User talk:RexxS: Difference between revisions

Welcome
Since this is the first issue of the WP:SCUBA Newsletter, I wanted to take a moment to welcome you as a charter member. We are starting a project with the goal of organizing an enormous amount of information, but as participation in WP:SCUBA expands, so will our editing power through collaboration. Please feel free to invite other interested Wikipedians to join our project.

Categorization of WP:SCUBA Articles
I believe that we need to adopt a categorization system to begin organizing these articles. Some categories exist, such as Category:Diving equipment, and can be utilized. The end goal should be to have a set of general categories (less than ten I would hope) that can be used to categorize ALL articles that fall under the scope of this project. Subcategories can then be utilized where needed. This will also help us identify where work needs to be done to further the WikiProject as a whole. Please post comments at the bottom of this page and let me know what you think.

Article rating for WP:SCUBA
As you are hopefully aware, we place the {{WPSCUBA}} template on the talk page of any article that falls within the scope of WP:SCUBA. It is a standard practice to use the Project Template to rate articles as stub, start, B, GA, A, etc. I invite you to research what is involved in setting up a rating and reporting system for WP:SCUBA as we currently do not rate our articles. This will help us identify the most important articles to our cause, and easily see which articles need the most work. Please feel free to post any questions on my talk page.

YMCA SCUBA
It has been my personal goal to start creating articles to cover all of the major scuba diver certification agencies, and categorize them as Category:Diver training agency. On the List of diver training organizations YMCA SCUBA links to YMCA (diving organization), which then redirects to YMCA. The problem is that the YMCA article doesn't discuss their recreational diving program anywhere. I would like to start a separate YMCA Scuba article using the information on their Official Site, and fix the redirect at YMCA (diving organization) to point to the new article. I invite you to post your thoughts and opinions on these actions on my talk page.

Scuba diving

Hi RexxS, I am planning to go back to Scuba diving and sort out the section on decompression sickness soon, but probably not today. Cheers,Peter (Southwood) ^(talk): 16:40, 24 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

That's great, and of course there is no deadline. I think I've sorted out the {{Expert}} template for you, and I'm probably the major contributor to Decompression sickness, so if you need a hand with anything, give me a shout. --RexxS (talk) 17:59, 24 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Done for now, take a look some time and let me know if there are any aspects you think need work. Also done major rehash of Diving regulator, which was in a bit of a mess. If there are any technical articles on diving that need work, give me a heads-up. I am fairly knowledgeable on Rec, Tec, Scientific and Commercial. Peter (Southwood) ^(talk): 18:52, 28 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

File mover

Per your comments here, you now have the file mover permission. Please use it wisely. :) Risker (talk) 23:28, 3 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you Risker, I doubt it's a function that I'll use more than occasionally, but I'll do my best to live up to your expectations. --RexxS (talk) 23:53, 3 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Occasionally is just fine. It's a tool, and I have little doubt that when you use it, you will do so in a sensible manner. Kind of like me with lobster forks. Twice a year is plenty. :D Risker (talk) 02:22, 4 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

ACCESS problem with medal tables

Hi RexxS, I was asked to contact you for the matter related to the compliance of medal tables for WP:ACCESS. The issue was raised by KV5 here, and still needs some expert's comment, thanks and regards. — Bill william compton^Talk 13:19, 9 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Done --RexxS (talk) 03:00, 18 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Table help

Hi. KV5 told me you are THE MAN on table problems. Can you chime in here: User_talk:Killervogel5#Row_and_column_spans. Thanks.PumpkinSky talk 01:21, 18 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Done --RexxS (talk) 03:01, 18 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Brilliant Rex! Many thanks! I'll be working on this through the weekend. BTW, your user page says you speak near native Yank English but you spelled color with a 'u'. HeHe ;-) Thanks much again for the help.PumpkinSky talk 10:02, 18 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hehe, well it does say I'm a native speaker of English English (which of course spells colour with a 'u'!!) - but I'm able to understand my colonial cousins' spelling preferences from several years worth of scuba diving holidays (vacations) in the Americas. If I try hard, I can even translate into EN-US :) Cheers, --RexxS (talk) 18:23, 18 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Chip Chip Cheerio Ol' Mate! (How's my English English?) PumpkinSky talk 22:57, 18 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Did you ever see Mary Poppins (film)? --RexxS (talk) 23:42, 18 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Oh yes, more than once.PumpkinSky talk 23:52, 18 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I thought so. "Chip Chip Cheerio Ol' Mate" sounds just like Bert. :D --RexxS (talk) 23:59, 18 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Pls see the actual list. When I try to color the Dem and Rep in the Lt Gov column it goes blank. And why does that same table only go 2/3 way across the screen instead of all the way. Note the Territory Gov table I made does go all the way across.PumpkinSky talk 01:33, 19 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

