[WikiEN-l] Re: Obsolete 32K limit

Fri May 20 22:04:48 UTC 2005

> From: "Andries Krugers Dagneaux" <andrieskd at chello.nl>
> Subject: [WikiEN-l] Article size consistency 32k
> To: <wikien-l at Wikipedia.org>
> Message-ID: <000d01c55d72$fd9df690$3206a33e at oemcomputer>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"
>
> I notice that lately articles on the Featured article Candidates are
> often longer, sometimes almost twice, than the recommended size of 32k
> and nobody complains anymore about it.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Article_size for a full 
discussion.

It begins:

"Limits on article size are set by a) technical issues, and b) 
considerations of readability and organization.

In the past, technical considerations with some now-seldom-used 
browsers prompted a firm recommendation that articles be limited to a 
maximum size of precisely 32KB. With the advent of section editing, and 
the availability of upgrades for the affected browsers, this no longer 
applies. Thus, there is presently no firm policy dictating any precise 
limit on article length."

There is no law, so there is nothing to enforce. Article size is a 
matter of style, taste, and judgement and must be negotiated by 
consensus on each individual article.

If you think an article is too long, try to convince your colleagues 
(for example, by reminding them of how long it takes you to download 
the article, if that is an issue for you).

--
Daniel P. B. Smith, dpbsmith at verizon.net
"Elinor Goulding Smith's Great Big Messy Book" is now back in print!
Sample chapter at http://world.std.com/~dpbsmith/messy.html
Buy it at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1403314063/