Help:Series
 Vehicle Database
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| Rules, info, and guidelines |
| Releases • Vehicles • Series • Cases Photos |
| Development notes |
| Foundation • Configuration |
Series are the core point of reference for how we catalogue Mattel items. They are typically distinguished by Asst. # and/or any deliberate marketing material (such as posters, websites, or packaging text), including broader franchise design. A series page generally houses the full, written documentation for the respective vehicles, beyond the raw data in the Vehicle Database.
Infoboxes
The {{Mattel series infobox}} is the main template designed for series pages, and what will be used in most cases.
|number_of_models=and|new_models=are generated automatically, but should be counted and set manually according to such. The number is determined based on Vehicle: page entries - it will miss (for example) a new 1:55 character with prior Mini Racers releases, or one that appears in both a single and 2-pack within the same mainline year.|production_country==China,Thailand,Vietnam, or (rarely)Mexico. In rare cases of factory switchover (most notably the original Desert Art mainline), both should be specified with approximate dates - as this requires custom text, the flags will have to be added manually i.e.{{flag|TH}} Thailand-->
Thailand.|runtime== Approximate start and end dates, preferably with citations to videos or articles.
To include "chronology" section: Set |series=Mainline to auto-include the "chronology" links. To change the link, set |previous= or |next= to the respective destination page. Setting none will remove it altogether. Otherwise, |series_type= can be entered to add a custom navigation with manual links - the value is what will be displayed as "[Value] series chronology".
Sometimes a Mattel "series" page may overlap with that of the broader style or branding era. Here, the style infobox should always take precedence - consequently, said template can serve as both by setting |Mattel_series= to true. |Mattel_previous= and |Mattel_next= then work the same way their counterparts do.
Vehicle list
The hallmark of any series page is of course the list of vehicles it contains. Hence the confusion when you go to edit one, and find a short bout of gibberish where all the characters should be!
Setup of these pages is quite unorthodox, especially compared to the rest of the wiki. The content is actually generated using a Cargo query – in short, it's not actually here on this page! Each table row actually comes from a row entry on a Vehicle page. Luckily, every single row has an edit button on the far right side, which takes you directly to the Vehicle page row where it's declared. If you switch a cardback there, it'll show here.
Underneath the section header, and before any sub-headers (if present), should be placed the {{series nav}} template. This allows for easy navigation between the main series page, the category page ("index listing") and images category. It will generate the links automatically, but if specified via parameter, you can optionally add one or more combined views. The overall model lineup is often split between sections (whether Single vs 2-pack, or by Segment series), meaning they can't all be sorted within the same display - this provides a vehicle database search link where this can be done. Add |combine=true.
List organization
There aren't necessarily any set "rules" to how this must be done, but there are certain considerations which should be made.
By design, a {{series list}} can only query items from one product assortment at a time. Similar to a {{vehicle row}}, it actually stores some its own template values into the Assortments database table, which the series infobox and assortment list both use in their displays. What this all means is that you're always going to need more than one list on the same page when more than one assortments make up the series, and consequentially Using the current Mainline year as an example,
Jumping off the latter example, another consideration is how any posters, checklists, or promotional material present the series.
Setup
The list itself is again generated by the {{series list}} template, which queries the vehicle database and returns whatever we command. So, we need to tell it exactly what we want!
First and foremost, we need to give the |asst= number. That's the five-digit string found on the card or box of a die-cast, labeled "ASST." You can also provide the |title= (this isn't as important, as it's not always easy to find). These two values establish what gets displayed on the aforementioned other pages - they'll also be displayed in bold on the page itself right above the list.
More often than not, we're still gonna end up with way more than we want. The |series= and |year= parameters will usually suffice, though series which make use of the |sub= (and/or |series_number=) will need those as well. |segment= and (though rarely practical) |toy= are available as well.
Here's an example of what the 2024 Mainline's singles list is set to:
{{Series list
|asst=DXV29
|title=Character Cars Assortment
<!-- conditions -->
|type=series
|series=Mainline
|year=2024
The series and year narrow down the series, while the |asst= restricts to only the singles, DXV29. If that were changed to DXV99, we'd get the 2-packs instead.
Once that's good to go, now we should consider what data columns we want to display. The default setting provides Photo, Model Name, Toy #, and Notes, but we'll typically want more than that.
|columnX=
Normal fields
- Photo
- Model Name
- Col. #
- Year
- Series
- Segment
- Cast Number
- Made In (or Country)
- Toy #
- Asst. #
- Case #
- Notes
- Exclusive
They display in order of input, with the exception of Case #, Notes, and Exclusive, which will always appear on the end (in that order). Configuration settings:
|=input the name of a field. If you need more, you unfortunately need SQL/Cargo markup at the moment. (see here for help).|card_size=adjusts the size carded photos display at|bio_quotes=if using the "Bio" column, whether each one should be surrounded in quotation marks (defaultfalse)