Template:Designation

| colspan=2 align=center style="border:4px solid #A8EDEF;"|Invalid designation

Template documentation[view] [edit] [history] [purge]

Usage

This template is mainly used in conjunction with {{Infobox historic site}}, which is of interest to WikiProject Historic sites. This template tells the infobox how to display designations by passing along either a color or some text, which are dependent on the designation. The template is set up, however, so that anyone can use it as a stand-alone template to create tables, lists, and other articles throughout Wikipedia. The following is an explanation of how to use this template as a stand-alone template:

Template syntax

{{Designation|<designation>|<identifier>}}

<designation> – tells the template which designation to use. (i.e. "NRHP", "World Heritage Site", "NYCL", etc.) This parameter is case-insensitive, so "world heritage site" will yield the same thing as "WoRlD HeRiTaGe SiTe". All supported designations are listed below.
<identifier> – can be either of the following values:
- colour (or color) – will return a hex code for the official color of <designation>
- text – will return a link to the article talking about <designation>
- divbox - will generate a bordered div block element version, consisting of the link to the article talking about <designation> (this is useful in various templates that use the {{Infobox}}}

Examples:

{{Designation/colour|World Heritage Site}} yields " #FFE978"
{{Designation/text|Grade I}} yields "Listed Building – Grade I"
{{Designation/divbox|National Historic Site of Canada}} yields:

National Historic Site of Canada

Supported designations

Global designations

Designation	Bordered version	Scope	Count	Valid <designation> values (Callnames)
UNESCO World Heritage Site	UNESCO World Heritage Site	Global	874	World Heritage Site; WHS
IUCN Category Ia (Strict Nature Reserve)	IUCN Category Ia (Strict Nature Reserve)	Global	???	IUCN Category Ia; IUCN Ia; Category Ia; Nature Reserve
IUCN Category Ib (Wilderness Area)	IUCN Category Ib (Wilderness Area)	Global	???	IUCN Category Ib; IUCN Ib; Category Ib; Wilderness Area
IUCN Category II (National Park)	IUCN Category II (National Park)	Global	???	IUCN Category II; IUCN II; Category II; National Park
IUCN Category III (Natural Monument)	IUCN Category III (Natural Monument)	Global	???	IUCN Category III; IUCN III; Category III; Natural Monument
IUCN Category IV (Habitat/Species Management Area)	IUCN Category IV (Habitat/Species Management Area)	Global	???	IUCN Category IV; IUCN IV; Category IV; Habitat Management; Species Management
IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)	IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)	Global	???	IUCN Category V; IUCN V; Category V; Protected Landscape; Protected Seascape
IUCN Category VI (Managed Resource Protected Area)	IUCN Category VI (Managed Resource Protected Area)	Global	???	IUCN Category VI; IUCN VI; Category VI; Managed Resource Protected Area
Ramsar Wetland	Ramsar Wetland	Global	???	Ramsar; Ramsar Wetland; Ramsar Wetland of International Importance
Historic Civil Engineering Landmark	Historic Civil Engineering Landmark	Global	263	Civil Engineering Landmark; Historic Civil Engineering Landmark; HCEL
Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark	Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark	Global	259	Mechanical Engineering Landmark; Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark; HMEL

