User talk:John Stephenson/Archive 6
Redirects
Way to go (at Ju-on)! Thanks! J. Noel Chiappa 13:40, 27 May 2008 (CDT)
Culture
Do drop in John (at culture that is). Aladin 08:50, 9 July 2008 (CDT)
Thanks
Hi John! Thanks for having corrected my English prose.--Domergue Sumien 15:06, 18 August 2008 (CDT)
- No problem, and welcome to Citizendium. It is a relief to have some more linguists on the wiki! John Stephenson 15:29, 18 August 2008 (CDT)
I saw him standin' there.... (told you guys I could keep this up)
I noticed! here he is! Aleta Curry 22:01, 2 September 2008 (CDT)
- Travel(l)ing through North America at the moment and it's wall-to-wall Sarah Palin on CNN, so... John Stephenson 22:04, 3 September 2008 (CDT)
subpages template
John,
Sometimes I deliberately do not put {{subpages}} on a page. Most commonly, this is a situation when the title is in flux and I don't want to create metadata that is likely to change. In other cases, it's a relatively short article undergoing active writing, and I'd just rather not have half a page of metadata reminders cluttering the screen.
There is a discussion about topics that really aren't more than a definition. Chris Day has some complex ways about making these work with R-templates, which have complex interactions with definitions and metadata. I'm still trying to understand his logic, which I think will make sense but is clearly not trivial.
Anyway, it's one thing if you plan to fill in the metadata, definition, and so forth. If not, may I ask why you are just putting {{subpages}} but not doing anything else on them? Is it meant to be a reminder of some sort? You may have a very good reason, but it isn't obvious. Do note that you can create a talk page without metadata.
Howard C. Berkowitz 19:30, 4 September 2008 (CDT)
- It's because I intend to create the metadata templates in a batch (today!). I would suggest that if you are going to create pages without the subpage template, then add workgroup categories from the outset - otherwise, the pages are practically invisible to other users. John Stephenson 20:30, 4 September 2008 (CDT)
- I suppose it's not always the intention to make pages immediately visible. There are times, when an article is going to be extensively linked, where it's not practical to test it in userspace. That is one reason for not necessarily trying to make the article visible, or at least through categories. There are a number of Forum discussions on dealing with some of the more obscure issues, such as how naming interacts with R-templates.
- I was certainly puzzled to be finding subpages added with nothing else, and no explanation either in an edit summary or talk page. There well might be a good reason, but this was confusing.
- If you want to work on these articles, great! I might suggest, though, that if you find no metadata, create a talk page, which doesn't require a metapage, and discuss what you want to do with the article. When I know others are working on articles, I try to discuss, on the talk page, how we might split up a first draft. When I haven't done this, I've had the sad experience of being in mid-flow, stopping for dinner or other biological breaks, and finding work minutes, or hours, old being redone while I still had material to type.
- I'm pleased to find someone with wide interests, as are my own. It did seem a little ambitious to deal with angiography, the Battle of the Beams, Baghdad, etc., on the first day. Again, it's useful to discuss plans to avoid conflict with others. Angiography is not too critical, but the Battle of the Beams, in my mind, links heavily with other articles in electronic warfare, signals intelligence, etc. Again, a little discussion beforehand can save much aggravation. It might make sense for either one of us not to make changes for a short time, just so the other can get their material written without getting into micro-level conflicting changes. Howard C. Berkowitz 20:55, 4 September 2008 (CDT)
- It is troubling to find your work torn up - though that's the nature of a wiki, I suppose. I wasn't doing that, though - merely adding templates. I still think *categories* are necessary from the outset (not necessarily the subpages template), to get people onto the Talk page or into the article itself. In the case of Baghdad, no-one had edited that for over two weeks, probably because there were few links across the wiki to it. See also the forum. John Stephenson 21:22, 4 September 2008 (CDT)