Template:Imdb name/doc

This is a documentation subpage for Template:Imdb name (see that page for the template itself).
It contains usage information, categories and other content that is not part of the original template page.

This is a template to generate links to Internet Movie Database, used exclusively for PEOPLE.

To link a movie, use {{imdb title}} instead.

To link a tv episode, use {{imdb episode}} instead.

To link a company, use {{imdb company}} instead.

To link a character, use {{imdb character}} instead.

Options

The required parameter is just the ID number (for backward compatibility, the parameter can be named id) and the template then uses the article title as the anchor text:

* {{imdb name|ID}}

To have the link text be other than the article name, use second parameter (for backward compatibility, it can be named name):

* {{imdb name|ID|Name}}

This can be used when the Wikipedia page name contains disambiguation brackets; for example at the page John Smith (actor) use {{imdb name|0808774|John Smith}} to have "John Smith at the Internet Movie Database" rather than "John Smith (actor) at the Internet Movie Database". This is also necessary should you need to add an IMDb link to an article about somebody or something other than the linked person (for example, if you include the IMDb link for Bette Davis in the Joan Crawford article, you must specify Bette Davis's name as the text for the link using this option).

Note that the options include the "*" for a bulleted list since this is most likely to be used in an "External links" section.

Detailed instructions

1. Copy and paste one of the options above into the article
2. Go to http://www.imdb.com and search for the person you want (say, Helen Slayton-Hughes; you'll reach http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=Helen+Slayton-Hughes)
3. Click on the correct Helen Slayton-Hughes in the list:
   1. Helen Slayton-Hughes(Actress, Good Night and Good Luck. (2005))
4. You then reach the page with URL looking like http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0805658/ (or other 7-digit number)
5. Copy only that number (here, "0805658"), omitting the "nm" but keep all the leading zeros (though IMDB currently seems to be able to add them as needed)
6. Replace "ID" in the template code with the number
   1. For the first option above, you'll then have

      * {{imdb name|0805658}} resulting in:

      • Imdb name/doc at the Internet Movie Database

      Note that the link text is the same as the title of the page the template is used on; outside the page "Helen Slayton-Hughes", use the second option:

   2. Replace "ID" with the number and "Name" with "Helen Slayton-Hughes"

      * {{imdb name|0805658|Helen Slayton-Hughes}} results in:

      • Helen Slayton-Hughes at the Internet Movie Database

If you still have any doubts or questions about the use of the template, you can ask at User talk:Kieff.