National/regional designations

Designation	Bordered version	Scope	Count	Valid <designation> values (Callnames)
Cultural Monument of Albania	Cultural Monument of Albania	Albania	201	Cultural Monument of Albania; Albanian Cultural Monument; Albania; Monument Kulture
National Historic Monument of Argentina	National Historic Monument of Argentina	Argentina	~400	National Historic Monument of Argentina; Argentina Historic Monument; Argentina; NHMA
Australian National Heritage List	Australian National Heritage List	Australia	????	Australian national heritage list; Australia; ANHL
Commonwealth Heritage List	Commonwealth Heritage List	Australia	????	Commonwealth heritage list; Australian Commonwealth heritage list; Commonwealth; CWLTHL
Register of the National Estate	Register of the National Estate	Australia	????	Register national estate; register of the national estate; Australian register of the national estate; RNE
List of Old Dhaka Heritage Sites	List of Old Dhaka Heritage Sites	Bangladesh	????	Old Dhaka Heritage Sites; Old Dhaka
KONS of Bosnia and Herzegovina	KONS of Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bosnia and Herzegovina	921	KONS
National Historic Heritage of Brazil	National Historic Heritage of Brazil	Brazil	1,047	National Historic Heritage of Brazil; Brazilian Historic Heritage; IPHAN; Brazil; NHHB
National Historic Site of Canada	National Historic Site of Canada	Canada	958	National Historic Site of Canada; Canadian National Historic Site; Canada; National Historic Site; NHSC; NHS
Heritage Railway Station (Canada)	Heritage Railway Station (Canada)	Canada	163	Heritage Railway Station of Canada; Canadian Heritage Railway Station; HRSC
Major cultural heritage sites under national-level protection	Major cultural heritage sites under national-level protection	China	5058	Major Historic and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level (China)
Protected Natural Value of Croatia	Protected Natural Value of Croatia	Croatia	461	Protected Natural Value of Croatia; Croatian Protected Natural Value; Protected area of Croatia; Croatian Protected area; Croatia Natural; Spomenik prirode
Cultural Good of Croatia	Cultural Good of Croatia	Croatia	???	Cultural Good of Croatia; Croatian Cultural Good; Croatia Cultural; Spomenik kulture
National Cultural Monument of the Czech Republic	National Cultural Monument of the Czech Republic	Czech Republic	384	National Cultural Monument of the Czech Republic; Czech National Cultural Monument
Monument historique	Monument historique	France	>43,000	Monument historique; France; French
Cultural Heritage Monument of Georgia	Cultural Heritage Monument of Georgia	Georgia	???	Cultural Heritage Monument of Georgia; კულტურული მემკვიდრეობის ძეგლი
Immovable Cultural Monument of National Significance of Georgia	Immovable Cultural Monument of National Significance of Georgia	Georgia	???	Immovable Cultural Monument of National Significance of Georgia; ეროვნული მნიშვნელობის კატეგორიის კულტურის უძრავი ძეგლი
Monument of National Importance	Monument of National Importance	India	>3000	Monuments of National Importance (India); Monument of National Importance (India); Monuments of National Importance; Monument of National Importance; MANI
National monument of Ireland	National monument of Ireland	Ireland	~1,000	Irish National Monument; National Monument of Ireland; Ireland Monument in State Care; Irish Monument in State Care; Ireland; Irish
National Treasure of Japan	National Treasure of Japan	Japan	1079	National Treasure of Japan; Japanese National Treasure; Japan
Rijksmonument	Rijksmonument	Netherlands	55,000+	Rijksmonument; Dutch National Monument; Netherlands National Monument; National Monument of the Netherlands; Netherlands; Dutch
Heritage New Zealand – Category 1	Heritage New Zealand – Category 1	New Zealand	???	Heritage New Zealand Category I; New Zealand Category I; NZ Category I
Heritage New Zealand – Category 2	Heritage New Zealand – Category 2	New Zealand	???	Heritage New Zealand Category II; New Zealand Category II; NZ Category II
National Cultural Treasures	National Cultural Treasures	Philippines	50>	PHILIPPINES CULTURAL TREASURES; PHILIPPINES TREASURES; PNCT
National Historical Landmarks	National Historical Landmarks	Philippines	50>	Philippines National Historic Landmarks; PNHL
Historic Monument of Poland	Historic Monument of Poland	Poland	129	Historic Monument of Poland
Portuguese National Monument	Portuguese National Monument	Portugal	791	National Monument of Portugal; Portuguese National Monument; Monumento Nacional do Portugal; Portugal; IPPAR
Monument istoric	Monument istoric	Romania	29,540	National Register of Historic Monuments in Romania; Monument istoric; Romania; Romanian
Cultural Heritage of Serbia	Cultural Heritage of Serbia	Serbia	2,391	Cultural Heritage of Serbia; Serbia; Serbian
Invalid designation	Invalid designation	Sierra Leone	???	List of National Monuments of Sierra Leone
National monument of Singapore	National monument of Singapore	Singapore	???	National Monument of Singapore; Singapore National Monument; Singapore
Historic Sites of South Korea	Historic Sites of South Korea	South Korea	????	Historic Sites of South Korea; Historic Sites of the Republic of Korea; South Korea
Spanish Cultural Heritage	Spanish Cultural Heritage	Spain	~13,000	Spanish Property of Cultural Interest; Bien de Interés Cultural; BIC; Spain; Spanish
Natura 2000 site (SAC)	Natura 2000 site (SAC)	European Union	???	Special Area of Conservation; SAC
Natura 2000 site (SPA)	Natura 2000 site (SPA)	European Union	???	Special Protection Area; SPA
Natura 2000 site (SAC/SPA)	Natura 2000 site (SAC/SPA)	European Union	???	Special Protection Area Special Area of Conservation; Special Area of Conservation Special Protection Area; SPA SAC; SAC SPA
Invalid designation	Invalid designation	Sri Lanka	???	Sri Lanka
Swiss Cultural Property of National Significance	Swiss Cultural Property of National Significance	Switzerland	???	Swiss Cultural Property of National Significance; Swiss; Switzerland; Swiss Cultural Property
National monument of Taiwan	National monument of Taiwan	Taiwan	106	National Monument of Taiwan; Taiwan National; TWN
National Historic Sites of Tanzania	National Historic Sites of Tanzania	Tanzania	????	NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE OF TANZANIA; NATIONAL HISTORIC SITES OF TANZANIA; TANZANIAN NATIONAL MONUMENT; TANZANIAN CULTURAL HERITAGE; TANZANIAN HISTORIC LANDMARK; TANZANIA; NHST
National Monument of Zambia	National Monument of Zambia	Zambia	>3000	National Monument of Zambia; Zambian National Monument; Zambia

