MarioWiki:Notice templates
Notice templates are official notifications that are used on necessary pages to bring attention to certain problems, situations, or maintenance issues. There are five different kinds of notices, with over 120 templates in total. Each and every one of them has a unique purpose for the pages that they are to be placed on. Most of these templates possess their own category that is included within the template, so the page that the notice template has been tagged on is automatically categorized. This is convenient in that users can easily find other pages with the same status or that have the same issue(s). This page describes the general usage of each type of notice template in detail. A list of all notice templates and their subcategories can be seen in the notice template category. Please note that not all templates are notice templates, with navigation templates being the other main classification. A directory linking to these and other types of templates can be found at Help:Template.
Users should consult administrators and/or create a proposal before making new templates, as unofficial templates are often deleted once they are discovered by the admins. Any removals, replacements or changes to existing templates must also be done via proposal and administrative support. However, as the notice template designs are highly uniform and regulated, please keep in mind that proposals attempting to make large changes to template appearances or functionality may simply be vetoed by the administrators.
Types of notice templates
Notice templates are used on multiple namespaces where they have a wide variety of unique purposes, from requesting additional images on an article to disciplining users for poor behavior. There are five kinds of notice templates: User, talk, file, file copyright tags, and the main, non-specific notice templates (everything that doesn't fit in the above categories). This mainly includes templates that are reserved exclusively for mainspace, such as {{rewrite-expand}}, though a small number of these templates are intended for use on MarioWiki pages, and some templates can be used on multiple namespaces, such as {{delete}}.
Please remember that such templates (not including {{delete}}, which is to be used wherever necessary) must not be applied to userspace pages, because this will add the userspace pages to the categories associated with the templates. For example, putting {{construction}} on a user page would add that page to Category:Articles under construction, and such categories must be reserved for mainspace pages only. Thus, if a user wants to include this template on their user page, instead they must copy and paste the template's source, excluding the category.
Official notice templates give a clear indication of the condition or situation of the page they are placed on and should not be removed until they are no longer applicable - i.e. until whatever problem they are drawing attention to has been resolved. For example, a page must be rewritten before {{rewrite}} can be removed, a consensus has to be achieved before {{talk}} can be removed from a talk page, etc.
File notices
File notices are used on images as well as sound and video files, although the vast majority of cases are image files. Some main notice templates relate to images, such as {{more images}}, but these are still used on articles, and should not be categorized as file notices.
The primary purpose of these templates is to accurately describe the file and clarify how it is currently being used. They should typically be placed under the "Summary" header of a file's page. Every mainspace image should be given {{aboutfile}}, which neatly displays all the information about the file, including a brief summary and the source of the image. Another commonly-used image template is {{personal-image}}, which indicates that a file is not a mainspace image, but rather something uploaded by a user for their personal use only (see MarioWiki:Personal images). Another purpose for file notices is to bring attention to any faults in the file, and request a re-upload if a better quality or more fitting file is found.
Similar to the main notice templates, file notices, in most cases, should not be removed unless the template's notice no longer applies to that particular file. In some cases, this will be due to a re-upload. Alternatively, the file may have undergone changes in how it is used, in which case the template's notice is no longer valid.
File copyright tags
File notices have a subcategory called file copyright tags. These particular notices each act as a different license to give acknowledgment to any copyrights that Nintendo may hold over the images/media files, and highlight the fair use doctrine that allows us to use these files in the project's articles. When in the process of uploading files, a user can select from a drop-down menu the type of license to apply to the file, and the selected template will automatically appear in the "License" section of the file's page when the file is uploaded. There is a specific license for most kinds of images, such as screenshots, box art, sprites, and character artwork, to name a few. If an incorrect license was selected at the time of upload, it can easily be changed by editing the file's page as normal. That said, a license should only be added and/or correctly replaced, but never removed. Licenses acknowledge Nintendo's copyrighted content, and there is little to gain in removing them. Please see Help:License for additional information.
Talk notices
Talk notices are specifically for mainspace discussion pages. Most of them are permanent, while others act as normal notice templates and are only left as long as necessary.
