Module:Navbox/doc

Module:Navbox is the "RANGER" navigation-box engine that turns a {{Navbox}} template's title/header/group/list parameters into a collapsible, styled navigation box at the bottom of a page.

Overview

Navboxes are the collapsible link tables you see at the foot of related pages (e.g. the Dungeon Navbox, Biome Navbox, or the per-weapon "UT … Navbox" templates). This module reads the navbox's parameters — a title, optional above/below text, and a hierarchy of sections (header), groups (group) and link lists (list) — and renders the nested HTML with the right CSS classes (all prefixed ranger-) and MediaWiki collapsing.

It is a flexible, generic engine: parameter names can be written many ways (camelCase, spaced, hyphenated, indexed like group1.2 or 1.2:group) and are all normalised to a canonical form. Sections can be nested to arbitrary depth, and style/class parameters cascade from general to specific.

Editors do not call the module directly — they use {{Navbox}} (which is just

View or edit this template

) and fill in parameters. Many ready-made wrappers exist, e.g. {{Dungeon Navbox}}, {{Biome Navbox}}, and the untiered-item navboxes like {{UTSword Navbox}}.

Functions / entry points

Function (#invoke)	What it does	Called by
p.main	The template entry point. Merges the invoke args with the parent template args (parent wins), parses/normalises them, builds the section tree, and renders the navbox. Adds .	{{Navbox}} and its wrappers ({{Dungeon Navbox}}, {{Biome Navbox}}, {{UTSword Navbox}}, etc.)
p.build	The entry point for other Lua modules that want to wrap the navbox. Takes an args table and renders it; can optionally re-parse args, merge a custom config, or override hooks. Used to build derived navbox styles (e.g. a "pill" navbox).	Other modules (e.g. a custom Module:PillNavbox)
p.mergeArgs	Helper that merges a frame's own args with its parent's args (parent overrides), trimming blanks. Provided so a wrapping module can collect args the same way p.main does.	Wrapping modules, and internally by p.main

How it's used

{{Navbox}} is simply:

<includeonly>{{#invoke:Navbox|main}}</includeonly>

A page or wrapper template then supplies parameters, for example:

{{Navbox
| title  = Dungeons
| state  = collapsed
| header1 = Frozen
|  group1.1 = Tier 1
|   list1.1 = [[Ice Cave]] · [[Frozen Ruins]]
| header2 = Desert
|   list2  = [[Desert Temple]] · [[Anubis Lair]]
}}

A child navbox embedded inside another uses !!C$H$I$L$D!!null.

Ordinary editors use {{Navbox}} (or a themed wrapper), not #invoke directly. To build a new family of navboxes with a different look, a maintainer can write a small module that calls require('Module:Navbox').build(...) with a custom config.

Notes

• Parameter naming is forgiving. listStyle, list style, list1_style, 1.2:list_style etc. all normalise to the same canonical key. Indices like group1.1 build the nesting tree. Aliases are mapped too: class→navbox_class, style/css→navbox_style, collapsible→state, editlink/navbar→meta, name→template, evenodd→striped.
• Collapsing. |state= accepts collapsed, expanded, or no/off/plain (not collapsible). A header whose value is two or more hyphens (--) starts a new, non-collapsible section without a visible header.
• Style/class cascade. Style and class parameters merge from general to specific (e.g. subgroup_style → subgroup_level_1_style → group_1.1_style). Prefixing a value with -- stops the cascade and uses only that value.
• Auto-flatten. If a section contains a single sub-list with no group/content of its own, its sublists are promoted to the parent level (controlled by auto_flatten_top_level in the config) to keep the hierarchy clean.
• Edit/meta link. The small "view/edit this template" link (the meta/navbar) is on by default; turn off with |meta=no (or its aliases). Hover text comes from the Navbox-edit-hover system message.
• Config & hooks. Defaults live in the config table at the top of the module, but should be changed via the onLoadConfig hook in Module:Navbox/Hooks (if present) rather than edited inline. Other hooks fire during arg sanitising and tree building.
• All output classes are prefixed ranger- (this engine's name is RANGER), and the wiki's CSS/collapse gadget styles those.
• Related: {{Navbox}}, {{Dungeon Navbox}}, {{Biome Navbox}}, the UT…Navbox family, and Module:Navbox/Hooks.