Tardis:Galleries
Galleries are a quick — but limited — way to display a number of images on a single page. In general, they should be avoided on this wiki. It is much preferred that individual images accompany blocks of text. However, they are acceptable in some situations, such as when displaying a series of covers. In some other cases, they are outright forbidden.
For details on how to create galleries, you can read the more detailed help file (to be added), which explains the finer points of wiki markup for galleries.
Types of galleries
There are three main types of galleries on this Wiki, one of which displays completely differently for end users, although they all use the same <gallery> tag at the source-code level.
Tabbed galleries
Infobox tabbed galleries allow an infobox to display multiple images at once. These can be used...
- on in-universe pages to illustrate:
- different forms of a given in-universe element (e.g. the different incarnations of a Time Lord);
- different portrayals of the same concept (e.g. recasting: William Hartnell should be the primary image at First Doctor, but Richard Hurndall and David Bradley should also be represented).
- on real world pages to illustrate variant covers of a given release.
- on in-universe pages to illustrate:
Where available, each tab should use a clear, succinct name, such as an incarnation number for a Time Lord. If no non-controversial names can be found, you may use "A, B, C" instead. These tabs should under no circumstances be hyperlinks to other pages, as this breaks the interface for mobile users.
Gallery subpages
Gallery subpages are subpages hosting collections of images of a given element. They can be used to give a gallery of an artist's work, to present all the covers of a given source, or, most commonly, as subpages of an in-universe page. They should follow the format established by Davros/Gallery: dividing between fictional and real world images, and further by medium and source. All images in such a gallery should have a caption.
Covers sections
In most cases where you're bringing together variant covers for a source or publication, you won't need to use a subpage. If there aren't too many of them (see below), you can simply make a section called "Covers" on the relevant page. Pretty old-school, right?
The same basic rules as in the section above apply, except that you don't need to separate them by medium. Instead, use captions to tell readers what they're looking at. And be specific, please.
Other cases
Sometimes, you'll also want to make a gallery page for a series in general, rather than an endless array of incredibly small source subpages. Please do organise these into sections, as appropriate.
Try splitting galleries up into their own subpages (usually by release year) if this becomes necessary, to reduce load times for those with slower internet speeds. Remember that not everyone will have the same experience as you, especially on mobile data networks (or indeed public Wi-Fi).
Rules of use
There are a few absolute rules which should be observed when using galleries. Failure to observe these rules could lead to a suspension of your editing rights:
- Never use a gallery for a single image. Single images should be placed on pages using the syntax:
[[file:PicName.extension]]
as described at Help:Files. There is simply no advantage to using the gallery structure for a single image; the wikitext for file display is invariably superior for the task. - Never use galleries on in-universe pages: they belong in dedicated gallery subpages, as does a gallery on a story page if it goes beyond a handful of alternative covers.
