There are now at least two templates:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template%3AWikitravel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template%3AWikicities
that point to projects that are not operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, but which look exactly like Wikimedia Sister Project templates:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia%3ASister_projects
Both the Wikitravel and Wikicities template are used on lots of pages.
It's difficult enough to explain to people the difference between wikis, Wikimedia, and MediaWiki. We're not helping our case by using identical templates for outside projects. In the case of Wikicities, we especially want to avoid this confusion, as Wikicities is a for-profit, and Wikimedia is a non-profit.
I recall that the Wikitravel template was listed for deletion, with the rationale that regular external links should be used, but there were too many Wikitravel fans opposed to it to get through. The Wikicities template would likely meet a similar fate.
So we need a better solution to make it clear that these are not Wikimedia projects.
My proposal would be to list *free content* websites somewhat differently from normal ones, but to not give them a full-blown "sister project" type box. For example:
== External links == ____________________________________ | [[Free content]] links: | | * Wikitravel | | * Wikicities | |____________________________________|
Where the box symbolizes a different background color. But that's just the first thing I can think of - other ideas would be welcome as well.
Note that I would classify "non-commercial only" licenses as non-free. There should at least be theoretical compatibility with Wikipedia.
All best,
Erik