That's an odd interaction between <span> and {{ubl}} that I hadn't seen before. Simplest work-around while I sort out a proper solution is to use wiki-markup (*) to create a bulleted list. That's not so bad, as the table seems to have plenty of room for bullet points. If you want the table to extend across the page, just set the width of the table to 100%. I've done both of those for you to see if you like how it looks. The reason the previous version was full-width was that each column had a width specified as a percentage - although I always prefer to let the browser sort that out, as I can never account for all the different possible combinations of screen width, resolution and browser. YMMV. It's getting a bit late here (3 am BST), so I might not respond to more probs until the morning. Nevertheless, you can have fun experimenting - reverting is cheap! --RexxS (talk) 02:02, 19 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Pretty!

Check out 'Zilla-dolled-up-for-party beautifying ANI here! :-) Well, assuming somebody hasn't already reverted her by the time you see this. Reverting is cheap, indeed! They're great believers in removing images on that board. :-( Bishonen | talk 23:41, 19 August 2011 (UTC).[reply]

I don't intend to put it to the test, but I reckon I can produce new images almost as fast as they can remove 'em. 'Zilla in a swimsuit for the Summer collection, perhaps? Maybe I'll get some pics of the twins dressed up in Halloween costumes ready for later on in the year - imagine Darwinbish & Darwinfish as 'Trick or Treat'. --RexxS (talk) 04:34, 20 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hehe. :-) But bear in mind that Zilla requires a pocket at all times, swimsuit or not. Dolled-up-Zilla is still there, but how about this quarrelsome guy? Good job the Great One was in mellow mood! Bishonen | talk 21:13, 20 August 2011 (UTC).[reply]

As it turns out, I've a soft spot for Greg L, as we fought side-by-side in the same trenches in the Date-delinking Wars. Even if he does still think Rex Schneider is German :D

Has anyone shown Zilla the utility of a "bum-bag" yet? She'd want one a little larger than this one, but they are perfect for making sure you never lose your harem when you're out-and-about on a busy day in town. --RexxS (talk) 22:49, 20 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I'm sorry to say Greg is in the mood for leaving — check out his pages. I don't know if he's the kind of wikipedian who leaves once a week — I don't know him – but I have no fellow feeling at all for the bastards who chant "drama queen, ha ha" whenever somebody leaves and then is pulled back by the addiction a few days later. So they didn't leave – so what? They intended to, didn't they? They were upset, weren't they? How is that funny? Grumble.. grumble..

She'd better sow herself a bum-bag. Do you happen to have an old circus tent to spare? Bishonen | talk 23:22, 20 August 2011 (UTC).[reply]

Hyperbaric Medicine

RexxS,

First, thanks for all the fine work you do as a dedicated Wikipedian. The effort you and Gene Hobbs have expended over the years to maintain Wikipedia standards on this page is much appreciated.

I'm hoping to help, and see a number of places where the content and citations don't appear to meet Wikipedia Medicine standards. But I'm hoping improvements can be consensus-based and wanted to reach out to you, Gene, and any other genuine contributors before making any (big) changes.

It seemed uncontroversial to update the links the the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society to reflect their new website structure, so I've done that. (Note that while they're resolving some DNS issues with their service provider the conventional "www.uhms.org" URL re-maps to "membership.uhms.org".) These citations now link to the current pages.

I see a few significant issues with the current content and would appreciate the opportunity to review them with those of you with a standing involvement with the page. As a (very) new Wikipedian I'm still finding my way around and learning the ropes, so I'd appreciate your indulgence in working with me to continue this discussion directly.

I look forward to your response.

