Difference between revisions of "Category:Citable Source Templates"

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(Created page with "A '''Citable Source Template''', is one with a short name optimized for placing a footnote in an article body, with the page/folio/plate number supplied as the single parameter. ...")
 
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==Purpose==
 
==Purpose==
Editing the site requires a lot of pointless syntax.  We have around 200-500 sources we use continually, and we spend too much time typing characters for human readers when we should be typing only enough characters to get the Wiki to understand the source being used so that '''it'', in turn, can generate the verbose strings for the users to read.  Templates matching this new standard provide this information, of course, and should replace the old ones categorized under [[:Category:Bibliography Templates|Bibliography Templates]] which did nothing at all to help in drafting footnotes.
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Editing the site requires a lot of pointless syntax.  We have around 200-500 sources we use continually, and we spend too much time typing characters for human readers when we should be typing only enough characters to get the Wiki to understand the source being used so that '''it''', in turn, can generate the verbose strings for the users to read.  Templates matching this new standard provide this information, of course, and should replace the old ones categorized under [[:Category:Bibliography Templates|Bibliography Templates]] which did nothing at all to help in drafting footnotes.
  
 
You can see how beneficial the result is on authoring by examining [[Revenge Class Battleship (1914)]] and seeing how the footnotes are authored.  They are now very typeable, and editors really can forget about copying and pasting the long blurbs.
 
You can see how beneficial the result is on authoring by examining [[Revenge Class Battleship (1914)]] and seeing how the footnotes are authored.  They are now very typeable, and editors really can forget about copying and pasting the long blurbs.

Revision as of 13:24, 25 July 2012

A Citable Source Template, is one with a short name optimized for placing a footnote in an article body, with the page/folio/plate number supplied as the single parameter.

When it is used with NO parameters, a more verbose reference to the encompassing book/work or source is supplied, suitable for use in a page's Bibliography section.

Purpose

Editing the site requires a lot of pointless syntax. We have around 200-500 sources we use continually, and we spend too much time typing characters for human readers when we should be typing only enough characters to get the Wiki to understand the source being used so that it, in turn, can generate the verbose strings for the users to read. Templates matching this new standard provide this information, of course, and should replace the old ones categorized under Bibliography Templates which did nothing at all to help in drafting footnotes.

You can see how beneficial the result is on authoring by examining Revenge Class Battleship (1914) and seeing how the footnotes are authored. They are now very typeable, and editors really can forget about copying and pasting the long blurbs.

Naming Standards

These have to be sufficiently long to specify the work being referred to, but must be short enough to be unique (of course) and easy to type. Editors should err on making them short rather than pretty, especially those that will be used frequently (e.g., ARTS1914 is good for "Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1914", as it is used hundreds of times and is part of a series).

To this end, I suggest:

  • no standard prefix (i.e., no Bib or Cit, though we maybe we should consider SR for Service Records, when we "go there")
  • I have been abbreviating
    • Manual as M
    • Handbook as H
    • Drill Book as DB
    • Gunnery as Gun
    • Torpedo as Torp
    • Technical History as TH
  • don't use Roman numerals; use Arabic, e.g., NavOps4 rather than NavOpsIV
  • books by the naval service should not mention an author
  • books should have last name of the first author, if the author seems vital to remembering the work
  • if the book is in a series, however; drop the author name: e.g., NavOps4 rather than NewboltNOIV
  • include a year as a suffix when the work was part of a regular or occasional series, e.g., SightM1916

Using the Templates in a Wiki Article

As a citation, a single parameter is used to specify the page number (or similar details particular to this citation, but not to the source itself).

Crumpets are best for breakfast.{{CitTest|p. 5}}

When listing this source in a Bibliography section, however, no parameter is used. The template spits out the long format reference.

==Bibliography==
* {{CitTest}}

Creating a Citable Source Template

How does one write such a template? The basic form is:

{{Cit|Complete bibliography reference here, no final dot|Abbreviated reference here, no final dot|{{{1|}}}}}<noinclude>{{CitCat}}</noinclude>

Note that it calls another template called Cit, and hands it three parameters:

  • the bibliographic (long format) description of the source (final period omitted).
  • a pipe character: |
  • the abbreviated footnote mention of the same work (final period omitted)
  • the following mess: |{{{1|}}}<noinclude>{{CitCat}}</noinclude></nowiki>

Gotchas

There should be NO line breaks anywhere, or the including article may have ugly whitespace and stray bullets and periods.

Any URLs in the long form reference may require you to wrap "troublesome characters" (I am exploring which) in some manner to avoid confusing the templates. For instance, at the moment, links to documents at the National Archives website are failing, and I have removed a few. I hope to come up with a solution so these may be restored, if they are truly useful.

Pages in category "Citable Source Templates"

The following 200 pages are in this category, out of 892 total.

(previous 200) (next 200)

A

A cont.

B

C

C cont.

D

E

F

G

H

(previous 200) (next 200)