MarioWiki:Proposals

Writing guidelines
None at the moment.

New features
None at the moment.

Removals
None at the moment.

How to order navigation templates
According to MarioWiki:Navigation templates, navigation templates are to be ordered as such: "species templates should come first, followed by game-specific and series-wide templates, which are arranged in pure chronological order." I'm fine with species coming before game and series, but I have a problem with the bolded section (emphasis my own). The purely chronological order helps nobody: readers definitely don't know when every game came out, and editors are especially inconvenienced by having to look up every single game until they find exactly where each template fits... or they might just guess where it fits, and if you don't believe that's not being done, look at any large page and count how many templates are out-of-place. This may not be that much of an issue on smaller pages or with new games, but good luck trying to slot in a new template for an older game on Mario's page. The fact of the matter is, the date that a game came out is not obvious to anyone. Why not change it, then?

Option 1: Purely alphabetically

This matches how our categories are currently ordered (including how species go at the top). The templates would be ordered by the first letters in their name and nothing more.

Option 2: By series, then chronologically

This matches how the history sections of the pages themselves are currently ordered. The templates would be grouped together by their subjects' series, then subsequently ordered by their date of release.

Option 3: By series, then alphabetically

An amalgamation of options 1 and 2. The templates are grouped by series, then ordered alphabetically.

Option 4: Purely chronologically (i.e. do nothing)

Everything stays the same, and no changes are made.

Examples of all of the options can be seen here. I'm personally partial to the purely alphabetical option, because it mirrors the categories and it doesn't involve any digging around with dates, but the choice is yours.

Proposer: Deadline: January 20, 2017, 23:59 GMT

Option 1

 * 1) Per proposal.
 * 2) Out of the two non-series based options, this is preferred due to it being done without going to other articles, due to it being easily organize-able, and per proposal.

Option 2

 * 1) - I'm fine with either option, but I often order things chronologically when able over alphabetically. Preferred option
 * 2) Per proposal.
 * 3) Per proposal.
 * 4) I like this option best because it only makes sense if most articles are formatted this way. Per proposal.
 * 5) I think this is the best way to go abut it as it is in line with most other things that require similar ordering, per all.
 * 6) Per all.
 * 7) Per all.
 * 8) Per all.  But how will we arrange the series?  I think Super Mario games should be on top.
 * 9) Per all.
 * 10) Per all. The only problem I have is the templates colors would be grouped. However, this is preferred out of all due this exactly coming before categories.
 * 11) Pretty sure this is how the articles are structured anyway, so yeah.
 * 12) Ordering them the same way as the history sections seems like a good idea.

Option 4

 * 1) - I'm fine with either option, but I often order things chronologically when able over alphabetically.
 * 2) This fixes potential arbitrarity regarding what series should go first, particularly with the game Donkey Kong being both in the Mario and Donkey Kong franchise.
 * 3) Chronological ordering is fine as well, as it provides users with an alternative to the alphabetical ordering of the categories.

Comments
Dear everyone who picked 2: What about the game Donkey Kong? Should the first several templates on Mario's page relate to his involvement in the Donkey Kong franchise? Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 15:59, 13 January 2018 (EST)
 * The series would be ordered as they're ordered in the history pages. Not particularly arbitrary. At the very least, you should be having a problem with a lot more of the wiki, then. 16:00, 13 January 2018 (EST)
 * Do you mean the history sections? The only reason I don't complain about those is that we have tables of contents for that. The current template ordering, makes sense, unlike the other options. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 16:03, 13 January 2018 (EST)
 * How does a table of contents make a difference? They're being ordered the same way. Also, what's so nonsensical about alphabetical ordering? 16:08, 13 January 2018 (EST)
 * Sigh I can see where things are ahead of time and jump to them in a table of contents. Alphabetical ordering is inadequate due to some games having different names depending on region, including English regions. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 16:13, 13 January 2018 (EST)
 * Games having different names is a moot point when every other aspect of the wiki is using those names. Someone looking for information about whatever game would see that name, and they'd then know what name to search for afterwards. Nobody is going to the navigation templates first. 16:17, 13 January 2018 (EST)
 * It's still far less helpful than the current ordering, IMO. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 16:18, 13 January 2018 (EST)
 * My main point is that the current ordering helps nobody in the slightest. Who is so familiar with every game's release date that they can navigate the templates with ease? 16:20, 13 January 2018 (EST)
 * The person you're speaking with? It just makes more sense to me to see Donkey Kong or Super Mario Bros in the front than, say, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, or to have Hotel Mario be the first for Wiggler. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 16:36, 13 January 2018 (EST)
 * I'm sure your knowledge applies to every single one of the wiki's readers. 16:55, 13 January 2018 (EST)
 * AGAIN, Hotel Mario and Captain Toad would become the foremost templates on several articles. This is a bad idea. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 16:56, 13 January 2018 (EST)

Miscellaneous
None at the moment.