Editing Template talk:InfoBoxCharacter

== BattleMech ==
I'd prefer to see the BattleMech field be less specific, or see more fields, to allow for people associated with other equipment to have that equipment listed in the infobox - I'm thinking of notable AeroSpace pilots, WarShip commanders, Elementals/Battle Armour pilots, etc. In theory, we've got hundreds of the buggers already just from the TRO notable pilots entries in every TRO. [[User:BrokenMnemonic|BrokenMnemonic]] ([[User talk:BrokenMnemonic|talk]]) 07:00, 3 October 2014 (PDT)
:Yes. Now that you mention it, I'm obviously old-fashioned. You're absolutely right, especially in the Dark Age where any sort of vehicle can have a signature pilot. Only I can't think of a suitably encyclopedic word to name this category after. "Ride" sounds too casual. Suggestions? [[User:Frabby|Frabby]] ([[User talk:Frabby|talk]]) 07:10, 3 October 2014 (PDT)
::  "Unit"? Best I can think of. Also, we must remember that many characters changed 'Mechs/etc. Kai Allard-Liao used like, five different 'Mechs just in the novels. [[User:ClanWolverine101|ClanWolverine101]] ([[User talk:ClanWolverine101|talk]]) 02:28, 4 October 2014 (PDT)
:::"Preferred or signature unit(s)" - but as I write this I realize it's so generic that it should perhaps better be left out of the infobox altogether. Then again, the fields are conditional, i.e. they don't show up if there is no content. We could have one field for "Preferred or signature 'Mech(s)", another for vehicles, fighters, and whatnot. I'm afraid I'm overthinking it though. Thoughts? [[User:Frabby|Frabby]] ([[User talk:Frabby|talk]]) 16:04, 4 October 2014 (PDT)
::::Yeah, we gotta remember the can of worms we're opening, here. Lots of famous MechWarriors used more than one 'Mech. It only gets trickier with the other units. [[User:ClanWolverine101|ClanWolverine101]] ([[User talk:ClanWolverine101|talk]]) 20:05, 4 October 2014 (PDT)
:::::I need to get out of bed, have breakfast and log into my desktop, but I've been thinking about this, and with a little kludging I think I can set up a line in the info box that allows you to configure both the displayed name of the field and it's contents, so the user can tell the template both the name of the character's ride and the class of equipment it was. Let me wake up a bit and I'll do some coding. [[User:BrokenMnemonic|BrokenMnemonic]] ([[User talk:BrokenMnemonic|talk]]) 23:26, 4 October 2014 (PDT)
:::::OK, I've done some fiddling, but I've not updated the help section yet in case you aren't content with the changes. You can now specify up to 5 associated rides with a particular person, although I think only those of some significance should be listed, rather than simply listing every single BattleMech or tank a person has ever been listed as driving at some point. I've added the template to the page for [[Aleksandr Kerensky]] to show how it can be used to detail someone with more than one commonly-associated major bit of kit - his Orion and his WarShip - but the infobox could maybe do with being resized a little. I thought it useful to include both the name of the type of equipment and the name of the equipment itself so that individual rides can be specified, like Kai-Allard Liao's Yen Lo Wang and the WarShips associated with all those Admirals. Plus, the older TROs often give names to individual 'Mechs and tanks, and it seemed relevant to include them in the infobox by default. [[User:BrokenMnemonic|BrokenMnemonic]] ([[User talk:BrokenMnemonic|talk]]) 02:37, 5 October 2014 (PDT)
== Image ==
I'd prefer it if the image (when present) was centered, rather than left-aligned. That may just be a personal preference though. [[User:BrokenMnemonic|BrokenMnemonic]] ([[User talk:BrokenMnemonic|talk]]) 07:02, 3 October 2014 (PDT)
:That wasn't so much a conscious decision as something that happened during copying & pasting. I'm an idiot when it comes to wikicode and hardly know what I'm doing, operating under trial-and-error protocol here. Feel free to change it as you see fit. Centered image certainly sounds more reasonable. [[User:Frabby|Frabby]] ([[User talk:Frabby|talk]]) 07:10, 3 October 2014 (PDT)
