Template talk:KosMunic

Proposed change: Serbian/Albanian

To reflect common English usage, I propose to modify the template to show the Serbian name first, and the Albanian one second. This will help to make more intuitive the whole template, including an alphabetical ordination based on the first name given, and not the second one :-) Anyone objects ? Best regards, Evv 15:24, 17 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The problem is that "common English usage" seems to vary for different cases. Even one such example would suffice to challenge such a change, and this will be done, I'm more than certain, given the history of edit warring on these topics... The existing scheme (Albanian always goes first because it is first alphabetically) is far from perfect, but it has two things for it: it is consistent, and it is neutral. -- int19h 19:20, 17 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You're right: one single example like that would make me think differently. But as far as I know, there's not a single case (yet) in which the Albanian name represents common English usage. To reflect this, right now all the articles mentioned in this template use the Serbian name as title. So, changing the order from the alphabetical "Albanian/Serbian" to the common English usage-based "Serbian/Albanian" would make the template more intuitive, easier for our readers to navigate.

This modified system would have the same two advantages:

It would be consistent (all "Serbian/Albanian").
It would be neutral also (for the convention employed won't be an arbitrary one, or editor's preferece for the Serbian name/cause, but the very basic Wikipedia policy of reflecting common English usage).

Plus, it would have the added advantage of complying with the said policy :-) and thus facilitate the template's usage by English-speaking readers (for whom this version of Wikipedia is intended).

Whenever a single example of the Albanian name becoming common English usage is presented, we simply discuss the issue again. And having all Kosovo-related articles under ArbCom probation, it should be much easier to look for consensus instead of edit-warring over it :-) Best regards, Evv 01:11, 18 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I've gone through all the places mentioned in this template and did a quick Google test on them. Serbian names won all the times, except for one case: Skenderaj is seemingly somewhat more popular than Srbica. Google test is not necessarily "common English usage", of course, but even so, it does show that the case is not quite as clear-cut. -- int19h 13:54, 18 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I just did "the usual simple tests" on Srbica, Skenderaj & Skënderaj, and the results showed a clear preponderance for the Serbian name, even in books published after the Kosovo War. - Best regards, Evv 15:48, 18 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Clear enough. I don't have any objections against the renaming then. -- int19h 16:13, 18 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Glad to hear that :-) In case someone else has anything to say, I will wait a couple more days before doing the modifications. - Best regards, Evv 23:42, 18 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Template modified (diff.) - Evv 03:18, 22 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Why not leave it at Serbian names only, since that's how they are in English? In the article we could include Albanian, and other names for cities. --Bolonium 20:04, 18 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]