Template:ISFDB title/doc

Main pages: Wikipedia:How to edit a page, Wikipedia:Template messages, and Wikipedia:Template messages/Maintenance

Usage

The ISFDB title template message is usually placed in the External links or References section of a speculative fiction story's Wikipedia article to link it to that story's bibliography on the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). The tag is intended to inform people that a detailed bibliography is available on ISFDB as a support reference for the article.

As ISFDB indexes story titles by a record number rather than by their name, you will always need provide the record number when using this template. The record number is available at the end of the URL for a title on ISFDB. For example, the novel Orbit Unlimited is on ISFDB at http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?431. The record number in this case is 431, meaning you would use either {{ISFDB title|id=431}} or {{ISFDB title|431}} to link to that title record.

By default the story name used in the link to ISFDB is taken from the Wikipedia article's title. If the article title is not suitable then use the template with the title parameter. For example, to use the template on Poul Anderson's article you would use {{ISFDB title|id=431|title=Orbit Unlimited}} or {{ISFDB title|id=431|Orbit Unlimited}}.

An optional parameter |short=yes can be added when the linked story is a short story or other work where the title should be displayed in quotation marks ("The Great Slow Kings") rather than in italics (Lord of Light).

Please be aware that if you use the {{ISFDB title|id=###}} form without the |title= parameter, and the Wikipedia article is later moved, usually for disambiguation, then the displayed name for the link will change. Thus, while it is convenient, it should not be used unless the odds are low that the story's Wikipedia article will be moved.

Please also be aware that if an ISFDB title is merged with another title, then the record number can change, which will break the link. Thus when linking to a title you should check that it's not a duplicate on the author's bibliographic page. If it is, then the title record with the lower or smaller record number should be used.

Examples

• Link where the Wikipedia article title is also the story title, for example, The Caves of Steel:

* {{ISFDB title|id=2266}}

displays as

• The Caves of Steel title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

and links to http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2266

• Link where the Wikipedia article title does not match the story title, for example, Foundation (Asimov novel):

* {{ISFDB title|id=17332|title=Foundation}}

displays as

• Foundation title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

and links to http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?17332.

Likewise, if you wanted to reference the two example stories from Isaac Asimov's article you would use

* {{ISFDB title|id=2266|title=The Caves of Steel}}

* {{ISFDB title|id=17332|title=Foundation}}

which display as

• The Caves of Steel title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Foundation title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

and will link to http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2266 and http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?17332.

• Link where the item is a short story or other work, so the title should be displayed in quotation marks:

* {{ISFDB title|id=53974|title=The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth|short=yes}}

or for a short story, when the article title is the story title:

* {{ISFDB title|id=53974|short=yes}}

would each display as

• "The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth" title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

See also

• {{ISFDB name}} links to the ISFDB record for an author or illustrator (Bibliography).
• {{ISFDB series}} links to the ISFDB record for a series (Series Bibliography).
• {{ISFDB contents}} links to the ISFDB record for one publication including its contents.