@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 :::::I need to get out of bed, have breakfast and log into my desktop, but I've been thinking about this, and with a little kludging I think I can set up a line in the info box that allows you to configure both the displayed name of the field and it's contents, so the user can tell the template both the name of the character's ride and the class of equipment it was. Let me wake up a bit and I'll do some coding. [[User:BrokenMnemonic|BrokenMnemonic]] ([[User talk:BrokenMnemonic|talk]]) 23:26, 4 October 2014 (PDT)
 :::::OK, I've done some fiddling, but I've not updated the help section yet in case you aren't content with the changes. You can now specify up to 5 associated rides with a particular person, although I think only those of some significance should be listed, rather than simply listing every single BattleMech or tank a person has ever been listed as driving at some point. I've added the template to the page for [[Aleksandr Kerensky]] to show how it can be used to detail someone with more than one commonly-associated major bit of kit - his Orion and his WarShip - but the infobox could maybe do with being resized a little. I thought it useful to include both the name of the type of equipment and the name of the equipment itself so that individual rides can be specified, like Kai-Allard Liao's Yen Lo Wang and the WarShips associated with all those Admirals. Plus, the older TROs often give names to individual 'Mechs and tanks, and it seemed relevant to include them in the infobox by default. [[User:BrokenMnemonic|BrokenMnemonic]] ([[User talk:BrokenMnemonic|talk]]) 02:37, 5 October 2014 (PDT)
-I've gone ahead and removed this entry altogether. It's not something that really defines a character (most of the time at least), and whenever this field is actually relevant the article will invariably have a section called "Signature BattleMech" or somesuch anyways.<br />BrokenMnemonic, I appreciate the coding you did (and may steal it in the future). But having several distinct fields/rows on the off chance that a given character is associated with a range of vehicles is just... wrong. [[User:Frabby|Frabby]] ([[User talk:Frabby|talk]]) 12:27, 13 October 2014 (PDT)
-:It might be better to perhaps have a field called "Military training", where if someone has been trained in a primary combat discipline that they're strongly associated with, it can be listed. Although yet again, that's detail that should be in the article.
-:If you need another example of this sort of code, I used it in the template for academies and training schools, to allow the primary course training types to be listed and associated with particular eras. [[User:BrokenMnemonic|BrokenMnemonic]] ([[User talk:BrokenMnemonic|talk]]) 07:41, 14 October 2014 (PDT)
-::I say that if it's already in the article, it shouldn't need to be added. I'll be free to help with adding these infoboxes once I finish up existing projects, just tell me when you start adding these. -[[User:BobTheZombie|BobTheZombie]] ([[User talk:BobTheZombie|talk]]) 09:46, 14 October 2014 (PDT)
 == Image ==
 I'd prefer it if the image (when present) was centered, rather than left-aligned. That may just be a personal preference though. [[User:BrokenMnemonic|BrokenMnemonic]] ([[User talk:BrokenMnemonic|talk]]) 07:02, 3 October 2014 (PDT)
 :That wasn't so much a conscious decision as something that happened during copying & pasting. I'm an idiot when it comes to wikicode and hardly know what I'm doing, operating under trial-and-error protocol here. Feel free to change it as you see fit. Centered image certainly sounds more reasonable. [[User:Frabby|Frabby]] ([[User talk:Frabby|talk]]) 07:10, 3 October 2014 (PDT)
-==Overview==
