Template talk:Infobox aircraft
Aircraft Ratings
This issues of having an aircraft rating system have been previously discussed at lengths, see Formalizing_Aircraft_Status.
—This unsigned comment was added by MILSTD (Talk | contribs) 21:57, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
Infobox Parser
It would give more control over the infobox if we had the parser installed. http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/ParserFunctions#.23if: --Sek
I agree. By the way, we seem to have lost our abilities to upload files. Can we get that back? -Ampere 00:28, 12 June 2006 (EDT)
Uploads should be working again - not sure how I missed that. The parser extension is also now installed. Hellosimon 01:17, 12 June 2006 (EDT)
The parser functions don't seem to work. Can anyone confirm? -70.48.6.31 21:59, 12 June 2006 (EDT)
The parser functions still aren't working. For example: gives me this instead:
See the template.
-Ampere 15:43, 17 June 2006 (EDT)
The extension is installed - see Special:Version, but the installation page for the extension reports that #if is broken with 1.6.x. Hellosimon 11:44, 19 June 2006 (EDT)
Suggestion: Field for aircraft's name in FlightGear in the Info box.
I think it would be good to have a field in the info box for the aircraft's name(s) in FlightGear (i.e. the ones used with --aircraft=<name>). These are not seldom short and a bit cryptic, hence (IMHO) not suitable as the displayed main name of the aircraft or as the page name. Nice work with the new info box template, btw! --AndersG 18:29, 24 October 2007 (EDT)
- I can do, just tell me how to name it. What's IMHO? Btw, thanks for your compliment. --Gijs 16:33, 25 October 2007 (EDT)
What to name it is a bit tricky. Maybe it could have the label --aircraft= in a displayed box and the "property" could perhaps be called fgname? Some aircraft have several names/-set files too, can one make the info box cope with that? --AndersG 17:44, 25 October 2007 (EDT)
- I've give it a try (see an example here: Boeing 737). Is this what you mean? --Gijs 15:42, 26 October 2007 (EDT)
Close, but I was aiming for "--aircraft" where FG Name is now and just 737-300 in the other column of the displayed box. (Or just remove --aircraft -- I think most people will be able to figure out that FG Name is what you use with the --aircraft command line parameter.) --AndersG 09:32, 27 October 2007 (EDT)
Suggestion: development hangar field
With more aircraft developers having their own GIT repository, or their own development hangar, would it be a worthwhile having a Template:Development URL link just below the Template:Download link that usually points to a stable release.
Scotth1 12:06, 19 October 2010 (UTC)
- Added! Thanks for the suggestion!
- Gijs 08:13, 20 October 2010 (UTC)
Suggestion: Cockpit image and version number
"openflight" suggested at the forum that every aircraft page at the wiki should have the aircraft version number and a cockpit image, so why not include it in the aircraft infobox?
I do not know where the cockpit image would fit best, but he pointed to the Aerostar article (permalink) as an example of what he would like to see, in essence with the aircraft image at top of the infobox and the cockpit image at the bottom. Johan G 03:30, 21 January 2012 (EST)
Ready icons broken 
Fixed
{{Ready}} is no longer called from {{Infobox aircraft}}. The Ready icons seems to have been deleted by accident (diff). I'm not really sure on how to put them back, but I think I'm going to try anyway, as I have just tried to tidy them up by creating a separate category for them and added the latest one to {{Ready}}.
—Johan G (Talk | contribs) 03:56, 16 September 2012 (EDT)
- I do not really dare to mess up all the aircraft infoboxes. —Johan G (Talk | contribs) 04:20, 16 September 2012 (EDT)
- Good news! I have fixed the template on a special testing page (User:Red_Leader/Sandbox/Infobox_Aircraft) (diff). I have done some testing on both my own sandbox and the C172p page. I would be happy for someone to check and then implement these changes. —Red Leader (talk, contribs) 17:03, 26 October 2014 (UTC)
- Thanks for taking care of fixing this. Nevertheless, I quite agree with Johan's comment a little lower on this page: " I think that the icons preferably should be a bit smaller". It would be nice to fit them into the infobox, similar to the status indication stars. Right now they are somewhat lost in space.
- Gijs (talk) 16:41, 27 October 2014 (UTC)
- OK Gijs, making them smaller would be trivial; it's just a matter of setting a picture's size. I'll do it in minute. There's one annoying bug I've detected though. On aircraft pages that use the template without any ready icons (the Harrier is an example), there is some extra whitespace that appears. I don't know yet how to fix though.
- Red Leader (Talk | contribs) 17:32, 27 October 2014 (UTC)
- Right, that's a possibility, but what Johan and I meant is an icon that is smaller by design. The star for example is present on all ready-icons, but doesn't have any meaning. A small pictogram without any text (apart from an alt/hover text) that is different for each category (dual control, bombable etc.) would make it possible to place several of these icons within a small space, like the infobox. Somewhat similar to the "Used on these elements" icons at http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Highway
- I've fixed the spacing issue; you uncommented a white line ;-)
- Gijs (talk) 19:41, 27 October 2014 (UTC)
- Thanks for fixing it. I see what you mean now. I'll investigate it at some point.
