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Horizontal list layout?
I found it difficult to parse the table-based layout of the main index in order to find a specific category, so I
attempted to bring it closer to something like
Wikipedia:List of policies and guidelines. This would also bring improved accessibility and mobile readability (although these might be less of a concern for an editor audience). The changes were reverted by @
Grandpallama, who suggested a discussion. So is there a preference for horizontal lists or tables?
Ninepointturn (
talk) 04:39, 12 January 2022 (UTC)reply
This is a heavily used template index, so I don't think it should have the layout completely changed without consensus from the community. It also serves a different purpose from the list of policies that you cite, as this is specifically an index to find the appropriate template codes; turning it into a list is a significant conceptual change for its design and purpose. For me, it was disruptive to come to the page to quickly grab an edit-warring template only to find the layout completely altered.
For new users who have difficulty finding a particular template, there is a search field. Given the index design and intent of this page, I'm not sure readability is a primary concern.
Grandpallama (
talk) 18:27, 12 January 2022 (UTC)reply
@
Thinker78: Can you please explain, in this , why do you think that {{TOC right}} is "more useful"?
I have changed the TOC position to the right, because I think the page looks less cluttered that way, both in
desktop view and in
mobile view.
But then, if many editors say that {{TOC left}} looks cluttered, you may go ahead and revert my edit. Thank you —
CrafterNova[ TALK ][ CONT ] 09:30, 22 October 2022 (UTC)reply
@
CrafterNova I did it because I could not initially locate the TOC. I thought maybe it was some bug or something. It didn't occur to me to look to the right, because I hadn't seen TOC there before. Because the trouble I had locating the TOC when I wanted to see it, I moved it to the left, thinking other editors could have a hard time as well for it being to the right. Thinker78(talk) 15:51, 22 October 2022 (UTC)reply
@
Thinker78: I can relate. Sometimes I'm also unable to work with complex templates, but not as bad as I did when I started editing in July 2020. You can be better too. See
Help:A quick guide to templates and
Help:Template. Just look at source codes of simple templates at first such as {{template link}} and {{section link}}. You can also start with {{TOC}} itself. Copy and paste the source codes in your sandbox and experiment with them. Familiarizing with
wikitext took me about 3 or 4 months. How much time it will take for you depends on how much free time you have.
And yes, there are many bugs in template
transclusions and page displays, especially on mobile devices. Many complex templates, such as {{navbox}}es don't appear at all in mobile view.
Thanks for the idea about experimenting with template codes. I may look into it. I have long wanting to do it. But the issue about moving to the left was a pure display issue, at least initially. When I was looking perplexed for the TOC, I didn't check the code. Afterwards, I did some research and I think it is when I found the TOC right code being used and the template documentation. Then I used the TOC left version. Thinker78(talk) 16:51, 22 October 2022 (UTC)reply