[WikiEN-l] Templates for the masses

[Ray Saintonge]

Zoney wrote:
> Does it not drive anyone else up the wall the incessant templates jammed
> onto the top of our articles? Sure some of the articles have issues that
> readers as well as editors should be aware of, but it's really ridiculous
> having these Vogonic bureaucratic Wiki-speak instructions/jargon stamped
> before the article text for all and sundry to enjoy. Half the time the
> templates aren't even warranted, or at the least the issue is not important
> enough to demand anything other than a note on the talk page. It's far too
> easy for people just to slap on templates onto articles in a sort of
> wiki-process-allowed defacement of content.
>   
I admit that with so many templates at the top of pages, I have learned 
to ignore them as so much meaningless noise and chatter.  Fixing the 
article is often an unrealistic option, especially if I have just gone 
to the article to inform myself about something that I knew nothing 
about; in all likelihood I don't have any reference material on the 
subject anyway.  Another option may be to simply remove the template and 
risk an argument with some nitwit who has taken ownership of the 
template by putting it on his watchlist.  Such an argument will likely 
be unproductive, and a complete waste of my own time.

So even though I know that they are not good for the 'pedia, I choose to 
ignore them since that is the path of least resistance.
> I mean the trivia section warning for one thing. I consider myself firmly in
> the anti-trivia camp, and indeed I'd nearly support removing offending
> sections to talk pages as well when asking people to integrate the brainless
> factoids; but really, there's no need to give instructions on the situation
> to all our readers. It's just not that important! Templates in fact compound
> the problem by highlighting the trivia sections! It makes no sense!
We probably differ on whether trivia should be there in the first place, 
but that would be a different issue.  I also don't see how jamming this 
stuff into other parts of the article is advantageous.  Sometimes that 
just gives these factoids more importance than they deserve for the sole 
benefit of getting rid of the "Trivia" heading.  I agree with you to the 
extent that if the heading already exists the template is redundant. One 
might even say that the templates are themselves just another form of 
trivia.

Ec