Howdy y'all
Right now an article I'm working on getting FA-status for is at a point of complying with ambiguous and contradictory MoS provisions. A user who objects to an article undergoing an FA-candidacy does so on the grounds that dates in citations stating when internet sources are accessed by an article contributor should be wikilinked.
The two completing MOS provisions are:
1.) That dates consisting of a day and month should be wikilinked to interface with user preferences. (per: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style_%28dates_and_numbers%... )
2.) That things should only be linked if they're relevant to the context (of the article). (per: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Only_make_links_that_are_relevant_to_... )
I think it's ridiculous to link source-access dates as it's just too much (linking, that is), it adds no understanding to the article, and I don't think it's relevant to the context of the article. While I understand the need to deal with user preferences (which doesn't really add or subtract information or make it easier to convey or comprehend by transforming 17 August to August 17) Do we really expect a user to sit back and say "Let's see what happened on the day so-and-so accessed this source he's citing?"
I would appreciate it greatly if you could help resolve this issue and give your comments on which guideline should win out on the talk pages of the MoS articles I cited above, or here via e-mail.
While I'm at it, I extend my best wishes to all of you for a happy "Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord"...the only reason we celebrate the new year on January 1st, and hoping that 2007 is better than 2006.
Regards, Christopher D. Thieme (User: ExplorerCDT)