Wikipedia:Templates for discussion/Log/2025 June 20

Oppose I'm not sure if I'm replying in the right spot (hopefully so) but there are some people who have both the side template and template at the bottom of the page (e.g. see Hillary Clinton). I personally like the sidebars better and think they make the breadth of someone's articles more evident and even easier to navigate through. But my understanding is they don't work on mobile(?) or something like that. So, the bottom ones are maybe better for people on the phone. I think a lot of casual wikipedia readers don't even know to scroll all the way to the bottom to see those templates, and I think the side templates get people more interested in more wikipedia pages/more knowledge quicker. While there may be some redundancies, I think they're basically for two different audiences, won't be seen by all the same people, and are out of the way enough to not be redundant to the point of annoyance or negative issues with the pages. There are various redundancies throughout wikipedia (e.g. info in lead repeated/re-expanded upon later or leads on related pages with info from the main article to help people get their bearings). So, wikipedia seems to accept some redundancy for clarity/ease-of-navigation sake, which is what I would personally file this under. But that's just my two cents!

HangingOutHereSeeingWhatsUp (talk) 04:34, 20 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Sidebars are for politicians like Hillary Clinton, not for musicians like Michael Jackson; "There are various redundancies throughout wikipedia [like] info in lead repeated/re-expanded upon later". Yes, that is the point of the WP:Lead section, to be repetitive of what the article will be about. (CC) Tbhotch^™ 04:59, 20 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Genuine question: Are sidebars only meant for politicians? I've read a lot of Wikipedia policy trying to get up to speed on everything. But I don't think I've found any guidelines saying that (though I'm sure there might be!). Also, Elon Musk has a sidebar and I guess he is a "politician" in some sense of the word, but not in a traditional sense, I don't think.

Re: the lead section, you and I are saying the same thing - that there are spots in Wikipedia where redundancies are expected or even encouraged for various reasons. Therefore, not all redundancies on Wikipedia need to be removed. And personally, I would think this is one where different templates on different parts of the page help different audiences, meaning I still think they should both exist. But I look forward to hearing other opinions on this as well. HangingOutHereSeeingWhatsUp (talk) 08:14, 20 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Tbhotch ps sorry, I forgot to tag you in my response and I couldn't figure out how to do it after the fact, so just doing it now HangingOutHereSeeingWhatsUp (talk) 08:16, 20 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

June 20

Template:Michael Jackson series