Places anarchive box flush right (default) or a wide archive banner containing links to archive pages and a search box to search them. A summary of the archive bot config appears below the search box.
To generate a boxed Archive list and search box when there is no{{Talk header}} box at the top of the page, or when the Talk page header does not emit an archive box as part of the Talk header. If there is already a talk page header and archive display was explicitly turned off, consider enabling it instead of adding the separate archives box.
To generate a boxed archive list on talk pages with a large amount of archive pages (e.g. common onnoticeboards with hundreds of archive pages) that may not use standard talk headers.
In an article having archives with bothstandard andnon-standard names for the archives. This sometimes occurs for older articles that were created before the archiving system became standardized, and have both ad hoc archive names as well as standard ones,[a] or having both standard archives as well as topically-named archives out of the main numerical sequence.[b] In these cases, you can include both the{{Talk header}} box with no parameters at the top of the page (to pick up all the standard archive names), as well as{{Archives}} with the|list= parameter (to pick up all the non-standard names).
To link standard archive names with other display text,[c] or to add annotations next to the linked archive name, even if they are linked using the standard names.[d]
When not to use
Both this template and the very commonly used{{Talk header}} template contains the functionality (enabled by default) to display the archive list and search box. Please avoid this duplication: either don't use the{{Archives}} template at all, orturn off archive search box display in the{{Talk header}} template. In general, most editors prefer archives being presented in the Talk header format instead of on the side using the separate archives box. One reason for using this template even on talk pages with a{{Talk header}} template could be when the templates at the top of the talk page become so long as to be unwieldy - in that case you might consider moving the archive-related information "off to the side", which is what this template offers.
Tracking down duplicate archive displays
It is possible to search for Talk pages that have both templates, in order to search for anomalies that may need attention.[e]
The template does not automatically ignore redirects. In the unlikely event that you need to change a page's archiving system to another one recognised by this template (e.g., to go from numbers to years or vice versa), the template may list both the current archive page names and their old redirects. To preserve their histories and avoid breaking incoming links, it may not be advisable to speedy delete the redirects left behind.
However, there is a workaround for this. If the first redirect listed by the archive templates isn't found by the template (for example,Archive 1 orArchive 2005) and you are willing to delete it, you can tag only that one for speedy deletion. Alternatively, you can simply move the old redirects away from the standard archiving naming system to retain their histories, and then delete it without leaving a redirect. For example, by moving the existingTalk:Article/Archive 1 toTalk:Article/Redirects/Archive 1 and deleting it, the template understands that #1 is the last one, and stops listing them after that one, even if other redirects (such asTalk:Article/Archive 2) still exist. You do not need to move all of them.
Parameters
There is one positional parameter, and 21 named parameters; all are optional. With no parameters, the template displays a rectangular box entitled "Archives" flush-right on the page, with links to every archive page that exists (as long as they have thestandard naming scheme), an input box to enter search terms, a search button to search the archives, and a bot notice at the bottom summarizing the configuration parameters for the archive bot.
Descriptions of the parametersbelow are grouped into five functional areas (see§ Descriptions ).
Full list
Vertically
{{Archives| 1=<!-- unnamed param 1: like param 'list' but may be combined with 'auto' -->| banner=<!-- "yes" switches from small, flush-right box to wide centered banner; alias: 'large' -->| collapsed=<!-- "yes" or omit -->| collapsible=<!-- "yes" or omit -->| style=| search=<!-- "no" hides the search box; default: "yes" -->| target=| image=| image-size=| title=<!-- box top caption; default: "Archives" -->| list=<!-- for nonstandard archive names, list them manually; disables param 'auto' -->| auto=<!-- set auto=short or auto=no; default: "long" -->| index=<!-- Index subpage name, e.g. "Archive index" or "none" if not wanted -->| archivelist=<!-- /archivelist -->| root=| prefix=| start=<!-- Archive number to start from; default: 1 -->| search-break=<!-- default: "no" -->| search-width=<!-- default: "22" -->| search-button-label=<!-- text on button; default: "Search archives"; alias: 'button-label'. -->| editbox=<!-- "yes" or "no" -->}}
No parameters are necessary for detection of numbered archive pages in the standard format Archive_1, Archive_2, and so on. These are detected automatically. Talk page archives having non-standard naming schemes can also be listed, but you have to specify them.
