Talk:The Level, Brighton

Latest comment: 4 years ago by DESiegel in topic Citation format

GA Review

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This review is transcluded from Talk:The Level, Brighton/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: The Rambling Man (talk · contribs) 13:20, 21 April 2020 (UTC)Reply


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That's it for a first run through, so it's on hold. The Rambling Man (Stay indoors, stay safe!!!!) 14:15, 22 April 2020 (UTC)Reply

Bingo, good work, not going to die on a hill for cafe, so I'm happy to promote this, nice piece of work. Well done. The Rambling Man (Stay indoors, stay safe!!!!) 10:37, 23 April 2020 (UTC)Reply

Citation format

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This article appears to use a mix of shortened footnote citations, apparently via {{harvnb}} and ordinary full-length footnotes, using {{cite web}} and other Cite XXX templates inside <ref>...</ref> tags. I think this inconsistency is confusing. Some footnotes refer to the bibliography, and some do not. In my view a single consistent style should be used, either short footnotes or full ones. This came to my attention because a comparatively new editor wanted to use this as an example and justification for using a similar mixed styles. But before just making the change, i wanted to consult the active editors here. DES (talk)DESiegel Contribs 20:59, 23 August 2020 (UTC)Reply

I agree it is confusing to have inconsistent referencing styles, but this is completely fine under wikipedia guidelines and I suppose reflects the fact that different editors use different styles. As you can see above, this article passed as a Good Article without a comment on referencing since there is nothing in the GA criteria that says the referencing style must be uniform and indeed even featured articles have inconsistencies, per the discussion about my query at the end of the review for Knap Hill. So the new editor is right to use this as an example, even if personally I don't think it is best practice. Mujinga (talk) 15:04, 24 August 2020 (UTC)Reply
(Comment from other partial contributor to this article) I must admit, I had no idea that mixing Harvnb and cite web/cite journal etc. was inconsistent. That was the way I learnt to "do" WP citations about 10 years ago, and every article I have ever written will have the same mix. I think the mindset I developed was something like this: "Use Harvnb for books and stick them in the Bibliography, use cite web or whatever for non-books and don't mention them in the Bibliography". I admit that I've never studied WP citation styles in great detail, which is probably why I have picked up this misconception/inconsistent practice. Hassocks5489 (Floreat Hova!) 15:11, 24 August 2020 (UTC)Reply
I am surprised that this was not questioned during the GA review, but I see that the GA criteria do not mention a consistent citation format as one of the requirements. However, WP:CITEVAR (a section of the guideline Wikipedia:Citing sources) says that among the changes Generally considered helpful and which any editor may make freely is imposing one style on an article with inconsistent citation styles (e.g., some of the citations in footnotes and others as parenthetical references): an improvement because it makes the citations easier to understand and edit. These days with more books being online and with many significant and reliable sources being in non-book form, I think such a mix leads to potential confusion for readers and is not helpful. At any rate I convinced the new editor not to use this as a model. But do not be mislead, I am pretty sure this article is not in compliance with that guideline. Guidelines can, of course, have exceptions. But I would urge that this one is not a good idea. DES (talk)DESiegel Contribs 01:32, 25 August 2020 (UTC)Reply
I would note that unlike the GA criteria, the FA criteria (item 2c) require consistent citations: where required by criterion 1c, consistently formatted inline citations using either footnotes (<ref>Smith 2007, p. 1</ref>) or Harvard referencing (Smith 2007, p. 1)—see Citing sources for suggestions on formatting references. so I don't think this would pass an FA review. DES (talk)DESiegel Contribs 01:37, 25 August 2020 (UTC)Reply