Babel user information |
---|
Users by language |
![]() |
This user participated in the 2018 Wikivoyage edit-a-thon |
Former Wikitravel editor, now fully committed to Wikivoyage. I also edit Wikipedia, Wikibooks and upload to WikiCommons.
I primarily like to work on pages related to the UK, but I am equally at home editing pages abroad. I also have an obsession with the US state of Nevada. I really need to plan an itinerary there, one of these days.
- Hometown: Cheltenham
- Residences: Tewkesbury, Oxford, Derby, Much Wenlock, London
- Pages I have started: Bewdley?, Bridgwater, Brixham, Charlestown, Haslemere, Marlborough, Searchlight, Winchcombe, Wellesbourne
Currently my largest project is the Assassin's Creed Tour page. My goal is to at least get it to a usable state within Wikivoyage's guidelines. Then maybe a Dan Brown, Fallout: New Vegas Tour or Twilight: New Moon Tour itinerary?
Travels[edit]
Year | Country | Region | Cities |
---|---|---|---|
2000 | ![]() |
St John's, English Harbour | |
2001? | ![]() |
![]() |
Hamilton |
prior to 2004 | ![]() |
![]() |
Copenhagen, Elsinore |
2003 | ![]() |
![]() |
Weymouth |
2003 | ![]() |
![]() |
Fowey, St Austell |
2003-4? | ![]() |
Tunis, Carthage | |
2003-4? | ![]() |
![]() |
Funchal |
2003-4? | ![]() |
Paphos | |
2003-4? | ![]() |
![]() |
Orlando, Cape Canaveral |
2005? | ![]() |
![]() |
Caen |
2006? | ![]() |
![]() |
Chamonix |
2007 | ![]() |
![]() |
La Rochelle |
2007 | ![]() |
![]() |
Paris |
2008 | ![]() |
![]() |
Heraklion, Agios Nikolaos, Elounda, Spinalonga |
2009 | ![]() |
![]() |
Girona, Figueres |
2010-11? | ![]() |
![]() |
Taormina, Mount Etna, Syracuse |
2010-11? | ![]() |
![]() |
Torquay, Paignton |
2011 | ![]() |
![]() |
Aberystwyth |
2012 | ![]() |
![]() |
Florence, Siena, San Gimignano, Monteriggioni, Montepulciano |
2013 | ![]() |
![]() |
San Francisco, Berkeley, Los Angeles |
2013 | ![]() |
![]() |
Las Vegas |
2013 | ![]() |
![]() |
Kingman, Grand Canyon |
2013 | ![]() |
![]() |
New York City |
2014 | ![]() |
![]() |
Carcassonne |
2017 | ![]() |
![]() |
Dubai |
2017 | ![]() |
![]() |
Dublin, Dun Laoghaire |
2018 | ![]() |
![]() |
Bodmin, Tintagel, St Austell, Charlestown |
2018 | ![]() |
![]() |
Burley |
2018 | ![]() |
![]() |
Christchurch |
2019 | ![]() |
![]() |
Salisbury |
2020 | ![]() |
![]() |
Yarmouth, Newport, Sandown and Shanklin, Cowes |
2020 | ![]() |
![]() |
Brighton |
Modus operandi[edit]
- I like dynamic maps and I try to add a Mapframe to articles that may only have a simple drawing or no map at all.
- I like weatherboxes using Climate. I use Wikipedia's own data and then the Met Office for UK destinations, The Weather Channel for US destinations and AccuWeather for everywhere else.
- I like to add go markers to train stations throughout the world. If the train station is in Great Britain or the Republic of Ireland I add a link to that station's page too.
- I like routeboxes and have taken an interest into adding more to UK pages. Particularly in my native Gloucestershire and surrounding cities.
- I like to add colour-coded region maps to articles such as Sardinia, San Luis Potosi (state) and Lower Austria.
Neat tricks[edit]
Here are some neat tricks I have pinched from other pages that hopefully streamline Wikivoyage for both editors and readers. The '' '' demonstrate placeholder content that needs to be filled by the editor.
- Link to a listing (requires the Wikidata field is declared within the listing):
[[''Placename''#''WikidataID''|''Destination'']]
- e.g. To link Excalibur Hotel and Casino use the following:
[[Las_Vegas/The_Strip#Q1064873|Excalibur Hotel and Casino]]
- e.g. To link Excalibur Hotel and Casino use the following:
- Add a dynamic map to page:
{{mapframe|''longitude''|''latitude''|zoom=10}}
- Add a mapshape to page:
{{mapshape}}
- Add a marker to an airport/train station/bus station on a page:
{{marker|type=go|name=train station|url=|lat=|long=}}
Alternatively, a{{listing}}
can be used, but for simple one-line entries I prefer the in-line option.
