Template talk:Infobox software

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Computing: Software / Free and open-source software

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Template:Infobox software is permanently protected from editing because it is a heavily used or highly visible template. Substantial changes should first be proposed and discussed here on this page. If the proposal is uncontroversial or has been discussed and is supported by consensus, editors may use {{edit template-protected}} to notify an administrator or template editor to make the requested edit. Usually, any contributor may edit the template's documentation to add usage notes or categories.

Any contributor may edit the template's sandbox. Functionality of the template can be checked using test cases.

"Latest release" shows "preferred" not the "latest"

To my understanding the "Latest release" shows the value from Wikidata that is marked as "preferred" which is not always the latest/highest value (e.g. version number or date). This is missleading.

I tried some other variants but wasn't able to select/query the real latest version nummber or date. I always have to manually modify the preferred marker in the wikidata content.

Is there a more automatic way that always the real latest/highest value is selected? Christian Buhtz (talk) 08:29, 29 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

At least in the case of Sympa, the latest release version and latest release date are used in en.Wikipedia with {{wikidata}} overrides to grab Wikidata values directly without using the code of the {{infobox software}} - and they point to version type (P548) = stable version (Q2804309) which is for a stable release rather than a generic release. I assume that this is the consensus among Sympa editors. I just confirmed (by experiment) that this requires manually selecting the latest stable release as preferred in Wikidata.

I guess your question is whether a routine to compare version strings could be used to automatically select the one with the "most recent" value, per the most widely used conventions. I wouldn't quite agree with "misleading", since Wikidata is still expected to be checked by humans, and in Wikipedia, it would look strange to say "preferred", since that's not the standard term.

My guess is that using the preferred Wikidata thing (is it a property?) is considered a lot more CPU efficient than redoing a version string comparison every time a request is made, especially since the comparison would scale as O(n log n) over strings, while searching for a preferred value is more efficient since only an O(n) search for a specific integer is required. Boud (talk) 12:41, 19 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Template-protected edit request on 13 January 2025

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Fix the template so that logos display properly in dark mode, see for instance groff (software) Jay Cubby 02:30, 13 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

What is your proposed solution? There currently is no standardized method to adjust dark logos for dark backgrounds. Some use skin-invert like so, others make the infobox display a white background. Whatever we end up doing, it should be done consistently across similarly affected templates (e.g. {{Infobox company}}). IceWelder [✉] 09:02, 13 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The current method is to manually tag each logo with skin-invert. InfiniteNexus (talk) 01:37, 31 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Several websites

Companies on rare occasions have more than one website. Is it possible to to add two using this infobox? If not, can a second website be added to the infobox? Artem S. Tashkinov (talk) 10:15, 24 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Template-protected edit request on 24 February 2025

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I'd like to embed a child infobox inside of an {{Infobox software}} using |module= a la WP:IEmbed. Could someone apply the following change, which would allow me to do so?

DefaultFree (talk) 16:11, 24 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Done * Pppery * _{it has begun...} 21:56, 24 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Changing "title" to "above" argument

Hi, I think using "above" instead of "title" argument is more rational, which is the same as many other Wikis. This way, we have an integrated Infobox. So please change

| title      = {{{title|{{{name|{{PAGENAMEBASE}}}}}}}}
| titleclass = summary

to

| above      = {{{title|{{{name|{{PAGENAMEBASE}}}}}}}}
| abovestyle =  background-color: #43e2f7;

Also tested in Template:Infobox software/sandbox. Thanks, Hooman Mallahzadeh (talk) 12:26, 14 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Why hardcode a color and not use |aboveclass=summary? IceWelder [✉] 21:00, 14 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Because background-color of |aboveclass=summary is not set and it does not distingush name of software from other parts.

I only proposed #43e2f7 color and I am not sure it is the best color, but in many Wikis similar color is used. Hooman Mallahzadeh (talk) 03:26, 15 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I'd rather not use a fixed color because it may clash with skins and dark themes. I checked {{Infobox film}}, where none is used. IceWelder [✉] 09:28, 15 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe you are right! But please change "title" to "above" argument. Hooman Mallahzadeh (talk) 09:35, 15 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Please see sandbox. Thanks, Hooman Mallahzadeh (talk) 09:37, 15 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Please take a look at these infoboxes too:

and others. Hooman Mallahzadeh (talk) 09:56, 15 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I propose to change the background color according to type or genre of software, something like Template:Infobox album. Hooman Mallahzadeh (talk) 10:02, 15 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

What you are proposing is likely to lead to Linter errors, along with a maintenance burden on other editors to ensure that the infobox works with all skins, in dark mode, in mobile, and in other new modes that may arise. Having no background color, or a standard background color used by all infoboxes, is preferable. – Jonesey95 (talk) 19:43, 16 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Jonesey95 To solve "Linter errors", I propose to extract "type" from Wikidata. For example for Google Chrome, in here in the property "instance of" or "P31", we have:

web browser
application
proprietary software

Color can be set from these properties, makig infobox more attractive for specific types of it. Hooman Mallahzadeh (talk) 06:01, 17 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]