User:Tony1/Date-fragments user-friendly version

Month-day linking
Month-day linking is the use of linking markup (double square brackets) on an adjacent day and month – for example March 24 – which creates a link to a specific date article, such as March 24. Month-day linking has been used by many editors to create links to such articles and/or (from 2003 to 2008) to autoformat dates (see above).


 * Advantages of month-day linking
 * 1) Provides easy access to date articles.
 * 2) Populates "what links here" pages with possibly relevant data.
 * 3) Offers editors direct control over a link's destination, as opposed to the less precise "search" function.


 * Disadvantages of month-day linking
 * 1) Little or no relevance to an article's topic, with a few exceptions.
 * 2) Dilutes high-value links through overlinking.
 * 3) Can be highlighted and/or piped by "gateway" links in the See also section to avoid cluttering the main text.
 * 4) "What links here" (Item 2 above) often generates many false positives and sources of questionable utility  or relevance; the search box can easily be used instead. There are already powerful tools for searching these items, including the search box and google.


 * Advantages of month-day markup (whether or not it entails linking)
 * 1) Clearly indicates which strings refer to dates directly (as opposed to, for example, dates appearing in quotations, which would not be marked up, or coincidences - "In June 19 planes were shot down").
 * 2) Simplifies automated processing of article text (i.e. the gathering of metadata).


 * Disadvantages of month-day markup
 * 1) Complicates the editing process and contributes to instruction creep.
 * 2) Possible "metadata" that might be gathered have never been specified and are of unclear value.

If supported through consensus, one of the following three proposed guidelines (Proposal 1, 2 or 3) would be added to Manual of Style (dates and numbers) and Linking. Please respond below the three proprosals.

Responses
Please type an asterisk; then #1 or #2 or #3 for your preferred proposal (see above), or Neutral; then a brief comment if you wish; then sign.


 * #5 My view is blah blah blah. [User's sig]

Year linking
Year linking is when a specific year is linked to in an article (1987), or a pipe link to a year article on a specific topic ( 1987 ).


 * Advantages of year linking
 * 1) Provides easy access to year articles.
 * 2) Populates "what links here" pages with possibly relevant data.
 * 3) Allows readers to browse freely through global historical context via year.


 * Disadvantages of year linking
 * 1) The articles linked to are rarely relevant or useful to achieving a greater understanding of an article's topic, with a small number of exceptions (see Item 3 below).
 * 2) Often added indiscriminately, leading to overlinking and dilution of high-value links.
 * 3) "What links here" (Item 2 above) often generates many false positives and sources of questionable utility  or relevance; the search box can easily be used instead.


 * Advantages of year markup (whether or not it entails linking)
 * 1) Simplifies automated processing of article text (i.e. gathering metadata).


 * Disadvantages of year markup
 * 1) Complicates the editing process and contributes to instruction creep.
 * 2) Possible "metadata" that might be gathered have never been specified and are of unclear value.

If supported through consensus, one of the following three proposed guidelines (Proposal 1, 2 or 3) would be added to Manual of Style (dates and numbers) and Linking. Please respond below the four proposals.

Responses
Please type an asterisk; then #1 or #2 or #3 or #4 for your preferred proposal (see above), or Neutral; then a brief comment if you wish; then sign.
 * #5 My view is blah blah blah. [User's sig]