This template'sinitial visibility currently defaults toautocollapse, meaning that if there is another collapsible item on the page (anavbox, sidebar, ortable with the collapsible attribute), it is hidden apart from its title bar; if not, it is fully visible.
To change this template's initial visibility, the|state=parameter may be used:
{{Africa topic|state=collapsed}} will show the template collapsed, i.e. hidden apart from its title bar.
{{Africa topic|state=expanded}} will show the template expanded, i.e. fully visible.
General documentation on continent-topic templates
The continent/region-topic templates allow quick creation of anavigational template for groups of articles about a common topic in different countries of a continent/region. It usesTemplate:Navbox to create the navigation box.
The lists of countries included in the "Continent topic" templates are broadly those found in the "Countries of" templates. Discussions on which countries to include are best conducted on the talk pages of these latter templates.
For example, Oceania generally includes Australia and the nations of the Pacific and islands in the Pacific Ocean that have closer ties to Asia or the Americas are usually grouped accordingly.
Usage
1st parameter (prefix)
The most basic usage of template is with a single unnamed parameter in the format{{Continent/region topic |Topic [of/in]}}, replacingContinent/region with the name of a continent or region andTopic with the name of a topic followed by "of" or "in". For example,{{Africa topic |Geography of}} generates a navigation box titled "Geography of Africa" with a list of country names linked to articles such asGeography of Angola, etc.
The template accepts a second unnamed parameter for text to be placed after the country name. There is no space between the country name and the suffix, to allow for links to articles such asList of Spain-related topics.
Note that in the above example the links work but the underscore is displayed in the title. This can be fixed by specifying a title (see next section) or by using the named parametersuffix which always places a space between the country name and text.
Code
{{South America topic|prefix=List of basic|suffix=topics}}
Thetitle parameter is used to specify text which appears in the title bar at the top of the navigation box. This is optional because the use ofprefix,suffix or both will automatically generate a title, as shown in the previous examples. This title is not automaticallywiki-linked, so add brackets as needed.
The following shows a navigation box with links to articles such asFlag of Australia, but replaces the default title "Flag of Oceania" with the specified title "Flags of Oceania".
Code
{{Oceania topic|Flag of|title=[[Flags of Oceania]]}}
These navigation boxes are set toautocollapse when there is more than one on a page. To force it into collapsed or expanded mode use thestate parameter. If set tocollapsed, the navbox will always start out in a collapsed state. If set to blank or anything other thanautocollapse orcollapsed, the navbox will always start out in an expanded state.
Not alldependencies or similar territories have their own articles on particular topics. To disable the inclusion of such territories in a template (that would otherwise appear asred links), include the parameter "countries_only=yes".
Although these templates can be used in an article, they can also be used to create a new template. Thename parameter is mandatory when creating a new template, because it allows the "V T E" links to work properly. The following example shows code that could be used to createTemplate:Flags of Europe.
{{Europe topic| name= Flags of Europe| state={{{state|{{{1|}}}}}}| title=[[Flags of Europe]]| prefix= Flag of}}<noinclude>[[Category:Europe templates]]</noinclude>
The template can then be added to articles using{{Flags of Europe}} or{{Flags of Europe |state=expand}}.
Before implementing these templates in a topic, check for red links. If there are several red links, consider whether a separate article in the topic for each country is warranted.
Some topics may use a different navigational scheme. In general, don't use this template if there are already navigational templates in several of the articles of a topic.
Examples of appropriate articles for these templates are {{Africa topic |Culture of}} or {{North America topic |List of airports in}}, both of which have a number of blue links, and where the majority of red links could have a reasonable article written about them.
Examples of inappropriate articles for these templates are {{North America topic |Maya in}}, where articles could only be written for a small number of nations and {{Oceania topic |Music of}}, where articles already have templates which use a different navigational scheme.
Navigational templates are usually placed at the end of an article.
Additional documentation for Template:Africa topic
Saint Helena, Tristan da Cunha and Ascension Island
For some topics, these 3 islands have separate articles while for other topics everything goes into one article. Whether these islands are shown as 1, 2 or 3 links depends on the topic in question. If you need to change this behavior for a particular topic (due to an article split or merger), you will need to edit this template.
List of wrapper templates usingTemplate:Africa topic