Template talk:Level infobox

Here are the parameters – that is, variables – to fill in:


 * image – full image code if available, default message is not available and link to upload page.
 * code – What I mean is 3-2, 5-7, 8-5. Secret-3 or Extra 4 for the YI series is acceptable too – in some cases, the level title is the code.
 * game – as said.
 * difficulty – You must put either "Super Easy", "Very Easy", "Easy", "Medium", "Hard", "Very Hard" or "Super Hard" because that's all I've put at User:Wayoshi/Colors, or it will mess the whole thing up.
 * notes – Bosses in the level, tricky points to pass (don't use you!),cameos, color of Yoshi, etc. Shouldn't be too long, because this is a quick stat template – more in-depth can go in the article.
 * before – Put the exact level before and pipe it with << ( before=<< ).
 * after – Same, but with >>. For both, if there is no level before or after, just put < >, without a link.

Title is the pagename itself, which should cover all cases. This should be compatible with a lot of games. 17:02, 3 January 2007 (EST)

Difficulty
Should this section be removed its basically the player's Opinion and POV.


 * Unlesss an official guide has a similar template stating the difficulty (which I doubt there are) then yes, it should be removed. -- Son of Suns


 * More opinions on this? I would also remove this section. 08:29, 5 February 2008 (EST)


 * Maybe we could use points to see how hard the level is. Like: "enemies: 0-5 - 1 point; 6-20 - 2 points; 21+ - 3 points"; "harmful obstacles: 0-10 - 1 point; 11-20 - 2 points; 21+ - 3 points"; "power-ups: 0-1 - 3 points; 2-3 - 2 points; 4+ - 1 point"; etc. Then, if all points sum 1-5, it is very easy; if 7-10, it is hard... But I doubt anyone would count how many enemies and obstacles a level has, not to mention it would be complicated. 08:20, 17 December 2013 (EST)

We need to fix the colors of the template, see here: The "Game" and "Notes" section should have different background colors. Can somebody fix that please? 16:35, 19 February 2008 (EST)
 * I think we should delete the difficulty section.

List of
Is there any reason why the "list of Levels" link redirects to Level? Shouldn't it direct you to the Levels Category? Is it even necessary? Shadow2 16:16, 26 November 2009 (EST)
 * I agree with Shadow2. -- 16:48, 30 December 2009 (EST)

Stamps
Can someone edit the template so it could include a row for Stamps? DonnyKD (talk) 14:33, 20 November 2013 (EST)

Level icon & Star Medals/Green Stars?
There is a Galaxy Icon row on, and the levels in Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World have icons too. And what about lines for the required number of Star Medals or Green Stars to unlock the levels? 08:23, 14 December 2013 (EST)
 * Those sound necessary. Could probably be added.

Stop Linking to the Levels Category
Is there any reason why the template sends editors to Category:Levels? Why not create List of Donkey Kong Land 2 levels page and specify a parameter what page to link to the list? What will go into a page like that? See Donkey Kong Land 2. We already have pages like Galaxy and World (world is not a list of levels but list of worlds). Why not link to those pages more often? Not creating a just yet. I want to gather some information first from other editors. Maybe we don't need a TPP if all goes well. -- 18:34, 14 October 2017 (EDT)
 * Extremely late response, but it looks like it was changed because of the List of conversation (if you can call it that) above. I'd be for changing it somehow or adding some kind of new parameter for this. 16:48, March 21, 2019 (EDT)

"Notes"
While helping to fix this guy's edits (which consists of almost nothing but editing the Notes parameter of this template), I got to thinking: What even is the "notes" parameter supposed to be for? I understand every other parameter. Image is used for an image, code is the world-level number, limit is the time limit, etc. Infoboxes are supposed to provide simple information at a glance, sometimes things that wouldn't work as part of the actual article. But anything in the notes section feels more like a shortened version of the layout without really providing much of anything of worth. You could stick the entire layout in the notes parameter, call it "notes", and it would technically still qualify as notes (it would just make the infobox incredibly long).

It doesn't matter what kind of level the notes parameter is used for. Super Mario Bros.: "This level introduces Hammer Bros." Super Mario Sunshine: "This level puts Red Coins in the village part of Bianco Hills." Donkey Kong Country: "This level has Rambi." Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The information notes holds would feel insignificant to the standard layout and opening paragraph of level articles, and honestly really does not work or look that well in an infobox. If you want to know what's in the level, just read the layout section.

EDIT: This applies to all levelboxes, like Template:KoSBox.