(1st unnamed parameter) or 1=
Inline list of manually maintained archives. For example: "list=[[Archive of 2017]], [[Archive of 2018-19]], [[Archive of 2020]]". No subpages are assumed unless specified (e.g. "list=[[/Archives/2017]]" and so on). Using this parameter disables automatic detection, but this detection can be re-enabled withauto=long orauto=short, making the template display both manual and automatic archives. This is usually done when other related archives are linked, such as when usingcentralized talk pages or adding links to archives ofalternative accounts.[f]
list
The same as the unnamed parameter, except the disabling of automatic detection cannot be re-enabled. In other words, using|list= instead of|1= makes the template ignore the|auto= parameter's secondary function of forcing auto-detection.
auto= <short|long|no>
Specifies the format of the auto-generated archive list and forces automatic detection. If left unspecified, the default is "long", meaning links to archives are spelled out ("Archive 42"); any other word (except "no") will result in "short", resulting in shorter links (e.g. "42"; seeExample #2), and "no" will disable auto-detection, meaning that even if there are archives following the{{PAGENAME}}/Archive # format they will not be displayed automatically. Auto-detection is also disabled if a manual list is supplied. However, if this list is supplied by the 1st unnamed parameter rather than the list parameter, auto-detection can be re-enabled by overriding the default by usingauto=long orauto=short.
index
Links the "Archives" title to a specified subpage that should be the subject index page for all archived discussions, such as "Archive index". The slash "/" isnot used for this parameter.Legobot may be used to create and maintain such an index. To link to a different subpage, only use the subpage name and don't add the slash "/". For example, to link to the Talk:Example/Page Index subpage, use|index=Page Index.|index=none disables this feature.
archivelist
In conjunction with this parameter you are able to create a whole page where you can customize your archive list. The parameter specifies a link to this page, which should be asubpage that contains the archive list. The name of this page is commonly simply "archivelist", i.e. the same name as its parameter. This is also the default assumption, see notes below. The slash "/" is used for this parameter. As an example of real usage:|archivelist=Wikipedia:Media copyright questions/Archivelist. As you can seeWikipedia:Media copyright questions/Archivelist is set up to be used by the Archives box on itsrespective page.
Icon image
image
An alternate image to be used, defaults to "Replacement filing cabinet.svg". May also useimage-size.none results in no image.
alt (deprecated)
Alt text for the image, for visually impaired readers. SeeWP:ALT. This defaults to empty. If a nonempty value is specified forlink,alt should be nonempty too, and should indicate what will happen if the user clicks on the image.
link (deprecated)
Link for the image. This normally defaults to empty, which means no link. However, ifalt is nonempty, it defaults to the image's file page.
Thelink andalt values are now determined automatically and no longer need to be specified.
Search box and button
search
Default: yes. Ifno, removes the search box.
root
Specifies a different base than{{FULLPAGENAME}}/. Useful for when this template is located on a different page than the page being archived. Useprefix, if the addition of a trailing slash is not desired. The archive wikilinks generated are of the formroot + / + Archive #.
prefix
Similar toroot, but does not automatically add a trailing slash.
search-break
Inserts a newline between the search bar and search button preventing them from being on the same line.Default: no if in banner format yes otherwise
search-width
Default: 22
search-button-label
Default: Search archives. "button-label" is an alias.
