Should there be horizontal lines beneath categories or project boxes on profiles?

Question

Hi WikiTreers,

Not sure if this has been discussed before.

I've noticed that some leading WikiTreers regularly add horizontal lines between categories and the biography, e.g. on Lakota-3. Some also put them above or below project boxes.

It's a small point, but if this is the style that WikiTreers prefer, it could be done on the back-end and it would appear on all profiles in a uniform way.

For the horizontal lines below categories, that would be done on the main templates that format profiles. For project boxes, it would be part of the project box template.

Chris

Comments

Could these be tried after the Biography instead of before it?  Also, the project boxes have that little bit of self-advert (If you are interested in this profile, please check out the Native Americans Project!) that seems could better be read after the image is clicked instead of showing on each profile

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I like the idea of putting a horizontal line after categories.

As for project boxes ...  IMO, it really depends on the template design. In general, there's no uniformity, and the line breaks can differ wildly -- ranging from small to XXXL. So sometimes the line looks good, and sometimes... not so much.

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I also like the horizontal lines after the categories.   There are profiles that have multiple category designations. How would those look?  I do not think you would want multiple lines.

It might be better to put the categories at the bottom of the biography. That way the reader would be fairly sure they were on the expected person before they see the categories. -NGP

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A lot of people may hesitate because when you mouse over the symbol to add a horizontal line, it says "use sparingly."

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I don't much like having to scroll down through all that white space just to find out if the profile includes a biography and sources (much less to actually read the biography)... 

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I agree with Ellen. I'm not a fan of breaking with typical Wikimedia style, and prefer to keep the very top of a profile dedicated to the synopsis ... instead of trying to make a very limited number of characters, appear as a real biography . However, because we are ad-supported, I like the categories at the very top of the page to easily keep people onsite ... just in case ad-blocker is not in use.

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Glad to know I didn't imagine the "use sparingly" Nan.  Following that instruction, I've been diligently deleting them in biographies, on merges and never use, but couldn't find the "use sparingly" instruction anywhere, after reading this post :/

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Concur with Ellen and Bree. We have to scroll enough as it is.

AND while on the topic, Id love to see the project and other templates MUCH tighter-- using up much less vertical space.

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I should probably clarify a bit. I don't think horizontal lines should be inserted manually around categories or project boxes. If it's done manually it's either:

A.) Inefficient, because it has to be done on every profile by hand, or

B.) Irregular, because some profiles have the lines and some don't.

If people think that the universal style should be to have more lines we can add them in the templates.

Answer 1

Ditto on Ellen's point.  I like it all compact as possible.  I even delete blank lines where possible:  http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Smith-100272  

Answer 2

I don't think it should become standard procedure. I think there are some profiles that it looks good on and some that it's awkward looking. It depends a lot on what else is on the profile.

Why would we need to use the horizontal line sparingly?

Answer 3

I like a line around the template, like on the {{Italian Roots}} template. That way you can add a background color. If all the templates had a box around them they would look better and the graphic would stand out more with a background color. The Irish Roots and the German Roots templates look plain by comparison. If wa get to adding multiple templates on most profiles, we might need a separation line, or even a way to put more than one template on each line. But with only one or two we might not need the line, especially if there are boxes  on the templates. I put my Italian Roots template at the bottom so it serves as a good divider between my Centanni Name Study template and my Italian Roots template.

Answer 4

There are times when it's necessary to use the horizontal lines. Certain templates don't appear correctly when placed together. 

Below the categories? My vote is no.

Numerous projects don't use the project template. How will the horizontal line be added to those templates?

Comments

With project templates, we need to move toward standardization. That's a separate discussion (one that's been on hold because you have some issues with the basic template guidelines).

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I started the discussion back in Dec after the discussion in the Leader group about standardizing templates. But, many questions needed & still need answers. I'm not sure how my "issues with basic template guidelines" put standardization of project templates on hold.

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Before discussing rules on how specific templates should be styled, I'd like to settle on the basic rules about creating templates (e.g. whether they have to be in the Template namespace -- a question that also encompasses who can create templates) and how template styling should be done (e.g. cascading templates and universal styles).

I've e-mailed you but haven't gotten any responses. Please e-mail me back.