Forum:A change to templates used on invalid pages

Index → The Panopticon → A change to templates used on invalid pages

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Opening Post

I think we should start using {{NCmaterial}} instead of {{Invalid}} on in-universe style pages for subjects that only appear in invalid sources, but not on pages for invalid works themselves. So for instance, Doctor Who (Doctor Who and Crayola) would have the NCMaterial template, but Doctor Who and Crayola (TV story) would still use {{Invalid}}. Cgl1999 ☎ 23:56, 14 July 2023 (UTC)

Discussion

I like the idea of a larger banner being bold and up front for people starting to read an in-universe-style article so they properly know this is from not valid sources. --Tangerineduel / talk 07:16, 15 July 2023 (UTC)

NC Material is a bit... Imposing. And let us not forget that valid or invalid is an entirely arbitrary differentiation that we have invented. This is going to be entirely unhelpful to the ordinary reader, especially because most of these sources are just common sense. If something says "Doctor What was a fish lord from the planet Atlantis" people are going to go "hmm, this probably isn't canon", that being how most people think, but if it says "The Doctor was a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey", then they'll think "Yes, this is canon". There's really no need to clutter up our pages with such things. Aquanafrahudy 📢 07:47, 15 July 2023 (UTC)

I could go either way in terms of visual style, but I do think we should resolve the weird dual system currently in vogue with non-valid pages. "/Non-valid sources" subpages get {{NCmaterial}} which allows for citations of invalid sources and of certain non-covered sources (as established in the subpages thread), while purely-invalid pages get {{invalid}} which only allows for the citation of covered-invalid sources. This is confusing and arbitrary. Scrooge MacDuck ⊕ 10:57, 15 July 2023 (UTC)

I agree. To new users, it will be simply inexplicable why we have two different "Spaces" which both, functionally, are "the place where we cover non-valid sources." OS25🤙☎️ 17:50, 15 July 2023 (UTC)

I'm... Unconvinced... that what we say is valid or invalid is going to be clearly understood through intuition on the part of the average reader without us making a comment. Given, in part, that valid/invalid are categories for our convenience rather than theirs. We can't expect the average reader to intuit our specific categories. (Indeed, your reasoning here specifically switches back to "canon", and those are decidedly not the same.)

I don't think that there's inherently a problem with having two distinct "spaces" to cover invalid work, it's just that the current setup isn't correct. I don't believe the OP suggests replacing {{invalid}} on the article pages for invalid works. And I think {{NCmaterial}} is completely inappropriate for that job. As to which one we pick for the IU coverage of works, I have no real concerns, but I do think it should be uniform. Najawin ☎ 19:04, 15 July 2023 (UTC)