United Kingdom

Designation	Bordered version	Scope	Count	Valid <designation> values (Callnames)
Scheduled monument	Scheduled monument	United Kingdom	19,763	Scheduled Monument; Scheduled Ancient Monument; Ancient Monument; UK Scheduled Monument; UK Ancient Monument; Scheduled Historic Monument; UK Monument in State Care; UK Scheduled Ancient Monument; UK Scheduled Historic Monument
Listed Building	Listed Building	United Kingdom	>500,000	Listed Building; United Kingdom Listed Building; UK Listed Building
Listed Building – Grade I	Listed Building – Grade I	England & Wales	9,445	Grade I Listed Building; Grade I; United Kingdom Grade I; UK Grade I
Listed Building – Grade II*	Listed Building – Grade II*	England & Wales	22,164	Grade II* Listed Building; Grade II; United Kingdom Grade II; UK Grade II*
Listed Building – Grade II	Listed Building – Grade II	England & Wales	345,662	Grade II Listed Building; Grade II; United Kingdom Grade II; UK Grade II
Listed Building – Grade A	Listed Building – Grade A	Northern Ireland	???	Grade A Listed Building; Grade A; Northern Ireland Grade A
Listed Building – Grade B+	Listed Building – Grade B+	Northern Ireland	???	Grade B+ Listed Building; Grade B+; Northern Ireland Grade B+
Listed Building – Grade B1	Listed Building – Grade B1	Northern Ireland	???	Grade B1 Listed Building; Grade B1; Northern Ireland Grade B1
Listed Building – Grade B2	Listed Building – Grade B2	Northern Ireland	???	Grade B2 Listed Building; Grade B2; Northern Ireland Grade B2
Listed Building – Category A	Listed Building – Category A	Scotland	???	Category A Listed Building; Category A; Scotland Category A
Listed Building – Category B	Listed Building – Category B	Scotland	???	Category B Listed Building; Category B; Scotland Category B
Listed Building – Category C(S)	Listed Building – Category C(S)	Scotland	???	Category C Listed Building; Category C; Scotland Category C
Registered battlefield	Registered battlefield	United Kingdom	???	NHLE Battlefields; UK Registered Battlefields
UK Protected Wreck	UK Protected Wreck	United Kingdom	>100	UK Protected Wreck; UK Maritime Military Grave; UK Historic Wreck; NHLE Wreck
UK Conservation Area	UK Conservation Area	England	>10,000	England Conservation Area; English Conservation Area
Locally Listed Building	Locally Listed Building	United Kingdom	>20,000	UK Locally Listed; Local Listed Site UK; Locally Listed Building
National Heritage List for England	National Heritage List for England	England	>650,000	NHLE; NHLE List; NHLE Register; National Heritage List for England
National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens	National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens	England	1600	Historic garden; register of historic parks and gardens; historic parks and gardens; England registered parks and gardens
Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland	Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland	Scotland	~386	Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland; Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland; Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes
Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales	Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales	Wales	~400	Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales; Registered historic parks and gardens in Wales