Archive bot config
Automated archiving settings are defined by{{User:ClueBot III/ArchiveThis}} if usingUser:ClueBot III or{{User:MiszaBot/config}} if usingUser:Lowercase sigmabot III. You may also use{{Auto-archive}}.{{Archives}} will automatically extract these settings and display them at the bottom of the archive box (or banner) unless suppressed with|nobot=. The parameters formerly used to state settings for the bot notice (before automatic extraction was introduced) are deprecated and grayed out below.
nobot
Set|nobot=yes to suppress the bot notice normally displayed below the search box.
target
The title of the page (just the name, no link syntax) that threads are currently being archived to, for manual archiving.
bot (deprecated)
If specified, a note about automatic archiving will be shown.
age (deprecated)
If specified, this will be displayed as the archiving delay.
units (deprecated)
If specified, this will display units for the archiving delay. The default is "day" or "days".
minthreadsleft (deprecated)
If specified, this will display a note explaining the page won't be emptied out. Not to be confused withUser:MiszaBot/config's minthreadsleft parameter, which is not deprecated.
Box style and title
banner
"yes" converts the box design of the template into a talk page banner style of template, with the archives listed in a horizontal row above the search bar, and the bot config notice listed below it.
An arbitrary string of CSS can be applied to the box (use with care).
title
An alternative title, defaults to "Archives". The title is automatically linked to the /archivelist subpage, if it exists. If another link is desired, a wikilink may be inserted here.
editbox
Ifyes or omitted, includes a button to edit the archive box's sub-page /archivelist.
Further details
The{{Archives}} template may be used to add a box containing page links toarchived discussions. It will automatically detect archived pages by default, if they follow the format{{PAGENAME}}/Archive #, eliminating the need to manually update the box each time a new archive page is created. However, if a list of archives is given manually through the first unnamed parameter, then it doesnot check for archives automatically. Instead,auto=long orauto=short has to be added, if both manual and automatic lists are used.
This page is intended to explain the details of template usage. For a general guide to archiving, see:Help:Archiving a talk page, which includes more information on using this template and others.With no explicit parameters, the archive list presented in the box is determined automatically. If a subpage called "{{PAGENAME}}/archivelist" exists, it will be used as the central content of the box.
If no archive list subpage is detected, numbered archive subpages will be listed in long format. Such pages must be named as "/Archive #" in order to be automatically detected. No other naming styles will be auto-detected. The "long" auto format (the default) indicates "Archive 1", "Archive 2", and so on. The "short" auto format indicates only the archive number.
An additional list of archives can be passed in the first unnamed parameter, avoiding the need to set up an archivelist subpage.
Using "auto=no" will disable archive auto-detection. Manually specified archives will still be shown. [The archive box will also contain an "Edit" link, targeted at the archive list subpage, which can then be used to begin manually populating the list, if desired. This seems broken.] This may be desirable, if the archive list is given in the title parameter.
The "auto" and "archivelist" parameters are not intended to be used together. (Doing so does not use the specified archive list page.)
The auto-generated archive list requires subpages to use the common naming convention. That is, "{{PAGENAME}}/Archive 1", "{{PAGENAME}}/Archive 2", and so on. The letter "A" must be capitalized, there must be a single space between the word "Archive" and the number, and there must be no leading zeros. If archive subpages do not conform to this convention, they can berenamed to conform, or a manual list can be maintained.
^Thisadvanced search query will list Talk pages that have both a{{Talk page header}} as well as an{{Archives}} box on the page, and may be useful for finding Talk pages where the parameters of the{{Talk page header}} or the{{Archives}} box need adjustment because of duplicate information. There are some additional search terms in the query in an attempt to prune the list, but there are legitimate use cases for having both templates on the page (see§ When to use), so this list may have a lot of false positives.
^For an example having several sections including headers and links, seeTalk:United Kingdom.
"yes" converts the box design of the template into a talk page banner style of template, with the archives listed in a horizontal row above the search bar.
Default
no
Example
yes
Boolean
optional
Collapsible?
collapsible
Whether or not the list should be collapsible
Default
no
Example
yes
Boolean
optional
Collapsed?
collapsed
Whether or not the list is pre-collapsed. If set to yes, will also force the list to be collapsible regardless of the value of the collapsible parameter.
