Usage

The ((WikiProject Ships)) banner template should be added (not subst:'d) to the talk page of every article within the scope of the project. While the template does not require any additional parameters, it has a number of optional ones that help WikiProject Ships evaluate the quality of articles. Note that the template accepts Y or y in addition to yes for boolean parameters; likewise N and n are treated as aliases of the value no. The full syntax is:

((WikiProject Ships|class=
|needs-infobox=
|listas=
|category=
))

A more compact version with the most commonly used parameters is:

((WikiProject Ships|class=))

Parameters

Please review the WikiProject Ships assessment process.

• class – an evaluation of the article's quality; see the quality scale for more details. If an article has an existing quality rating by WikiProject Military history, you may copy that assessment, if you agree. (WikiProject Ships and WikiProject Military history each recognize the quality ratings assigned by the other.) Before copying the quality rating from WikiProjects other than WikiProject Military history, consider how they assess their articles. If you are not sure of the quality rating, you may leave it blank. Templates, categories, and files, along with pages in the Project, User, and Portal namespaces are automatically assessed by the template.
• needs-infobox – will display a notice on the article talk page if the article either has no infobox or has an outdated or subst:'d one. (See Infobox ship begin for the current infobox and usage information.) Valid values are:
  • yes – if the article is missing an appropriate infobox
  • new – if it has an old or subst:'d infobox that need to be replaced with the current one
  • no – if it has the appropriate infobox
• listas – This parameter, which is the equivalent of the DEFAULTSORT sortkey that should be placed on all biographical articles, is a sortkey for the article talk page (e.g. for Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, use |listas=Edmund Fitzgerald, Wreck of the so that the talk page will show up in the E's and not the W's of the various assessment and administrative categories). This is important because it is one source used by those who set DEFAULTSORT on the article; consider also setting the DEFAULTSORT for the article when setting this parameter. For more information about this, please see Wikipedia:Categorization of people § Ordering names in a category.
  If the article is using ((WikiProject banner shell)) then it is preferable to add |listas= to that template instead of a project banner template. Putting the parameter on more than one template is not required.
• category – set |category=no if, and only if, a banner is being used for demonstration or testing purposes, to prevent unnecessary or undesirable categorization. Otherwise, omit this parameter.

B-Class checklist

This is applicable only for articles rated as "Start-Class", "C-Class", or "B-Class", and must be completed prior to assigning either a "C-Class" or "B-Class" rating—see the project's B-Class FAQ for more details):

• B-Class criterion #1: is suitably referenced, and all major points have appropriate inline citations
• B-Class criterion #2: reasonably covers the topic, and does not contain major omissions or inaccuracies
• B-Class criterion #3: has a defined structure, including a lead section and one or more sections of content
• B-Class criterion #4: is free from major grammatical errors
• B-Class criterion #5: contains appropriate supporting materials, such as an infobox, images, or diagrams

At least one of the above criteria must be satisfied prior to an assessment of "Start-Class". Criteria Nos. 3–5 are required to be completed prior to the assignment of a "C-Class" assessment, and all five are required prior to the assignment of "B-Class".

Removed parameters

• |importance= – Importance ratings were disabled by the project in September 2009.
• |b1=, |b2=, |b3=, |b4=, |b5= – B-Class ratings were disabled in December 2023

Multiple projects

If there are multiple project banners for an article, use ((WikiProject banner shell)) to encapsulate all the project banners as seen below. Also, if the article is considered a biography of a living person, add the |living=yes parameter before |1=.

((WikiProject banner shell|1=
((WikiProject Military history|class=|Maritime=yes))
((WikiProject Ships|class=))
((WikiProject Shipwrecks|class=|importance=))
))

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