United States

Designation	Bordered version	Scope	Count	Valid <designation> values (Callnames)
U.S. National Register of Historic Places	U.S. National Register of Historic Places	United States	>80,000	National Register of Historic Places; NRHP
U.S. National Historic Landmark	U.S. National Historic Landmark	United States	~2,450	National Historic Landmark; U.S. National Historic Landmark; US National Historic Landmark; NRHP-NHL; NHL
U.S. Historic district	U.S. Historic district	United States	???	United States Historic District; U.S. Historic District; US Historic District; Historic District; NRHP-HD; HD
U.S. Historic district Contributing property	U.S. Historic district Contributing property	United States	???	United States Contributing Property; U.S. Contributing Property; US Contributing Property; Contributing Property; NRHP-CP; CP
U.S. National Historic Landmark District	U.S. National Historic Landmark District	United States	~200	U.S. National Historic Landmark District; US National Historic Landmark District; National Historic Landmark District; NRHP-NHLD; NHLD
U.S. National Monument	U.S. National Monument	United States	93	U.S. National Monument; US National Monument; National Monument; NRHP-NMON; NMON
U.S. National Historic Site	U.S. National Historic Site	United States	89	U.S. National Historic Site; US National Historic Site; National Historic Site; NRHP-NHS; NHS
U.S. National Memorial	U.S. National Memorial	United States	44	U.S. National Memorial; US National Memorial; National Memorial; NRHP-NMEM; NMEM
U.S. National Historical Park	U.S. National Historical Park	United States	42	U.S. National Historical Park; US National Historical Park; National Historical Park; NRHP-NHP; NHP
U.S. National Battlefield	U.S. National Battlefield	United States	11	U.S. National Battlefield; US National Battlefield; National Battlefield; NRHP-NB; NB
U.S. National Military Park	U.S. National Military Park	United States	9	U.S. National Military Park
U.S. National Natural Landmark	U.S. National Natural Landmark	United States	???	U.S. National Natural Landmark; US National Natural Landmark; National Natural Landmark; NNL
National Wild and Scenic River	National Wild and Scenic River	United States	???	National Wild and Scenic Rivers System; NWSRS; National Wild and Scenic River; NWSR

State/provincial/local designations

See wp:HSITESHELP for tips

In Australia

States and territories of Australia

Designation	Bordered version	Scope	Count	Valid <designation> values (Callnames)
Invalid designation	Invalid designation	Australia - Australian Capital Territory	415	Australian Capital Territory Heritage Register; Australian Capital Territory; ACTHR
New South Wales Heritage Register	New South Wales Heritage Register	Australia - New South Wales	1,724	New South Wales state heritage register; NSW state heritage register; New South Wales heritage register; NSW heritage register; NSW; NSW shr
Invalid designation	Invalid designation	Australia - Northern Territory	675	Northern Territory Heritage Register; Northern Territory; NTHR
Queensland Heritage Register	Queensland Heritage Register	Australia - Queensland	1,692	Queensland Heritage Register; QHR
South Australian Heritage Register	South Australian Heritage Register	Australia - South Australia	2,326	South Australian heritage register; SA heritage register; South Australia; SAHR
Tasmanian Heritage Register	Tasmanian Heritage Register	Australia - Tasmania	11,970	Tasmanian heritage register; Tasmania; TASHR
Victorian Heritage Register	Victorian Heritage Register	Australia - Victoria	~2,300	Victorian heritage register; Victoria (state); VICHR
Western Australia Heritage Register	Western Australia Heritage Register	Australia - Western Australia	2,367	Western Australia state register of heritage places; WA state register of heritage places; WASRHP; Western Australia

