User:Ddawson/User instruments

 The instructions on this page have been moved/edited to Instruments/Adding, with comments split to its talk page. Do not edit this page further. It exists now only as an archive.

A cleaner way to maintain the User instruments hierarchy
Okay, I know. I sent the same message (from a template) to everyone, and some of you aren't using these templates inside a Babel box. But this all still applies to you.

Introduction
On August 31 2005, a user known as CyberSkull made some nice contributions to the Babel project by creating templates that make it easier to add languages. But since they (necessarily) use categories specific to languages, they are unsuitable for categorizing instrumental skill, which is what Category:User instruments is all about. I therefore created suitable templates for this subhierarchy. I have already used them for Category:User organ, which I added myself and which no one else has (yet) joined ; now I wish to use them in all the other instrument categories/templates. The difference visible in these templates is using the same color pattern as with the language templates (although there are no -0 or -N levels here). In fact, I have utilized CyberSkull's User blank templates for the latter.

Adding instruments
In order to create new instrument categories, things are now a little easier, although unfortunately there is no shortcut for creating all the category and template pages; a bot is still needed to make things that easy. Anyway, here is the sort of code you need (I'll give examples for organ):

The main category
(It also uses CategoryTOC, but I won't include that here.)

Don't forget to check to make sure you have the correct article. Most instrument names refer to the instrument article, but 'organ' is ambiguous enough to require ' (music)'.

The level-specific subcategories
''Note: These categories previously did not have a tag. Don't forget to put this template on the subcategories!''

  is necessary because some categories (like this one) are named differently from the Babel code.   of course is the skill level to which this subcategory corresponds (1, 2, 3, or 4).

The nonspecific template
''Note: People seem to forget this one! The example below goes in User org. It's nice to be able to tag an instrument one plays without specifying the skill level.''

Note that   is not linked here; it will automatically be made a link to the main category. (It may be different from the category name.)

You could use  if you're concerned about server load. It's up to you.

The level-specific templates
  is whatever word or phrase refers to a person who plays the instrument, e.g. pianist, trumpeter, etc.

Adding instrument tags to your user page
The instrument tags can be added to your Babel box very much like the language tags. See Babel for instructions on creating the box. The code to use is based on the name of the template; while the Babel project maintains excellent consistency between the category names and template names (e.g. 'Category:en-3' and 'Template:User en-3'), the same is not true of the instruments. Look in the category corresponding to the instrument and skill level you want; you should see a similarly named template listed, such as 'Template:User piano' or 'Template:User org-2'. Just take the part after 'Template:User ': that's the code you give to the Babel template.

Example:

This would result in three tags: an en-N tag for English as a native speaker, a non-skill level-specific piano tag, and a org-2 tag for organ at an intermediate level.

There is also a separate box available for listing your instruments if you feel the Babel box should be reserved for languages only. Check Instruments. That page tells how to use it. It also has a somewhat out-of-date listing of the instrument categories.

End of proposal
This proposal is subject to change. In particular, someone suggested adding percussion, which is a mass noun and doesn't sound right with 'the', so I just removed 'the' before the instrument name. Update: Well, Krun talked me into keeping the 'the'. So it's going to stay.

Please post any comments, suggestions, criticisms, etc. below.

Good idea
I wholeheartedly agree. You're right; this should be modelled after the language templates and the formatting should match exactly. Keep up the good work. I might be of some assistance, too. Krun 20:33, 6 September 2005 (UTC)

Good thinking
I'm in favor of standardization, especially in favor of ease-of-use. You have my permission, support, and thanks for taking the initiative. Ryan Prior 21:34, September 6, 2005 (UTC)

Looks good!
Bah, go right ahead. Not entirely sure I like the abbreviation for "piano", but I don't know what else could be used. Hermione1980 23:11, 6 September 2005 (UTC)

Fine
I'm fine with anything you do. I really just have it for fun so it's no big deal. Do whatever you like. Rentastrawberry 00:20, September 7, 2005 (UTC)

Yeah, whatever
I don't really care. &hearts;purplefeltangel 02:07, 7 September 2005 (UTC)

Same here. I pretty much just put it in there for the heck of it, because I saw somebody else with one of 'em. If you think you can improve it, go ahead. If you don't think it needs improvement, you won't be hurting anything by leaving it. The Literate Engineer 07:56, 7 September 2005 (UTC)

S'fine with me too. the wub  "?/!"  14:36, 7 September 2005 (UTC)

I'm with them. Deltabeignet 23:27, 7 September 2005 (UTC)

Yep yep. Whatever. Just get out of the way of my TV. --DLeonard 11:24, September 9, 2005 (UTC)

I'm still trying to figure out how these new templates work; they seem ok, but it would be best to explain how instruments incorporate with the language template. For example: Or something. Cmadler 00:08, 10 September 2005 (UTC)


 * Thanks for your suggestion. I added some clarification as a final section above. The problem is that the User instruments categories don't have the naming consistency that the User languages ones do. For instance, Category:User piano has 'pno' in the tag (thanks to Krun), and Category:User organ has 'org' in the tag and as the code for the template (thanks to me). As I said above, pay attention to the name in the template if you want to use it. Ddawson 03:47, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

Good with me
I like standarization and templates. Trysha 05:07, 7 September 2005 (UTC)

Looks like it's a go
Well, I don't see any opposition to this after several days. Plus, Krun went ahead and converted some templates himself. (Thanks for the help.) So I guess it's accepted. I'm still open to comment here, though. Ddawson 06:46, 8 September 2005 (UTC)

I thought it was supposed to be that way
When I first saw the bass user templates, there was the basic bass one and the bass novice one... there always seemed like there should be more but I didn't want to interfere with someone else's project or anything. Thumbs up from me. mxdxcxnx T C 17:55, 10 September 2005 (UTC)

Trombone
Everything you are doing looks great, but I thought that a person that played the trombone was a tromboner, not a trombonist. -- Lord Vold e  mort  (Dark Mark)  21:25, 13 September 2005 (UTC)


 * Well, first of all, I haven't touched the user-page templates for trombone. Check the page history to see who did. OTOH, I did look them over, along with everything else, and didn't find anything wrong with them. I looked for tromboner in several dictionaries, but didn't find it. So, it's safe to say the proper from is trombonist. Ddawson 21:44, 15 September 2005 (UTC)


 * Heh-heh... He said "tromboner"... heh...
 * Seriously, though, thanks for your efforts. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 17:48, 16 September 2005 (UTC)


 * Of course "tromboner" was a joke. That's what we used to call 'em.  -- Lord Vold e  mort  (Dark Mark)  16:38, 20 September 2005 (UTC)