![]() | New York City: Public Transportation Template‑class | |||||||||
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Typing {{NYCS|K}} is identical to typing [[K (NYCS)|]], and the former cannot be disambiguated (note that K is a disambiguation page). Normal links are easier to deal with, and do not require recoding the template or forming otherwise-useless redirects like K Eighth Avenue Local (New York City Subway service) for cases like the K (which would be required to use {{NYCS|K Eighth Avenue Local|K}}). Here are the reasons I have seen for not using normal links:
The worst problem however with this template is overlinking. It encourages every instance of a service to be linked, for example:
It is highly discouraged to use "the same link multiple times, because redundant links clutter up the page and make future maintenance harder. It is not uncommon to repeat a link that had last appeared much earlier in the article, but there's hardly ever a reason to link the same term twice in the same section."
It also causes every instance of a service to be bolded in the article on that service, in violation of Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Article titles:
This can be seen in the lead section of R (New York City Subway service):
I understand that there are good reasons for using other templates (which do not use template:NYCS) in order to ensure that mentions of services are accurate and updated when patterns change. (For an example, the G is to extend along the Culver Line; by adding G to the "Culver IND south" templates, this change will appear in all articles that reference this part of the line and use the templates. Standard uses of these templates can be seen at Bushwick, Brooklyn#Transportation (without the time codes) and in the infoboxes on Times Square–42nd Street (with the time codes). I am not saying that we should cut down on use of these line templates. On the other hand, we should use them more often; the only places we should directly link to a service are on articles about the subway system itself, preferably only about services and lines. -- NE2 00:07, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
![]() | New York City: Public Transportation Template‑class | |||||||||
|
Typing {{NYCS|K}} is identical to typing [[K (NYCS)|]], and the former cannot be disambiguated (note that K is a disambiguation page). Normal links are easier to deal with, and do not require recoding the template or forming otherwise-useless redirects like K Eighth Avenue Local (New York City Subway service) for cases like the K (which would be required to use {{NYCS|K Eighth Avenue Local|K}}). Here are the reasons I have seen for not using normal links:
The worst problem however with this template is overlinking. It encourages every instance of a service to be linked, for example:
It is highly discouraged to use "the same link multiple times, because redundant links clutter up the page and make future maintenance harder. It is not uncommon to repeat a link that had last appeared much earlier in the article, but there's hardly ever a reason to link the same term twice in the same section."
It also causes every instance of a service to be bolded in the article on that service, in violation of Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Article titles:
This can be seen in the lead section of R (New York City Subway service):
I understand that there are good reasons for using other templates (which do not use template:NYCS) in order to ensure that mentions of services are accurate and updated when patterns change. (For an example, the G is to extend along the Culver Line; by adding G to the "Culver IND south" templates, this change will appear in all articles that reference this part of the line and use the templates. Standard uses of these templates can be seen at Bushwick, Brooklyn#Transportation (without the time codes) and in the infoboxes on Times Square–42nd Street (with the time codes). I am not saying that we should cut down on use of these line templates. On the other hand, we should use them more often; the only places we should directly link to a service are on articles about the subway system itself, preferably only about services and lines. -- NE2 00:07, 24 March 2007 (UTC)