Template talk:Infobox country/Archive 2

message: In many countries the "coat of arms" is called the "emblem" of the country. I'm not sure if the two could mean the same (but I'm sure there's a clear difference). In the WordWeb dictionary, they have two similar meanings with a subtle difference: "The official symbols of a family, state, etc." as opposed to "Special design or visual object representing a quality, type, group, etc.". Since the current template automatically creates an article page for the coat of arms of xx, is it possible to modify it so that emblem of xx can also be used? 19:47, May 23, 2005 (UTC)
:There is a difference in meaning. Whilst "coat of arms" refers specifically and exclusively to the "shield" (or "seal") of a nation an emblem is much broader in meaning. Because an "emblem" is defined as a symbol, it can refer to coats of arms, but its use also extends to "faunal emblem" and "floral emblem" etc. --Cyberjunkie 02:40, 24 May 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Emblem vs Coat of Arms 

message: Any interest in including ISO three-letter country codes and IOC's Olympic Games country codes?  I have them available as a side effect of :  (SEWilco 17:24, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: This would be nice; I could then use the code  to fill in the ISO code. However it doesn't appear to support enough country names yet; it often comes out with an ugly broken link that would just break too many pages. In the meantime, I plan to replace the old , which is not always what is needed, with  --Spudtater 19:59, 19 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  ISO and IOC country codes 

message: Could someone add a "spoken language" box in addition to "official language"? some countries are using it. Thank you. 500LL July 2, 2005 20:25 (UTC)
:I also forget. I think that a "National Emblem" box is also necessary. Thank you 500LL July 2, 2005 21:37 (UTC)
Isn't a national emblem about the same thing as a national coat of arms? Jeltz talk 2 July 2005 22:03 (UTC)
:It's quite differnet. For example see Canada: it's Coat of Arms is different from its national emblem, the maple leaf.500LL July 2, 2005 22:21 (UTC)
:::Refer to the above discussion: Template talk:Infobox Country#Emblem vs Coat of Arms.-- Cyberjunkie TALK 9 July 2005 11:27 (UTC)
:I added a major regional languages box.  Someone changed the format of the infobox for Philippines article and this resulted in not being able to have the major regional languages listed. --Chris 9 July 2005 08:48 (UTC)
::I have removed your change. While your addition might have merit, it was unwise to simply change the template without prior discussion. Because you did not notify other editors, your change caused the template to appear incomplete in every article bar the Philippines. It might be possible to create a "free label" in which you could have "major regional languages" appear in the template for the Philippines article, and not appear at all in other articles. I'll look into that, unless, of course, someone with greater knowledge of templates volunteers.-- Cyberjunkie TALK 9 July 2005 11:40 (UTC)
::: This is the right approach. I don't like this particular addition, but if it gains concensus, the change should be propogated to the articles first, by defining an extra parameter, and then added to the template once that project is complete.  -- Netoholic @ 9 July 2005 15:50 (UTC)
:::Oh, ok. I apologize. I had no idea. I think I'll find a work around for now à la France. --Chris 9 July 2005 16:45 (UTC)
I still request the "Spoken Language" box. Why the template had no effective change? 500LL 13:58, July 14, 2005 (UTC)
:It's difficult. If you add a "Spoken Language(s)" box, then you have to add data for every single country; otherwise, it will appear as Spoken Languages: . It's certainly worth considering, but would be a lot of work.--Spudtater 14:04, 20 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Spoken languages 

message: I note that the cctld for Netherlands is assigned cctld=.nl, not 
cctld=nl.  I am thinking that it is better to have the raw data in the cctld, and anoint it nicely in the template.   I will ponder this for a few days amd hack all if I am not chased away.
--NevilleDNZ 15:09, 10 July 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Should cctld be raw? eg .nl 

message: I've just noticed that the infobox for the UK & all the subdivisions of that country notes, as with all infoboxes, the land area in km² rather than in miles², which is the official unit of distance measurement in the UK. Does anyone know if this is deliberate or if it is just due to the fact that the infoboxes were created by someone who uses Km as a matter of course & they;ve then been exported to all other countries regardless of whether this is appropriate or not. 
If it is the latter there really should be a seperate template for countries where imperial measurements are used rather than metric.
AllanHainey 13:30, 14 July 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: but km should stay, because also people from outside like to read about UK Tobias Conradi (Talk) 11:59, 31 July 2005 (UTC)

