This article helps our Volunteer Squad keep the database clean and consistent! It pertains to members who have Creator access and above. If you're interested in getting involved, read more about joining the Squad here. We'd love to have you aboard!

Vehicle registration plates, number plates, or license plates (the term we'll be using here) have some unique characteristics compared to other types of collectibles. We have established the below conventions for consistency among licence plate entries on hobbyDB.


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Item Name


Our standard name format for license plates is Year (or range of years), State/Country, and "License Plate".


Note: Please see Names & Alternative Names for our general naming conventions which apply to other item types.


Examples:


Single Year Plates:

  • 1933 Colorado License Plate
  • 1948 Oregon License Plate
  • 1953 Ontario License Plate


Multi-Year Plates:

  • 1982 – 1992 Colorado License Plate


There is no need to use "Passenger" in the name as this is implied.



Alternative Name


If extra details are needed to identify the plate, you can use this field for anything other than the basics as outlined above.


Examples of common plate types that may be noted in the Alternative Name field:

  • Trailer
  • Dealer
  • Military Plate
  • National Guard Plate
  • Permanent Plate
  • Disabled Plate
  • Truck Plate
  • Collectors’ Vehicle Plate
  • Fleet Plate
  • Specialty Plate
  • Personalized Plate
  • Boat Trailer

 

A phrase or tagline on the plate can also be added to Alternative Name, for example:

  • Colorful
  • Constitution State
  • Wild Rose Country
  • The Lone Star State
  • Sunshine State
  • Respect Life
  • Wildlife
  • Scenic
  • Great Lake State
  • Bicentennial
  • World’s Fair
  • Keep Kids Safe


If the plate has more than one extra attributes that need to be added to Alternative Name, please use the vertical pipe character | to separate them. For example:


Trailer | Specialty Plate | Jackson County



When to create a new Database Item


We only create one Database Item per series of plates or multi-year plate. For example, Colorado introduced a new standard plate design in 2000, and it remained unchanged until 2015. One of these 2000-series plates issued in 2005 is considered the same as one issued in 2010, so they are both part of the same Database Item.


We recommend that when adding a license plate to your collection on hobbyDB, you add a photo of your own example to your collection entry. 



Additional Resources