Template talk:Namespace links

This template was considered for deletion on 10 April 2023. The result of the discussion was "no consensus".

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Namespace links template.

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To help centralise discussions and keep related topics together, Template talk:Pagelinks, Template talk:Lx, Template talk:La, and talk pages of templates that transclude {{Lx}} redirect here.

The request to rename this article to Template:Namespace links has been carried out. If the page title has consensus, be sure to close this discussion using {{subst:RM top|'''page moved'''.}} and {{subst:RM bottom}} and remove the {{Requested move/dated|…}} tag, or replace it with the {{subst:Requested move/end|…}} tag.

• Template:Ln → Template:Namespace links
• Template:lnt → Template:Namespace talk links
• Template:Lc → Template:Category links
• Template:Lct → Template:Category talk links
• Template:Ld → Template:Draft links
• Template:Ldt → Template:Draft talk links
• Template:Lf → Template:File links
• Template:Lft → Template:File talk links
• Template:Lh → Template:Help links
• Template:Lht → Template:Help talk links
• Template:Lp → Template:Portal links
• Template:Lpt → Template:Portal talk links
• Template:Lm → Template:MediaWiki links
• Template:Lmt → Template:MediaWiki talk links
• Template:Lw → Template:Wikipedia links
• Template:Lwt → Template:Wikipedia talk links
• Template:Lmd → Template:Module links
• Template:Lmdt → Template:Module talk links
• Template:Lttxt → Template:TimedText links
• Template:Lttxtt → Template:TimedText talk links
• Template:La → Template:Article links
• Template:Lat → Template:Article talk links
• Template:La-abbr → Template:Article links abbreviated

– I will start by acknowledging a previous RM in 2018 on this issue, but I don't see anyone in that discussion who actually cited WP:TMP and it has been 5+1⁄2 years.

Per WP:TG, Template function should be clear from the template name, but redirects can be created to assist everyday use of very popular templates. I doubt that there are any editors who can guess what (to pick an arbitrary example) Template:Ln does without having read the documentation / seeing it used, so the current name is a clear violation of the guideline.

Using opaque names is no problem for experienced editors, but makes it slightly harder for newbies to learn what templates do (WP:BITE). The current names of these templates might not be the most pressing or largest problem facing Wikipedia, but it is certainly a problem worthy of a solution (in other words, this is not a solution looking for a problem).

Using obvious names also makes it easier to remember the names of these templates (see WP:TPN: Template names are easiest to remember if they follow standard English spelling, spacing, and capitalization (also see the naming conventions for articles)).

Of course, redirects would be kept and per WP:NOTBROKEN would not be bypassed to use the longer form.

Pinging participants at the previous RM: @BD2412, BrandonXLF, Crouch, Swale, Dreamy Jazz, Gonnym, JohnBlackburne, Locke Cole, Primefac, and Steel1943. Thanks, HouseBlaster (talk · he/him) 22:11, 1 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

• Weak support. I know it's more customary to have templates' titles be more descriptive these days, but the templates have been at these names for quite a while ... leaving me to believe moving them may have some sort of WP:SURPRISE factor. Steel1943 (talk) 22:16, 1 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
• Support indeed template names are supposed to say what they are and not normally require people to know what the appreciation is for similar to using {{citation needed}} instead of {{cn}} as the title. Crouch, Swale (talk) 22:16, 1 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
• Support as to all, per User:Crouch, Swale. Redirects are cheap, but good, descriptive template titles are priceless. BD2412 T 23:11, 1 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
• Support, obviously. To answer the opposition from last time (and hopefully assuage Steele1943 as well) the old names will still be available as redirects! No one actually uses {{Template link code}}, they use {{tlc}}. Similarly, if this goes through, they will still be available, but for someone who doesn't use these all the time (*cough cough* me) {{article links}} is the intuitive template name rather than {{la}} (which I still never remember when I see it in the wild). Primefac (talk) 06:44, 2 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

  @Primefac: Yeah, I know how redirects work and their incredible usefulness as they are my primary focus on Wikipedia 😂 ... but some I've interacted with in the past think redirects' very existence is WP:COSTLY, which is whatever. 😅 Anywho, minus my perceived WP:SURPRISE-titling factor, I'm more in the realm of "IDC" on the title of these templates these days. Steel1943 (talk) 20:29, 2 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

  True, and those are the people I was primarily targeting with my comments! Primefac (talk) 06:00, 3 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]