text: I strongly disagree. We should use the same units in all of the country infoboxes to be consistent. Kilometres is the  SI standard and also the most commonly used unit. I think that it's always appropriate to use kilomtres here. I think that the reason for that all numbers are kilomtres is because they originate from the CIA factbook which only uses metric units. If the American goverment uses SI units for all countries why shouldn't we do the same? Jeltz talk 12:19, 31 July 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: It was not created by someone who uses kms. kms are the most common measure unit internationally. Even though USA uses miles, the world factbook is in kms perhaps for this very same reaseon. If things would have to vary depending on every country's policy, then articles should also put the GDP in local currency, the area of a country should include territories which are disputed since maps vary depending on what a particular country claims, etc. SpiceMan 06:01, 1 August 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Fair enough, I suppose those who don't use Km can always follow the links find out the conversion factor & then use a calculator to work out the size in miles. Seems awfully convoluted though, is there by any chance a conversion calculator on wikipedia for metric to imperial measurements, I've looked but can't find one, as it'd be a good idea to link to it at the bottom of country info boxes if there is. AllanHainey 08:30, 1 August 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Imperial & metric infobox measurements

message: Cuba has two offical currencies, the Cuban peso and the Cuban convertible peso which do not have a fixed rate of exchange between the two.  I'm trying to convert the Cuban infobox template to use this template.  However, a straightforward data entry causes a problem with the currency coding.  The dual currency thing (one floating and the other convertible at a fixed rate to hard currencies) have been done before, and back in the days of gold and silver it was not ususual for a country to mint both gold and silver coins without establishing a fixed ratio between them, so while Cuba is the only country that has dual currencies at the momment, it isn't the only one to have done so.  So anyway, what do people here suggest, that I kludge the entries for Cuba or that the template be adjusted to allow for multiple currencies? Caerwine 16:58, 12 August 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Multiple Currencies 

message: The Human Development Index (HDI) is a standard UN measure/rank of how developed a country is or is not.  It is a composite index based on GDP per capita (PPP), literacy, life expectancy, and school enrollment.  However, as it is a composite index/rank, some may challenge its usefulness or applicability as information.
Thus, the following question is put to a vote:
Should any, some, or all of the following be included in the Wikipedia Infobox#Countries|country infobox/template:
:(1)  Human Development Index (HDI) for applicable countries, with year;
:(2)  Rank of country’s HDI;
:(3)  Category of country’s HDI (high, medium, or low)?
(Log all votes below; please sign your votes.)
(Voting should continue to 1 October, but may be extended indefinitely.)
YES
# Yes - the HDI adds useful information, especially in the cases (quite frequent) where there is a disparity between GDP per capita and other indicators of wellbeing. I'd say include at least the HDI and the rank, not sure about the category though. EcoRat 03:11, 20 September 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Hi, Cj!  FYI: as indicated above, I am working on a discussion piece that I will post shortly here (when time permits) regarding items of note in implementing this decision, the results of which will be integrated into the template.  Thanks again! E Pluribus Anthony 20:26, 3 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  '''VOTE!!''' - HDI in country infobox/template? 

message: I added a 1px border around the flag; many countries have significant amounts of white in their flags and in the previous version of this template it blended with the background. The border is light-gray so it shouldn't be a problem even for those countries with colored flags. If there are flag pictures which already have a 1px border built-in, simply replace them with the Country_flag_300.png variant from the Commons.
BTW, I tested this with both MSIE and Firefox and it works fine. --Elephantus 10:22, 11 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Flag border 

message: On the Template:France infobox page, after converting to this template, I noticed that a random text of 2) has appeared on the line giving the coordinates of the capital.  I'm frankly at a loss as to why this is happening.  Could somebody please help me?--naryathegreat | (talk) 21:17, 15 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I don't know, but please don't use metatemplates. Call the infobox country template directly from France; don't call a template from France that calls this template. --Golbez 04:12, 16 October 2005 (UTC)

text: First of all, I'll do what I darn well please.  Second of all, I don't do this because I've done it before and had to argue with people over it, and frankly the French group of editors are pretty ornery.  I don't want to deal with it.  Why don't you tell them?--naryathegreat | (talk) 19:26, 16 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Attitude adjustment needed on aisle six. --Golbez 21:57, 16 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Sorry.  If you'll notice for reference, they've already reverted the thing back to before the conversion.  You'd think anyone looking in the box would only want to know "real" France's population, not including their Pacific posessions.  And you'd think that the area including those wasn't too important either.  But dear me, I guess it is.  I hate editing French articles.--naryathegreat | (talk) 00:26, 18 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Tag question