Thanks, ajsaulsberry (talk) 17:30, 21 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hi AJ, the most important advice for new editors is "be bold". There's nothing you can do as an editor that can't be fixed, so please go ahead and change things. We can discuss any differences of opinion on the article talk page if they arise; and I'm always willing to help you if you get stuck, or don't understand how something works on Wikipedia. I have most scuba pages on my watchlist, so I'll look out for your edits. P.S. putting your email address on one of the most visible sites on the web may attract more than a small number of spammers, so I've blanked it. It's still in the page history if I ever need to email you :) Cheers, --RexxS (talk) 23:14, 21 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, RexxS, I appreciate the advice (and the e-mail redaction). I don't have a problem being bold, but view consensus before implementation as being somewhat more efficient. With regard to hyperbaric medicine in the US, there are legal and public health issues to consider in forming the consensus, and collaboration in defending the consensus will be more effective in deterring crassly commercial agendas. I'd appreciate some insight into the regulatory landscape in the UK, if you're able to provide it, and also the opportunity to conduct a discussion somewhere other than the internet equivalent of a hotel lobby, if you're willing. Accordingly, I'd be grateful if you'd respond via my e-mail address so we might have a (brief) discussion. Thanks, and best regards, ajsaulsberry (talk) 18:26, 22 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

A barnstar for you!

	The Civility Barnstar
	Specifically for this, but also for your unflappable good nature in general. — KV5 • Talk • 10:54, 22 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Question

RexxS–

Would spanning the record title for shutouts (under "Career pitching records"), runs, or extra-base hits (under "Single-season batting records") in List of Florida Marlins team records across two rows for the two records cause any accessibility issues? Thanks, Albacore (talk) 19:31, 23 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

In theory, the answer should be 'No', because assistive technology should be able work out what the appropriate cell should be when it's part of a rowspan. In practice, it doesn't seem to work out so well, and major websites like the US Inland Revenue Service advise their web designers to avoid rowspan and colspan in case they violate Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Here's a quote from http://www.irs.gov/irm/part2/irm_02-025-005.html - section 2.25.5.4.5.7 Data Tables, Technical Requirements (g) and (h):

The scope attribute also works with some (but not all) assistive technology in tables that use "colspan" or "rowspan" attributes in table header or data cells."

As you can see, they recognise problems with some but not all assistive technology. It not just a question of disability, either. You might also have a look at User:RexxS/Accessibility for how a text-only browser can come unstuck with rowspans - and that would affect users who have primitive computers and poor internet connections, such as you might find in less developed countries.

Frankly, I'd always advise against using rowspan just for a couple of cells, especially row headers. The inconvenience of duplicating data is, IMHO, far outweighed by the potential to mess other things up, and keeping things simple is a cornerstone of good design. Sorry, it's not a straight answer, but these issues have a habit of being more complicated than they might seem at first glance. Hope that helps, --RexxS (talk) 20:22, 23 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

@@ Line 110: / Line 110: @@
 Would spanning the record title for shutouts (under "Career pitching records"), runs, or extra-base hits (under "Single-season batting records") in [[List of Florida Marlins team records]] across two rows for the two records cause any accessibility issues? Thanks, [[User:Albacore|Albacore]] ([[User talk:Albacore|talk]]) 19:31, 23 August 2011 (UTC)
+: In theory, the answer ''should'' be 'No', because assistive technology ''should'' be able work out what the appropriate cell ''should'' be when it's part of a rowspan. In practice, it doesn't seem to work out so well, and major websites like the US Inland Revenue Service advise their web designers to avoid rowspan and colspan in case they violate Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Here's a quote from http://www.irs.gov/irm/part2/irm_02-025-005.html - section 2.25.5.4.5.7 Data Tables, Technical Requirements (g) and (h):
+:* The scope attribute also works with some (but not all) assistive technology in tables that use "colspan" or "rowspan" attributes in table header or data cells."
+: As you can see, they recognise problems with some but not all assistive technology. It not just a question of disability, either. You might also have a look at [[User:RexxS/Accessibility]] for how a text-only browser can come unstuck with rowspans - and that would affect users who have primitive computers and poor internet connections, such as you might find in less developed countries.
+: Frankly, I'd always advise against using rowspan just for a couple of cells, especially row headers. The inconvenience of duplicating data is, IMHO, far outweighed by the potential to mess other things up, and keeping things simple is a cornerstone of good design. Sorry, it's not a straight answer, but these issues have a habit of being more complicated than they might seem at first glance. Hope that helps, --[[User:RexxS|RexxS]] ([[User talk:RexxS#top|talk]]) 20:22, 23 August 2011 (UTC)