Using too many individual article message boxes can distract from the article and make it unpleasant to look at, as in this example. This template tags articles or sections for multiple maintenance issues and then displays the alerts in a single box, as an alternative to using several space-consuming boxes.

Usage

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  • Using all of the codes in the full syntax listing below is usually not required. Include only those parameters directly relevant to the issues of the particular article or section, and at the minimum, use at least two parameters; otherwise, use a single issue template instead.
  • Use |section=y if placing the template in a particular section.
  • Dates should be set using the "month year" format, for example: |issue=December 2024.
  • The |date= parameter is only needed when |expert= is used to specify the subject. To avoid confusion, it should not be used otherwise.

Common mistakes

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  • Redundant issues: Please do not insert tags that are too similar or redundant with each other. All articles that read like essays have an inappropriate tone, and in fact they end up in the same category, so it is unnecessary to set tone in addition to essay-like. cleanup is a very general issue and so should be replaced with a more specific one.
  • Too many issues: Similarly, if an article has many problems, please consider listing only the most important. A lengthy list is often less helpful than a shorter one. Remember that this tag is not intended as a badge of shame.
  • Only one issue: Don't use this template for a single issue. Use the appropriate single-issue tag instead. See Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup for a list of available tags.

Example

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{{Multiple issues |POV=December 2024 |copy edit=December 2024}}

Tags an article for copyediting and POV, as well as providing a date for each tagging item, producing the following:

Issues supported

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The description of parameters table below lists the issues that are supported.

  • Each parameter can be set to any value without harm. However, many categories sort articles by the month in which they were tagged. Therefore, please set the current month as the value, or the month when the article was originally tagged with that issue.
  • The Issue column contains a brief synopsis. For more detailed information, follow the link to the standalone template.
  • Sorting by the Topic column helps to find related tags; please use the tag that is most specific and reflects the severity of the issue best.
  • The Severity column annotates how critical the issue is. It is suggested to concentrate on the most severe issues first and to avoid mixing very different severity levels.
    • Critical issues compromise the integrity of the encyclopedia. If these issues are severe and not obviously fixable, consider nominating the article for speedy deletion instead by placing a template from the Category:Speedy deletion templates. Example issues include:
      • notability - as per A7,
      • disputed, hoax - as per G3,
      • advert, cleanup-spam - as per G11
    • Policy issues violate core policies. Consider proposing the article for deletion or nominating it for a deletion discussion instead of placing the tags if the article may not be fixable. Do not nominate fixable articles for deletion: AfD is not cleanup. These issues include:
      • autobiography, COI, like resume, peacock, POV - as per WP:NPOV,
      • crystal, howto, NOT, travel guide - as per WP:NOT,
      • BLP unsourced, cite check, synthesis, unreferenced - as per WP:V and WP:OR
    • Contents issues appear fixable and would not require deletion. These are often the less serious siblings of the issues listed above; they include:
      • contradict, recentism, review, unbalanced, weasel
    • Style issues concern writing style, structure or formatting. These need to be improved but the value of the article is not disputed in principle. They include:
      • cleanup-reorganize, confusing, inappropriate person, story ... (and many more)

Full syntax

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Copy and paste the text below and delete the parameters you don't need. You can also view a full listing at the template testcases page of what each parameter will produce.

{{Multiple issues
| abbreviations = December 2024
| advert = December 2024
| autobiography = December 2024
| BLP IMDb-only refimprove = December 2024
| BLP IMDb refimprove = December 2024
| BLP sources = December 2024
| BLP unsourced = December 2024
| citation style = December 2024
| cite check = December 2024
| cleanup = December 2024
| cleanup-laundry = December 2024
| cleanup-link rot = December 2024
| cleanup-reorganize = December 2024
| cleanup-rewrite = December 2024
| cleanup-spam = December 2024
| COI = December 2024
| colloquial = December 2024
| confusing = December 2024
| context = December 2024
| contradict = December 2024
| copy edit = December 2024
| criticism section = December 2024
| crystal = December 2024
| dead end = December 2024
| disputed = December 2024
| essay-like = December 2024
| example farm = December 2024
| expert = topic name | date = December 2024 (or expert = December 2024)
| external links = December 2024
| fanpov = December 2024
| fiction = December 2024
| game guide = December 2024
| globalize = December 2024
| histinfo = December 2024
| hoax = December 2024
| howto = December 2024
| inappropriate person = December 2024
| incomplete = December 2024
| in-universe = December 2024
| lead missing = December 2024
| lead rewrite = December 2024
| lead too long = December 2024
| lead too short = December 2024
| like resume = December 2024
| more footnotes = December 2024
| news release = December 2024
| no footnotes = December 2024
| NOT = December 2024
| notability = December 2024
| one source = December 2024
| original research = December 2024
| orphan = December 2024
| out of date = December 2024
| over-quotation = December 2024
| overly detailed = December 2024
| peacock = December 2024
| plot = December 2024
| POV = December 2024
| POV-check = December 2024
| primary sources = December 2024
| prose = December 2024
| recentism = December 2024
| refimprove = December 2024
| review = December 2024
| sections = December 2024
| self-published = December 2024
| story = December 2024
| synthesis = December 2024
| technical = December 2024
| tone = December 2024
| travel guide = December 2024
| trivia = December 2024
| unbalanced = December 2024
| unreferenced = December 2024
| unreliable sources = December 2024
| update = December 2024
| very long = December 2024
| weasel = December 2024
| wikify = December 2024
}}