The archive notices are two notable Talk notice templates. {{talkarchive}} can be used on archived material to remind users not to edit any unprotected content. This template is suitable for both main and user talk archives, where it provides a short notice about discouraging users from editing the archive, and also gives a link to the current talk page if the reader wishes to post any comments. {{Archive}} acts as a directory to all archives of that talk page. Though this template is a standard for mainspace talk, users are welcome to display their archives with this template, or if they wish, they are allowed to create a custom template within their userspace. However, this is only allowed if the template is used on all the archives.
Another pair of talk notices is used for talk page proposals. When a TPP is running, {{TPP}} is put at the top of the talk page section (under the header, but above the contents of the proposal), and when the TPP ends, the template is replaced by {{SettledTPP}}. The first template draws attention to the TPP and invites users to participate, while the second one indicates that the TPP is now finished and should be left untouched, like an archive.
Another common talk notice that is worth explaining is {{notforumtalk}}, which is to be used on mainspace talk pages to dissuade users from delving into discussions which would be best saved for the forums (in other words, discussions that are not aimed at improving the article). Removing any forum-like posts from mainspace talk pages is perfectly legitimate, but please remember to make a quick note of the action in the edit summary box to make it clear and to avoid any misunderstandings with other users. Normally, it is a matter of discretion when deciding to remove such discussions, and when in doubt, just leave the comments as they are.
User notices
User notices are notice templates which relate to userspace and user talk pages only. This includes self-applied templates like {{vacation}}, which is used to notify others that the user in question is temporarily inactive and unable to respond to new messages. Users will often make customized "status pages" to place on all their userspace pages, which is perfectly acceptable. However, while these act as templates, they must still be in the "User" namespace, existing as subpages rather than actual templates.
The alert templates are an important group of user notices which are given to a user to notify them about something, such as recent activity that applies to them. {{Delete-reason}} is issued to notify a user if their page has been deleted or made a redirect. {{New stub-reason}} is issued when their newly-created page has been tagged with {{stub}} or deleted for a lack of information, informing the user that they should work on expanding articles as much as possible right from the start to avoid similar shortfalls in the future. {{AppealNotice}} tells them that a warning they dispensed is getting appealed and possibly removed, and asks them to take part in the appeal process (i.e. by defending their actions to try and have the warning sustained). Not all of these templates can be used by everyone, however, with {{adminmemo}} being for Administrative purposes only, and the various 'Shroom warnings being restricted to use by The 'Shroom staff.
Warning templates
Disciplinary templates are yet another group of user notices. These officially and forcefully inform a user that they have been violating certain policies and must adjust their behaviour.
There are four major warning templates, which are used as progressive punishment to lead up to a {{block}}. Different warning templates are issued to match the severity and type of offense. Minor, first-time offenses warrant the {{reminder}} template, unless they are userspace issues, in which case the specific {{userspace}} template is used instead. Repeat offenders and more serious rule-breaking infractions are given {{warning}}, and then {{lastwarn}}, followed by a block (with {{block}} then being placed at the top of the user's talk page until their block expires). Every user has the right to warn another user, provided the behaviour really does merit a warning, and the appropriate template is used. Warning other users is a serious matter, and it must be treated as such; actions like issuing "fake warnings" or issuing unnecessary or excessive warning templates are not tolerated here. Also, if a user receives a warning that they don't believe they deserve, then they have the right to appeal it, unless it was given to them by an administrator. Removing or altering a warning template without an appeal is a warnable offense in itself. Please see MarioWiki:Warning policy for further information.
A step below the warning templates are various templates that bring attention to specific policy infractions and urge the user in question to fix the problem. For example, {{sigfix}} is used if a user's signature violates any stipulations outlined in MarioWiki:Signatures, {{personal-image-warning}} is issued if a user has exceeded the maximum number of PIs they're allowed to have, and {{aboutfile-reminder}} is given to users who repeatedly format the aboutfile template incorrectly when uploading files. These templates are all official notifications, and if a user does not heed their message, they may be given an actual warning template (typically a Reminder), or the Administrators will simply take action for them (i.e. by deleting extra PIs, forcibly changing the user's signature, etc.).