message: I've noticed that when converting articles to this template, many have nominal GDP in addition to GDP (PPP).  Why isn't this included in the template?  Also, are we using the World Bank or the IMF estimates of GDP?--naryathegreat | (talk) 00:40, 18 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Box question

message: Hello to you all!  As promised, in support of the majority vote to include the HDI in the country/infobox template and to accommodate for various user opinions, a discussion piece is now ready to finalise implementation.
Have at it!  Thank you all again for your participation, patience, and input!
E Pluribus Anthony 02:58, 29 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: The discussion has been concluded, and results implemented; see below and therein. E Pluribus Anthony 19:45, 3 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: HDI implementation discussion piece ready!

message: I'm surprised nobody's suggested/requested this before, in light of the prolonged discussions on the "Fooish Nouns / Nouns of Foo-place" naming conventions for, well, seems like everything, but does anyone besides me wonder if it might be helpful for the adjectivial form of a country's name to be included in the infobox?  I.E., a space in the infobox where Greece would have "Greek", Democratic Republic of the Congo would have "Congolese", and Thailand would have "Thai"?  The Literate Engineer 08:22, 23 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Adjectivial Form 

message: Hello to you all.  In support of the earlier vote and recent discussion (concluded), I'm pleased to announce the inclusion of the Human Development Index (HDI) in the country infobox/template.  Indeed: good things come to those who wait.  Enjoy!
My thanks to everyone for their patience and who assisted with this venture ... particularly to Nightstallion (ナイトスタリオン), who entered metadata for a supermajority of countries at high warp speed.  I have promised NS the name of my first born, undoubtedly this will be a designation of the equine variety.
Merci beaucoup! E Pluribus Anthony 19:45, 3 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  HDI in country infobox/template ... completed! 

message: Recently, someone requested a bot to convert all album articles to use the album infobox template. I tagged onto the request and asked if the same could be done for the country articles. What we need now is a) consensus, and if a) then b) a list of articles which still have a separate infobox template or no template at all.  ナイトスタリオン ✉ 10:03, 4 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Hello!  I'm all for this; I can't organise it currently, but will gladly assist.  Please advise. E Pluribus Anthony 06:30, 5 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, basically, someone / a group of people should go through the list of countries and jot down which countries have their own, separate infoboxes (which should subsequently be deleted, and which don't use infoboxes at all but hardcode the table. If I find time later today, I'll do it; else, anybody's welcome to help.  ナイトスタリオン ✉ 09:21, 5 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Makes sense; I will aim to do so shortly (like before year's end, but cannot today); as a result of the HDI data entry, I already know of some of these.  The only challenge I forsee is that some countries may have unique infoboxes at the pleasure of the editors for those articles (e.g., accounting for unique monarchical or other idiosyncratic issues), and those editors may be resistant to part with them.  Anyhow, I'm always wanton to go perusing for a bruising ... :)  Let me know if you need additional assistance.  E Pluribus Anthony 10:08, 5 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Complete list available now. Now what?  ナイトスタリオン ✉ 13:01, 5 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Conversion to infobox

message: Hello. Please check whether the official language row has something to do with it. On article Sweden people several times changed "official language" to "Swedish", and I was contemplating changing the wording "official language" to just "language", but the current wording seems to be acceptable by all. Cheers and good luck with your project ;-) / Fred-Chess 17:15, 18 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: A label "language" would encourage it to become "languages" and fill with every language used; quite a problem for India, I'm sure.  At the moment I suggest "official language" is best, and those interested in that topic should start by improving the official language article as a way to gather material on the topic in one place.  Once that article figures out some distinctions between "official language", "major languages" and other subtleties then it may become more apparent what is the best term for this specialized usage.  (SEWilco 18:56, 18 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Official language 

message: Hi.  There is a problem with the location maps and this template.  The country locators are all 250px wide, but this infobox stretches them to 250px.  This upscaling isn't handled very well and is ugly.  See, for example: Iran.  Can we change this back to 250px?  Morwen - Talk 23:52, 13 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I assume you meant "stretches them to 290px", right?  ナイトスタリオン ✉ 07:42, 14 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, that.  Morwen - Talk 07:48, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

text: Yeah, seems good enough.  Nightstallion ✉ 07:21, 27 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Location map stretching problem