Default
no
Example
yes
Boolean
optional
box-width
box-width
no description
Unknown
deprecated
class
class
Add additional CSS classes
String
optional
style
style
Arbitrary custom CSS styling
String
optional
target
target
no description
Unknown
optional
Icon image
image
The image to be used for the icon. Set to "none" to remove the icon.
Default
Replacement filing cabinet.svg
File
optional
Icon alt text
alt
Icon alt text, for accessibility
String
deprecated
Icon link
link
Page that the icon links to when clicked
Page name
deprecated
Icon size
image-size
Size of the icon
Default
40px
String
optional
Title
title
An alternative title.
Default
Archives
Line
optional
Automatic detection
auto
Whether to spell out archive names (long), only list numbers (short), or disable automatic detection entirely
Suggested values
shortlongno
Default
long
Unknown
optional
Archive index page
index
Links the 'Archives' title to a specified subpage that should be the subject index page for all archived discussions. Set index=none to disable.
Unknown
optional
Start index
start
Starting index for list of archives
Default
1
Unknown
optional
Archive list page
archivelist
In conjunction with this parameter you are able to create a whole page where you can customize your archive list. The parameter specifies a link to this page, which should be a subpage that contains the archive list.
Example
Wikipedia:Media copyright questions/Archivelist
Page name
optional
Archive page root
root
What should be prepended to the archive name (trailing slash automatically added)
Default
{{FULLPAGENAME}}
Page name
optional
Archive page prefix
prefix
What should be prepended to the archive name (trailing slash not automatically added)
Default
{{FULLPAGENAME}}/
Unknown
optional
Search bar?
search
Set to "no" to disable the search bar
Default
yes
Example
no
Unknown
optional
Insert newline between search bar and button?
search-break
Inserts a newline between the search bar and search button preventing them from being on the same line. Defaults to no if in banner format, yes otherwise
Boolean
optional
Search bar width
search-width
Width of the search bar
Default
22
Number
optional
Search button label
search-button-labelbutton-label
Label for the search button
Default
Search archives
String
optional
Archiving delay
agearchive_age
Now generated automatically from the archiving parameters set with User:ClueBot III/ArchiveThis or User:MiszaBot/config. Previously, if specified, this will be displayed as the archiving delay.
Number
deprecated
Archiving delay unit
unitsarchive_units
Now generated automatically from the archiving parameters set with User:ClueBot III/ArchiveThis or User:MiszaBot/config. Previously, if specified, this will display units for the archiving delay. The default is "day" or "days".
Suggested values
daysweeksmonths
Default
days
String
deprecated
Name of bot that does auto archiving
botarchive_bot
Now generated automatically from the archiving parameters set with User:ClueBot III/ArchiveThis or User:MiszaBot/config. Previously, if specified, a note about automatic archiving will be shown.
User
deprecated
The minimum number of threads that the archiving bot will leave on the page
minthreadsleft
Now generated automatically from the archiving parameters set with User:ClueBot III/ArchiveThis or User:MiszaBot/config. Previously, if specified, this will display a note explaining the page won't be emptied out
Number
deprecated
Include a button to edit the archivelist?
editbox
If yes or omitted, includes a button to edit the archive box's sub-page /archivelist.
Suggested values
yesno
Default
yes
Unknown
optional
Don't detect and display information on bot archiving?
nobot
no description
Auto value
y
Boolean
optional
Search prefix
searchprefix
The prefix to search under with the search bar, without the trailing slash
Default
{{{root}}}
Page name
optional
Alternatives
Previously there existed several templates to display information related to talk page archives, and the possible automatic bot archiving of talk pages. As of 2025[update] the built-in functionality of{{Talk header}} should be considered the main approach, with this template the commonly used main alternative.
Other options do still exist (but aren't recommended):
