Wikisource talk:Proposed extension

Hey ThomasV, I just saw this page. I think the php script is a good idea but has potential drawbacks. Mainly, I'm concerned that people would not know how to use it. I myself have no knowledge of programming languages (aside from basic HTML and CSS), and am concerned--as I know others might be, too--that I would not be able to work the php. Would the scripting be a simple procedure, or would it take a good knowledge of the scripting language in order to carry out. If it's simple, anybody could probably do it. Otherwise, many would not be able to use it, and we might scare some people away. Zhaladshar 19:49, 15 Dec 2004 (UTC)

no, it would be very simple. the users will just need to call a template, takes zero knowledge

Ah. Great. Phew. I was wondering if I'd have to go get a book and learn to write php. Glad to see that I don't. Anyway, good luck on developing the script. Zhaladshar 20:06, 15 Dec 2004 (UTC)

This page should be in the Wikisource namespace.

The idea is intriguing and innovative, and could have far-reaching effects that go far beyond the little multilingual universe of Wikisource. I do share Zhaladshar's concerns about complexities. Even templates can be too much for some people who would be happy just putting in simple text. Wikipedia has always had a tension between those who would keep things simple, and those who would sacrifice that simplicity for the sake of adding exciting new features.

I can't say that I understand everything in the proposal, but there's enough there to make me think that it should be developed further. Maybe something should be put on the test wiki if we can sell the ideas to a developer. I do have a few observations, and what may be wrong interpretations. Please let me know if I misunderstand anything.

• "Localize" is an instruction as opposed to a than a title or namespace. It asks the system to create a page based on a set of pre-determined routines. "/xx is a parameter identifying the language from which the material is to be drawn.
• "Author" pages (including principal author pages) should probably be continued. Perhaps in a separate namespace with a more neutral name for the namespace.
• I'm not sure about using the namespace name "category" as you suggest. There is a risk of confusing it with other kinds of categorization which should still go on, and allow for multiple categorization schemes. A whole new name might do better. The category extension idea seems to overcome some of the limitations that seem to be in the existing scheme. Eclecticology 02:03, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I do share your concern about complexity. my initial idea was to have contributors submit works in such a way that they would be automatically registered in a category, such as 'Works by Karl Marx'. however this implies that they put the right template in the page where they put the submitted work. I realize they might not do that. I also realize that it would constraint too much the formatting of author pages. So I guess we should keep the current system for contributing new works.

however, I still believe the second part of my proposal is a good one: to automatically link together all the different localized pages for one author. this task really desserves to be automated. I am currently writing an extension that does just that. the nice thing is that it does not require any modification of the source code. All we need to do is to add one file containing in the 'extension' directory, and to register it in 'LocalSettings.php'.

The 'main' author page will be a category, eg "Category:Karl Marx".--ThomasV 14:24, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC)

the proposal was just commited to cvs. :-) --ThomasV 20:55, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I like it but :

• tranlation should be automatic based on user languge preference in 1.4 (thomasV seems to disagree on irc, I don't understand why perhaps I'm missing something)
• this use the cl_sortkey field. On the other hand adding more flag to category means a more complicated syntax...

Phe 21:08, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC)

concerning the translation, one point is that we want to have localized pages, written in one single language, and the ability to switch between these pages. another point is that language-name strings such as 'english' are not translated yet in wikimedia.

concerning the sortkey: I've seen several places where it was proposed to extend the syntax of categories, in order to have the ability to display another string than the default one in the link. maybe we should wait and see if that gets implemented.

--ThomasV 15:12, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)