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March 16

Hockey Player Biographical Information Formatting

What is the reasoning behind formatting hockey players’ biographical information differently than other major sports, such as football, soccer, basketball, or baseball? The lack of timeline for teams played, as well as career accomplishments being buried, as shown on Wayne Gretzky’s page, makes the article harder to read than other athlete pages. Joenah02 (talk) 03:23, 16 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Is that some sort of "rule" within a hockey project, or is it simply customary for some unknown reason? If the latter, maybe you could add the years for each team. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:58, 16 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

There is no "reasoning" behind this. All of Wikipedia's content is created by volunteers, including such templates as {{Infobox ice hockey biography}}. In the almost 19 years since its first version was created, 64 volunteers have expanded or otherwise modified it in over 700 edits, without central coordination but more like ants building an anthill. Apparently, either none saw an urgent need for adding timelines, or else did not have enough time. ‑‑Lambiam 01:34, 18 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

If nothing else, you could try putting some of that info in, for your favorite hockey player, and see if anyone objects. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:31, 19 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This will require modifying the template, which is currently protected so that only template editors and administrators can edit it. ‑‑Lambiam 17:12, 19 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I went to the Wayne Gretzky article and had no problem adding years to the listed teams. (Did not save, though.) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:08, 19 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I assumed – perhaps incorrectly – that the OP was referring to (a lack of) information presented conspicuously in the infoboxes, as opposed to "being buried" in the text. ‑‑Lambiam 13:36, 20 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Looking at players such as Babe Ruth, Tom Brady, Lebron James and David Beckham, the way the years are presented in the infobox varies, but at least it's there. Hard to know for sure what the OP really wants. Given how seldom they edit it might be years before they get back here. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:01, 20 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Ars longa, vita brevis, eh? MinorProphet (talk) 08:26, 23 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]