Template:S-start/doc

s-start is the initial component in a template series for succession boxes. It replaces the previous formats for succession tables but still allows for most of their use indirectly. In the new format, every succession box begins with s-start, and thus it is an essential component of the new system.

The purpose of this page is to document the whole succession system based on s-start and to provide instructions for the correct creation and editing of succession boxes. The page is divided into three large sections: the first one provides a brief overview of the succession templates and an explanation of the function of parameters; the second one gives instructions for the creation of succession boxes; the third section goes further into detail about the succession templates and gives examples of their use. Complete examples of succession boxes of varying complexity are given in the end.

Templates examined in this page

Template s-start is to be used with the rest of the succession templates. The following is a list of all succession templates, with the exception of headers:

• Template:s-start: Start a succession box
• Template:s-end: End a succession box
• Template:s-break: For creating breaks (a replacement for hard-coding "|-")
• Template:s-bef: For listing predecessors
• Template:s-aft: For listing successors
• Template:s-ttl: For listing titles and years
• Template:s-new: For new titles
• Template:s-non: For no successors
• Template:s-inc: For incumbents
• Template:s-vac: For vacant titles (predecessor or successor)
• Template:s-hou: For royal house/individual information
• Template:s-ref: For citations of succession boxes
• Template:s-line: Used for succession boxes of rail and subway/underground railway networks

The first five items on the list are the most basic for the creation of succession boxes and the most heavily used; the others (with the exception of s-hou and s-line) are used as substitutes for one of the first five, depending on the circumstances.

Headers

Headers are coloured horizontal bars that help categorise offices and titles in succession boxes. Each header is placed above one or more succession lines of the same type (more specifically, the type given in the header), effectively organising the boxes. Each header has a different colour, something which eases navigation in large succession boxes. Another characteristic that aids quick navigation is that the headers (and the succession lines beneath them) are placed in a specific order (found in SBS's Guidelines page).

Apart from lessening the feeling of confusion large succession boxes tend to create to the reader, headers also provide useful disambiguation information by naming specific legislative bodies, religions, peerages etc. to which the titles below these headers belong. This can be done by using parameters, each producing a different variant of the basic template created by the unparametered header templates, with the same colour but different, though similar, text. Parameters also create headers for different subtypes of offices which are not populous enough as categories to allow for separate header templates.

The following table lists all the header succession templates, showing each header and the wiki-code that produces it; for headers that are specialised by parameters, both the proper header and an example of a specialised one are shown. More information about their proper usage can be found in the relevant section of the Guidelines page. Exhaustive lists of the templates' parameters, along with examples of their use, can be found in each template's individual documentation page, which can be accessed from the links in this list.

Academic offices			{{s-aca}}
Awards and achievements			{{s-ach}}
Awards			{{s-ach|aw}}
Business positions			{{s-bus}}
Civic offices			{{s-civ}}
Police appointments			{{s-civ|pol}}
Court offices			{{s-court}}
Cultural offices			{{s-culture}}
Diplomatic posts			{{s-dip}}
Educational offices			{{s-edu}}
Government offices			{{s-gov}}
Heraldic offices			{{s-herald}}
Honorary titles			{{s-hon}}
Legal offices			{{s-legal}}
Literary series			{{s-lit}}
Media offices			{{s-media}}
Military offices			{{s-mil}}
Non-profit organisation positions			{{s-npo}}
Masonic offices			{{s-npo|mason}}
Political offices			{{s-off}}
Other offices			{{s-other}}
Parliament of New Ingrea			{{s-par}}
Party political offices			{{s-ppo}}
Order of precedence in New Ingrea			{{s-prec}}
Regnal titles			{{s-reg}}
Religious titles			{{s-rel}}
New Ingrean royalty			{{s-roy}}
Sporting positions			{{s-sports}}