[Foundation-l] hiding interlanguage links by default is a Bad Idea, part 2

[MZMcBride]

John Vandenberg wrote:
> While that is "impossible" (read: hard), a simple approximation is to
> display languages links for the 10 "largest" corresponding articles in
> other languages, and then show a "more.." when there are more than 10.
> 
> Another option is for contributors to specify which other interwiki
> links should be always visible; e.g. we would always want the FA's in
> other languages to be shown.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Link_FA

The KISS principle comes to mind here. Are there ways to improve the current
language list in the future? Perhaps. But the best general solution (that's
quickest to implement and doesn't rely on vaporware) is to simply fix the
default.

Personally, I see a sidebar with a lot of room and nothing else to fill it,
so I don't really understand the current set of objections to showing the
languages by default. A minimalist interface design is a nice goal, but it
isn't always the best pragmatically. And in this case, pragmatism should
beat out idealism.

MZMcBride