On 1/4/06, Carbonite <carbonite.wp(a)gmail.com> wrote:
You're certainly correct on those points, but this proposal would go a
long way towards addressing the current problems with userboxes. I
think this issue needs to be solved by a combination of technical
solutions (making the userboxes simply a statement than a membership
in a faction) and social solutions (any suggestions?).
There is, incidentally, a halfway decent technical solution;
unfortunately, it runs afoul of [[Wikipedia:Avoid using
meta-templates]]:
1. Eliminate the categories linked from userboxes (this is a basic
starting step for any scheme of this sort).
2. Re-implement the templates in question using {{switch}} (see, for
example, {{User religion}}). Since the meaning of the template
depends on the parameter given, Whatlinkshere is no longer useful;
someone looking through it will see anyone who has a religion userbox,
rather than those of a particular religion, for instance.
Kirill Lokshin