The purpose of the {{off-topic thread}} template is to give a visual hint to readers of talk page discussions to ignore an issue or topic that has been posted to the wrong talk page or other venue. It should usually include some indication what the proper venue actually is.. It is hoped that the existence of this tag will make it easier for the reader to pass over off-topic material and get back to what that particular talk page is actually there for.
Usage
Place the following under the topic heading on a talk page:
{{Off-topic thread}}
To make an additional comment explaining why the issue should be taken elsewhere and/or to sign so that others know who marked the thread as off-topic:
{{Off-topic thread|1=This is a body-content matter to raise at [[WT:MOSBIO]], not here at [[WT:NCP]] which is only about page titles. ~~~~}}
This parameter must be given as |1= or |reason= if any of its content contains the = character (which is common in signatures).
It is not necessary to include your signature (~~~~) when stating incontrovertible facts, such as that a proposal was rescinded later in the thread, etc., or when it is obvious from the content or context who placed the template. Signing when not necessary is pointless clutter, and defeats the purpose of the template as a simple and easy-to-scan label. Do include your sig at the end of a |1= comment if the Off-topic thread label could be controversial (in which case anyone is free to remove it entirely) or attribution is otherwise actually needed, e.g. because of subjective content in the comment. Any editor may add attribution from page history if they think it is important (or remove it where it seems like a useless distraction).
If a discussion is worth having but should be moved to a better venue (or has already talk-forked into a thread over there, see the {{Moved discussion to}} template. If the discussion should be firmly closed, e.g. because it is disruptive at its present location, see {{discussion top}}, {{archive top}}, or {{hat}} as appropriate. Templates can be combined, e.g. {{Discussion top|result={{Off-topic thread|reason=Try [[Talk:Underwater nocturnal basketweaving]]. ~~~~ }} }} ... {{discussion bottom}}
See also
- Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines § How to use article talk pages – guideline on talk-page content
- {{Moved discussion to}} – for soft-redirecting a mis-placed or moribund thread to a better-placed and active one
- {{Collapse top}}, {{Collapse bottom}}, etc. – for hiding knots of off-topic and potentially disruptive talk-page venting
On article content relevance:
- {{Category relevant?}} - banner template to question the inclusion of the article in a particular category or categories
- {{Importance section}} - banner template to flag an entire section as possibly off-topic or indiscriminate trivia
- {{Relevance inline}} – an inline template to flag potentially off-topic material in mid-paragraph
- Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup – index of cleanup-related templates
- Wikipedia:Writing better articles § Stay on topic – guideline on encyclopedic content
{{Resolved}}→
Resolved{{Unresolved}}→
Unresolved{{Not sure3}}→
Not sure{{Being worked on}}→
Being worked on{{2O}}→
2nd opinion requested{{Duplicate issue}}→
Duplicate {{Disregard}}→
Disregard{{Moot}}→{{Off-topic thread}}→{{FYI}}→{{Moved discussion from}}→
Moved from {{{1}}}{{Moved discussion to}}→
Moved to{{Stale}}→
Stale{{Stuck}}→ Stuck{{WQA in progress}}→ Work in progress; comments welcome{{Wrong venue}}→
Wrong venue. Please move to {{{1}}}{{Referred elsewhere}}→
Not an issue for Off-topic thread. Referred elsewhere.{{Resbox|demo=y|reason=(customizable)}}→
Misc
- Template:Done/See also, the large family of inline, comment-level templates (similar to the above, but with no box around them); {{Resbox}} can be used to convert any of them into {{Resolved}}-style hatnotes
- Template:Table cell templates/doc, the family of table-specific templates that work only in tables
- Category:Image with comment templates
- Category:Resolution templates