Look up template in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Template may mean:

• a stencil, pattern or overlay used in graphic arts (drawing, painting, etc.) and sewing to replicate letters, shapes or designs
• a pre-developed page layout in electronic or paper media used to make new pages with a similar design, pattern, or style
• Form letter, a predefined letter which retains its primary intent when individually customised with variable data or text.

Computer science and information technology[link]

• Template (file format), a standardized non-executable file type used by computer software as a pre-formatted example on which to base other files, especially documents
• Template (C++), a tool for generic programming especially in the C++ language
• Template metaprogramming, a programming technique used by a compiler to generate temporary source code
• Template method, an object-oriented design pattern
• Template processor, a system that combines a template with data to produce an output.
• Template (word processing), a standard document containing layout and styles used to configure word processing software
• Style sheet (web development) or master page on which you can globally edit and format graphic elements and text common to each page of a document
• Web template or web template system, a master page used to produce web pages
• A main document from which mail merge documents are created

Manufacturing[link]

• Mechanical template, used to cut and shape a product, such as:
  • a die (manufacturing)
  • a mold

Molecular genetics[link]

• a strand of DNA which sets the genetic sequence of new strands
• a strand of RNA which translates genes into proteins

Miscellaneous[link]

• Template (racing), a device used in car racing to ensure that the body of the race vehicle adheres to specifications

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Harry Belafonte's Calypso was labeled the US's top-selling record of 1956.

This is a list of the best-selling albums by year in the United States. Billboard magazine began publishing year-end lists for album sales in 1956. Until 1991, the Billboard album chart was based on a survey of representative retail outlets that determined a ranking, not a tally of actual sales. Likewise, the year-end chart was a measure of chart performance over the twelve months from December to November rather than total sales. Weekly surveys and year-end charts by Billboard and other publications such as Cash Box magazine sometimes differed. For instance, during the 1960s and 1970s, the number-one album as determined by these two publications differed in 10 out of 20 years. From 1991, Billboard year-end and weekly charts were calculated by Nielsen SoundScan.

Harry Belafonte's 1956 record entitled Calyspo was the first product to be recognized as a top-selling album for a year once Billboard magazine started tracking sales figures. Eminem's 2010 rap record Recovery currently holds the title for the US's top-selling digital album. British glam rock performer Elton John and rapper Eminem each have had two of their albums be top sellers in two separate years in the US. Pop singer Michael Jackson's 1982 Thriller became the best-selling record in the country for two consecutive years in the 1980s (and later became the best-selling album of all time). Other albums to achieve the same accomplishment included the My Fair Lady Original Cast Recording from the hit 1950s Broadway production between 1957–1958.

1950s[link]

1960s[link]

The Jimi Hendrix Experience's debut album became Billboard's number one album of 1968.

1970s[link]

Two of Elton John's albums each became the best-selling record in the 1970s.

1980s[link]

Michael Jackson's Thriller was the best-selling album for two years in a row.

1990s[link]

British pop girl group Spice Girls had the best-selling album of 1997.

¹ Often credited solely to Whitney Houston.

2000s[link]

Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory album was the best seller in 2001

2010s[link]

Notes[link]

^{^[I]} Each year is linked to the article about music that year.

• After Billboard began obtaining sales and airplay information from Nielsen SoundScan and Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, the year-end charts are now calculated by a very straightforward cumulative total of yearlong sales points. This gives a more accurate picture of any given year’s most popular titles, as an entry that hypothetically spent nine weeks at number one in March could possibly have earned fewer cumulative points than one spending six weeks at number three in January. Interestingly, albums at the peak of their popularity at the time of the November/December chart-year cutoff many times end up ranked lower than one would expect on a year-end tally, yet are ranked on the following year's chart as well, as their cumulative points are split between the two chart years. Sometimes, the best-selling album of the year by Billboard is different than best-selling album of the year of Nielsen SoundScan, because Billboard calculates the year from December to November and Nielsen calculates the year from January to December.

• In this list, from 1956 to 1990, the Billboard year-end tracking was used. From 1991 to date, Nielsen SoundScan's year-end tracking was used.

See also[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Official website for Billboard magazine

This is a list of the world's best-selling albums of all time. The criteria are that the figure must have been published by a reliable source and the album must have sold at least 20 million copies worldwide. In this list the highest sales figure reported for an album is added to the list. This list can contain any types of albums, including studio albums, greatest hits, compilations, various artists, soundtracks and remixes.

The figures given do not take into account the resale of used albums.

Michael Jackson's Thriller is the best-selling album of all time, and it is estimated to have sold from between 65 to 110 million copies worldwide.^[1][2]

This article may overuse color, making it hard to understand for color blind users. Please remove or fix instances of distracting or hard-to-read colors. See the category page and WP:COLOR for guidelines.

Legend[link]

Groupings are based on different sales benchmarks, the highest being for claims of at least 40 million copies, and the lowest being for claims of 20–29 million copies. Albums are listed in order of number of copies sold and thereafter by the artist's first name.

40 million copies or more[link]

30–39 million copies[link]

20–29 million copies[link]

See also[link]

References[link]