Template talk:Rightcolumn

Complexification

G'day BOBO (or good afternoon or good evening)! I see that you've been diligently working on simplifying the front end part of this Rightcolumn template. But as for the backend LE template, (and to be honest) it looks complicated. I'm assuming there's a very good reason you're taking it this far, the problem, I don't know what that is exactly.

Thus far, I've had ChatGPT dissect the template setup, and from what it describes, I think this complex setup isn't really needed (don't take this personally). As an example, as of the 18:53 edit on the LE template, most of the wikitext in Template:LE is being used to automatically find the case's image. From what you could see in mysandbox, I was expecting this to be manual, after all it isn't much of a hassle to find the names of the case images.

In general, I think it is best if we balance between what is automatically done by the template and what isn't. This is, most notably, to keep the templates simple enough for future debugging. But, by all means, if you have a more important reason that you would like to share, and that reason backs up the complexity of the templates, then please continue development in that direction. Your thoughts are appreciated. --Avico (talk) 19:05, 23 January 2025 (UTC)

G'day to you as well Avico! Yesterday I separated Template:Latest news into both Template:LE and Template:NE. I did this since the parameters were very confusing initially. The version I left yesterday edit history was rather incomplete; reluctantly, it would work too by passing the parameter named {{{Case number}}} for the fetching of the image file for corresponding anime episode, but the only defect was that it could not establish a link that redirects to "latest episode" when clicked. It was not possible to access the parameter {{{Episode name}}} since it was moved to the LE template under a new name {{{2}}}. I enquired of ChatGPT about it, and he told me that to access "the parameter of the parameter" modules must be required, which would be even more complicated. The reason that the template looks messy is that the wiki seems to not support excessive indentation, and if so the text acts abnormally. That being said, right now I am certain that the LE template will work when the {{{part}}} parameter is numeric. In terms of non-numeric part parameters, only the first part is supported.
Now I am rather baffled... Only if I had known it would become this complicated, then why didn't I leave everything blank and just insert announcement messages manually at the outset? --BOBO (talk) 19:24, 23 January 2025 (UTC)

Excuse me for ruining the celebratory mood of completing such a complex template, but I've found that these two episodes don't get written correctly:

Correct name: The Desperate Revival - The Cavern of the Detective Boys
(This case also has six parts, which breaks the image)

Correct name: Meiji Restoration Mystery Tour: Investigation Chapter

I wouldn't want you to try and somehow incorporate more code into the templates to fix this error since that would complicate the template further. I also don't want to override your work since you've already put so much effort into it already. But if we're going to make this template such that future contributors can go in and easily fix whatever they want to (i.e., future-proof the template), then I'm afraid that, with the current template, most will have to ask you about what part of the template does what (myself included). And if you're willing to write what is probably going to be the most elaborate documentation ever written to avoid that from happening...then why don't we channel that effort into making this template simpler, front-end AND back-end.

But of course, you're going to have to give the green light for that because simplifying this template will mean drastic revisions to the entire setup. I know I just wrote that "I...don't want to override your work since you've already put so much effort into it already," but I'm not going to be overriding the work. We will, if you agree to. --Avico (talk) 21:17, 23 January 2025 (UTC)

Hey I may want to say something: the "Meiji Restoration Mystery Tour" title is inconsistent with the majority of the episodes; most likely we should change that some day. Regarding the "Desperate Revival", it is a special case, just like the Clash of Red and Black. Implementing that onto the current scheme would not be difficult, but adding a few lines or so would. The #ifexist statements are the same once we have written the first one, essentially just copy-pasting and concern about the "if statement" logics. But candidly, currently I can't think of a better way of structuring this template than doing this, as originally the parameters were all over the place. What do you think? Avico? The current scheme is mainly for the sake of simplifying the weekly update, as indeed, when updating the information, the "user interface" is much simplified and eased. --BOBO (talk) 21:29, 23 January 2025 (UTC)

Well if you're that interested in my opinion...might as well write it down. We don't need a third template like LE. Yes, we might need a third template. But not as complicated as LE. Now, do know that I haven't really "dug" into this project very much, but I am starting to, as you can see in my sandbox. I'm not entirely sure how I would advance with this, but one thing's for sure: It's not going to be as complicated as your setup. If you want, check out my sandbox. For now though, if you could explain how your #ifexist statements work, then I might have something to improve on in my sandbox. --Avico (talk) 21:35, 23 January 2025 (UTC)