Template talk:Infobox lighthouse

Lens

Original lens 1st order 920mm fixed lens Current lens Fourth order Fresnel lens

Lens 1st order 920mm fixed lens (original), Fourth order Fresnel lens (current)

I suggest merging Original lens and Current lens into simply Lens. If both fields are used then qualifiers (original) and (current) could be added automatically. If just one is used, then no qualifier is needed.

The reason is that if the current is the same as the original, then the infobox looks a little silly. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 15:53, 16 March 2021 (UTC)

Original lens Fourth order Fresnel lens Current lens Fourth order Fresnel lens

Lens Fourth order Fresnel lens

I have created a tracking category Category:Lighthouses using current lens parameter and intend to merge the two parameters shortly — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 12:46, 21 May 2021 (UTC)

I have emptied Category:Lighthouses using current lens parameter only by renaming the "currentlens" parameter to "lens". I am planning to start on the remaining articles in Category:Lighthouses using current lens parameter by appending (original) and (current) to the values and merging, i.e. for example, from

 | lens = Fourth order [[Fresnel lens]]
 | currentlens = 375 mm lens 

to

 | lens = Fourth order [[Fresnel lens]] (original), 375 mm lens (current)

— Martin (MSGJ · talk) 22:36, 10 June 2021 (UTC)

 Done All instances have been converted, and the currentlens parameter will be removed shortly — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 20:16, 16 June 2021 (UTC)

Owner parameter?

Hi, is there any interest in adding an "owner" parameter in the infobox? In most cases a lighthouse is owned by the national government of the site but an exception is possible. Regards, ... PeterEasthope (talk) 13:15, 23 July 2021 (UTC)

There is |managing_agent=, which displays with the heading Operator:. Since there are probably very few cases where the owner is different that the operator, exceptions can be handled by saying something like "(owned by national government)" after showing the operator. MB 14:19, 23 July 2021 (UTC)

I think adding "owner" would be an excellent idea, but perhaps with advice not to include unless it is different from operator? — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 17:56, 14 September 2021 (UTC)

Importing to Wikidata

For those editors interested in using Wikidata to store the data for the infoboxes, I have been working on a tool to help import directly from the infobox template.

Adding |qs=yes adds a link to QuickStatements which can quickly import some of the data from the infobox. For a proof of concept, try clicking the colored arrow on the infobox below.

It is not infallible! It needs to be used with care, and the results should be reviewed afterwards. Some known limitations:

• Units are fixed to metres (height and focal height) and nautical miles (range). If any different units are used in the infobox, errors will be introduced.
• Any preceding characters in front of values will stop it working. For example |yearlit=~1880 would not work.
• A character inside a number (e.g. |intensity=15,000) will be truncated to 15.
• Statements are marked as imported from enwiki, but should be referenced to a reliable source where possible. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 19:59, 14 September 2021 (UTC)

Admiralty number syncronised with Wikidata

I am happy to report that the admiralty number in the template is now fully aligned with Admiralty number (P3562) on Wikidata. To keep them synchonised I am proposing to remove the local parameter and just use the value on Wikidata. This will be the first step towards a master plan that I proposed earlier in the year. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 17:32, 22 September 2021 (UTC)

Update: NGA number and CCG number are now fully aligned with their Wikidata values, so the local parameters for these have been turned off. Still to do: ARLHS number and USCG number — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 07:51, 30 September 2021 (UTC)

Update: ARLHS number is now aligned with Wikidata and the local parameter has been switched off — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 13:04, 30 October 2021 (UTC)

Sections for tower and light

Ardnamurchan Lighthouse

Location	Ardnamurchan Point, Ardnamurchan, Highland, United Kingdom
OS grid	NM4158767473
Coordinates	56°43′38″N 6°13′34″W
Tower
Constructed	1849
Built by	Alan Stevenson
Construction	granite (tower)
Automated	1988
Height	35 m (115 ft)
Operator	Northern Lighthouse Board
Heritage	category A listed building
Light
Focal height	55 m (180 ft)
Range	24 nmi (44 km; 28 mi)
Characteristic	Fl(2) W 20s

We are grouping properties of the tower at the top of the infobox and properties of the light at the bottom of the infobox. What do people think about adding some headings to make the distinction clearer? An example is shown right. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 13:42, 3 November 2021 (UTC)

This now been implemented — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 17:04, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

Bug in code

Burlington Breakwater South Light

modern replica lighthouse, lit in 2004
Location	Burlington, United States
Coordinates	44°28′12″N 73°13′32″W
Tower
Constructed	1857
Construction	structural wood
Shape	square pyramid
Markings	White
Light
First lit	2003
Focal height	12 ft (3.7 m)
Range	7 nmi (13 km; 8.1 mi)
Characteristic	Fl W 4s

I have discovered that if two images are held on Wikidata and only the second one has a caption, then the template will give the first image but give it the caption of the second image! I will look into fixing this somehow ... — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 19:16, 3 November 2021 (UTC)

Image parameter

I think image would be a simpler parameter name than image_name. The latter is unintuitive and always forces me back to the template documentation when I find that image doesn't work! I suggest the template should accept the image parameter as an alternative. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 13:38, 7 March 2022 (UTC)

Deprecated parameters

I have posted a request at WP:BOTREQ to remove several parmeters which are no longer used by this template. They are listed below.

• Admiralty
• ARLHS
• Canada
• coordinates_footnotes
• NGA
• pushpin
• pushpin_label_position
• pushpin_map
• pushpin_map_alt
• pushpin_map_caption
• pushpin_mapsize
• pushpin_outside
• pushpin_relief
• relief
• USCG

— Martin (MSGJ · talk) 13:39, 7 March 2022 (UTC)

This has now been completed — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 08:53, 8 March 2022 (UTC)

History section

I'm thinking it would be good to have a section in the infobox for the history of the lighthouse, including all significant dates. We can bring the "constructed", "first lit", "automated" into this section along with other important dates like "commissioned", "electrified", "destroyed", etc. Of course they would need to be in chronological order to make sense. I will make a mock-up to see what it would look like. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 20:42, 2 April 2022 (UTC)

Disable wikidata fetching

This is a terrible feature, instead of being able to just edit the infobox I am supposed to go to another project and fiddle around with it? I've never encountered another infobox that forces you to use Wikidata. Traumnovelle (talk) 00:49, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

This is an excellent feature, in my opinion! Why should be have to maintain our own data separately when there is a dedicated project for it. In any case, it is straightforward to override the data coming from Wikidata, if you have cause to do so — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 08:49, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

It forces parameters that one may not wish to include as the infobox is only to summarise key information. The point of an infobox is to summarise what is in the *article* not what is on Wikidata Traumnovelle (talk) 19:48, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

Deprecated parameter cleanup

When Zackmann08 has changed some Infobox building-related templates to clean up deprecate parameters, I requested a cleanup of this Infobox and to ensure that all parameters conform to MOS:INFOBOXNAME. To be clear, this will not change the display on any transclusions. The one parameter that were needed to replace are the following:

Deprecate/Remove	Replace with
|image_width=	|image_size=

Anyone else to add new parameters and replace the deprecated ones, please sign below with any questions, comments or concerns about this cleanup. Thomasfan1916^{[built buses?]} 20:19, 11 July 2026 (UTC)

As I attempted to explain here, you are not doing this correctly and are breaking hundreds of pages. Please stop! Your changes have been reverted. Zackmann (^{Talk to me}/_{What I been doing}) 03:57, 12 July 2026 (UTC)