Local government in Australia

Designation	Bordered version	Scope	Count	Valid <designation> values (Callnames)
Brisbane Heritage Register	Brisbane Heritage Register	Australia - Queensland - Brisbane	2,309	Brisbane heritage register; Brisbane (Australia); BHR
New South Wales Heritage Database (Local Government Register)	New South Wales Heritage Database (Local Government Register)	Australia - New South Wales	1,747	New South Wales Heritage Database; NSW Heritage Database; NSWHD; NSW HD

In Canada

Designation	Bordered version	Scope	Count	Valid <designation> values (Callnames)
Alberta Historic Resources Act	Alberta Historic Resources Act	Canada - Alberta	???	Alberta Historic Resources Act; Alberta; AHRA
New Brunswick Heritage Conservation Act	New Brunswick Heritage Conservation Act	Canada - New Brunswick	???	New Brunswick Heritage Conservation Act; New Brunswick; NBHCA
Nova Scotia Heritage Property Act	Nova Scotia Heritage Property Act	Canada - Nova Scotia	???	Nova Scotia Heritage Property Act; Nova Scotia; NSHPA
Ontario Heritage Act	Ontario Heritage Act	Canada - Ontario	???	Ontario Heritage Act; Ontario
Prince Edward Island Heritage Place	Prince Edward Island Heritage Place	Canada - Prince Edward Island	???	Prince Edward Island; PEI; Heritage Places Protection Act
Patrimoine culturel du Québec	Patrimoine culturel du Québec	Canada - Quebec	???	Repertoire du Patrimoine Culturel du Quebec; Quebec; Cultural Heritage Register of Quebec
Saskatchewan Heritage Property Act	Saskatchewan Heritage Property Act	Canada - Saskatchewan	800+	Saskatchewan Heritage Property Act; Saskatchewan; SHPA

In China - Hong Kong

Designation	Bordered version	Scope	Count	Valid <designation> values (Callnames)
Declared Monument of Hong Kong	Declared Monument of Hong Kong	China – Hong Kong	92	Declared Monument of Hong Kong; Hong Kong Declared Monument; HK Declared Monument
Hong Kong Graded Building	Hong Kong Graded Building	China – Hong Kong	1,154	Hong Kong Graded Building; HK Graded Building; Graded Building
Hong Kong Graded Building – Grade I	Hong Kong Graded Building – Grade I	China - Hong Kong	212	Hong Kong Grade I Historic Building; Hong Kong Grade I; HK Grade I
Hong Kong Graded Building – Grade II	Hong Kong Graded Building – Grade II	China - Hong Kong	366	Hong Kong Grade II Historic Building; Hong Kong Grade II; HK Grade II
Hong Kong Graded Building – Grade III	Hong Kong Graded Building – Grade III	China - Hong Kong	576	Hong Kong Grade III Historic Building; Hong Kong Grade III; HK Grade III

