I think that perhaps there is an opportunity to implement a more
broadly useful feature here: content substitution based on user prefs.
What if we came up with a more generic way to implement this type of
behavior which could also be applied to other situations in which
content is region or preference specific? Besides units of measurement,
this could also be applied to date and time formats. For example:
the plane was shot at {{time|21:30|9:30 pm}} on {{date|15
January|January 15}} causing the loss of {{measurement|89 liters|23
gallons}} of fuel.
Each user could then specify their preferred format:
time: 24-hour clock
date: European format
measurement: metric
This would solve several problems:
* The 12-hour/24-hour time debate (see Manual of Style (dates and
numbers))
* Would no longer have the awkward convention of making all dates into
links just so they are formatted a certain way
* Would no longer have to show both standard and metric measurements
everywhere in article contents, which makes them far less easy to read.
Of course how or if this feature is actually used would be up to each
wiki, but I imagine it could find a lot of different uses. Just a
thought.
Ryan Kaldari