- Red Leader (Talk | contribs) 22:01, 27 October 2014 (UTC)
Supported/used aircraft features
Will be extending this to also show:
- interactive tutorial support
- Aircraft Checklists support
- Route Manager support
- Canvas use
- standard/custom autopilot
- IFR equipped cockpit/aircraft
—This unsigned comment was added by Hooray (Talk | contribs) 18:24, 30 November 2013 (UTC)
- I have been thinking of this a few times since I found that the Ready icons was not used any more, see #Ready icons broken above. I think that the icons preferably should be a bit smaller, like 24 or 32 px square, to fit in more features in a smaller space. This is a bit down on my to-do list though. A small start could be listing the features as a bullet list in small text.
- —Johan G (Talk | contribs) 18:05, 1 December 2013 (UTC)
Bullet lists and the fgname parameter
Regarding this edit summary and this edit. The thing with bullet lists are that the asterisks have to be the first character on a new line.
Trying to change that for the fgname parameter I run into another problem: The preceding and following <tt> and </tt> tags puts the aircraft name on a new line. This will look ugly for all aircraft, yet for now I have kept it.
—Johan G (Talk | contribs) 05:10, 19 May 2015 (EDT)
fgaddon aircraft
This template needs to be updated to use the new project infrastructure/fgaddon templates, referring to edits like [1] and [2] --Hooray (talk) 10:09, 11 May 2016 (EDT)
- Would you suggest a new parameter for the FGAddon aircraft name, which is then fed into {{fgaddon aircraft url}}? That would simplify things somewhat.
- Using {{fgaddon url}} would save one level of template recursion: {{infobox aircraft}} -> {{fgaddon url}} -> {{repo link}} instead of {{infobox aircraft}} -> {{fgaddon aircraft url}} -> {{fgaddon aircraft source}} -> {{repo link}}. Extending on this idea, should this template be made hangar specific? I.e. having a pair of parameters:
hangarandaircraft. This could allow for hangar specific modifications. For example a banner advertising the hangar at the top of the info box.
- Using {{fgaddon url}} would save one level of template recursion: {{infobox aircraft}} -> {{fgaddon url}} -> {{repo link}} instead of {{infobox aircraft}} -> {{fgaddon aircraft url}} -> {{fgaddon aircraft source}} -> {{repo link}}. Extending on this idea, should this template be made hangar specific? I.e. having a pair of parameters:
- Indeed, that seems like a much better idea - and it would encourage the development/addition of more hangars in the future, which is in line with the hangar related comments recently made on the devel list, i.e. encouraging 3rd party hangars. So, maybe two layers of templates would make sense: one using repo/fgaddon, and the other assuming a hangar, that maps directly to the corresponding underlying template. --Hooray (talk) 11:52, 11 May 2016 (EDT)
- For now, it might be better to have everything in the same template. This template is not very big at the moment, and you could simply add the
hangarandaircraftparameters and add 2 switches for thehangarparameter - one at the top selecting a banner graphic, and one at the bottom providing automatically constructed download (and development repository) links. I think the rest of the template should be the same for all aircraft, independent of their source.
- For now, it might be better to have everything in the same template. This template is not very big at the moment, and you could simply add the
Test template
Here is a test template I have created which uses the hangar and aircraft parameters to automate and categorise the aircraft infoboxes: User:Bugman/Infobox_Aircraft. This actually works quite well!
Bugman (talk) 13:40, 24 May 2016 (EDT)
Continuing at the Village Pump
I am shifting the discussions to the village pump for greater exposure, as this is quite an important wiki-wide change. See: FlightGear wiki:Village pump#Categorizing aircraft infoboxes by hangar
Bugman (talk) 04:55, 25 May 2016 (EDT)
Proposal for a new aircraft infobox template design (2016/06)
The experimentation with my sandboxed template User:Bugman/Infobox_Aircraft has resulted in rather quite a radical redesign of this {{infobox aircraft}} template. I propose converting to this new template, and then we will have much more information rich and automatically categorised aircraft/spacecraft/vehicle/seacraft articles on the wiki. The User:Bugman/Infobox_Aircraft template uses a lot of Mediawiki magic ;) And it has official and 3rd party hangar support with automatic URL generation via the repository link templates. For a permanent record and for easy reference, I will copy the User_talk:Bugman/Infobox_Aircraft#Summary text in the following sections.
List of features
The following is a changing list of features of this template that are not present in the {{infobox aircraft}} template:
- Hangar support: Support for the hangar and aircraft template parameters. This add a number of elements:
- Hangar logo: A hangar logo - as an image with link or a direct URL - is added to the very top of the infobox, between the aircraft name and the screenshots. For FGAddon, this is:
. - Development repository link: Automatically created for FGAddon, if the development parameter is not supplied. For the FGUK, Helijah, and PAF hangars, a link to the hangar webpage is used (temporarily).