In the United States

States of the United States of America

Cities in the United States of America

Designation	Bordered version	Scope	Count	Valid <designation> values (Callnames)
Albuquerque Historic Landmark	Albuquerque Historic Landmark	United States – New Mexico – Albuquerque	20	Albuquerque Historic Landmark; Albuquerque; ALBHL
Baltimore City Landmark	Baltimore City Landmark	United States – Maryland – Baltimore	206	Baltimore City Landmark; Baltimore; BCL
Berkeley Landmark	Berkeley Landmark	United States – California – Berkeley	~350	Berkeley Landmark; Berkeley; BERKL
Chicago Landmark	Chicago Landmark	United States – Illinois – Chicago	~200	Chicago Landmark; Chicago; CHICL
Dallas Landmark	Dallas Landmark	United States – Texas – Dallas	100	Dallas Landmark; Dallas
Davenport Register of Historic Properties	Davenport Register of Historic Properties	United States – Iowa – Davenport	~50	Davenport Register of Historic Properties; Davenport; DRHP
Long Beach Historic Landmark	Long Beach Historic Landmark	United States – California – Long Beach	114	Long Beach Historic Landmark; Long Beach; LBHL
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument	Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument	United States – California – Los Angeles	886	Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument; Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument; Los Angeles; LAHCM
New York City Landmark	New York City Landmark	United States – New York – New York City	~2,600	New York City Landmark; NYC Landmark; New York City; NYC; NYCL
Oakland Designated Landmark	Oakland Designated Landmark	United States – California – Oakland	~200	Oakland Designated; Oakland; ODL
Omaha Landmark	Omaha Landmark	United States – Nebraska – Omaha	~100	Omaha Landmark; Omaha
Oyster Bay Landmark	Oyster Bay Landmark	United States – New York – Oyster Bay	40	Oyster Bay Landmark; Oyster Bay, New York; Oyster Bay, NY; Oyster Bay
Philadelphia Register of Historic Places	Philadelphia Register of Historic Places	United States – Pennsylvania – Philadelphia	???	Philadelphia Register of Historic Places; Philadelphia; PRHP
Pittsburgh Historic Designation	Pittsburgh Historic Designation	United States – Pennsylvania – Pittsburgh	>100	Pittsburgh Historic Designation; City of Pittsburgh; PGHL; CPHD
Pittsburgh Landmark – PHLF	Pittsburgh Landmark – PHLF	United States – Pennsylvania – Pittsburgh	66	Pittsburgh Historic Landmark; Pittsburgh Landmark; Pittsburgh; PHLF
Riverside Landmark	Riverside Landmark	United States – California – Riverside	~110	Riverside Landmark; Riverside; RIVL
St. Louis Landmark	St. Louis Landmark	United States – Missouri – St. Louis	121	St. Louis Landmark; St Louis Landmark; St. Louis; St Louis
San Diego Historic Landmark	San Diego Historic Landmark	United States – California – San Diego	~870	San Diego Historic Landmark; San Diego; SDHL
San Francisco Designated Landmark	San Francisco Designated Landmark	United States – California – San Francisco	~250	San Francisco Designated Landmark; San Francisco Landmark; San Francisco; SFDL
Santa Monica Historic Landmark	Santa Monica Historic Landmark	United States – California – Santa Monica	~90	Santa Monica Historic Landmark; Santa Monica; SMHL
Invalid designation	Invalid designation	United States – California – Windsor	~10?	Windsor Historic Landmark;WINDSORHL
Seattle Landmark	Seattle Landmark	United States – Washington – Seattle	~450	Seattle Landmark; Seattle
Cincinnati Local Historic Landmark	Cincinnati Local Historic Landmark	United States – Ohio – Cincinnati	71	Cincinnati Local Historic Landmark; Cincinnati Landmark; Cincinnati; CLHL
Columbus Register of Historic Properties	Columbus Register of Historic Properties	United States – Ohio – Columbus	77	Columbus Register of Historic Properties; Columbus Register; Columbus; CRHP

In other countries

Designation	Bordered version	Scope	Count	Valid <designation> values (Callnames)
Basque Cultural Heritage	Basque Cultural Heritage	Spain – Basque Country	>11,000	Basque Cultural Heritage; Basque Country; Basque
Yangon City Landmark	Yangon City Landmark	Myanmar – Yangon	188	Yangon City Heritage List; Yangon City Landmark; Yangon Landmark; Yangon City; Yangon

Adding new designations

If you've created or contributed to a list-article or individual property articles of a designation or heritage register not listed above, you can suggest its addition to the template. To suggest a new designation for inclusion in this template, raise a question or open an edit request on this template's talk page.

