https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=16510
Summary: Making unreferenced template parameters available or
visible
Product: Wikimedia
Version: unspecified
Platform: All
OS/Version: All
Status: NEW
Severity: enhancement
Priority: Normal
Component: General/Unknown
AssignedTo: [email protected]
ReportedBy: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
AFAIK, in the current {{...}} template mechanism, any argument whose key
(parameter name) is not explicitly tested by the template's definition is
silently ignored. This behavior makes it nearly impossible for readers of a
page to notice errors in template usage. For example, the following call to
Wikipedia's "cite book" template
:: {{cite book | authro = P. Brown | title = Square Pegs | cover = hard | note
= missing | year = 1950}}
yields only
:: <i>Square Pegs</i> (1950).
because all the other arguments are not explicitly used by the template code.
Suggestion: there should be a mechanism to make all unreferenced arguments
visible. One suggestion is to always typeset such arguments, with some glaring
markup, at the end of whathever output the template code has produced. For
instance, the template call above coudl produce
:: <i>Square Pegs</i> (1950) <font color="red"><b>| authro = P. Brown | cover =
hard | note = missing </b></font>
Alternatively, there should be a special parameter name, say "LEFTOVERS", whose
value at any moment is the concatenation of all parameter-value pairs that have
not yet been explicitly referenced by the template code. Thus, an
"idiot-proof" template could finish its processing by fetching the "LEFTOVERS"
string and typesetting it (properly un-wikified) with a glaring markup and/or
warning message.
--
Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/userprefs.cgi?tab=email
------- You are receiving this mail because: -------
You are the assignee for the bug.
You are watching all bug changes.
_______________________________________________
Wikibugs-l mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikibugs-l
