User:Bongolium500/cite source/reader feedback

From Tardis Wiki, the free Doctor Who reference

I have spent hours over the past year and few months working on a system that I hope will greatly improve in-universe citations on this wiki and I have come to the point where I would really appreciate some feedback from this wiki's readers. Therefore, it would be great if you could read through this page and then leave me some feedback.

I will begin by presenting some examples, followed by my aims and finally describing how you can leave feedback.

The system in action[[edit] | [edit source]]

Here is an example paragraph using the current citation format:

The following is the same paragraph using my new citation system. Clicking the "[+]" should reveal a bit of information about the story, providing more context without requiring you to visit the story's page.

The First Doctor met the Daleks on the planet Skaro, (TV: The Daleks [+]Loading...["The Daleks (TV story)"]; PROSE: Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks [+]Loading...["Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks (novelisation)"]) and he also travelled with John and Gillian. (COMIC: The Klepton Parasites [+]Loading...["The Klepton Parasites (comic story)"], et al.)

Here are some more examples of the new feature (the text attached to the citations has been omitted):

(TV: Rosa [+]Loading...["Rosa (TV story)"])

(AUDIO: The Holy Terror [+]Loading...["The Holy Terror (audio story)"])

(PROSE: The Eight Doctors [+]Loading...["The Eight Doctors (novel)"])

(AUDIO: The Boundless Sea [+]Loading...["The Boundless Sea (audio story)"])

Demonstrating more functionality[[edit] | [edit source]]

The following examples demonstrate some other features of the system. While I have already demonstrated citations for some of these stories, the following contain additional information.

(TV: The Five Doctors (special edition) [+]Loading...{"var":"special edition","1":"The Five Doctors (TV story)"})

(TV: "The Dead Planet" [+]Part of The Daleks, Loading...{"namedep":"The Dead Planet (1)","1":"The Daleks (TV story)"})

(COMIC: The Klepton Parasites (part one) [+]Loading...{"part":"One","1":"The Klepton Parasites (comic story)"})

(PROSE: Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks [+]Loading...{"ed":"1965 Armada edition","chapt":"1. A Meeting on the Common","1":"Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks (novelisation)"})

(PROSE: The Eight Doctors [+]Loading...{"page":"10-20","1":"The Eight Doctors (novel)"})

(PROSE: "The House Military" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"house military","namedpart":"The House Military","sect":"The Core Entries","page":"91","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) Hover over the "et al." on this last one to view the other contributors.

That's enough examples.

My aims and reasoning[[edit] | [edit source]]

I will now present my aims and reasoning for this system. When you give your feedback, I would primarily like to know if you feel I have successfully met these aims.

In my opinions, in-universe citations serve 3 functions:

  1. Providing evidence for and backing up a piece of information.
  2. Providing an easy place to embark on further research.
  3. Allowing readers to quickly decide whether they care about a specific piece of information. (As Doctor Who has no official "canon", people's opions of what to "count" tend to differ quite a bit.)

This system aims to improve on points 1 and 2 by allowing for more accurate citations. Many stories tend to be quite long and it can be annoying to have to skim through it to find a particular bit of information. By allowing for citing specific episodes, parts, chapters and pages, this should making information easier to verify and make it easier for interested readers to continue their research.

Point 3, however, is the one that I aim to improve upon the most. Currently, the only information a reader is presented with in a citation is the name of the story and what medium it was released in. This is not much. By providing additional information, it is hoped that readers will be able to more quickly and conveniently determine whether they care about a given source.

Giving feedback[[edit] | [edit source]]

Now that you've seen some examples and read through my aims for the system, I would really like to know if I've hit these aims. When you give feedback, it would be really helpful to know:

  • If the citation includes enough information (or too much).
  • If the system is intuitive and easy to use/understand.
  • If you think the system improves upon my 3 perceived functions for in-universe citations (and if you think these are even the correct points of focus at all).
  • Any other comments you might have.

My preferred way for you to give feedback would be on-wiki as this keeps it all in one place. It is recommended that you have an account for this, although you can do it without. Simply type your feedback's title line into the box below (think of it like an email subject), click "PROCEED TO GIVE YOUR FEEDBACK" and then type your feedback into the text box. Finally, end your feedback by typing 4 "~"s like "~~~~" and click save.


If you don't want to give your feedback via this method, you can give it on Discord to Bongo50#7538 or simply leave it wherever you find the link to this page.

Thanks for reading and for any feedback you've given.