On 18 May 2010 21:24, stevertigo <stvrtg(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Recap: A while ago we discussed date conditional
switching templates:
http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2009-May/100714.html .
The problem to be corrected was the use of future tense language which
then becomes outdated and thus notably incorrect. This also has a
greater effect of casual correction patterns which essentially
annotate the error rather than fixing it. For example:
""Apple's iTunes store *will start* to sell DRM-free 256 kbit/s (up
from 128 kbit/s) AAC encoded music from EMI for a premium price (this
has since reverted to the standard price).""
A proper correction would have simply changed "will start [to sell]"
to "began [to sell]" and that would be that. Time and tenses require a
little bit of thinking however, and an editor made a parenthetical
comment (edit note, annote) in place of a considered switch of tense.
Forgivable but incorrect. If the {{dateswitch}} template idea was
fully implemented and used, anyone writing future events could simply
write {{dateswitch|will start|began|ON DATE}} and the switch would
happen on the date.
[[WP:V]] says no. The use of the wrong tense has the additional
benefit in that it instantly indicates that there is something that
needs updating here.
--
geni