Talk:List of railway stations in the West Midlands

Layout
Hi, do not know if this a problem with the new parser or not but the layout of the page is now unusable under Firefox 2.0.0.11. The images appear in front of the tables so the end columns cannot be seen, the tables used to fit around the images. Can some one else check this out to see if they have problems? Keith D (talk) 00:03, 26 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Try it now. Tivedshambo (talk) 00:09, 26 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Thanks that works OK, though leaves lots of white space. Keith D (talk) 00:14, 26 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Righty then - I've merged the individual tables into one, and made it sortable, which I think makes it more useful as it enables sorting by pax volume etc. I've got rid of the redundant code column, and changed the TOC to fit the new layout. Attempting now to place the pics to the right of the table. TicketMan - Talk - contribs 14:49, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Article title
At the risk of rocking the stability required for Feature list, it occurs to me that for consistency with the other lists mentioned in the see also section, this should be renamed List of railway stations in the West Midlands. Any comments? Tivedshambo (talk) 23:39, 26 January 2008 (UTC)


 * There is much inconsistency among similar lists. For example, see List of London railway stations and List of closed railway stations in London. A decision on consistent titling is needed, but it will not be limited to this one article... --Orlady (talk) 05:01, 27 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Fair enough. Leave it as it is then. Tivedshambo (talk) 08:48, 27 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Perhaps a redirect wouldn't go amiss though - any thoughts? TicketMan - Talk - contribs 12:07, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
 * That said, 'in the West Midlands' suggests that the list covers an area expanding beyond the boundaries of the county, which,apart from the two documented examples, it does not. 'In West Midlands' just sounds wrong, which is why I chose the current title. TicketMan - Talk - contribs 12:11, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Local authorities
Does anyone think that it would be valuable to add a column listing the local authority area that each station is within, or would it be unnecessary? Fingerpuppet (talk) 19:55, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Willing to give it a go. Would need a map though (I think I've seen one somewhere). Anyone got anything to add? If no objections I'll make a start on it this evening, and see how it looks. --TicketMan - Talk - contribs 10:38, 28 January 2008 (UTC)


 * If in doubt, the majority are listed with their own article, or in the "Railway Stations in X" categories. Fingerpuppet (talk) 13:22, 28 January 2008 (UTC)


 * I'll make a start in a bit - just need to make sure I can provide a source first. --TicketMan - Talk - contribs 15:04, 28 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Altered table to include local authority. Also added footnote with a numbered map.

Coordinates
Would anyone object to adding a coordinates column to the right-hand side of this table? If not, I propose to ask for a bot to populate it. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 22:12, 23 September 2008 (UTC)


 * I'm not keen on the idea of co-ordinates - they take up room and if users need them they can usually find them in the relevant article. —   Tivedshambo  (t/c) 22:47, 23 September 2008 (UTC)


 * I would tend to agree that there is no room for co-ordinates in the list, especially if there are plans to add the next set of usage figures to the table. The co-ordinate data can be found on the individual station articles. Keith D (talk) 22:59, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

Gallery
[refactored]

I've reverted your change to put the photos in a gallery - according to Image use policy the use of galleries is discouraged, and as this is a featured list we should stick to this. —  Tivedshambo  (t/c) 22:47, 23 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Galleries seem to be widely used elsewhere. As it is, the image layout in the article breaks it on my, and no doubt others', screen; with several screens-worth of right aligned images, having no text alongside them. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 22:54, 23 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Having read the image use policy that was cited, I don't think we'd be violating the spirit of that policy on this page by having the images in a gallery. The gallery syntax helps keep the layout a lot tidier, while as far as content is concerned, there is no difference between having the photos down the right hand side of the page and having them in a gallery.  --RFBailey (talk) 03:50, 24 September 2008 (UTC)


 * My main concern about galleries is that there's a risk of them becoming a "dumping ground" for users to add there own photo to, so that it becomes larger than the list. As an alternative, I could set up a gallery in Commons, which could have a photograph of all stations on, with a link as right. We could then remove most of the photos on here, apart from a representative photograph or two in the lead. Any thoughts? —  Tivedshambo  (t/c) (logged on as Pek) 06:37, 24 September 2008 (UTC)


