This template supersedes {{legend3}}.

{{colorbox|color|text|wikilink}}

  • Colors are most commonly specified as either a color keyword or as the hexadecimal triplet representing an RGB combination. See web colors for details.
  • Text is optional; it is displayed using the default style foreground color as prescribed by CSS. For most users this is black.
  • The wikilink parameter is also optional and specifies the wikilink to the article to which the text should point.
Examples
Visual effect Markup
     {{colorbox|Red}}
  Default color for this text  {{colorbox|Fuchsia|Default color for this text}}
  Wikilink to the article on Wikipedia  {{colorbox|Yellow|Wikilink to the article on Wikipedia|Wikipedia}}
  Using an X11 color name  {{colorbox|Chartreuse|'''Using an X11 color name'''|Wikipedia}}
  Using RGB hex triplet  {{colorbox|#FEDCBA|''Using RGB hex triplet''|Wikipedia}}

NOTE: Using a blue, purple, or red colorbox obscures unvisited, visited, and missing wikilinks, respectively, as these are the default link colors for most users.

The colorbox template is widely used to annotate complex tables in which editors have used color to group like entries. The editor uses the background-color style to color individual cells in the table and then adds a legend consisting of colorboxes at the beginning or end of the table explaining the meanings behind the color scheme. The editor may also add symbols like a caret (^), dagger/obelisk (†), double dagger/diesis (‡), or asterisk (*) to call attention to the different meanings.

Text marker examples
Visual effect Markup
  ^  {{colorbox|#CEF2E0|^}}
  †  {{colorbox|#CEDFF2|†}}
  ‡  {{colorbox|#DDCEF2|‡}}
  *  {{colorbox|#F2E0CE|*}}

NOTE:

  1. Using a black colorbox with text markers obscures the text as the default style foreground color for most users is black.
  2. The HTML code * must be used to create the asterisk as Wikipedia will treat the typed asterisk as an indented bullet point.