Description of parameters

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Parameter name Issue Topic Severity stand-alone template Optional format of value
abbreviations Uses confusing or ambiguous abbreviations Writing style
Style
{{abbreviations}} month and year
advert Written like an advertisement Inappropriate contents
aCritical
{{advert}} month and year
autobiography Article is an autobiography
Note: use with great care regarding WP:PRIVACY - see documentation.
Inappropriate contents
Policy
{{autobiography}} month and year
BLP IMDb-only refimprove,
BLP IMDB-only refimprove
Only attribution is IMDb, needs additional citations for verification (Biography) Verifiability
Policy
{{BLP IMDb refimprove|only=yes}} month and year
BLP IMDb refimprove,
BLP IMDB refimprove
Has attribution to IMDb, needs additional citations for verification (Biography) Verifiability
Policy
{{BLP IMDb refimprove}} month and year
BLP sources, BLPsources Needs additional citations for verification (Biography) Verifiability
Policy
{{BLP sources}} month and year
BLP unsourced, BLPunsourced Biographical article cites no references or sources Verifiability
Policy
{{BLP unsourced}} month and year
citation style, citationstyle,
citation-style
Citation style unclear Verifiability
Style
{{citation style}} month and year
cite check, citecheck Citations may not verify text Verifiability
Policy
{{cite check}} month and year
cleanup May require cleanup (consider a more specific tag instead) Quality standards
Style
{{cleanup}} month and year
cleanup-laundry,
laundry, laundrylists
Lists contain non-notable, non-encyclopedic or not helpful items Inappropriate contents
Policy
{{cleanup-laundry}} month and year
cleanup-link rot, linkrot Uses bare URLs for citations that may be subject to link rot Verifiability
Style
{{cleanup-link rot}} month and year
cleanup-reorganize, organize,
restructure, reorganisation
Needs reorganization Structure and formatting
Style
{{cleanup-reorganize}} month and year
cleanup-rewrite, rewrite Rewrite entirely Inappropriate contents
Policy
{{cleanup-rewrite}} month and year
cleanup-spam, spam Contains promotional material Inappropriate contents
aCritical
{{cleanup-spam}} month and year
COI, coi Major contributor appears to have conflict of interest Note: WP:PRIVACY applies Neutrality
Policy
{{COI}} month and year
colloquial Too many colloquial terms Writing style
Style
{{colloquial}} month and year
confusing Confusing or unclear to readers Writing style
Style
{{confusing}} month and year
context Introduction provides insufficient context Content problems
Style
{{context}} month and year
contradict Article contradicts itself Content problems
qContents
{{contradict}} month and year
copy edit, copyedit Copyedit grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling Writing style
Style
{{copy edit}} month and year
criticism section, criticisms Contains criticism/controversy section, may conflict NPOV Content problems
Style
{{criticism section}} month and year
crystal Contains unsourced predictions Inappropriate contents
Policy
{{crystal}} month and year
dead end, deadend Needs links to other articles Content problems
qContents
{{dead end}} month and year
disputed Factual accuracy disputed Neutrality
aCritical
{{disputed}} month and year
essay-like, essay Written like personal reflection or essay Writing style
Style
{{essay-like}} month and year
example farm, examplefarm Excessive, poor or irrelevant examples Writing style
qContents
{{example farm}} month and year
expert Expert attention needed Content problems
qContents
{{expert-subject}} WikiProject or Portal name
external links External links conflict with guidelines Verifiability
Style
{{external links}} month and year
fanpov, fansite Written from fan's POV, rather than NPOV Inappropriate contents
Policy
{{fanpov}} month and year
fiction Fails to make clear distinction between fact and fiction Inappropriate contents
Policy
{{fiction}} month and year
game guide, gameguide Written like a game guide Inappropriate contents
Policy
{{game guide}} month and year
globalize May not represent worldwide view of subject Content problems
qContents
{{globalize}} month and year
histinfo Lacks historical information Content problems
qContents
{{histinfo}} month and year
hoax Truthfulness has been questioned Inappropriate contents
aCritical
{{hoax}} month and year
howto Contains instructions, advice or how-to content Inappropriate contents
Policy
{{howto}} month and year
inappropriate person "I", "we" or "you" perspective Writing style
Style
{{inappropriate person}} month and year
incomplete Incomplete, requires expansion or cleanup Content problems
qContents
{{incomplete}} month and year
in-universe Describes fiction in an in-universe style Inappropriate contents
Policy
{{in-universe}} month and year
lead missing, intromissing Has no lead section Structure and formatting
Style
{{lead missing}} month and year
lead rewrite, introrewrite Introduction conflicts with guidelines Writing style
Style
{{lead rewrite}} month and year
lead too long, intro length,
intro-toolong
Introduction too long Writing style
Style
{{lead too long}} month and year
lead too short, intro-tooshort Introduction too short Writing style
Style
{{lead too short}} month and year
