View source for Template:Expand language/howto/newtopic

This section provides information about categorization in the {{tl|Expand language}} suite of templates, and explains how to make a new subcategory available for use in a particular language template by use of a topic code. Editors may then employ the topic code in <noinclude>an <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Expand ''LanguageName''<nowiki>}}</nowiki> template</noinclude><includeonly>the {{tl|Expand {{{1|''LanguageName''}}}}} template</includeonly> as shorthand for categorizing the article in which it appears into a subcategory associated with that topic code. If you've done this before, and just need a refresher, see [[#Quickstart|Quickstart]]. Otherwise, skip to the [[#Background |gory details]] below.
<noinclude>
=== Quickstart ===
</noinclude><includeonly>{{anchor|Quickstart}}{{fhead|level=3|Quickstart}}</includeonly>

Here is a summary of the steps to add a new [[Wikipedia:Categorization#Subcategorization|subcategory]] and a new topic code to the table for <noinclude>a given <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Expand ''LanguageName''<nowiki>}}</nowiki></noinclude> <includeonly>[[Template:Expand {{{1|''LanguageName''}}}]]</includeonly> (details follow):
* determine which missing ''topic code'' you wish to add (e.g., 'bio'; see col 1 of the [[Template:Expand language#Topics and categorization|topic table]]) 
* find the ''topic name'' for the topic (e.g., 'Biography'; see col. 2 of the [[Template:Expand language#Topics and categorization|Topics table]])
* derive the subcategory name from the ''topic name'' and the language name {{#if: {{{1|}}} | ("{{{1|}}}", in this case)|}} (e.g., <code>Biography articles needing translation from {{{1|''LanguageName''}}} Wikipedia</code> (click the topic name in col. 2 of the [[Template:Expand language#Topics and categorization|table]] for an example; e.g., [[:Category:Biography articles needing translation from {{{1|LanguageName}}} Wikipedia]])
* create the Category page for {{{1|''LanguageName''}}} using that name, and categorize it under <code>Category:Articles needing translation from {{#if: {{{1|}}} | {{{1|}}} | ''LanguageName''}} Wikipedia</code>
* Adjust the [[Help:Conditional expressions#Using #switch|''#switch'' statement]] in <noinclude>the <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Expand ''LanguageName''<nowiki>}}</nowiki></noinclude> <includeonly>[[Template:Expand {{{1|''LanguageName''}}}]]</includeonly> template to include: <code>| ''topic code'' = ''Topic name''</code>; for example:
*: <code>| bio = Biography</code> (model after the ''#switch'' in [[Template:Expand French]] if needed)
* To use the new code, go to an article needing categorization into the new subcat, and add:
*: {{#if: {{{1|}}} <code>{{tl|Expand {{{1|''LanguageName''}}}|topic{{=}}''topic&nbsp;code''|date{{=}}{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}}}</code> |<code><nowiki>{{</nowiki>Expand {{{1|}}}{{!}}topic{{=}}''topic&nbsp;code''{{!}}date{{=}}{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}<nowiki>}}</nowiki></code>}} to the top of the article.
<noinclude>
=== Background ===
</noinclude><includeonly>{{anchor|Background}}{{fhead|level=3|Background }}</includeonly>

A topic code is just an abbreviation or word, like ''bio'' for "Biography", or ''sport'' for "Sports". Associating a topic code with a subcategory name, and enabling its use to categorize articles on which the <code><nowiki>{{Expand LanguageName}}</nowiki></code> appears has two main requirements:
* Creation of a category page with the appropriate subcategory name for the topic code
* Ensuring that the wikicode of the particular <code><nowiki>{{Expand LanguageName}}</nowiki></code> template associates the topic code with the right subcategory name.

The {{tl|Expand language}} suite of templates automatically categorizes pages on which it appears into <code>Category:Articles needing translation from ''LanguageName'' Wikipedia</code>. For many languages, this category may grow too large, and [[Wikipedia:Categorization#Subcategorization|subcategorization]] is needed.  The suite of Expand language templates supports subcategorization into a number of pre-defined subcategories, and provides an easy way of indicating subcategorization by using the {{para|topic}} param in the template, instead of having to know about a complex set of category naming or remember the category names. This page explains how to do that.
<noinclude>
=== Categorizing articles needing translation ===
</noinclude><includeonly>{{fhead|level=3|Categorizing articles needing translation}}</includeonly>
 
Adding a new topic goes hand in hand with creating a new subcategory in which to categorize articles needing expansion. The top level (and sometimes only) category for articles needing expansion for a given language follows this pattern:
: <code>Category:Articles needing translation from ''LanguageName'' Wikipedia</code>
But the top level category can often grow to many hundreds or thousands of articles and that's too much for one category. In order to facilitate a better and more useful categorization, the {{tl|Expand language}} suite of templates supports subcategorization into a number of subcategories using the {{para|topic}} parameter of the language-specific templates, such as  {{tl|Expand French}} or {{tl|Expand German}}. Ten '''topic codes''' are defined, such as ''bio'' (for 'Biography') and ''mil'' (for 'Military'): when used as the value of the {{para|topic}} parameter, they imply (but do not automatically create) a subcategory of a specific name. For example:
: {{tlc|Expand <noinclude>French</noinclude><includeonly>{{{1|}}}</includeonly>|topic{{=}}bio}}
would categorize the article in which it appears into subcategory ⟶ [[:Category:{{Expand language/subcat name|<noinclude>French</noinclude><includeonly>{{{1|}}}</includeonly>|bio}}]] .
<noinclude>
=== Topic codes and topic names ===
</noinclude><includeonly>{{fhead|level=3|Topic codes and topic names}}</includeonly>

The rows in the [[Template:Expand language#Topics and categorization|topic code table]] show what subcategories already exist under the top level category for a given language; for example, for <noinclude>French</noinclude><includeonly>{{{1|}}}</includeonly>, the topic code table is [[Template:Expand <noinclude>French</noinclude><includeonly>{{{1|}}}</includeonly>#Topics and categorization|here]]. The existing subcategories can be found by clicking (or mousing over) the topic names in column two of the table.