Proposer: Deadline: April 4, 2019, 23:59 GMT

Remove "Notes" from the template

 * 1) - It had a good run, but I don't think it has anything of worth to offer.
 * 2) it's especially redundant with the article content yeah, and this sort of information should be covered in the article's opening paragraph, not as if it's essential data level info the main purpose of an infobox is for
 * 3) Per all.
 * 4) Literally anything that the perimeter can be used for is better suited to be in either the introductory paragraph, the level layout section, the trivia section, etc. This perimeter is completely useless, and thus should not exist.
 * 5) Per all.
 * 6) Per all, all of the examples of it being used that I've seen consist of information that already is or could be included elsewhere in the article.
 * 7) I was thinking the exact same thing during the same situation, Alex. Indeed. Opening paragraphs exist for a reason.
 * 8) Per all.
 * 9) Per all.
 * 10) The "notes" add practically nothing of encyclopedic value, contrary to what an infobox is meant for. I never used them, never have, and never will, because seriously, what's the point? (I was even about to call that parameter into question myself!) Official descriptions can easily fit in their own section below, and like what Baby Luigi said, the few notes that are helpful can be relegated to the intro paragraph, no worse for wear and without much hassle, either. Per all.
 * 11) Per all.
 * 12) Lots of redundant information? Check. Used for all the wrong reasons? Check. Should be removed entirely off the face of the earth? Check, check and check. Per all.
 * 13) Per all.
 * 14) This can be noted on the article itself. He's really edit warring.
 * 15) Per all.

Comments
I'll support this if we make sure that the notes info exists elsewhere on the page. Scrooge200 (talk) 20:25, March 21, 2019 (EDT)
 * @Scrooge200 that is what is already done, and all info that are in notes can easily be in or already are in a part of the page. 20:30, March 21, 2019 (EDT)
 * Yeah, if this passes, I'll look through all the level pages and incorporate anything the notes parameter has that the article content does not. 21:01, March 21, 2019 (EDT)
 * Well, since there's no information loss, I'll support. Scrooge200 (talk) 00:29, March 22, 2019 (EDT)

@FanOfYoshi - There's no edit warring happening. 14:26, March 26, 2019 (EDT)

Does this proposal also effect derivatives of Levelbox, like Template:KoSBox? Scrooge200 (talk) 18:20, March 28, 2019 (EDT)
 * Hmm, yes, it should. I forgot there was more than one type of level box. Added. 18:26, March 28, 2019 (EDT)

World-Level
Is it really necessary to use the World-Level section for levels in games that don't even use the "World X-X" format? A lot of the the conjectural World-Level designations aren't even consistent with other games or even each other, either. 04:10, April 12, 2019 (EDT)
 * Specific examples? Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 04:20, April 12, 2019 (EDT)
 * The first game that comes to mind is Super Mario World. Some examples:
 * Yoshi's House is 1-Y
 * The Switch Palaces are YSP, GSP, RSP, and BSP (which aren't even really World-Level format anyway)
 * Vanilla Ghost House is _-Ghost, despite all the other Ghost Houses in that game using _-GH (and Ghost Houses in all other games using _-Ghost House)
 * Vanilla Fortress uses _-Fort, Forest Fortress and Chocolate Fortress both use _-Fortress, and Valley Fortress uses _-F
 * Back Door is BD, but Front Door is 7-FD
 * Although it wouldn't be too difficult to make all the World-Level stuff consistent across the wiki, I really don't see the point in making up "World X-X" designations for levels that don't actually have them. 04:42, April 12, 2019 (EDT)

Question
So on some levels there are <<[List Of Levels]>> like normal. But on others they have <<,<<,<<[List Of Levels]>>,>>,>> or <<[List Of Levels] >>** And it is so confusing because those extra things go to random places in the world or to another world!!! I would really like to get rid of that!!!&#91;-&#93;€40 分@4¡0 (talk) 08:52, April 13, 2019 (EDT)
 * The extra stuff is for alternate/secret exits, for the record. If completing a stage grants access to multiple levels, using one >> wouldn't be appropriate. 09:08, April 13, 2019 (EDT)
 * Yeah thats not it. We need to fix it so that this: << <> >> happens that would make it a lot better! &#91;-&#93;€40 分@4¡0 (talk) 09:13, April 13, 2019 (EDT)
 * Get it? &#91;-&#93;€40 分@4¡0 (talk) 09:25, April 13, 2019 (EDT)
 * So you're suggesting that we mark secret exits with another set of arrows instead of **? 09:32, April 13, 2019 (EDT)
 * What I am saying is that it needs redone 15:25, April 14, 2019 (EDT)

Figure out how to handle the music parameter
Lately, there's been a bit of a debate over Cakewalk Flip's music. I realized that we don't actually have an established use for this parameter, and while it's not used very often, having a concrete use could encourage adding it to more pages.