Requirements

In order for a register to be added to this template, there are several criteria that must be met:

The register must be an official designation consisting of a reasonable number of sites. If a designation covers only a small community and contains only a handful of sites, it's probably not necessary to add it to this template.
There must be an article about the register on Wikipedia, and there should be at least an external link to a list of all sites on the register. Ideally, there should be a list article on Wikipedia containing links to all articles about sites on that register.
The register's scope must be identified. What exactly can become listed on this register? Is it confined to a small area such as a city or municipality? Perhaps a state or province? Or maybe even an entire nation or many nations? A designation can be classified as "Global", meaning any site in any nation can qualify, "National/regional", meaning only sites in a particular nation or group of nations (i.e. the United Kingdom or North America) can qualify, "State/provincial", meaning only sites in a particular region of a country (i.e. a state in the United States or an emirate in the United Arab Emirates) may qualify, or "Local", meaning only sites in a specific city, neighborhood, or community may qualify.
Text and a color scheme must be chosen for the designation. This template allows an editor freedom over the background color of the designation's bar in {{Infobox historic site}} as well as the text color. The text of the bar will link to the main article of the register in some way, and should contain sufficient information to uniquely identify the register.
Valid callnames must be chosen for the designation. Callnames are valid values for the <designation> parameter described at the top of this page. Callnames are unique to an individual register, so if another similar designation contains callnames that may conflict with the new register, some reconciliation will be needed (i.e. if Switzerland maintains two national designations and one is already in this template using the callname "Switzerland", that callname must be taken out to remove ambiguity before the second designation is added).

Through discussion, determine a color scheme for the designation and which text will appear in the infobox bar. Also, determine callnames, identifying any ambiguities or overlap between designations. Once the text, the color, and the callname(s) have been discussed, the designation can be incorporated into this template. Below are a few guidelines on how to choose these identifiers.

Color selection

While it's desirable for the colors to be related to the designation, accessibility is our first concern. Some users of Wikipedia may be fully or partially color blind, and certain color combinations can be hard for them to see. It may be necessary to modify the colors a little to accommodate these users; for more information see Wikipedia:Color.

In general, very light colors are preferred in order to have adequate contrast between the text and the background. The following colors are all acceptable choices:

#FFE978	#DACAA5	#CDE5B2	#BFFFBF	#B2E5CD	#A5CADA	#A8BDEC	#FFC0CB

The bordered div box versions (as used on {{Infobox historic site}}) do not have these accessibility issues, and thus use a different color palette.

Callname selection

In choosing callnames (valid <designation> values), choose names that are generally associated with the designation – not personal preferences (i.e. don't choose "My Hometown," "Family Vacation Spot," etc.). Be sure to include many different variations on word order (If you include "Canadian National Historic Site" then include "National Historic Site of Canada" as well). Callnames are case-insensitive, so there is no need for various capitalization changes.

You may use abbreviations, but use abbreviations that make sense. For Atlanta Landmarks, "AL" wouldn't be good because it may be confused with landmarks in Alabama; something like "ATL" would be better because more potential readers would associate that with Atlanta. For smaller cities it is wise to include country or state names too (such as "Oyster Bay, New York") because people are more likely to use state names than for larger, more well-known cities.

Care must also be taken to avoid overlap or ambiguity in choosing callnames. Common practice in this template's designations is to include the nation, state, or city's name as a potential callname for that designation. If a nation, state, or city maintains more than one historic register, though, things can get messy. When adding a new designation, check first to make sure that no other designations use the callnames you wish to attach to the new designation. If you were adding a new national designation for Switzerland, you would notice that the designation already in the template (Swiss Cultural Properties of National Significance) uses the callname "Switzerland". Since your new designation would also be a national designation of Switzerland, the "Switzerland" callname should be removed from the old designation, making sure to update any articles using that callname, before the new designation is added to the template.