- Download link: Automatically created for FGAddon, if the download parameter is not supplied. For the FGUK, Helijah, and PAF hangars, a link to the hangar webpage is used (temporarily).
- Hangar specific categories: If the hangar parameter is supplied, one of matching Category:FGAddon hangar, Category:FGUK hangar, Category:Helijah hangar, Category:PAF hangar categories will be appended to the article.
- Hangar logo: A hangar logo - as an image with link or a direct URL - is added to the very top of the infobox, between the aircraft name and the screenshots. For FGAddon, this is:
- FDM links: Automatic link creation for the FDM wiki pages, independent of capitalisation.
- Rating representation improvements:
- Status link: The status section link to Aircraft rating system has shifted from the label to the data text. Previously the label was the link.
- [[File:star-*.png]] graphic links: These now have the link explicitly set to one of Aircraft rating system#Flight Dynamics Model (FDM), Aircraft rating system#Systems, Aircraft rating system#Cockpit, and Aircraft rating system#External Model, instead of going to the [[File:star-*.png]] image wiki page.
- Label formatting: The FDM, Systems, Cockpit, and Model labels are now indented.
- Aircraft categorisation: This is now highly automated, with special values resulting in categories being appended to the article, and the parameter text replaced by a link to that category.
- Automatic categorisation of the type parameter: Special values of the type parameter - the end categories of Category:Aircraft by type, Category:Spacecraft by type, Category:Vehicle by type, and Category:Seacraft by type - results in the text being replaced by a link to the corresponding category in the infobox as well as appending the category to the whole article. This uses the new templates {{craft type}} and {{craft type/doc}}.
- The new config parameter and automatic categorisation: Special values of the new config parameter - the end categories of Category:Aircraft by configuration - results in the text being replaced by a link to the corresponding category in the infobox as well as appending the category to the whole article. This uses the new templates {{craft configuration}} and {{craft configuration/doc}}.
- The new propulsion parameter and automatic categorisation: Special values of the new propulsion parameter - the end categories of Category:Aircraft by propulsion - results in the text being replaced by a link to the corresponding category in the infobox as well as appending the category to the whole article. This uses the new templates {{craft propulsion}} and {{craft propulsion/doc}}.
- The new manufacturer parameter and automatic categorisation: Special values of the new manufacturer parameter - the end categories of Category:Aircraft manufacturer - results in the text being replaced by a link to the corresponding category in the infobox as well as appending the category to the whole article. This uses the new templates {{craft manufacturer}} and {{craft manufacturer/doc}}.
- Multiple parameter value support: Multiple values for the type, config, propulsion, manufacturer, fgname, and fdm parameters are supported by using the
/character. - Iconification: Icons are now more prominently used, with rich pop up help text:
- Ready icons: This has been shifted to after the status ratings, and the label changed to Supports.
- Development repository: For the development parameter, the new label Repository has been added, and the following icon used for the link:
. - Download link: The new label Download has been added, and the following icon used for the link:
. - Livery database link: The new label Liveries has been added, and the following icon used for the link:
. - Forum thread link: This is a new element which uses the new forumtid parameter. The label Forum has been added, and the following icon used for the link:
.
- Translation support: Currently in English, French, and German.
- Documentation cleanup: A large expansion of the documentation.
- Documented examples: Taken from the Space Shuttle, de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, and Douglas DC-3 C-47 articles. These examples make it much easier for users of the template to understand how to create an aircraft infobox. And it shows off the FGAddon support, as well as 3rd party hangar support.
- Author list improvements:
- Collapsible list: If the new devel-team parameter is supplied, the author list will be converted into a collapsible list, with the name of the development team in bold and a
[Expand]link which when clicked on will show the full author list. - List separator: The character
/will cause the author list to be split, with each author being on a separate line. - List formatting: The author list is now a bullet list.
- Collapsible list: If the new devel-team parameter is supplied, the author list will be converted into a collapsible list, with the name of the development team in bold and a
Transition
- Note that some breakages are to be expected, as the
/character now causes most parameter values to be broken into lists.
TODO
- Icons improvements: These were quickly selected from Category:Icons and the Oxygen icon set.
Bugman (talk) 10:13, 1 June 2016 (EDT)
- I have now documented within the testing template a very powerful way to provide a single aircraft, multi-language infobox subpage for transclusion into all translated pages. See User:Bugman/Infobox_Aircraft#Using subpages. This is implemented on the pages:
- Bugman (talk) 13:21, 2 June 2016 (EDT)
Conversion
I have manually checked every page which transcludes {{infobox aircraft}} and updated those in which the new User:Bugman/Infobox Aircraft template will cause breakages. These all use a {{PAGENAME}}/info subpage for encoding the infobox, to facilitate translations. These are all listed at Category:Aircraft infobox documentation. Therefore I will now update the content of this template to that of User:Bugman/Infobox Aircraft.