There are ten predefined topic codes that are conventionally available for addition to, and use by, any of the Expand ''LanguageName'' templates. They are: ''bio'', ''cult'', ''geo'', ''gov'', ''hist'', ''mil'', ''sci'', ''sport'', ''struct'', and ''transp''. Each code is recognized by param {{para|topic}} in the Expand ''LanguageName'' template, which will categorize the page on which it appears into a subcategory based on the associated topic name, e.g.,''bio'' ⟶ ''Biography'', and so forth).
<noinclude>
=== Creating a new subcategory ===
</noinclude><includeonly>{{anchor|#Creating a new subcategory}}{{fhead|level=3|Creating a new subcategory}}</includeonly>

# choose a '''topic code''' from the [[Template:Expand language#Topics and categorization|topic code table]] and determine the '''topic name''' from column 2 of the table (e.g., <code>bio</code> ⟶ {{Expand language/decode|bio}})
# define the subcategory name as a function of topic name and language name, using this pattern: 
#: <code>''Topic name'' articles needing translation from ''Language name'' Wikipedia</code> 
#: Example: for topic name <code>{{Expand language/decode|bio}}</code> and <noinclude>French</noinclude><includeonly>{{{1|}}}</includeonly> we have: {{Expand language/subcat name|<noinclude>French</noinclude><includeonly>{{{1|}}}</includeonly>|bio}}
# create the category, e.g., [[:Category:{{Expand language/subcat name|French|bio}}]]
#: Add the following text, and save the page:
<pre style="margin:0 20% 0 4.8em">
{{Transcat|language=French|topic=bio}}
{{CatAutoTOC}}
</pre>
<noinclude>
=== Enable subcategorization in the Expand ''LanguageName'' template ===
</noinclude><includeonly>{{fhead|level=3|Enable subcategorization in the Expand ''LanguageName'' template}}</includeonly>

Creating a new subcategory is independent of the Expand language template, and one could always categorize an article into the subcategory the way any article is categorized, simply by adding the category between brackets to the end of the article. But to make subcategorization easier, the specific Expand language template for a given language will categorize the article into a subcategory automatically, if the correct association between topic code and topic name appears in the wikicode of the template. 

Edit the specific Expand language template for the given language; for example, for <noinclude>French</noinclude><includeonly>{{{1|}}}</includeonly>: edit [[Template:Expand <noinclude>French</noinclude><includeonly>{{{1|}}}</includeonly>]]

The association between topic code and topic name for a given language, and by extension between the topic code and the subcategory name, occurs in the wikicode of the specific language name templates, in particular, in the assignment of {{para|topic}}, which usually occurs within a [[Help:Conditional expressions#Using #switch|''#switch'' statement]] which picks one of a number of topic codes and assigns it to the topic name. Some languages have no support for topic codes, for example, {{tl|Expand Chinese}}; others have full support, like {{tl|Expand French}}, and others have something in between. To enable {{para|topic}} to be used to categorize the article on which it appears into the associated subcategory requires this code to be set up correctly; if the wikicode does not already have it, you can copy the {{var|#switch}} statement that assigns the value of {{para|topic}} from [[Template:Expand French]].
<noinclude>
=== Classify articles into the new subcategory ===
</noinclude><includeonly>{{fhead|level=3|Classify articles into the new subcategory}}</includeonly>

To classify articles into the new subcategory, use a specific Expand language template with the {{para|topic}} param.

:* Edit the article and find the {{tl|Expand <noinclude>French</noinclude><includeonly>{{{1|}}}</includeonly>}} template
:* Paste {{para|topic|bio}} into the template call; it can go anywhere, but after the name is good, e.g.:
:*: {{tlc|Expand <noinclude>French</noinclude><includeonly>{{{1|}}}</includeonly>|John Doe'''{{Green|{{!}}topic{{=}}bio}}'''|date{{=}}{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}}}
:* Add an edit summary e.g., "''Added topic=bio to Expand template.''"; Preview as needed, and Publish.
<noinclude>
=== Creating non-standard subcategories and topic codes ===
</noinclude><includeonly>{{fhead|level=3|Creating non-standard subcategories and topic codes}}</includeonly>

Topic codes that are not among the standard ten may be created for specific languages and associated with new subcategories as needed. Define a topic code, a topic name corresponding to the variable part of the subcategory name, and add it to the template [[Help:Conditional expressions#Using #switch|''#switch'' statement]]. 

To add the new code to the topic table in the doc page, create a /topics subpage, e.g., [[Template:Expand <noinclude>French</noinclude><includeonly>{{{1|}}}</includeonly>/topics]] in which the row for the topics table is defined. If the file exists, it is transcluded at the end of the table. For an example, see {{para|topic|commune}} in the {{tl|Expand French}} template. 

This is a more advanced type of operation which requires some basic knowledge of template writing, so it may be easier to do this by adding an [[Wikipedia:Edit requests|Edit request]] on the Talk page of the template concerned.  In the Edit request, specify the topic code and subcategory name you wish to add.  For example, you could say, "Please add new topic code ''mtn'' to {{tl|Expand Nepali}} which should categorize articles containing {{tlc|Expand Nepali|topic{{=}}mtn}} into subcategory 'Mountain articles needing translation from Nepali Wikipedia' using the topic code ''mtn''." You can create the subcategory yourself, following the [[#Creating a new subcategory|instructions above]].