On 1/7/06, Bryan Derksen bryan.derksen@shaw.ca wrote:
Template:tl is protected anyway, so I don't see the risk as being all that large. If other templates also become so widely used that changes to them would cause serious problems, protect them too. Such widespread templates probably shouldn't be changed very often anyway even if there weren't server issues, simply on account of how many places such changes would touch.
On the other hand, if it later turns out that a template like this _does_ need changing, it'll be a lot harder to fix everything if it's been substed everywhere.
Another technical concern is that every time the article is saved the request is sent to the database to reload the template. This can certainly make avoidable load.
I think most shorthand templates should be substituted for another reason as well as the technical side (although this is a risk even with the best-intentioned admins). Most templates are useful because they are fluid -- changes can be made on one page to affect a hundred related articles. That is excellent, and a good use of templates. However, shorthand templates aren't intended for that. They are intended to give a small bit of text quickly. The writer doesn't expect their text to change later.
-- Sam