This has probably been raised before (is there a bug for it?), but it appears to me that it would be significantly more user-friendly to append a <references/> section at the bottom of the text that is being parsed when it is missing.
This would * make it easier for new users to discover referencing functionality (oldbies could still properly reformat the tag); * solve the "references missing in section preview" problem.
Is there any obvious reason not to do this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citation
Most use cases of <references/> actually place it above other sections, Wikipedia and on a number of other wiki. That would be a bit of a mess for various MoS'. A solution that handles things a little more freely would be nice. The absence of the tag when the section actually appears could cause some confusion about what pages it is missing causing people to ignore the need to add the tag when a wiki's MoS would dictate it be needed.
I'd say add a crude factbox style list of references when <references/> is absent, and list all pages missing <references/> on a special page or in a hidden category.
~Daniel Friesen (Dantman, Nadir-Seen-Fire) ~Profile/Portfolio: http://nadir-seen-fire.com -The Nadir-Point Group (http://nadir-point.com) --It's Wiki-Tools subgroup (http://wiki-tools.com) --The ElectronicMe project (http://electronic-me.org) -Wikia ACG on Wikia.com (http://wikia.com/wiki/Wikia_ACG) --Animepedia (http://anime.wikia.com) --Narutopedia (http://naruto.wikia.com)
Erik Moeller wrote:
This has probably been raised before (is there a bug for it?), but it appears to me that it would be significantly more user-friendly to append a <references/> section at the bottom of the text that is being parsed when it is missing.
This would
- make it easier for new users to discover referencing functionality
(oldbies could still properly reformat the tag);
- solve the "references missing in section preview" problem.
Is there any obvious reason not to do this?
On Thu, Jan 8, 2009 at 1:29 PM, Erik Moeller erik@wikimedia.org wrote:
This has probably been raised before (is there a bug for it?), but it appears to me that it would be significantly more user-friendly to append a <references/> section at the bottom of the text that is being parsed when it is missing.
This would
- make it easier for new users to discover referencing functionality
(oldbies could still properly reformat the tag);
- solve the "references missing in section preview" problem.
There is a workaround that was originally here:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benutzer:ParaDox/VirtualReferences.js
Which has now moved to:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benutzer:ParaDox/monobook/VirtualReferences.js
It was copied to en.wp.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:FT2/scripts/previewrefs.js
-- John Vandenberg
Please see https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=16854
On Wed, Jan 7, 2009 at 11:51 PM, John Vandenberg jayvdb@gmail.com wrote:
On Thu, Jan 8, 2009 at 1:29 PM, Erik Moeller erik@wikimedia.org wrote:
This has probably been raised before (is there a bug for it?), but it appears to me that it would be significantly more user-friendly to append a <references/> section at the bottom of the text that is being parsed when it is missing.
This would
- make it easier for new users to discover referencing functionality
(oldbies could still properly reformat the tag);
- solve the "references missing in section preview" problem.
There is a workaround that was originally here:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benutzer:ParaDox/VirtualReferences.js
Which has now moved to:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benutzer:ParaDox/monobook/VirtualReferences.js
It was copied to en.wp.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:FT2/scripts/previewrefs.js
-- John Vandenberg
Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
I applied this yesterday (or the day before?) and Brion reverted it. Needs some more cleanup. Would certainly help with alerting users to this common error.
-Chad
On Jan 7, 2009 11:56 PM, "John Doe" phoenixoverride@gmail.com wrote:
Please see https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=16854
On Wed, Jan 7, 2009 at 11:51 PM, John Vandenberg jayvdb@gmail.com wrote: > On Thu, Jan 8, 2009 a...
On Wed, Jan 7, 2009 at 10:29 PM, Erik Moeller erik@wikimedia.org wrote:
This has probably been raised before (is there a bug for it?), but it appears to me that it would be significantly more user-friendly to append a <references/> section at the bottom of the text that is being parsed when it is missing.
This would
- make it easier for new users to discover referencing functionality
(oldbies could still properly reformat the tag);
- solve the "references missing in section preview" problem.
Is there any obvious reason not to do this?
The only reason that occurs to me is that it will make <references /> less discoverable. On the other hand, people would likely figure it out if they'll figure out <ref>, and if not, the worst that happens is that references are way at the bottom.
I don't see any reason not to do this.
I would support this, I think it's better to have non-MOS compliant articles with footnote marks that actually lead to the footnotes then "faulty" articles. Experienced users, and indeed bots, could than see to MOS-compliance. Later, a possibly an enhanced version of this feature could work like the pywikpedia bot for the same task:having a list of sections where the references tag could be added, and if there is one found, than the tag is placed inside it, if not, the references are placed in a new section entitled "References" [or whatever is the first on the list of prioritized names]. (It could be further enhanced by defining what sections should always be after the references [e.g. "External links", "See also"] and then the auto-added section could be placed before them.)
Best regards, Bence Damokos
On Thu, Jan 8, 2009 at 3:27 PM, Aryeh Gregor <Simetrical+wikilist@gmail.comSimetrical%2Bwikilist@gmail.com
wrote:
On Wed, Jan 7, 2009 at 10:29 PM, Erik Moeller erik@wikimedia.org wrote:
This has probably been raised before (is there a bug for it?), but it appears to me that it would be significantly more user-friendly to append a <references/> section at the bottom of the text that is being parsed when it is missing.
This would
- make it easier for new users to discover referencing functionality
(oldbies could still properly reformat the tag);
- solve the "references missing in section preview" problem.
Is there any obvious reason not to do this?
The only reason that occurs to me is that it will make <references /> less discoverable. On the other hand, people would likely figure it out if they'll figure out <ref>, and if not, the worst that happens is that references are way at the bottom.
I don't see any reason not to do this.
Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
Whether it will be performed or not, I think that having a "Pages with refs without references tag"-like category is necessary (especially if the decision will be to append). A category (maybe a separate one) would be useful too if there are references of some group (<ref group="..." />) that are not listed in the page.
— Kalan
wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org