Here are the options I propose:
 * Only include track names: You would put "Snakey Chantey" for Rattle Battle (Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest) and nothing else.
 * Only include a media link: You would put " [[File:DKC2 SNES Snakey Chantey.oga]] " and nothing else.
 * Include both a track name and a media link: Ideally, this would look like "Snakey Chanty [[File:DKC2 SNES Snakey Chantey.oga]] "
 * Remove the song parameter: Remove the parameter from the template altogether. I highly suggest against this option.
 * Do nothing: Do not define a criteria for this parameter. I suggest against this, too.

Proposer: Deadline: June 10, 2020, 23:59 GMT

Include both a track name and a media link

 * 1) My preferred option.
 * 2) Makes the most sense to me; if a medium isn't uploaded or a name doesn't exist, either/or's better than none.
 * 3) Per all, though I would put the title under the media player, like " [[File:DKC2 SNES Snakey Chantey.oga]]  Snakey Chanty". checked a mario kart track infobox and it seems to look better with the title on top.
 * 4) This seems like the best solution, assuming of course that the track names used originate from an in-game track list, the soundtrack, or some other official source. Conjectural track names don't really help anything.
 * 5) Per all.
 * 6) Per all.
 * 7) Just a title requires people to do uneccesarry searching for the song and if there's just a file, people won't know what it is.
 * 8) Per all.
 * 9) Per all.
 * 10) - Per all.

Enemies
Can we add an enemies parameter (like in Template: PMTOKLevelbox) to merge an extra section? 16:12, November 23, 2020 (EST)
 * I don't think we should add a parameter just to remove an article section, when the section is helpful, too. In some cases, it'd look better than being crammed into an info box. 16:31, November 23, 2020 (EST)

Levels with multiple songs
Hey everyone. Recently I've been adding media files to the levelboxes for Super Princess Peach's level articles, and intend to do the same for more games in the future. However, I've hit a bump in the road with the boss levels for that game and would like some input from the community here on how to proceed.

So, the boss levels for SPP all feature multiple songs throughout the level (a song for the beginning "platforming" section, a couple of pre-boss tunes, and then the actual boss theme[s]). I realize that SPP cannot be the only game where this occurs, and am left wondering, how do we determine which song is placed in the infobox if there are multiple songs in the level? I see a number of routes we could take with this:


 * 1) We list the first song that appears in the level in the infobox. Other songs in the level are omitted completely from the article. This is an easy option, but we are knowingly leaving out relevant information/media from articles if we choose this.
 * 2) We list the first song that appears in the level in the infobox. Other songs in the level are placed in a separate "Additional Media" (or something like that) section towards the bottom of the article. I personally feel this is the way to go, but it may look a little awkward in some of the shorter articles that would leave a lot of white space between the main body of the article and the media table towards the bottom of the page. (Obviously as short articles are expanded, this becomes a non-issue, but not every level may have a lot of content to write about.)
 * 3) We list the song featured most prominently in the level, with the rest of the songs either being omitted from, or placed later in, the article. I feel like this is not a bad option, but could be difficult to objectively determine in cases where a certain song or theme is not explicitly scheduled to play for a longer duration of time than others within the level. (like, say, timed boss battles that last for longer than their introductory sequence)
 * 4) We list multiple songs in the infobox, perhaps in the order they are played in the level. I previewed this a few times and felt it looked a little too crowded, even with a collapse/expand feature in the template, although it did have the benefit of keeping all of the media in one place.

Of course, there may be other approaches to take. I'm very open to feedback and ideas. I was also thinking, once this has been established, we should look at incorporating a  parameter to other level/course/world templates (such as  and, among many others).

I don't know if these ideas would be better suited as a proposal, but at least wanted to get some feedback before going that far. Thanks for reading. 20:20, May 12, 2021 (EDT)
 * I'm not sure about the first one, because certain games like the Donkey Kong Country series have levels where the first theme heard only plays for the first little bit, then changes to another theme that plays for the rest of the level, such as Irate Eight. The problem with the third one is it can be quite subjective which themes are heard the most, since there may be times multiple themes are heard for a near-equal amount of time. 20:40, May 12, 2021 (EDT)
 * As an advocate of more media integration, I have wondered about this. I'm not sure if there's a best way to go about it. 21:25, May 12, 2021 (EDT)
 * I decided to toy around with option four a little more, and came up with this result. The way I was doing it originally that felt crowded, was just using continuous instances of , but that spaced things out too much. What I've done is essentially expand upon the current coding by including extra parameters for more songs (I did up to 10 as an example, I don't know of any level or world that would need more than that off-hand, but it would be no trouble to increase the number). Any infobox that includes more than 1 song will automatically place the rest under a show/hide button in the infobox. It seems to be spaced out pretty well on both desktop and mobile. We could probably just list songs in the order they are played within the level/world. If there's a more optimized way to code what I have in there, please let me know.  14:37, May 13, 2021 (EDT)