Wikipedia talk:Wikipedia Signpost/2013-07-10/Dispatches: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit Next edit →

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

Revision as of 10:53, 12 July 2013

← Back to Dispatches

Discuss this story

Congrats on bringing the Dispatches back, and a very good job indeed Brian. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 07:26, 12 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Don't you mean prolific reviewing rather than "profligate" reviewing? Voceditenore (talk) 07:34, 12 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
- Uh, yes—my fault. Thanks! Ed ^{[talk] [majestic titan]} 07:36, 12 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Apart from that minor point, a very thought-provoking piece. Thanks to both Brian and you. Best, Voceditenore (talk) 07:44, 12 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I think people just need to start using collapsible infoboxes where only the most important information is shown uncollapsed. e.g. Reelin. --Tobias1984 (talk) 07:59, 12 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
- I like collapsible infoboxes as well. Using one on Template:Sclass- allowed me to include an extra image and hide statistical information that many readers won't care about. Ed ^{[talk] [majestic titan]} 08:51, 12 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  - I prefer collapsed parameters to collapsed boxes that don't reveal the parameters to the reader. Incidentally, I just collected my thoughts on the topic, see if you think it's funny. This is ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 09:51, 12 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
- Collapsing infoboxes, or parts therein, is a bad idea. It defeats the purpose of providing our readers with a quick and convenient overview; and it makes it likely that editors who are updating facts in the body will see that they also need to to so in the infobox. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 10:53, 12 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Funny stuff! I didn't twig to the satire until the bit about geographic coordinates being out of place in an infobox for a geographic location. And the Empire State Building "example" which is simply the result of {{infobox NRHP}} being nested inside {{infobox building}}, not actually a clever scheme to randomly duplicate listed data? Brilliant. I look forward to more comedy at this level in the future. - Dravecky (talk) 09:21, 12 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
- Well, it's not as clever as it might be: the co-ordinates really don't need to be listed twice in what is already a massive infobox. — This, that and the other (talk) 09:59, 12 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
- I've removed the duplicate data from Empire State Building. It took seconds to do so. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 10:53, 12 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Let me add my voice in agreement with Brian here. Although I am inclined to agree with Dravecky's point as well: co-ordinates seem like a sensible thing to be in an infobox, especially since the link allows a map of the location to be viewed. — This, that and the other (talk) 09:59, 12 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
- I find coordinates useful in infoboxes. It's a pity that Brian seems only to have considered his own personal preferences, and not the circumstances of others. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 10:53, 12 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for this article Brian - I've been feeling the same thing. A problem with large/complex infoboxes is that they also can turn into resource-sinks, with editors (and especially newish editors) tending to focus on the infobox rather than the body of the article. Nick-D (talk) 10:09, 12 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
- Editors are free to choose the aspects of Wikipedia to which they devote their efforts. Why should they not? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 10:53, 12 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Great article Brian. I agree wholeheartedly. Also agree with Nick's comment above. —Cliftonian (talk) 10:41, 12 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 **I like collapsible infoboxes as well. Using one on {{Sclass-|Pennsylvania|battleship|1}} allowed me to include an extra image and hide statistical information that many readers won't care about. [[User:The ed17|Ed]]&nbsp;<sup>[[User talk:The ed17|[talk]]] [[WP:OMT|[majestic titan]]]</sup> 08:51, 12 July 2013 (UTC)
