Templates/Talk

This is the "Talk" page for discussing the page Templates.

This page is where differences in opinions about Templates are resolved, and notes are left from one contributor to another related to content of the Templates page and the related Templates/xxxxx template pages.

Edit in discussion items or leave messages via the comments input box.

See the Archive for previous closed out discussions.

The following are stored under the Templates Directories and will appear on the Create A Page dialog:


• Templates/Business
  

• Templates/Neighborhood
  

• Templates/Person
  

• Templates/Radio Station
  

• Templates/Stripmall
  

• Templates/Talk Page
  

• Templates/Town
  

• Templates/User
  

• Templates/Attractions

Note: there is a separate Talk Template page with an unspecified purpose.

I (BradMandell) propose that we need some standards, suggestions, etc for the contents of the Header Table entry for location.

Factors for Consideration:

• Mailing addresses used by businesses and organizations and printed on their material or listed on their website will normally be according to the USPS standards for acceptable labeling. This set of standards may not allow the specification of the actual town or village where the entity is located. Some of these are documented on the Zip Codes page and mapping graphics are shown on the Webster and Fairport pages. A classic case is that Gates is not allowed in any Postal Zip Code.
  

• Some viewers prefer to see the Zip Code associated with a street address for the purpose of input to a GPS system. Many systems allow input of the Zip Code, then street address or the city/town/village, then the street address.
  

• A mailing address that is a Box Number or is C/O, where the entity does not exist at the location, should not be mapped within RocWiki.
  

• The location of a former business or other entity that no longer has a physical tie to the location should not be mapped within RocWiki.
  

• The Address macro allows the specification of a second argument which is used as the display text string. The text string can be anything except it cannot have embedded wiki syntax.
  

• The Address macro allows wiki linking within the actual address text and the resulting string is sent to the Google Geocoder for mapping and used for display purposes. For example, it is possible to use  ["Greece"]  which displays as Greece within the displayed address. It is also possible to use an alternate naming convention such as ["Henrietta" Rochester] which appears as Rochester. The geocoder and the viewer both see Rochester, but the link is to another page.

Issues:

• I have previously attempted to resolve the discord between zip coded mailing addresses and actual town/village locations by using the Address Macro 2nd argument with the street address and then appending the wiki linked town/village. After the last RocWiki meeting requested zip codes I have started going back through and adding back in the zip codes per the request.
  

• PeteB started using the wiki link within the Address Macro (undocumented feature) and has begun using wiki links where the displayed text is the zip code address but the link is to the actual town/village. JackGreenky left the following message in PeteB's user page
  

2010-04-20 08:54:54   You recently updated the jack grecos page, but the address link has Rochester, linked to Henrietta, place actually in Chili - very confusing to average visitor. (I know, the zip code problems... the Geocode works ok.) I did not fix it for you, wanted to know best address layout for this ...


BradMandell agrees with the assessment that it is confusing and not helpful to the viewer either online or in print (Ryan reminds me that it is a consideration). The text might easily lead the viewer to believe that the wiki link will point to the displayed information, however, we now have Rochester, Rochester, Rochester, Rochester, Rochester ... each pointing to a different page.

Some recommendations:

• Mailing Addresses

  Mailing Address

  mailing address such as PO Box or C/O

• Former businesses, organizations ... nothing physically located at address

  Former Location

  address of former entity not actually located at the address

• Entity mailing address coincides with actual town/village location

  Location

  [[Address(123 Example St, ["Actual Town"], NY 14580)]]

• Entity mailing address does not coincide with actual town/village location

  Location

  [[Address("123 Example St, ZipCodeTown, NY 14580","123 Example St")]]["ActualTown"] 14580

  1900 Empire Blvd Penfield 14580

Your input will be greatly appreciated so that we don't have competing implementations that will require DO OVERS or "argumentative" debate.

Comments about Templates page or discussion items:

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2008-07-11 12:16:51   Many of the templates refer to image entries and suggest right alignment and limiting the size of the image to 300 pix width.

There are a number of pages where the contributor had a more "panoramic" photo to use as the most interesting and useful photo for the entry. Some examples on request.

Suggest that entries with good visual cues from a panoramic style shot feature that shot at the top of the page above the standard "template" text entries. If the shot is placed on the right, then it may appear too small or cause the standard text to "scrunch up" when the browser has a smaller window size (smaller monitor or multi-browser windows opened) —BradMandell