Template talk:Content appearances

It would be nice if the parameters of this template could be adjusted

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Super Mario RPG (talk) put this template together for large lists. I guess that seems fine. I like having the option to sort things by name. However, I have some reservations about integrating it everywhere, and given the broad application of this template, I think it may be worth having a larger discussion about what it should support because I know there are some stylistic/information preferences I like with the 3D Super Mario that don't seem to be retained in the current chart template. I would not be surprised if there are other users who feel the same. (This does not at all mean that these stylistic choices have to be retained in the template. But I at least wanted to bring it up in case they could be, or in case other users feel similarly.)

My reservations are with the current template are:

1. The template takes up more bytes than the current charts. In one of my sandboxes, I have overwritten the original Super Mario Galaxy chart with the table as briefly integrated by GuntherBayBeee (talk) on the main article. As evident here, integration takes up +10,000 bytes. This is not an inherent problem with most articles, but Super Mario Galaxy is the third largest article on the wiki, and its sister games SMG2 and SMO are not far off. I don't like splitting up game articles unless absolutely necessary, so my intention was to mitigate and reduce bloat before contemplating splits. Beyond imposing some uniformity across articles and having the ability to sort subjects by name, the fact that it increases byte-useage makes it a little unclear why having a template is better than just making a chart, but that may a problem unique to SMG and other games that have missions. GuntherBayBeee denotes mission of occurrence in the last two columns and that expands byte-useage in a way a "W1-1" would not.
2. The template looks cramped when viewed on mobile devices and is awkward to navigate, as apparent on my sandbox. I suspect most traffic these days come from phone users. I think the crampiness comes from having dedicated "first appearance" and "last appearance" columns, as well as a separate column for the names of enemies.
3. I'm not sure a template like this is very user friendly, as there is a warning that all subjects should be integrated first or else the numbered parameters become cumbersome to rearrange. That reduces the overall accessibility of the template and mitigates its utility. It at least makes me less eager to use it.

My stylistic preferences are:

1. I like having headers that are the same color as the other tables in an article, and this is reflective in the other game articles I have contributed to. For Super Mario series games, I like using red headers (as apparent in the SM64, SMS, SMG, SMG2, SM3DL, SM3DW, and SMO articles). It'd be nice if that could be available in some way in this template. It looks nice, and provides readers a passive reference into what "neighborhood" they are in, and what other games they are most closely related to. Donkey Kong Country articles use brown headers, and Yoshi's Island ones use green.
2. I don't like having names separate from images in columns. It feels like an unnecessary allocation of space. I dunno if rows can still be alphabetically sorted that way though. I like that feature.
3. I don't like using "first appearance" and "last appearance" columns for SM64, SMS, SMG, SMG2, and SMO. I can see the use elsewhere and other users feeling differently, but the majority of those enemies appear in three to five courses in their respective games, and it doesn't make sense to me to limit it to "first" and "last" columns. I'd rather know everywhere the subject occurs immediately accessible to me on the chart. Additionally, a "first" and "last" column does not really make sense for these games, because courses can often be accessed in multiple different orders in these games, and sometimes an enemy appears in an earlier course after certain criteria are met. It'd be nice to have a general "locations" column available in this template.
4. I don't like lumping "spoils" under the description. It looks messy. I'd rather have access to a dedicated column available to me. I know EvieMaybe (talk) is interested in integrating a "scores" column for the games where they are present.
5. The footnote denoting what is new vs. returning is too subtle and easy to miss. I don't know what the solution would be, whether having access to another column for keeping the enemies in two different tables like they originally were.
6. As evident here, I sometimes like to use subheaders when applicable to break up subjects in a chart (in orange, to match the colors used for navigation templates for mainline Super Mario games). I don't think that's something available here. Subheaders could potentially address #5.

I hope this doesn't come off as nitpicky. Please feel free to let me know what's possible and if I am being unreasonable. I encourage other users to share their thoughts below as well. - Nintendo101 (talk) 13:44, May 18, 2024 (EDT)