Template talk:Infobox minor
From Tarotpedia
Contents |
[edit] Intended Use
The intended use of this template is for individual card pages for the pip cards and court cards. It is meant to show some general information about the card. Basically the tarotpedia version of the LWB.
[edit] Open to Suggestions
Before someone (possibly me (User:Abarrach)) goes ahead and adds calls to this template to all the trump card pages, I'd like to get it as refined as possible. The main reason for this is that I want to minimize the number of edits to each page for this template. The other, until the wiki gets good standard programming control structures (esp. "if" and "switch"), missing parameters look nasty on the final rendered page (e.g. {{{parameter}}}). We don't want this kind of ugliness on our pages.
So, all that to say, please help me refine this template.
--Abarrach 22:34, 21 September 2006 (PDT)
[edit] Example
| |
|---|---|
| Basics | |
| Rank | Threes |
| Suit | Swords |
| Keywords (upright) | Threesomes, Love Triangle |
| Keywords (reversed) | Heartbreaks, Adultery |
{{infobox minor|
rank=Three|
suit=Swords|
image=RWS 3 of Swords small.jpg|
keywords=Threesomes, Love Triangle|
revkeywords=Heartbreaks, Adultery
}}
[edit] Differing systems...
This looks great, but I think the main problem you'll run into is that in order to provide a LWB you have to do a WHOLE LOT of LWBs... the 3 of Swords doesn't always have the same meaning across differing systems of correspondences: Waite-Smith does not equal Crowley-Harris does not equal Levi-based decks does not equal TdM. The advantage of the individual page for each card is that folks add meanings so that a matrix of interpretations is available and adaptable.It's a little like the tables of Qabalistic correspondence: they're beautiful and useful, but there are several different versions, and depending on the viewer's region any of them could be the "dominant" model. Scion 08:41, 22 September 2006 (PDT)
I'd like to discuss this with JMD, who will be away until after the weekend.
My gut reaction is similar to Scion's, would be useful, but we enter into dangerous territory when establishing meanings.. this is especially true for many folks who don't use WS or GD meanings.
I really do appreciate the thought and effort to improve things. It's great to see the site grow and improve.
Let's see what JMD thinks.
robert
- Scion, le pendu, jmd,
- Thanks for at least considering it. This is fundamentally why I didn't just go ahead and added this to all the card pages, someone would have had to undo/redo it all if I didn't get it right or if it was decided that it's not feasible. It seems that the very aspect that makes Tarot so great is in fact one of its greatest liabilities when it comes to documenting it; that is its flexibility.
- How much difference are we talking about here? Are there no common themes? e.g. Pope or Hierophant keywords : Religion, Teacher, Student, Knowledge of Mysteries; Death keywords : Death, Rebirth, Change, Commonality, Evolution. ...Just off the top of my head.
- I was tempted to add the same type of stuff that I already added at the bottom of the card pages, i.e. Astrology, Alchemy, Colour, etc., but I deliberately decided against it, at least until someone comes up with a good compromise for presenting this kind of material.
- A few brainstorming ideas, not necessarily thought through (numbered for reference):
- Pages for each card on each deck, e.g. Dragon Tarot/Ace of Spades, Ancient Egyptian Tarot/Strength
- Use the template for a card from a specific deck, but a different deck for each card, this for the existing general tarot card pages.
- Add sections on the template for a few general groups of meanings.
- --Abarrach 18:36, 22 September 2006 (PDT)
[edit] Concept of LWB and summary boxes
I agree that it looks great, and would find the summary boxes handy if I wanted an equivalent to a Little White Book.
I personally also value the variety of ideas that are lately being added to Tarotpædia - they all add to its potential value.
My first reaction when I saw this was similar to Scion's: there are numerous 'systems', and that each would need to be considered. Further, there are NO accepted meanings for any of the cards, I would suggest, though those who work within a specified system (whether this be the one promulgated by Prof. Mebes or by the Golden Dawn - two radically different views) tend to each, on the one hand, consider their view as 'correct' and consistent, and on the other worthy of being principally presented.
I would personally hope that Tarotpedia develops, with time, to present the variety of views, rather than to 'accidentally' fix them within summary boxes. For example, even elemental attributions are not universally accepted (when these are even suggested, for some amongst us reject ANY such attributions): to which suit is Air to be attributed? Cups, Batons, Swords, or Coins?
The summary boxes have two parts that are redundant in the suggested usage (in the example above, mentioning the three and the swords) for the box would occur on the page discussing this card. Further, the term 'rank' may even be incorrect, for depending on the context and the suit, a three may have the seventh 'rank' (10, 9, 8, etc.).
The other two summary boxes deal with 'meaning' and interpretation, which can certainly be presented and discussed within the the page as having numerous people suggesting similar meanings. E.g., Pope or Hierophant as 'Religion, Teacher, Student, Knowledge of Mysteries' - these, however, are not aspects of the card, but common interpretations that would be denied as 'correct' interpretations by others. A discussion article allows for this, a summary box does not, which rather suggests that there are indeed common traits. For example, Obedience, Covenant, Tradition, Benefactor, and Rectifier of Heresies come to mind as alternate meanings.
I like the structure of the summary boxes, but am personally hesitant to accept that this would take Tarotpedia in a direction of greater universality or 'tarot pedia'.
Jmd 18:53, 24 September 2006 (PDT)
- As you might have noticed by now, I'm a fan of tables and categories, and not so much of writing prose. I would have liked to be able to present some information in a quick easy to read and consistent form. It's become clear that a summery box cannot be modelled for tarot cards as it can be for, say, taxonomy (the example on w:Help:Infobox).
- BTW, I would argue that 'Obedience, Covenant, Tradition, Benefactor, and Rectifier of Heresies' are well within the same theme as 'Religion, Teacher, Student, Knowledge of Mysteries' as keywords for Pope or Hierophant. But that's irrelevant. What is relevant is that the number of keywords can quickly become large, making the infobox ineffective.
- I'm not going to pursue it further.
- --Abarrach 04:12, 25 September 2006 (PDT)
- The idea and structure of the boxes is fantastic in itself, and wonder if there was a way to use them in another manner, or in other parts of Tarotpedia? Jmd 16:29, 25 September 2006 (PDT)
- I was thinking of books & decks. i.e. moving the book info to a summery box. e.g. title, author, isbn, publishing date. The rest of the page is then left for reviews and commentaries. --Abarrach 16:54, 25 September 2006 (PDT)
