Template talk:Societies

Template style
Hi, I think rather than having a common header style template for societies an infobox style would be more appropriate. The infobox would still mark the article out as being a society but the information within the box would be specific to the society in question. --Steve 19:38, 8 August 2010 (UTC)


 * Can you point me to an info box that would be a good design to copy? I need to have this done by the end of the week. It needs to be something that societies can add to their own pages easily, including the details that might reside in the box. Can the box have an image if the society wanted to include one? Did you see the template I created by copy/paste of the one you did for the Historical Records pages? I couldn't get it to look the way I wanted to, but it will do for now. But if you think the info box would be better, then I can experiment with that idea too. --Fran 21:13, 9 August 2010 (UTC)


 * Hi Fran, I have put together Infobox Societies and used it on the page Dorset Family History Society as an example of what can be done. Additional fields could be added, the order change around if needed. I'm now going to be away for a week, but I will have internet access so will follow-up on comments etc when I am able. That doesn't mean nobody else can edit the template, I'm happy for anybody to help improve it. --Steve 06:49, 10 August 2010 (UTC)
 * That is lightning fanastic. Right type of information for infobox. dsammy 20:03, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

Templates Combined
I'm not sure this is the right way to create the template for the society pages. I've added the society info box template to this content template so the users only have to use one template for the page. Is this the right way to do it, or is there a better way? --Fran 03:05, 11 August 2010 (UTC)


 * I think that this is a good idea. I have made some changes to the template today, including adding some content to the /doc page that explains how this combined template can be used. One of the main changes is to state how the template can be substituted and I've added wikicode so that the help/tips are shown here in the template and then as comments in the new page when created by substitution. --Steve 12:58, 12 August 2010 (UTC)


 * I think it would help me understand how the template is working if I knew exactly how the template was created. I've tried to edit the template several times, but without success. With all the extra code for special purposes, it leaves me behind in the dust and scratching my head trying to figure it out. I can look at the code and guess what each symbol means, but not knowing for sure what the symbols mean, and how the order of the symbols changes the behavior, I'm clueless. I'm very willing to learn, but it's taking me a while to do so. I also noticed that you have this same template on one of your user subpages. Is that subpage part of the whole template itself or was it just used in the development process? --Fran 05:08, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

Wrap content around info box
With the two templates combined into one, is there a way to wrap the text from the content template around the info box. I've removed the table of contents in this template, but if the societies would like to use the table of contents, we need to design the page so both the TofC and the info box fits nicely on the page and easy enough for society members to create. --Fran 03:05, 11 August 2010 (UTC)


 * Flip Benefit and history headings, changing history heading size to 3 and you got it made. Heading size 1 and 2 lock the bars full width. dsammy 04:01, 11 August 2010 (UTC)


 * As dsammy pointed out the biggest obstacle to content wrapping is the built-in formatting of the headers. It would help if the style for all the headings included "width: auto;"
 * Also in talking about headings, my opinion is that heading 1, as the style of the article heading, should not be used within articles themselves. I think that heading 2 and 3 are too similar in style. I've looked at the CSS and heading 2 is 24px and heading 3 is 21px so there is a difference of 3px or 14%. However if for example the style "border-bottom: 1px solid #AAA;" was added to heading 2 it would help distinguish between the two --Steve 16:45, 12 August 2010 (UTC)

Instructions for info box
I expect that most societies will use the rich editor to create their new society wiki page. I have added the Societies template to a new page for the Daughters of Utah Pioneers and in rich editor mode, I don't see how I can edit the info box. Even in wikicode, I don't see an easy way to edit the info box on the DUP page. i may have caused the problem by adding the example text on the template itself. The info box used to be a simple box of text headers followed by the equal sign, now I see a lot of 'noinclue' codes. We can remove the example text if that will allow the temple to be a simple list of titles. --Fran 18:06, 12 August 2010 (UTC)


 * OK, I can understand why that doesn't work for the infobox. I have change the template so that the infobox example is shown in this template, but that the template is clear from value when substituted. --Steve 18:38, 12 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Wonderful. This is very helpful. Thanks a ton. --Fran 20:55, 12 August 2010 (UTC)

Difficult template to use
Darin has tried creating society pages so he could be familiar with the process before going to FGS next week. He is finding the template hard to use and has not been successful in creating a page with content. Can the template with suggested content under each heading be on the documentation page and the template itself only have the headings and no hidden content. I think what's happening is they click on the edit to open the whole page in edit mode and somehow the headings disappear and the hidden text shows up. The two practice pages are: Benjamin Franklin Johnson Family Organization and Arizona State Genealogical Society. I'm sure most people will add the template and edit the page while in the rich editor. So, the instructions need to explain the process from that perspective. Any suggestions? --Fran 06:14, 14 August 2010 (UTC)


 * Editing this template is also very difficult to do. I tried to add another section by including the following text:

FamilySearch Wiki Page Adoptions

 * Link to the pages in the wiki the society has adopted.

With the &lt; includeonly &gt; --&gt; &lt; /includeonly &gt; both above and below the bullet point like the other sections, but it didn't work, so I removed it (Note I added extra spaces in the code here, so the text would show up in on the discussion page. The result on the template page was code in bold on the top-right section of the page, plus other issues. Can we removed the hidden comments, and just have a template similar to the Wiki Tech Community meeting agenda? That one works nicely and is easy to use both in wikicode and the rich editor. --Fran 04:55, 18 August 2010 (UTC)


 * Hi Fran, I have edited the template so that when substituted it will add the infobox and the section headings without any comments included. I have moved all the tips/help into the documentation page. Hopefully this is the best solution. --Steve 06:32, 19 August 2010 (UTC)

Suggestion for layout
Steve, thanks for your hard work on this template -- it looks like it has a lot of great prompts for people to add the right kinds of content. Would it be possible to have the infobox display to the right of (and level with) the table of contents like we used to do with pictures on place pages? I think the Dorset Family History Society page, for example, would look better if the layout were done this way. RitcheyMT 02:50, 17 August 2010 (UTC)


 * The prompts were designed by Elaine. --Fran 04:57, 18 August 2010 (UTC)


 * As Fran alludes to, this been a collaboration. I understand what you are hoping to achieve, but I don't think the infobox works being aligned with the TOC, they won't be the same size either horizontally or vertically. I do agree that layout should allow text/images to be located to the right of TOC and to the left of infoboxes, but infoboxes work best when they are located at the top of the article with a good lead to the left. If they were placed side-by-side and then the TOC was collapsed it would not move the text below up! I'd rather leave things as they are, but will listen to other peoples thoughts about this issue. --Steve 06:41, 19 August 2010 (UTC)

Documentation
Several individuals have inquired about the possibility of having the documentation at the top of the page. With the template itself so long, the readers don't even discover there's documentation unless they scroll to the bottom of the page and notice it. --Fran 05:00, 18 August 2010 (UTC)


 * As a result of the changes made in response to another question, the documentation is now shown at the top of the template page. --Steve 06:43, 19 August 2010 (UTC)