Template talk:Flag

I'm experimenting with creating a flag template. (WT-en) –sumone10154 23:21, 25 March 2011 (EDT)

Link target

Small suggestion: I think this template should either make these images empty-linked - with "|link=|" - or link them to an article about the country they're representing. I would also suggest adding the class "maintenance" to this template, maybe as a parent <div> or <span>, so the new Media Viewer doesn't pick up images from it. --MarkTraceur (talk) 20:22, 17 April 2014 (UTC)

Done. --Saqib (talk) 20:38, 17 April 2014 (UTC)

Thanks! I'm glad you didn't add "maintenance", because I was thinking of "metadata"...sorry for that! --MarkTraceur (talk) 23:54, 17 April 2014 (UTC)

Add link

Would it be possible to add the name of the country + a link when you use this template, like on WP? CheeseCrisps (talk) 23:33, 2 March 2016 (UTC)

Flag template change

Swept in from the pub

I've modified {{flag}}, adding an optional parameter to automatically or manually place a country's link next to its flag if set (does not affect existing use of the template). This is especially useful for things like lists of countries (e.g. see: Panmunjeom#From_the_South) to make it easier to find a specific country at a glance, instead of searching through a wall of text. The main advantages of doing this through the template, and not manually, are ease of maintenance and that it adds a non-breaking space between the flag and the link.

I am planning on adding it to such instances as the lists above and other places where countries are linked. Is anyone opposed to such additions, or to this change in general? ARR8 (talk) 15:58, 16 September 2018 (UTC)

I'm not sure I fully understand what you're proposing. Are you saying you want to add a flag icon whenever a country name is linked? I think that sounds kind of distracting and weird-looking. —Granger (talk · contribs) 00:13, 17 September 2018 (UTC)

No, only in cases where it's useful. Take a look at the linked article; it's pretty hard to tell if your country is listed in the table without reading through it or using the find function of your browser. Flags are immediately recognizable and you can see your own at a glance. I was planning on putting flags into the table, anyway. This just reduces maintenance slightly in cases like this one so that you don't have to type a country name twice.

It seems to me that this is pretty much already what we're doing for lists of embassies and consulates, but those are full-fledged listings which sometimes already link somewhere, and not just names in a list. ARR8 (talk) 00:39, 17 September 2018 (UTC)

I am not sure the flags are helpful. When the countries are in alphabetical order as here (all but two of the mentioned one in the same box) your own is easy to find without the flags, while text interspersed with images is much harder to read than ordinary text. It is off course a trade off, but I think in this case, for me, they distract more than they help. --LPfi (talk) 14:20, 20 September 2018 (UTC)

If the parameter is strictly optional, I don't see anything wrong with it. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 15:23, 20 September 2018 (UTC)

@LPfi: Sorry, didn't see this. Seems you're talking about Panmunjeom specifically. Personally, I think the changes look better, but I may be a little biased, though I'll note I find myself glancing through the images rather than the words. I wouldn't mind a brief consensus on whether this is preferred for tables like this. If I am alone in my view, I'll remove the flags. ARR8 (talk) 00:27, 23 September 2018 (UTC)

I looked at that example, but I suppose my reasoning holds for similar cases in general. I generally prefer a plain layout, without too much bells and whistles. --LPfi (talk) 15:38, 24 September 2018 (UTC)

Seeing this in action at Bangladesh, I will add my belated opposition to adding flags (and logos) to text. The flags there are not distinguishable on my phone (and I suspect, others). Our general policy of having not-too-many images is still valid: lowbandwidth, days charges, legibility, accessibility should take precedence. Ground Zero (talk) 07:04, 3 November 2018 (UTC)

@Ground Zero: How do the flags used in embassy and consulate listings look on your phone? E.g. at DC if you want a quick link. ARR8 (talk) 07:08, 3 November 2018 (UTC)

They are miniscule there too. They do not help with navigation through the article for most readers, and they take additional time to load. I am using the desktop version on my phone -- they do look better on the mobile version, but I still think they they are of limited use as most readers would have trouble distinguishing between the 193 or so flags of nations, many of which are similar(red-green-yellow flags on Africa, red-white-black-green flags in Arabia). This is something that would appeal to flag fans, not to a general readership. Ground Zero (talk) 08:26, 3 November 2018 (UTC)

I also object to flags being used in places like lists of countries whose citizens don't need visas to visit Country X for x amount of time. We're currently having a specific discussion about this at Talk:Bangladesh about all the flags in Bangladesh#Visas. But as we've disapproved before of having icons or thumbnails of jurisdictions' flags in pages when they are the flags of the articles' subjects, this is clearly out of keeping with that preexisting consensus. I also don't think that the Pub is really a place to actually make changes in policy (a thread can be started here but should, in this case, be swept to or continued at Wikivoyage talk:Image policy or some other appropriate policy page), and moreover that considerable skepticism was expressed toward the usefulness of this template in this thread. My feeling is that in this kind of list, flags just add clutter and are less clear that prose, although I like the flag icons a lot more at the beginnings of paragraphs later in the section. The thing is, though, is it worth developing a coherent policy for when flag icons should and shouldn't be used and then spend time enforcing it? If you think so, start the thread on the policy page and see if a new consensus develops. Then and only then, act. Ikan Kekek (talk) 07:37, 3 November 2018 (UTC)

To clarify: when I expressed support for this, I had assumed we were talking about using them in listings or, at most, in bullet-point lists. When used inline in regular prose, it just makes for a lot of horrid visual clutter. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 16:04, 3 November 2018 (UTC)

Adding individual jurisdictions of countries

I've done some slight changes, so this template can now handle Australian, Canadian and US jurisdictions (that is i.e. states, territories and provinces). I didn't do any other country because it's only these three countries where each and every jurisdiction has an identity of its own, but I can do some more (such as France or Mexico). Let me know if needed. SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta.wikimedia) 07:40, 5 September 2021 (UTC)