Wikipedia talk:Babel

How is babel different from UserBoxes:Language?
How is babel different from UserBoxes:Language? 62.254.8.124 (talk) 20:21, 9 September 2022 (UTC)
 * What is UserBoxes:Language? The page doesn't exist. -- Red rose64 &#x1f339; (talk) 18:37, 17 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Pretty sure they meant Userboxes/Language. To attempt to answer the question, the difference is that userboxes need to use multiple templates (of which many are not serious and/or standardized and/or related to spoken language) whereas the Babel template allows a user to quickly type out the spoken languages which match their criteria of Babel/levels into a single template separated by "|" and the user doesn't have to search for each template individually, but fundamentally they fulfill the same function. Sebrana (talk) 00:07, 28 April 2024 (UTC)

"Wikipedia Code"
I'd like to replace this phrase with 'ISO 639-1 code'. Any objection? Pathawi (talk) 05:32, 1 August 2023 (UTC)

Sample language example changes
I don’t like how the original sample languages don’t have English as the native language, and that there are some lesser known languages (Aragonese especially). As I talked about, I think this would be better:

2601:C6:D281:6710:F531:658F:3C4F:6AC6 (talk) 16:10, 24 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Starting a thread here is a good move. Using it as an excuse to make just one minute later is simply not on. Please see WP:BRD: you were bold, the edit was reverted, now discuss. -- Red rose64 &#x1f339; (talk) 19:45, 24 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Considering that this is the English Wikipedia, overall, and the native language for the original demo is Swedish, not English, I think it would make more sense for the native language for the demo to be English.
 * Guaraní and Aragonese both are not as used much as other languages, but Guaraní is the more common of the two and is the native language of a country (Paraguay in this case), so Guaraní fits well.
 * Considering Spanish, which is shown as basic Spanish in the original demo, I think it would make more sense to use a higher level of Spanish since Spanish is the second widely spoken language in the world.
 * The other choices in the change from the original demo to the new demo (French instead of Norwegian, Turkish instead of Hebrew, Italian instead of Lithuanian, and Polish instead of Aragonese) were made for no particular reason; I just thought they’d be better fits. 2601:C6:D281:6710:F531:658F:3C4F:6AC6 (talk) 21:08, 24 September 2023 (UTC)
 * We shouldn't include a level-zero example because specifying what languages you don't speak is silly. The rest of this is of no consequence at all and should be added to WP:LAME * Pppery * it has begun... 21:35, 24 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Correct! It would be better to not have a zero-language box in a babel. For example:
 * 2601:C6:D281:6710:F531:658F:3C4F:6AC6 (talk) 00:18, 25 September 2023 (UTC)


 * It makes sense to give an example with en-0, as explained in the page: Similarly, one may usefully edit a project without speaking the language, such as adding links or images to Japanese Wikipedia without speaking Japanese. For instance es-5, ca-N, fr-4, tr-3, it-2, gn-1, en-0. (see also: Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/Template:User en-0) a455bcd9 (Antoine) (talk) 07:54, 25 September 2023 (UTC)

Difference between definition of native in :babel/levels page and :babel (general) page
The general page has the line of "xx (no hyphen or number) for native-born speakers who use a language every day and have a thorough grasp of it, including colloquialisms and idioms. Note: We do not quibble about the "native-born" part; it's the "including colloquialisms and idioms" part that matters here." and yet the levels page does not mention that at all, which feels contradictory. In fact it actually lists basically the opposite, where several examples are mentioned only taking into account moving from X country to Y country, which the general page would say is less important compared to being able to understand cultural references and idioms. I suggest to insert the prior note from the general page under the xx-N section in the levels page to avoid confusion, is anyone against this? Sebrana (talk) 23:53, 27 April 2024 (UTC)


 * Edited :babel/levels in the relevant section to make up for it. Sebrana (talk) 00:29, 10 July 2024 (UTC)

What if my language only has level 1?
I speak Pontic Greek (pnt) as a heritage language, so I would probably want to put it on level 2 or 3, but anything except pnt-1 is not supported by the template. What is the procedure to remedy this? Konanen (talk) 12:14, 26 May 2024 (UTC)
 * works for me. * Pppery * it has begun...  14:43, 26 May 2024 (UTC)


 * That is even weirder, because the pnt-2 tag reads EXACTLY the same as pnt-2, both say Ατός ο χρήστες καλατσέβ ολίγα Ποντιακά, see here: . Also, what is the difference between the two templates and ? Konanen (talk) 16:48, 26 May 2024 (UTC)
 * Sorry, I should have included a translation; both versions read “This user speaks a little bit of Pontic”. Konanen (talk) 16:52, 26 May 2024 (UTC)
 * The text displayed by #babel comes from https://translatewiki.net/wiki/MediaWiki:Babel-1-n/pnt https://translatewiki.net/wiki/MediaWiki:Babel-2-n/pnt. Those two strings are not the same, although I don't speak Greek so can't tell whether they are correct. User pnt-1, which your first use is a wrapper around, has no technical connection to the translatewiki messages but displays a hardcoded local string.   is mw:Extension:Babel.  is a local template which predates the Babel extension and has no technical connection to it. * Pppery * it has begun...  17:17, 26 May 2024 (UTC)
 * Thank you kindly for the explanations and help! If I understand the mw:Extension:Babel site correctly, the local template is obsolete, or obsolescence is the goal for various reasons (“[...] replace the old Babel system [...]”). If that is indeed the case, I wonder if a reference or link to mw:Extension:Babel wouldn’t be prudent, or else why no mention is made of it in the article. Konanen (talk) 17:52, 26 May 2024 (UTC)
 * I've replied several times to posts on similar matters, see e.g. Wikipedia talk:Babel/Archive 4. -- Red rose64 &#x1f339; (talk) 18:56, 26 May 2024 (UTC)