https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=30297
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Bug #: 30297
Summary: Table of contents number is ambiguous when a heading's
first word is an arabic numeral too
Product: MediaWiki
Version: unspecified
Platform: All
OS/Version: All
Status: NEW
Severity: normal
Priority: Unprioritized
Component: General/Unknown
AssignedTo: [email protected]
ReportedBy: [email protected]
Classification: Unclassified
There is no clear separator between the table of content number and the first
word of the heading.
For example [[:en:2011 England riots]] includes the following headings:
6 August
7 August
8 August
etc...
Combined with the TOC number, it produces the following strings of characters :
3.1 6 August
3.2 7 August
3.3 8 August
Depending on various parameters such as the font used on your computer, the
space between "3.1" and "6 August" can be quite narrow, or seem so even if it
might be an illusion related to how the human eyes and brains appreciate
distances. As a result, I am afraid a number of people, not only me, might
read:
Three dot sixteen: August
Three dot twenty-seven: August
Three dot thirty-eight: August
instead of the intended:
Three dot one: Sixth of August
Three dot two: Seventh of August
Three dot three: Eighth of August
What I suggest is to add a more visible separator, either by default or on a
case by case basis enabling editors to activate an option on some specific
pages where this problem is acute, or automatically as soon as an arabic
numeral fist word is detected in a heading. It could also be activated or
deactivated via user preferences.
Among the more visible separators I can think of, the best one seems to be the
period. Adding a period after heading numbers is a widely used convention. For
example see the "example with authors" at [[:en:Table of contents]] or the
"preceded by an arabic numeral and a period" guideline in the "Physical Review
Style and Notation Guide" page 4 (
http://www.fysik-nano.fotonik.dtu.dk/upload/subsites/fysiknano/pr-styleguide.pdf
p. 6/28 ).
Another possibility would be to add more space or use tab stops left of the
first word so that the distance between "3.1" and "6 August" becomes
comfortably longer than the distance between "6" and "August".
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