 * That sounds like a good move. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 12:58, 24 September 2008 (UTC)


 * What's happening with this? The article is still a mess, with the current layout. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 23:49, 16 October 2008 (UTC)


 * It's on my (mental) "to do" list - I've started drafting something out in my sandbox on Commons, but realised some photos will have to be transferred from en-Wiki first. It won't be done quickly as I don't have a lot of time to work on Wikipedia at present, but it will get there. —  Tivedshambo  (t/c) 05:39, 17 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Then I suggest we either restore the gallery I had added to this article (which you removed); or simply remove most of the pictures, in order to fix the current layout problems in the interim. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 08:21, 17 October 2008 (UTC)

[outdent] I'd be wary about a dramatic change in format like this unless there is general consensus to do so. As I pointed out before, galleries are non preferred. Personally I do not feel the current layout is a mess - after all this is the layout that was approved when this article was passed at FLC. If you want the gallery on Commons to happen quicker, feel free to help out - either by moving photos or by adding to my sandbox. —  Tivedshambo  (t/c) (logged on as Pek) 10:21, 17 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Perhaps you mistakenly don't think it's a mess because you're not viewing it on the same size screen/ window and at the same resolution as me? When I get home, I'll post a screen-shot. Galleries may not be preferred (by whom?) but are widely used.


 * See attached image Image:List_of_West_Midlands_railway_stations_borked.png.


 * Another alternative would be to add a column for images, to the table, like that on List of canal aqueducts in the United Kingdom. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 18:17, 17 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Work on the gallery is progressing slowly - I hope to get something knocked up by the end of the week, but any help, particularly in transferring images to Commons, would be much appreciated. See Commons helper for a useful tool. Incidentally Andy, I've changed your image to a link; Screen-shots of Wikipedia are technically "fair use" and therefore shouldn't be used on talk pages. I see your problem - once the gallery is complete I see no reason why we can't remove most the photos as originally discussed. —  Tivedshambo  (t/c) 17:30, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

Article name
Rather than subject the community to so much more red tape for the sake of it, I have been bold and moved it again myself. Jenuk1985 |  Talk  13:57, 11 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Good call. —  Tivedshambo   (t/c) 14:03, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Rationale: —Sladen (talk) 13:48, 11 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Restore original name, that was moved without discussion.
 * The phrase "West Midlands county" does not occur in everyday speech or writing.
 * The "county" is superfluous and has merely made the name unnecessarily longer.
 * The new name requires hidden/pipe links to link to it. All of these are a regression.
 * Adminstrator intervention is required, otherwise they would have been reverted sooner.

I can't say I like "... in the West Midlands county" very much - it doesn't sound right. You wouldn't say "in the Kent county", etc. I appreciate that West Midlands can also refer to the larger West Midlands (region), but the context in the lead section differentiates this. I would therefore propose List of railway stations in the West Midlands for preference, or List of railway stations in the county of West Midlands if county is really considered necessary. What do others think? —  Tivedshambo   (t/c) 11:52, 11 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Survey


 * You're right: List of railway stations in the West Midlands should be the title here. The word "county" is redundant.  --RFBailey (talk) 13:10, 11 June 2009 (UTC)


 * In moving the page, I only added the county suffix based on List of bus routes in the West Midlands county. To be honest, I'm not fussed either way. In the lead it is made clear that it refers to the county, so all things considered List of railway stations in the West Midlands may not be too bad. Jenuk1985  |  Talk  13:34, 11 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Discussion
 * "Restore original name"? List of railway stations in the West Midlands *isnt* the original name? "Adminstrator intervention is required, otherwise they would have been reverted sooner" wtf? Jenuk1985  |  Talk  13:52, 11 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Ta! Sladen (talk) 14:09, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Usage figures
As the usage stats haven't been updated for some time, I've updated the figures in the list, from 04/05 and 05/06 to 06/07 and 07/08. Same source as previously used. --TicketMan - Talk - contribs 22:04, 8 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Updated again, as it's been quite a while. Source updated, still effectively the same though. TicketMan - Talk - contribs 18:20, 1 January 2017 (UTC)

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