like resume, likeresume Written like a resume Inappropriate contents
Policy
{{like resume}} month and year
more footnotes Needs additional footnotes Verifiability
Style
{{more footnotes}} month and year
news release, newsrelease Written in an overly promotional tone Inappropriate contents
Policy
{{news release}} month and year
no footnotes Missing footnotes Verifiability
Style
{{no footnotes}} month and year
NOT, unencyclopedic Material not appropriate for encyclopedia Inappropriate contents
Policy
{{NOT}} month and year
notability, notable May not meet general notability guidelines Inappropriate contents
aCritical
{{notability}} month and year
one source, onesource Relies on a single source Verifiability
qContents
{{one source}} month and year
original research May contain original research Inappropriate contents
Policy
{{original research}} month and year
orphan, do-attempt Less than three valid incoming links Content problems
qContents
{{orphan}} month and year
out of date No longer accurate Content problems
Policy
{{out of date}} month and year
over-quotation, quote farm Too many quotations Writing style
qContents
{{over-quotation}} month and year
overly detailed, fancruft Excessive amount of intricate detail Inappropriate contents
Policy
{{overly detailed}} month and year
peacock Wording promotes the subject inappropriately Writing style
Policy
{{peacock}} month and year
plot Too much plot summary Inappropriate contents
Policy
{{plot}} month and year
POV, NPOV, pov, npov WP:NPOV is disputed Neutrality
Policy
{{POV}} month and year
POV-check, pov-check Nominated to be checked for neutrality Neutrality
Policy
{{POV-check}} month and year
primary sources, primarysources Needs references from third-party publications Verifiability
Policy
{{primary sources}} month and year
prose Change list format to prose Writing style
Style
{{prose}} month and year
recentism May be slanted towards recent events Content problems
qContents
{{recentism}} month and year
refimprove Needs additional citations for verification Verifiability
Policy
{{refimprove}} month and year
review Written like a review, not neutral in tone Neutrality
qContents
{{review}} month and year
sections Divide into sections Structure and formatting
Style
{{sections}} month and year
self-published Improper references to self-published sources Verifiability
Policy
{{self-published}} month and year
story Reads like a story Writing style
Style
{{story}} month and year
synthesis Unpublished synthesis, ideas not in original sources Inappropriate contents
Policy
{{synthesis}} month and year
technical, jargon Too technical for most readers to understand Inappropriate contents
qContents
{{technical}} month and year
tone, inappropriate tone Inappropriate tone or style Writing style
Style
{{tone}} month and year
travel guide, travelguide Written like a travel guide Inappropriate contents
Policy
{{travel guide}} month and year
trivia Contains lists of miscellaneous information Inappropriate contents
qContents
{{trivia}} month and year
unbalanced Favors certain viewpoints Neutrality
qContents
{{unbalanced}} month and year
unreferenced, unref Article does not cite any references or sources Verifiability
Policy
{{unreferenced}} month and year
unreliable sources, unreliable References do not meet WP:RS Verifiability
Policy
{{unreliable sources}} month and year
update Needs to be updated Content problems
qContents
{{update}} month and year
very long, verylong,
long
Article is too long, consider splitting Structure and formatting
Style
{{very long}} month and year
weasel Contains weasel words Writing style
qContents
{{weasel}} month and year
wikify Needs to be wikified Structure and formatting
qContents
{{wikify}} month and year

Adding new issues

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Note: after successfully adding a new issue, please update the documentation page, as well as the template testcases page.

To add a new issue, use this example:

{{Multiple issues/message
| name       = {{{unreferenced|}}}
| message    = It '''does not [[Wikipedia:Citing sources|cite]] any [[Wikipedia:Verifiability|references or sources]]'''. Please help improve it by adding citations to [[Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources|reliable sources]].
| cat        = All articles lacking sources
| cat-date   = Articles lacking sources
| id         = unreferenced
}}

which produces the line: {{ {{{template}}}

 |1=article
 |date=December 2024
 |demospace=
}}

The article will be put in the category "cat" if is specified, and either the category "cat-date" with the date (the value passed in the name parameter) if it is a valid category or the category "cat-undate". For undated issues only, use the "cat" parameter.

In the unlikely event that more categories are needed, "cat1", "cat-date1" and "cat-undate1" are available.

Old name

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This template was previously named {{article issues}}.

Deprecated parameters

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Pages transcluding {{multiple issues}} with certain incorrect or currently deprecated parameters can be found in Category:Articles using Multiple issues with deprecated parameters.

See also

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