On 5/22/07, David Gerard dgerard@gmail.com wrote:
But, rather than being a guideline for thoughtful application by editors seeking guidance in writing effective encyclopedia entries, it's become a sequence of programming instructions for bots.
The bigger problem is the MoS's uncertainty over its own authority. IMHO, it's a rulebook. To others it's a guide, to be ignored...whenever. I feel that the encyclopaedia benefits when we have cast-iron layout rules that every article must follow, with rare and notable exceptions. To others, the MoS is a restriction on freedom of expression, to be watered down so that even vastly different approaches to layout are apparently all supported.
Steve