 ***I prefer [[Mass in B minor structure|collapsed parameters]] to collapsed boxes that don't reveal the parameters to the reader. Incidentally, I just collected [[User:Gerda Arendt/Infobox|my thoughts on the topic]], see if you think it's funny. [[Template:Infobox operas/doc#Example 4|This]] is ;) --[[User:Gerda Arendt|Gerda Arendt]] ([[User talk:Gerda Arendt|talk]]) 09:51, 12 July 2013 (UTC)
+**Collapsing infoboxes, or parts therein, is a bad idea. It defeats the purpose of providing our readers with a quick and convenient overview; and it makes it likely that editors who are updating facts in the body will see that they also need to to so in the infobox. <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">[[User:Pigsonthewing|Andy Mabbett]]</span> (<span class="nickname">Pigsonthewing</span>); [[User talk:Pigsonthewing|Talk to Andy]]; [[Special:Contributions/Pigsonthewing|Andy's edits]]</span> 10:53, 12 July 2013 (UTC)
 *Funny stuff! I didn't twig to the satire until the bit about geographic coordinates being out of place in an infobox for a geographic location. And the [[Empire State Building]] "example" which is simply the result of {{tl|infobox NRHP}} being nested inside {{tl|infobox building}}, not actually a clever scheme to randomly duplicate listed data? Brilliant. I look forward to more comedy at this level in the future. - [[User:Dravecky|Dravecky]] ([[User talk:Dravecky|talk]]) 09:21, 12 July 2013 (UTC)
 **Well, it's not as clever as it might be: the co-ordinates really don't need to be listed twice in what is already a massive infobox. — <span style="border:dashed #666;border-width:1px 0 0 1px">[[User:This, that and the other|This, that]]</span> and <span style="border:dashed #666;border-width:0 1px 1px 0">[[User talk:This, that and the other|the other<small> (talk)</small>]]</span> 09:59, 12 July 2013 (UTC)
+**I've removed the duplicate data from [[Empire State Building]]. It took seconds to do so. <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">[[User:Pigsonthewing|Andy Mabbett]]</span> (<span class="nickname">Pigsonthewing</span>); [[User talk:Pigsonthewing|Talk to Andy]]; [[Special:Contributions/Pigsonthewing|Andy's edits]]</span> 10:53, 12 July 2013 (UTC)
 *Let me add my voice in agreement with Brian here. Although I am inclined to agree with Dravecky's point as well: co-ordinates seem like a sensible thing to be in an infobox, especially since the link allows a map of the location to be viewed. — <span style="border:dashed #666;border-width:1px 0 0 1px">[[User:This, that and the other|This, that]]</span> and <span style="border:dashed #666;border-width:0 1px 1px 0">[[User talk:This, that and the other|the other<small> (talk)</small>]]</span> 09:59, 12 July 2013 (UTC)
+**I find coordinates useful in infoboxes. It's a pity that Brian seems only to have considered his own personal preferences, and not the circumstances of others. <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">[[User:Pigsonthewing|Andy Mabbett]]</span> (<span class="nickname">Pigsonthewing</span>); [[User talk:Pigsonthewing|Talk to Andy]]; [[Special:Contributions/Pigsonthewing|Andy's edits]]</span> 10:53, 12 July 2013 (UTC)
 *Thanks for this article Brian - I've been feeling the same thing. A problem with large/complex infoboxes is that they also can turn into resource-sinks, with editors (and especially newish editors) tending to focus on the infobox rather than the body of the article. [[User:Nick-D|Nick-D]] ([[User talk:Nick-D|talk]]) 10:09, 12 July 2013 (UTC)
+**Editors are free to choose the aspects of Wikipedia to which they devote their efforts. Why should they not? <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">[[User:Pigsonthewing|Andy Mabbett]]</span> (<span class="nickname">Pigsonthewing</span>); [[User talk:Pigsonthewing|Talk to Andy]]; [[Special:Contributions/Pigsonthewing|Andy's edits]]</span> 10:53, 12 July 2013 (UTC)
 *Great article Brian. I agree wholeheartedly. Also agree with Nick's comment above. <b style="color:white; background:darkgreen">—[[User:Cliftonian|<b style="color:white; background:darkgreen">Cliftonian</b>]]&nbsp;[[User talk:Cliftonian|<b style="color:white; background:darkgreen">(talk)</b>]]</b> 10:41, 12 July 2013 (UTC)