Template:Football kit/doc

The purpose of a football kit template is to show the look, feel, and design of an association football (or rugby) kit for both identification and historical purposes. For the most complete listing of templates available for use, see the Football kit templates category on Wikimedia Commons. Also, generic templates are available at Template:Football kit/pattern list.

Usage
The most common usage is as a sub-template of an infobox such as Infobox football club, Infobox football club season, or Infobox national football team in use on an article relating to a football club or an article relating to a club's season. In some instances, particularly in articles relating to noteworthy and high profile matches, the template can be used in a standalone instance by using Football kit box.

Example
This template uses patterns (saved as partially transparent images on Commons) to cover solid blocks of color and render a complete kit. In the example below, the sleeves and shorts are red covered with white pattern, the body is white covered with red pattern, and the socks are white without pattern.



Parameters
The parameters for this template are as follows:

Note: arm patterns are identified as left and right from the reader's point of view (as opposed to the shirt-wearer's point of view).

You may specify the optional parameter filetype to use a different image format than the default PNG. For example, setting "filetype = svg" will direct the template to SVG files. When using this optional parameter, you must ensure that all of the images you want to use exist in the format that you select. Currently, most images only exist as PNG files and will not work with the SVG setting.

Best practice
Whenever possible—for clubs of any stature—existing patterns should be used to render this template. Clubs that play in the highest level of competition within their country's league system (Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, MLS, etc.), however, may have an increased need for club and season specific templates to commensurate with the depth of information available for top flight clubs.

For any template change, attention should be paid to implement across Wikipedia sites worldwide. In particular, the English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish sites should be updated anytime a template is changed or added. Additionally, when updating a club template for the current season, make sure to update both the "main" article for that club as well as the "current season" article for that club. Take extra caution when editing existing templates, many times multiple clubs will use the same template and an edit that works for one of the clubs may not work for another.

Creating and naming a new pattern
If you determine that a new pattern is necessary, use your image editor to create a new pattern including any details necessary to render the kit accurately. Templates for higher profile clubs should generally include more detail than those for lower profile clubs. For top flight clubs, the emphasis is on historical accuracy and season specific identification. For lower level clubs, the emphasis is on using generic templates and accurate representation of team colors.

Please follow the following rules for designing new patterns:
 * Club badges, sponsor logos, and manufacturer logos should never be included.
 * Every pattern must include a transparent field.
 * Never include the word "transparent" in any file name.
 * Each pattern must start with one of the following, as required:
 * Kit_left_arm_
 * Kit_body_
 * Kit_right_arm_
 * Kit_shorts_
 * Kit_socks_
 * Each pattern must end with .png or .svg (lower case).

Generic patterns
If you feel that the pattern that you are adding could be used for other clubs and is not specific to a particular club, you are creating a generic pattern.

Naming convention for the Kit_body_ patterns are described as follows:
 * Multiple vertical lines are called stripes.
 * Single vertical lines are called vertical.
 * Multiple horizontal lines are called hoops.
 * Single horizontal lines are called horizontal.
 * Halves are called righthalf (where the pattern color is on the right as viewed) or lefthalf (where the pattern color is on the left as viewed).
 * Sashes are called rightsash (/) or leftsash (\).

When creating generic Kit_body_ patterns, use the "«color»«pattern identifier»" naming structure, where:
 * «color» is a word that clearly describes the color of the details added by your pattern.
 * «pattern identifier» is a word that clearly describes the style of the details added by your pattern.

For example, the body template used in the example above is named Kit_body_redgradiantstripes.png.

Alternatively, for generic Kit_body_ patterns, use the "«pattern identifier»on«color»" naming structure, where:
 * «pattern identifier» is a word that clearly describes the style of the details added by your pattern.
 * «color» is a word that clearly describes the color of the body of your pattern.

For example, the left sleeve template used in the example above is named Kit_left_arm_shouldersonwhite.png.

For sleeves, shorts, and socks patterns, use a description best fits the design you are creating, while taking into account the guidelines above for naming the body patterns.

Club-specific patterns
If you feel that the pattern that you are adding could generally not be used by another club, you are creating a club-specific pattern. Please note that in many cases, the Kit_body_ pattern will be the only part that is necessary to customize (sleeves, shorts, and socks are frequently generic).

When creating club-specific patterns, use the «team identifier»«season identifier»«kit identifier» naming structure, where:
 * «team identifier» is a word that clearly indicates the club for which the pattern was originally designed for.
 * «season identifier» is a number that identifies the season for which the pattern was originally designed for (i.e. "1011" for most clubs or "2010" for MLS clubs).
 * «kit identifier» is the letter h, a, or t to identify whether the pattern is for a home, away, or third kit.

For example, the body of the 2010/11 home kit for Wigan Athletic F.C. should be named Kit_body_wigan1011h.png.

Uploading a pattern
Once your pattern has been created, upload the file to Wikimedia Commons and categorize your new pattern as appropriate. Do not place a pattern into both a category and the parent category (e.g., categorize the pattern in 'Football kit body/crosses', not in both 'Football kit body/crosses' and 'Football kit templates'). Each pattern should be assigned to a single category.