"Steve Bennett" wrote
Let me ask you, what do you see as the basic model for readers finding a given article? Are you focussing primarily on a reader coming to Wikipedia to find information on a very specific topic? What if he just wants to browse? What if he doesn't know what he wants?
There are half-a-dozen major ways.
Let's take an example, [[Template:Energy Conversion]]. Do you consider this intrusive? Do you not think there is value in raising the visibility of all these topics? Do you not think there is value in showing how many different solar power topics there are compared to only three wind power topics? Had you heard of "blue energy"? Does it make you wonder what "Anaerobic digestion" is doing in amongst energy conversion topics?
I think navigation boxes serve to stimulate interest and lead readers to other, related topics. And if we can stimulate the reader's interest, we can stimulate him to help us, don't you think?
Another way to put it: they are tendentious and can even be considered a type of advertising. We have debated this recently at the mathematics WikiProject, and apart from calculus, where students may well want to get from one calculus article to another via a menu of suggestions, and a few limited list like exceptional Lie groups, there is no enthusiasm at all.
Charles
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