This Automatic Archive Navigator template header allows you to navigate through numbered archive pages that are named in the standard "Archive n" format. The header shows the previous 3 and next 3 pages in the archives (only if they exist). The first and last navigable links intelligently search out pages 5 back or ahead and, if they do not exist, show the next nearest.

No parameters are needed for this template to work; just place {{aan}} near the top of each archive page (or configure as the default archive header for your archive bot). It will automatically create a navigation bar. Some optional parameters are detailed below if you want to have more control.

The template relies on all archives from Archive 1 to Archive n to exist. If there is a gap where some archive pages don't exist, the template may assume that the higher archives don't exist.

For this template to work, the archives must be named in standard "Archive n" form. If they are not, move them to the appropriate names first; see Help:Moving a page for information. Alternatively, you can use the |prefix= parameter to let the module know what prefix it should use.

| 1
Option to use the navigation bar with no message text (this is the number one not a lower case letter L). Example: {{aan|1}}.
| prefix = archive prefix
Manually specify the prefix of the archive page. This is useful for archives in a non-standard format. For example, for Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive902 you would use |prefix=IncidentArchive. HTML entities are decoded for this parameter; for example, to insert a space at the end of the prefix you can use  .
| links = n
Specify the maximum number of links to be used. The default is 7.
| noredlinks
Normally the template does not display red links. To display the first red link after the highest archive, you can use |noredlinks=no.
| style (minor warning) / notice (messages)
These are the same types as used by {{tmbox}} and automatically change the logo and box style. If undefined the logo will default to the archives icon.
| image = none / [[Image:Some image.svg|40px]]
| imageright = [[Image:Some image.svg|40px]]
Use your own image, or none, as the logo in the navigation bar. Alternatively you can place an image on the right hand side or have images on both sides.
| text = alternative message text
Replace the header message with your own message.
| period = date range
Specify a date range for the period covered, e.g. |period=March 2006 to April 2007. This parameter is free-form, so you can use whatever format you like.
| style = CSS box style settings
| textstyle = CSS text style settings
Format the box and text in any way you prefer. You may find the guidance at MOS:COLOR helpful.

Example using parameters: {{aan|1|image=[[image:1000000000seconds.jpg|80px]]|style=width:80%;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;background:lightblue;border: blue solid 2px;}}

  • {{tmbox}} - talk page message boxes