- If the destination can be gotten to via a train from London, specify which station and add a link to it. If there is a missed station add a redirect to the appropriate London district it resides in. London is a big city with over 330 train stations (not including all tube stops) and I think it's a good idea to break it down for travellers even at a regional level.
- Clapham Junction
- London Paddington
- London Victoria
- London Waterloo
- London Liverpool St
- London King's Cross (with the apostrophe, though I have created a redirect without)
- London Euston
- London St Pancras or London St Pancras International
- London Bridge (As London Bridge is already a disambiguation page, link to London/South_Bank with
[[London/South_Bank|London Bridge]]
instead.) - London Fenchurch St
- London Charing Cross
- London Cannon St
- London Marylebone
- For London tube stops/stations I have started using the station templates to show which lines connect to it. For example: Baker Street MET BAK CIR JUB H&C . To achieve this use
{{station|''station name''|''line1''|''line2''|''line3''}}
. Use the Rint template to check the syntax for lines.
- I have also assisted with adding routeboxes to UK articles. If you know the area and particularly if a major road such as motorway or A road passes through/near the article. I'd recommend adding it in.
- If an airport is notable enough, but doesn't have an IATA, the ICAO can be added instead with
('''ABCD''' <sup>[[w:ICAO|<small>ICAO</small>]]</sup>)
, substitute the ABCD with the code. Maybe an ICAO template, should be made alongside the IATA template?
Useful pages[edit]
Here I am trying to make a useful reference for pages both on and off Wikivoyage that help streamline page editing. Please share this around if it is useful for you. :-D
Wikivoyage[edit]
Wikipedia[edit]
External sites and programs[edit]
Atom[edit]
A really useful text editor with regular expression capabilities that make finding and replacing quick and simple. Recommended for region pages with a lot of map markers, as well as adding the listing templates to the See, Do, Eat, Drink, Sleep sections. I also find Atom helpful for going through a .SVG's source code to find the right colours for a province section as with Sardinia.
If you don't like Atom, there are alternative editors such as Visual Studio Code and Notepad++.
Eye Dropper[edit]
A neat open-source Chrome/Chromium extension that shows the colour of an entity. Also useful for region maps as I like to use the exact colour on the map as I think it's better for usability.
Croppola.com[edit]
A really useful site that allows images to be cropped in-browser regardless of operating system. I use Croppola to crop Wikivoyage banners to the 7:1 aspect ratio (see these examples: Tewkesbury, Paignton, Brixham, Chinon, Tintagel, Douglas, Laxey).
Translit.cc[edit]
Transliterates from Cyrillic to Latin and vice-versa.
GPS-Coordinates.net[edit]
Note: I no longer use GPS-Coordinates because I find it cumbersome to use. Instead I zoom in and use the URL from Google Maps to provide co-ordinates.
A really useful site that displays co-ordinates for any location using Google Maps. As someone who loves dynamic maps, this site is really helpful for generating the markers that are placed on them.
Sandbox[edit]
I use this sandbox area to test new ideas.
Routebox for the UK – Rail links[edit]
As the Network Rail logo isn't public domain or CC licensed, one needs to figure out how to call the logo's SVG from Wikipedia directly instead of the Commons.
Cheltenham[edit]
Routes through Inferno986return |
Penzance ← Bristol ← | W ![]() |
→ Reading → London Paddington |
Routebox for the UK – A40[edit]
For Cheltenham and other destinations along the A40.
Cheltenham[edit]
Routes through Inferno986return |
Fishguard ← Monmouth ← | W ![]() |
→ Oxford → London |
Routebox for the UK – M5[edit]
For Taunton and other destinations along the M5.
Birmingham[edit]
Routes through Inferno986return |
merges with ![]() |
N ![]() |
→ Bristol → Exeter |
Worcester[edit]
Routes through Inferno986return |
Birmingham ← Kidderminster ← | N ![]() |
→ Bristol → Exeter |
Tewkesbury[edit]
Routes through Inferno986return |
Birmingham ← Worcester ← | N ![]() |
→ Cheltenham → Exeter |
Cheltenham[edit]
Routes through Inferno986return |
Birmingham ← Tewkesbury ← | N ![]() |
→ Gloucester → Exeter |
Gloucester[edit]
Routes through Inferno986return |
Birmingham ← Cheltenham ← | N ![]() |
→ Bristol → Exeter |
Taunton[edit]
Routes through Inferno986return |
Birmingham ← Gloucester ← | N ![]() |
→ Cullompton → Exeter |
Exeter[edit]
Routes through Inferno986return |
Birmingham ← Gloucester ← | N ![]() |
→ merges with ![]() |
THIS HAS BEEN DONE ALREADY!
Routebox for the UK – London Underground[edit]
Needs a white background on the roundel to be seen clearly. Although the flat line works well too.
London/Paddington-Maida Vale[edit]
Routes through Inferno986return |
1 ← 2 ← | W ![]() |
→ 3 → 4 |