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I'm not seeing the utility of this navbox nor how it meets the five guidelines of a "good navbox" as set out at
WP:NAVBOX.
Particularly:
2 The subject of the template should be mentioned in every article.
4 There should be a Wikipedia article on the subject of the template.
And the general statement that "templates with a large number of links are not forbidden, but can appear overly busy and be hard to read and use".
The advantages of a navbox include "They provide an organized resource for readers who went through an article in some broad topic to find other articles on the same broad topic" - this template is covering too broad a topic for navigation.
GraemeLeggett The template serves a similar purpose to
these. It lists all projects in a particular US government designation sequence. An article on the topic sort of exists as
Weapon System. However, this article portrays the "Weapon System" as its own separate designation system as opposed to it being simply a prefix for the actual System designation sequence, which included many other technologies as well. Even if a proper article existed for the topic, I think the navbox (or maybe several split from this one) would still serve the same purpose as the other US military designation templates as many projects were never assigned another designation, such as the
WS-124,
WS-125, and
WS-199. -
ZLEAT\C 15:25, 6 September 2021 (UTC)reply
The aircraft designations are much narrower in focus. If you think subjects such as the strategic weapon
WS-199 need navboxes, it would be better to find articles that have more in common and build those navboxes rather than lump it in with
a UHF radio system.
GraemeLeggett (
talk) 17:38, 6 September 2021 (UTC)reply
GraemeLeggett As I said, the designation sequence is not for aircraft, but "systems" (essentially secret USAF projects). The scope of this template is USAF projects (including, but not limited to aircraft) that received "system" numbers. -
ZLEAT\C 19:00, 6 September 2021 (UTC)reply
I concur that a list article is a better solution than a navbox, or even several navboxes. To be honest, this is specialist information that really isn't of interest to the average user, and is unlikely to ever be.
BilCat (
talk) 22:49, 6 September 2021 (UTC)reply
@
ZLEA: Any update on the list article?
BilCat (
talk) 05:06, 31 October 2021 (UTC)reply
BilCat The list is compiled, but it needs reliable sources. I had used
this source to compile the list, and I reached out to its creator asking them where they got the information for their own list. I have not heard back yet, so the list article is on hold for now until I can find a more reliable source. -
ZLEAT\C 17:31, 1 November 2021 (UTC)reply
OK, thanks. I don't ever recall Designation-Systems Dot Net being challenged as a reliable source, but I accept the site as one. The creator, Andreas Parsch, almost always list his sources, though they aren't generally footnoted. I've seen his site cite by reputable authors from reliable publications, so I lean towards him being a reliable source in this case. He's regularly used as a source for designations and missles, so there shouldn't be a problem with you publishing the list now. (I have communicated by email with him on a couple of occasions about 10 years ago. I don't think he actively maintains the site now, but I except he'll het back to you in time.)
BilCat (
talk) 20:25, 1 November 2021 (UTC)reply
I agree that the site is probably reliable, but I don't think many others will see it that way since other parts of the site cite Wikipedia as a source. I don't see that he used Wikipedia as a source on this particular page, but just to be safe, I don't think it is a good idea to have the list rely heavily on this one source. I have access to the
ERAU library, which may have some good sources on the subject. I'll do some digging there when I have time. -
ZLEAT\C 23:28, 1 November 2021 (UTC)reply
This template is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a
list of open tasks. To use this banner, please see the
full instructions.Military historyWikipedia:WikiProject Military historyTemplate:WikiProject Military historymilitary history articles
I'm not seeing the utility of this navbox nor how it meets the five guidelines of a "good navbox" as set out at
WP:NAVBOX.
Particularly:
2 The subject of the template should be mentioned in every article.
4 There should be a Wikipedia article on the subject of the template.
And the general statement that "templates with a large number of links are not forbidden, but can appear overly busy and be hard to read and use".
The advantages of a navbox include "They provide an organized resource for readers who went through an article in some broad topic to find other articles on the same broad topic" - this template is covering too broad a topic for navigation.
GraemeLeggett The template serves a similar purpose to
these. It lists all projects in a particular US government designation sequence. An article on the topic sort of exists as
Weapon System. However, this article portrays the "Weapon System" as its own separate designation system as opposed to it being simply a prefix for the actual System designation sequence, which included many other technologies as well. Even if a proper article existed for the topic, I think the navbox (or maybe several split from this one) would still serve the same purpose as the other US military designation templates as many projects were never assigned another designation, such as the
WS-124,
WS-125, and
WS-199. -
ZLEAT\C 15:25, 6 September 2021 (UTC)reply
The aircraft designations are much narrower in focus. If you think subjects such as the strategic weapon
WS-199 need navboxes, it would be better to find articles that have more in common and build those navboxes rather than lump it in with
a UHF radio system.
GraemeLeggett (
talk) 17:38, 6 September 2021 (UTC)reply
GraemeLeggett As I said, the designation sequence is not for aircraft, but "systems" (essentially secret USAF projects). The scope of this template is USAF projects (including, but not limited to aircraft) that received "system" numbers. -
ZLEAT\C 19:00, 6 September 2021 (UTC)reply
I concur that a list article is a better solution than a navbox, or even several navboxes. To be honest, this is specialist information that really isn't of interest to the average user, and is unlikely to ever be.
BilCat (
talk) 22:49, 6 September 2021 (UTC)reply
@
ZLEA: Any update on the list article?
BilCat (
talk) 05:06, 31 October 2021 (UTC)reply
BilCat The list is compiled, but it needs reliable sources. I had used
this source to compile the list, and I reached out to its creator asking them where they got the information for their own list. I have not heard back yet, so the list article is on hold for now until I can find a more reliable source. -
ZLEAT\C 17:31, 1 November 2021 (UTC)reply
OK, thanks. I don't ever recall Designation-Systems Dot Net being challenged as a reliable source, but I accept the site as one. The creator, Andreas Parsch, almost always list his sources, though they aren't generally footnoted. I've seen his site cite by reputable authors from reliable publications, so I lean towards him being a reliable source in this case. He's regularly used as a source for designations and missles, so there shouldn't be a problem with you publishing the list now. (I have communicated by email with him on a couple of occasions about 10 years ago. I don't think he actively maintains the site now, but I except he'll het back to you in time.)
BilCat (
talk) 20:25, 1 November 2021 (UTC)reply
I agree that the site is probably reliable, but I don't think many others will see it that way since other parts of the site cite Wikipedia as a source. I don't see that he used Wikipedia as a source on this particular page, but just to be safe, I don't think it is a good idea to have the list rely heavily on this one source. I have access to the
ERAU library, which may have some good sources on the subject. I'll do some digging there when I have time. -
ZLEAT\C 23:28, 1 November 2021 (UTC)reply