Template talk:Quote box

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Quote box template.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help.

Archives: 1, 2, 3: 28 days

Template:Quote box 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.

Template-protected edit request on 9 December 2024

This edit request to Template:Quote box/styles.css has been answered. Set the |answered= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

This fixes {{reflist}}. There was an extra newline between the backlink and the citation.

@TheDJ: I don't see why display:block was added. The problem affects the bottom half list items in the boxes in WP:REPEATCITATION. 172.97.141.219 (talk) 08:28, 9 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

What do you mean, the template realist doesn't use quotebox ? —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 09:16, 9 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Ah I see what you mean now. The page WP:REPEATCITATION should not be using template quote box. It is not making a quote, it is giving an example, and usage of the quote box template in way for which it was not designed, is likely to create problems like this. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 09:19, 9 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I chose to use {{qb}} over {{qf}} to avoid adding padding that wasn't there. {{box}} doesn't work in dark mode, whose fixing was my goal. What should we use on WP:Citation overkill, WP:Citation underkill and WP:Contort the citations?

If in way for which it was not designed, why is cite in the templatestyles? The previous wikitext used <blockquote> with night-mode-unfriendly inline CSS, so the previous author probably somewhat considered it to be a "quote". 172.97.141.219 (talk) 09:22, 9 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I mean {{qb|1=<ref>{{citation|title=test}}</ref>{{reflist}}}} should have "test" on the same line. 172.97.141.219 (talk) 09:20, 9 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Please do not misuse the quote box template. I have fixed the dark mode display on WP:REPEATCITATION. You might want to read more about how to fix dark mode problems at mw:Help:Lint_errors/night-mode-unaware-background-color and similar pages. You can ask for help at WP:VPT. – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:16, 9 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I saw your change and propagated it to WP:Citation underkill and WP:Contort the citations.

I read the suggested mw:Help:Lint_errors/night-mode-unaware-background-color. It seems to be telling me to add color:black;. However, the problematic text was already black, and your good solution was to remove background:white;. Which part of that page, that when read, applied to WP:REPEATCITATION?

I thought deduplicating styles from 3 pages using {{qb}} was a good idea, but since 2 people said this is misuse, I went over to WP:VPT to ask for a template. 172.97.141.219 (talk) 15:00, 9 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

mw:Help:Lint errors/night-mode-unaware-background-color#Quick start shows how to fix background that are transparent or inherited. In this case, background:white was similar to background:transparent, so I removed it. – Jonesey95 (talk) 19:05, 9 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I added your idea with the remove word to that page. 172.97.141.219 (talk) 03:36, 10 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Add role=complementary

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

The complementary landmark role is used to designate a supporting section that relates to the main content, yet can stand alone when separated.

-ARIA: complementary role - ARIA | MDN

I think this template perfectly fits the role's usage criteria, so I request to edit its first line so that

<templatestyles src="Template:Quote_box/styles.css" /><div class="quotebox pullquote {{#switch: {{lc:{{{align|}}}}}

becomes

<templatestyles src="Template:Quote_box/styles.css" /><div role=complementary class="quotebox pullquote {{#switch: {{lc:{{{align|}}}}}

. Sapphaline (talk) 13:29, 30 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Jonesey95:? Sapphaline (talk) 14:54, 7 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I read the technical document that you linked, and "complementary" does not seem to describe a blockquote, which is an integral part of the prose that is often preceded by introductory text. It does not stand alone, like a sidebar or a pull quote. There might be another role that fits blockquotes better. – Jonesey95 (talk) 15:30, 7 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Not done for now: From what I understand, as multiple quote boxes could be present in the same page, they would need an ARIA label parameter which is currently absent. Additionally, blockquote is already emitted by the inner <blockquote> element, and I don't know if it is helpful to have a landmark role on top of it. I'll ping @Graham87 who I know is familiar with screenreaders and might be of some help here. Chaotic Enby (talk · contribs) 23:12, 18 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah they'd just create extra screen reader noise that says things like "complementary information" for no real benefit. In the two main Windows screen readers, JAWS (the one I use primarily) doesn't read them out at all by default) but NVDA does. Graham87 (talk) 07:15, 19 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Template-protected edit request on 19 October 2025 Suggestion

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

A MOS Talk page discussion was held at Wikipedia_talk:Manual_of_Style#Are_box_quotes_discouraged? about box quotes. The consensus was a small update to the MOS page, which was done here.

The Talk page discussion pointed out that Template:Quote box also needs to be updated, because it has some misleading text, namely: "This template can be used for block quotations (long quotes set off from the main text). However, this use is only rarely appropriate in articles." The consensus is that box quotes are acceptable in some situations, and are not "rare" or discouraged. The template instructions should be updated as follows:

REPLACE EXISTING TEXT: "This template can be used for boxed quotations set off from the main text. However, this use is only rarely appropriate in articles"

WITH THIS NEW TEXT:

A quote box is an alternative to an inline quote or a block quote. Quote boxes are displayed in a stand-alone manner (similar to images) and are best suited to noteworthy or important quotes. Quote boxes should be used with care, because they lack the context supplied by the flow of the body text, and might present point of view issues or undue weight issues.

Noleander (talk) 16:56, 19 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Not done: {{edit template-protected}} is usually not required for edits to the documentation or categories of templates using a documentation subpage. Use the 'edit' link at the top of the green "Template documentation" box to edit the documentation subpage. P.I. Ellsworth , ed. – welcome! – 17:11, 19 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Alright, thanks for the info. I made the change to the documentation myself. Noleander (talk) 17:17, 19 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Happy to help! Paine 17:34, 19 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]