After some significant input and feedback from champs and selected area managers, I am pleased to announce the availability of the new common State Template for the USA.
Its purpose is to create consistency between all 50+ states and territories in the USA. The templates are complex in the back end to enable some simplicity on the user side, but still allow all state/territories to be updated with a single change to a linked template. It was designed to be updated by people with little to no Wiki editing experience.
Parts of the template are common to all states, some parts are unique to individual states.
If you would like to see what it looks like, check out these pages already using the new template:
Nevada - Complete
If you would like to set up your state on the new template, please post your desire here so we can be sure we don’t have multiple people setting up the same state. Then I can point you to the instructions for getting started.
EDIT: The test phase is officially over. The template is ready for use by any state that is so interested in using it.
All current state pages not yet on the new template have the template {{UpdateToStateTemplate}} already added. If you start working on a test page for the state template, consider updating the UpdateToStateTemplate template on the original page to include a link to the test page. The link above provides the information necessary to format the link. Do not include the full URL, just the page name like {{UpdateToStateTemplate|Arkansas/Test}}.
I updated the template to include two different tracking categories.
Kent is busy this weekend with personal matters, so his time will be limited. If he doesn’t get to you guys today or tomorrow, rest assured, he’ll answer on Monday.
Any reason the main template is in article space instead of template space?
The CM/RC/AM/SM sections, when you edit them using the template (as linked form the doc page) tell you to go back and click the link next to the table. I don’t think that’s the correct instruction. It appears to be fixed boilerplate, so better get that straightened out before any real pages go live. Hopefully, I’ve ust misunderstood it, but even so, that’s cause for a bit of alarm.
The BasePage2 template uses the RootPage template doc. Is that by design? Seems to be a CnP error.
It might seem counterintuitive, but I would prefer if the word “legal” as it pertains to the existence of red light / speed cameras should be rendered in red, and the word “illegal” in the same context rendered in green. Maybe I’m just looking at it from the driver’s point of view, rather than the editor’s.
Different states seem to do that differently. The AM table in the current La. page uses “statewide”, as do many (but not all) of the current new-template test pages. The table is there for editors in that state who need help, so CMs can help them out statewide. I think that’s the idea.
We are generally placing templates that are functions in the Template:xxx space and templates that are mainly text related to a page that is transcoded into a page as a subpage of the primary page.
Our wiki was set up to allow subpages in the main namespace to allow for related pages to be more easily found and managed. The majority of the state page template suite is primarily text being transcluded. Therefore I placed them in the main namespace. I realize that has the down side of appearing in general searches, but it also made it more easy to automate some of the other page name automation.
I am not sure I follow what you might be seeing as broken. Maybe give me a link to a specific page that you believe is incorrect. Currently the states being tested are all working for editors based on the instructions the are reading. I believe they are currently correct.
Templates that are highly related often use the same set of instructions to help compare and contrast. I can add a note to the top clarifying that fact on the doc page.
Interesting perspective I had not considered. When I thought about coloring it I thought the editor reading the page would associate red with something that should not be mapped and therefore a state with cameras being illegal would see red and know not to map them. Then the legal camera states would show green and know it was OK to show cameras. I am having a hard time associating a “red legal” message for editors.
If we were talking about the client app, then maybe a red warning to look out for cameras would be appropriate. I am open to consensus if we can get more opinions.
When I think of an Area Manager table for a specific state, as an editor in the state I only need to know who can help me in the state. If someone is listed in this table I would expect it to tell me what part of the state they cover. Therefore I think the current entries are appropriate for the use.
(EDIT: I just noticed sketch also answered before me. I think we said the same thing.)
From what I have experienced, yes it does. I think the page links are case sensitive, so a lowercase and uppercase would result into two different pages.
