Country Infoboxes

[josesanmartin]

Should we start using country infoboxes?

I think they are very useful and provide some quick facts very friendly.

What topics should be presented? Should we copy the nice Wikipedia's country infoboxes?

Regards

José San Martin

[Derek Harkness]

I am not so keen on the country info boxes used by wikipedia. I think they are too big. There may be better ways of presenting this information.

[josesanmartin]

Too big?

Well, I think you have a point. What information should be removed?

[Derek Harkness]

What information should be removed?

Erm... almost all of it. The wikipedia country infoboxes are a second rate attempt to be https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/

Actually I prefer to look at it the other way round, what should be included.

At the top of the articles, I'd like to see the flag and maybe coat of arms or seal of the country followed by a map showing where the country is in the world. Then I'd suggest another map showing the major sub divisions within that country. Preferable as an image map so people could navigate to the regions - though I understand the technical difficulties of this. Maybe flash could be used to make the maps rather than gif and png files. Other items I'd prefer if they linked to other pages withing CZ. So for example, the head of state, type of government and capital city would link to other articles relating to the country.

Much of the data in wikipedias info boxes could be better put elsewhere in the document. Preferably as part of the prose rather than as a list. For example, data on GDP and population are often inaccurate and I question our ability to maintain such data. We may serve readers better by pointing them to a location where accurate and up to date data can be obtained.

[josesanmartin]

You're right. Data such as GDP are quite meaningless (and also inaccurate) when out of context.

I think that this info is nice:
- The flag and the coat of arms
- A "the country in the world" map
- The capital(s)
- Head of State and Head of Government (you can learn a lot about a country by learning about his president)
- Currency
- HDI
- Area
- Population

We can also include these, but they are less relevant:
- Date of independence (I like it myself)
- Country code
- Calling code

Your idea about the country divisions are very nice, but it just won't fit in the infobox. Can you imagine how big would be Delaware (US) in a map like this in the infobox? I would rather place them in a separate section about its divisions. Technically, it IS possible and Wikipedia already does that. Take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Brazil_Labelled_Map

Regards,

José San Martin

[Derek Harkness]

I'm not so sure about inlcuding HDI in the list. In effect, for the same reasons as GDP. On it's own it can be missleading. It would be better put on a page compairing the HDI of many countries than on the individual page or discussed properlay and explained in the article. Basic figures like GDP, polutional and HDI tell us little on there own. Descriptions of the trends, going up or going down, developed, developing or regressing, are more informative than the actual figure it's self.

[Jean-Baptiste Perriot]

Hello, I'm new on citizendium and wanted to start with my country's page (France)... Who said 'Another french chauvinist!' ?  .

So I naturally started with the infobox and do also think that GDP, HDI are not usefull. I think that they should be removed in order to keep a simple and minimalist country infobox.

By the way is there a bug in the infobox ? I have a <noinclude> under my flag  http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/France

Then I'd suggest another map showing the major sub divisions within that country. Preferable as an image map so people could navigate to the regions - though I understand the technical difficulties of this. Maybe flash could be used to make the maps rather than gif and png files

About the maps, I do not think that making a flash one is a good idea because it needs a licensed software in order to be edited so you would limit the number of peoples that would be able to update it. I think that SVG would be much, much better like in the Brazil sample you gave.

[Andy McNair]

I agree with Derek as to the lack of reliability of the GDP and HDI data. I have two suggestions, outlined below:

Suggestion 1

Show basic data on the front page - this should be arranged well and be minimal, so as to avoid clutter. Have a link (clear, and large) to a "Factfile/Factpage", which would show far more extensive information on the nation.

Suggestion 2

Is CZ capable of automatically updating its data?

If this is possible, GDP could be listed and updated annually - by linking to a reliable and credible source.
This works better on data that fluctuates daily: for example, currency exchange.

E.g.
In the article on Australia (http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Australia), US$1 is said to be A$0.8. This is old data. The current rate is roughly US$1 = A$0.92.

I'm not saying that currency exchange rates should be shown, I'm just using it to illustrate my point - linking data to accurate affiliate sources would keep them up-to-date and credible, saving effort. Personally, I wouldn't include currency exchange in the information, and I'm now begining to regret making that suggestion. Here is a better one:

This would be particularly useful for articles on businesses. I could look up Marks and Spencers plc. in CZ and see their latest stock data, taken direct from the FTSE.

I don't know whether this would be useful or not, and I'm not saying that it should be done. If collaborating credible, reliable data in one source is an aim of CZ, then these suggestions seek to address that aim.

[Derek Harkness]

This would be particularly useful for articles on businesses. I could look up Marks and Spencers plc. in CZ and see their latest stock data, taken direct from the FTSE.

It would be incredibly useful and would bring lots of users to CZ. However, such data is not usually available for free. CZ would have to pay for the syndication.

[Aleta Curry]

Hi Andy--and welcome.

Would you be kind enough to provide a link to your CZ userpage in your signature?

Thanks!