Template talk:Electrical wiring sidebar

English
Hi ZStoler, congratulations on this initiative. I note that you have added the template to several articles written in British English (BS 7671, AC power plugs and sockets, IEC 60364), but as the template is currently written exclusively in US English this presents a problem! Most British English speakers are completely unfamiliar with the use of "code" to mean regulations, similarly "receptacle" is not used for socket-outlet, the collective term for switches and sockets etc is "wiring accessories" and to a British English speaker a "distribution board" means a multi-socket extension lead - what you call a "distribution board" we call a "consumer unit".

May I suggest two possible ways to resolve this, that the template be re-written in a way that is meaningful to users of both forms of English, or that it's use be restricted to articles which are predominantly North American in character? Deucharman (talk) 07:20, 24 August 2013 (UTC)
 * A better solution might be to eliminate it altogether. If a link is relevant to a particular article, it can be added in the see-also section.  It's also dishonest to describe any random subset of Wikipedia articles as a "series" - this implies rather more editorial coherence than we're up for. It's like describing the people on the next bus that passes as a "team". --Wtshymanski (talk) 16:02, 24 August 2013 (UTC)
 * I agree with Deucharman that this should be fixed, and I also agree with Wtshymanski's point that "series" is inappropriate in this context. SSHamilton (talk) 17:04, 24 August 2013 (UTC)
 * This was definitely a start. I could sub-categorize terminology based on region or country? I am an American Electrical Engineering student, so I am unfortunately a bit perplexed still at British/international terminology. What would be a good term to use instead of "series?" Also I can try and sub-categorize based on region, such as is done in Template:Atheism sidebar ZStoler (talk) 20:36, 24 August 2013 (UTC)
 * There are two issues here. The first is whether it is appropriate for a sidebar written in North American English and referring mainly to North American issues to be included in articles which are written in British English.  I would maintain that it is not and have reverted BS 7671, AC power plugs and sockets, IEC 60364 for that reason.  The second is whether it is a good idea to have such a sidebar at all, in this I would tend towards agreement with  Wtshymanski that it is not necessary, and definitely should not falsely claim that articles are part of a series when no such series exists.  Perhaps a consensus will emerge on this?  FF-UK (talk) 13:03, 25 August 2013 (UTC)
 * It seems that the community doesn't want this template, I am interested if I should just trash this at this point. It seems no one was interested in my contribution. ZStoler (talk) 01:18, 28 August 2013 (UTC)

I have added fuse, which seems a strange omission. By the way "Distribution board" is used universally in British practice to describe a fuse board within an industrial or large commercial environment. ie. part of a large distribution system at Low Voltage. "Consumer unit" usually refers to a domestic installation. BS7671 defines a Consumer unit as " A particular type of distribution board comprising a type tested co-ordinated asseembly for the control and distribution of electrical energy, principally in domestic premises.... Dougsim (talk)

Make the sidebar address a single topic area
The sidebar is a good idea, but seems to address building wiring with the main topic Electric power distribution looking anomalous at the end. Suggest Electric power distribution removed to new sidebar. Dougsim (talk)

I've now removed the electrical power distribution section as this is covered by other navbar - Electricity delivery. I have changed heading to building wiring, so this says what it means and gets the topic specific. Also put the two main wiring practices in the English-speaking world to the top, enlarged description of RCD/GFCI - removed armored cable as that article is due to merging anyway and is very vague.

I think this serves to help American and UK readers who want to use this by being more specific. Dougsim (talk) 09:07, 6 March 2017 (UTC)