[WikiEN-l] Effect on the parser of large navboxes

[Tim Starling]

On 17/02/11 10:55, Carcharoth wrote:
> I just read this mini-essay here:
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Chemistry&oldid=414309211#Template_size_-_more_information
> 
> It is about the effect on the parser of large navboxes (and of other
> templates). It is a bit technical, but I thought it might be of
> interest.
> 
> And I don't know how I ever missed this:
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Overlink_crisis

If navboxes could be loaded dynamically, with AJAX, then editors could
put as many links in them as they liked without DoSing the servers.

That's not to say having huge category listings in collapsible boxes
at the end of an article is a good idea, in terms of style and
usability. But it would be nice to separate the performance issue from
the style issue.

-- Tim Starling