Template talk:Skeptoid

Date and author

I noticed that when more complete references are converted to use this template, the release date of the issue and the author are lost, they are neither supported by this template nor automatically filled in the resulting footnote by it. Here is an example: [1]. —PaleoNeonate - 22:49, 19 June 2017 (UTC)

Yup. The template needs modification. But the "lost data" really isn't lost because it shows up when clicking the link. The advantage is that we have a standardized presentation of the link. I figure on going back to modify the edits whenever the template gets expanded upon. – S. Rich (talk) 23:22, 19 June 2017 (UTC)

Thanks for the comment. I now just noticed that they seem to all be from Brian Dunning, so only the date would be missing, although there is accessdate support. —PaleoNeonate - 23:48, 19 June 2017 (UTC)

I have a temporary test variant at User:PaleoNeonate/tsandbox which also fills last=, first= and adds an optional date= parameter. However, I also noticed, although the documentation doesn't specify, that the template also supports ordered rather than named parameters. This means that if existing usages exist using this form, the date would end up being the last parameter after accessdate, although it would ideally be before accessdate. I'm not sure if there are any existing usages of this form (i.e. {{Skeptoid|id|number|title|accessdate|date}} vs {{Skeptoid|id=|number=|title=|date=|accessdate=}}. —PaleoNeonate - 00:00, 20 June 2017 (UTC)

You know a lot more about this stuff than I. But I just now realized I can leave in the "|date= " . The value won't show up when rendered. But when you implement the new template we will have them fixed as I go back to put in the date. – S. Rich (talk) 01:05, 20 June 2017 (UTC)

Super, more discussion also occurred at Help_talk:Citation_Style_1#.7B.7BSkeptoid.7D.7D. I'll likely post an update here in a few days at most. Thanks, —PaleoNeonate - 01:41, 20 June 2017 (UTC)

@PaleoNeonate: FYI, Dunning was at the Graybar hotel for a while and he had various guests fill in for him. See for example https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4472 . – S. Rich (talk) 04:16, 20 June 2017 (UTC)

That's good to know. The author/last/first could then possibly default to him, but should be available parameters... —PaleoNeonate - 06:20, 20 June 2017 (UTC)

@Srich32977: {{User:PaleoNeonate/tsandbox}} (Special:Permalink/786582538) appears to work. Before I risk replacing the official Skeptoid template and its documentation by the new ones, please confirm that this still works for you. Multiple authors are supported but the default is used if no authors are supplied. The date is optional, so is the accessdate (or access-date). If the named parameter id= is missing, it also issues an error about positional parameter usage (so any existing usage like {{User:PaleoNeonate/tsandbox|4132|132|The Sargasso Sea and the Pacific Garbage Patch}} should also issue a red warning. Through this warning we'll be able to track any such remaining usage after waiting a few days. This is because with the previous version this would be a valid usage, although this was undocumented and may never have been used. Positional parameters are no longer supported, allowing to place named parameters in any order instead.
Once I have confirmation that this is satisfactory, I'll update {{Skeptoid}} and its documentation. Thanks, —PaleoNeonate - 10:30, 20 June 2017 (UTC)

@Srich32977: The Skeptoid template and its documentation have been updated. Interestingly, there is one usage triggering an unknown parameter error which ends up in the category, this one includes date=. I'll take a closer look at why that one looks like an error. —PaleoNeonate - 03:43, 22 June 2017 (UTC)

This seems to be resolved, it just took a little while for the category to be updated, the error existed since yesterday. —PaleoNeonate - 03:54, 22 June 2017 (UTC)

Resolved

It may be good to revisit all usages of the Skeptoid template and add the date where relevant, also making sure that the author does not need to be specified (is the default) for that podcast. —PaleoNeonate - 10:34, 22 June 2017 (UTC)

Blog

This template currently covers the podcasts. There however are also references to the Skeptoid blog. Most references to Skeptoid have been converted to use the Skeptoid template. To search for related links not using this template, search using insource:"https://skeptoid.com" and insource:"http://skeptoid.com". It would be possible in the future for this template to also support the blog by using an extra parameter, or for another similar template to exist for blog references. —PaleoNeonate - 10:32, 22 June 2017 (UTC)

Authorlink missing

I was adding authorlinks to the reference on Ghost hunting and when I got to Dunning, I could not do it due to the use of this template. That was for the entry used in the reference section as well as External links. Why was authorlink not included? RobP (talk) 04:27, 2 January 2018 (UTC)

• I've added it. -JonathanDP81 (talk | contribs) 08:36, 2 January 2018 (UTC)

Thanks. Fantastic! RobP (talk) 12:33, 2 January 2018 (UTC)

I also updated the template, please report if any problem occurs. Thanks, —PaleoNeonate – 15:30, 7 January 2018 (UTC)