-I want to clarify something quick; I noticed on the [[Marialle Radick]] page, when the template was added, the overview paragraph was removed. I personally would like to keep that paragraph because even though it is redundant (technically), it gives the reader the basic info they are looking for to start an article. Also wikipedia keeps the paragraph even if there is an infobox. I was just wondering what you guys thought before we did everything this way. -[[User:BobTheZombie|BobTheZombie]] ([[User talk:BobTheZombie|talk]]) 22:07, 9 August 2015 (PDT)
-:Agreed that it makes for better readability to have both the InfoBox and the Overview section at the article's header. [[User:Frabby|Frabby]] ([[User talk:Frabby|talk]]) 00:51, 10 August 2015 (PDT)
-::Correct guys, i started with Amaris Empire and Clan Characters to add the infobox, but only they have a portait image on the page.--[[User:Doneve|Doneve]] ([[User talk:Doneve|talk]]) 11:39, 11 August 2015 (PDT)
-:::Acknowledged. [[User:ClanWolverine101|ClanWolverine101]] ([[User talk:ClanWolverine101|talk]]) 12:29, 11 August 2015 (PDT)
-== Caption ==
-Some instances of <nowiki>{{InfoBoxCharacter}}</nowiki> have a 'caption' field just below the 'image' field. (See, e.g., [[Vlad Ward]] or [[Vandervahn Chistu]] It's not described in the template documentation, but it appears to be functional — the text specified for 'caption' is used as the alt text for the image.
-I don't see that the 'caption' was ever specified in the template documentation here. Is the use of 'caption' deprecated or otherwise disfavored? If it's a valid part of the template, it seems like it should be ought to be added to the template documentation. [[User:Tosta Dojen|Tosta Dojen]] ([[User talk:Tosta Dojen|talk]]) 18:37, 4 August 2020 (EDT)
-:I added that some time back, as an optional caption for character portraits. Used in the [[Hassid Ricol]] article, for example. Though checking that article now, the image caption seems to be broken/dysfunctional. [[User:Frabby|Frabby]] ([[User talk:Frabby|talk]]) 02:02, 5 August 2020 (EDT)
-::How so? I see the caption there as alt text for the image. (Hovering over the image makes it appear.) Is it intended to show up beneath the image? [[User:Tosta Dojen|Tosta Dojen]] ([[User talk:Tosta Dojen|talk]]) 08:01, 5 August 2020 (EDT)
-:::Wandering in Austria with poor internet and only my stupid smartphone... In any case, the idea was to add extra info to the image in the InfoBox where needed, like a timestamp or apocryphal tag. It belatedly occurs to me that the same could probably be achieved by creatively using the Name field (which is optional insofar as it defaults to article name, and was originally created for disambiguated or otherwise paranthesised article names). [[User:Frabby|Frabby]] ([[User talk:Frabby|talk]]) 09:40, 5 August 2020 (EDT)
-::::Yeah, alt text isn't a great way to display extra info like the examples you've listed. That sort of thing would be better displayed under the image, like the word "caption" suggests. On the other hand, it doesn't seem to be used that way in practice. I haven't conducted an extensive survey or anything, but many of the InfoBoxes I've seen just have the character's name in that field. On the gripping hand, alt text ''is'' a great way to make the content more accessible for anyone vision-impaired, so maybe an alt-text implementation is fine, to be populated with text that should be displayed to somebody who can't view the image. [[User:Tosta Dojen|Tosta Dojen]] ([[User talk:Tosta Dojen|talk]]) 16:45, 5 August 2020 (EDT)
-:::::Check out the [[Werner Fuchs]] article for how I wanted it to work. Seems I may have mixed up the Characters and RealPerson infobox templates. Will look into this when I'm back home next week. [[User:Frabby|Frabby]] ([[User talk:Frabby|talk]]) 10:02, 7 August 2020 (EDT)
-::::::That's a perfect visual demonstration, and the intent now makes a lot more sense to me. I like the idea of aligning the function here with that of InfoBoxRealPerson. [[User:Tosta Dojen|Tosta Dojen]] ([[User talk:Tosta Dojen|talk]]) 09:24, 17 August 2020 (EDT)