Text selection

When selecting the text that will be shown in the infobox bar, be sure to provide enough information to uniquely identify the designation. Many registers in this template are very similar, and some may even overlap in scope (i.e. a single area may be covered by more than one register). Make sure when selecting the text that will display in the designation's bar that enough information is given to remove all ambiguity. If you were adding a register about the National monuments of Singapore, you couldn't simply choose "National Monument" for the text bar because almost every single country contains its own national monuments. Generally a good idea is to include the nation, region, or area covered by the register in the text. Instead of "State Landmark", the text should read "California Landmark" or something similar.

The list article to which the text will point can be helpful in identifying the register, though it should not be a primary identifier. A reader should be able to read the text of the bar and know immediately which register the infobox is talking about. Secondary information such as intricacies of scope, requirements of addition, and explanations of labels (Grade I, Category C, Type IV, etc.) should be explained in the list article but not the text bar. While adequate information is needed in the text bar, make sure not to be overly descriptive so as not to overwhelm the infobox. If the bar's text takes up more than two lines, you should probably think about shortening it.

Adding new designations: instructions for template editors

The template is split up into three major code blocks:

Template:Designation/text - the text
Template:Designation/colour - the background colours
Template:Designation/colour2 - the alternative colours for the bordered versions

To incorporate the designation's color into the template, find the appropriate scope-level (Global, national/regional, state/provincial, or local) section of the "color" block of code. The section is alphabetized according to scope. Nation names are in alphabetical order, followed by states or provinces, followed by cities.

The format of each entry is <syntaxhighlight lang="text"> |CALLNAME ONE|CALLNAME TWO|ADDITIONAL CALLNAMES |WRAPPED CALLNAMES IF NECESSARY = #nnnnnn </syntaxhighlight> where "#nnnnnn is the hexadecimal color code in standard CSS notation.

Once this is done, repeat the procedure for the alternate colour template.

The text codes in Template:Designation/text use the same format (and the code from the color designations can be copy/pasted as a starting point), but instead of a color code, the equals sign at the end of each set of callnames is followed by a text string to be displayed in the infobar. This text, as discussed above, should contain a link to the register's main list article.

Documenting new supported designations

In addition to adding the color/text to the main template, the documentation at Template:Designation/Supported designations must be updated to list the new designation. You can either ask someone at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Historic sites to update the "Supported designations" page or update it yourself.

To add your designation to the page, you'll have to find the correct scope-based subpage. If you want to add a global designation, append "/Global" to the end of the article name (i.e. Template:Designation/Supported designations/Global); for national/regional designations, it's /National; and for state/provincial and local/municipal designations, it's /State.

Once you've navigated to the correct subpage, simply click the edit button and add a new table row in the correct alphabetical order based on descending order of scope. (So if you were adding New York State Landmarks, and Alabama/Ohio were already there, you would add New York between the two. If there was a Hong Kong landmark, it would be even before Alabama because "China" starts with C and "United States" starts with U.)

The simplest method of creating a new row is to copy/paste a pre-existing row and edit that. For more information on Wikipedia Tables, see Help:Table.

Don't change anything in the first column except the designation call.

Change the former designation callname to one of your designation's callnames in both the "color" and "text" locations.

The next cell is the scope of the designation. Scopes are generally in Country – State/province – City/municipality, etc. form, so for the New York State example, you would not just type "New York"; you would type "United States – New York" and for Hong Kong, you would type "China – Hong Kong."

The next column is the approximate count of sites having that designation. No sources are needed on this list since the count will more than likely appear on the main article for that designation, a requirement to be supported by this infobox.

The final cell is a list of all callnames that can be used to call that designation. You can copy and paste the callnames from the main template, but be sure to separate them by semicolons instead of leaving the vertical pipes, and make sure not to leave them in all caps.

After you have added the new row, save the page with the same edit summary used when you updated the main template.

The above documentation is transcluded from Template:Designation/doc.
Editors can experiment in this template's sandbox and testcases pages.
Add categories to the /doc subpage. Subpages of this template.