR" is treated as invalid for similar reasons as FAC above. Instead of using this template to record featured article reviews, you should use the specialized template, Template:FAR, instead. While the review candidacy is underway, simply leave this template with the old status. Then a bot will update the {{article history}} template when the review discussion is closed.

WikiProject assessments

do not use 'stub' as a 'currentstatus' parameter; these assessments are the responsibility of individual WikiProjects

Article ratings such as "B", "C", "Start" and "Stub" are made by individual WikiProjects. Although these ratings are often the same between WikiProjects, they don't have to be: projects are entirely free to rate an article as "C" that others might rate as "Start", for example. For this reason, these kinds of ratings shouldn't be added to the article history template.

Invalid status

'abc' is not a valid status code

This error occurs if you specify a current status with the |currentstatus= parameter, but the status code that you used was not recognized by the template. See above for a list of valid status codes.

Former featured articles

former featured articles should have a current status
'abc' is not a valid current status for former featured articles

Former featured articles always have a current status. Depending on the history of the article, that could be any of "FA", "FL", "FFA", "FFL", "FFA/GA", or "GA". ("GA" is automatically converted to "FFA/GA".) You need to use one of these values for the |currentstatus= parameter, otherwise one of the errors above will be triggered. Alternatively, if the article is not really a former featured article, you will need to fix the action parameter that says that the article was demoted at featured article review (FAR).

Featured topic names

parameter 'ft2main' is set, but no featured topic name is set in parameter 'ft2name'
a parameter starting with 'ft' was detected, but no featured topic names were specified; please check the parameter names

If you specify the parameter "ftmain", "ft2main", etc., or just anything starting with "ft" and a number, then the template assumes you want to add information about a featured topic. These errors occur if you specify one of these parameters, but don't specify the appropriate name parameter. For "ftmain", that would be "ftname", and for "ft2main", that would be "ft2name". Other parameters starting with "ft" are probably a mistake, so check your spelling. (Also, you should use "ftname", not "ft1name", but "ft2name", "ft3name" etc. are fine.)

Missing icon

notice bar icon config set to 'true' but no image could be found

This is an error in the module configuration. Please notify the maintainer at Template talk:Article history.

Action codes

no action code found in the 'action3' parameter; please add a code or remove other parameters starting with 'action3'
invalid action code 'abc' passed to the 'action2' parameter

Every action needs an action code for the template to know what the valid results are, what the default link label should be, and other things. For example, for a featured article candidacy the action code is "FAC", and for peer review the action code is "PR". These codes go in the parameters "action1", "action2", "action3", etc. If you include a parameter like "action3result" but don't include an "action3" parameter, or if you include an action code that isn't recognized, you get one of these errors. To fix them, check the spelling of your parameters, check that you have an action code for every action that you have included, and check the list of valid action codes above to see that you have the right one.

No actions

a current status was supplied without any actions

Article history templates where a current status is supplied must also have actions supplied. This is because for an article to have a current status in the first place, some kind of action must have occurred for it to reach that status. For example, articles with a current status of FA (featured article) must have gone through the action FAC (featured article candidates). To fix this error, either add the appropriate actions, or if the article does not have a current status, remove the |currentstatus= parameter.

Action results

the 'FTC' action requires a result code; please add a result code to parameter 'action3result'
invalid result 'abc' for action 'GAN' detected in parameter 'action4result'

Most actions (but not all) require a result code. For example, the "FAC" action has two possible results, "promoted" and "failed". Please see the table of actions and results above for valid values. If you fail to specify a result parameter for an action that requires it, or if you specify an invalid result code, then you will get one of these errors. You may also get this error if you supplied an action parameter such as "action1", "action2" etc. by mistake: if this is the case, just remove the parameter.

Invalid oldid

invalid oldid 'abc' detected in parameter 'action2oldid'; if an oldid is specified it must be a positive integer

It is optional, but recommended, to specify an oldid for all of the actions in the template. This is done by using the parameters "action1oldid", "action2oldid", etc. If any of these values is not a number, or if that number is zero or lower, or is not a whole number, then you will get this error. To fix it, either specify a valid oldid or remove the parameter.

v t e Articles for deletion templates
Article page AfD notice	{{Afd}} (1st time nomination) {{Afd-merge to}} (merge contents from AfD'ed article) {{AfD-userfied}} (drafted pursuant to AfD) {{AfDM}} (1st time nomination) {{Afdx}} (2nd etc. nomination) {{Cleanup AfD}} (Cleanup req'd after AfD) {{Db-g4}} (Post AfD CSD G4 deletion needed) {{Db-xfd}} (Post AfD CSD G6 deletion needed)
User talk page AfD discussion notifications	{{Afd notice}}
Discussion page AfD templates	{{Priorxfd}} (previous deletion discussions) {{AfD new user}} (participant clarification) {{Closing}} (closing in process) {{Duplicate vote}} (participation clarification) {{Not a ballot}} (discussion clarification) {{Old AfD list}} (previous discussions) {{Page creator}} (participant clarification) {{Single-purpose account}} (participant clarification) {{Confirmed sockmaster}} (participant is confirmed to have used sockpuppets) {{Confirmed sockpuppet}} (participant is a confirmed sockpuppet) {{Canvassed}} (participant clarification) {{COI editor}} (participant clarification) {{Xfd-privacy}} (sensitive discussion close) {{Deletion sorting}} (debate added to deletion sorting list) {{Notified}} (debate mentioned on talk page)
User talk page AfD process notifications	{{Afd-top-notice}} (for nominator mistake) {{Afd-welcome}} (for new participant) {{Uw-notvote}} (warning)
Article talk page AfD notice	{{Old XfD multi}} (1st and subsequent nominations, preferred template) {{Afd-merge from}} (merge contents in AfD'ed article) {{Afd-merged-from}} (contents merged into AfD'ed article) {{Blank and redirect notice}} (destination for redirected articles) {{Article history}} (AfD, Good/Featured, and many other article "events")
See also	{{Mfd notice}}
See also: Proposed deletion templates and Speedy deletion templates