[Tagging] RFC: remove alphanumeric code visible in infoboxes at OSM Wiki linking to Wikidata

[Minh Nguyen]

Vào lúc 10:42 2022-04-04, Frederik Ramm đã viết:
> Hi,
> 
> On 4/1/22 16:39, Mateusz Konieczny via Tagging wrote:
>> I propose to remove this link from displayed infoboxes as as confusing,
>> unnecessary and not worth using infobox space.
> 
> I support the proposal. I don't care too much about there being a link 
> if someone took the time to create one, but the "there is no link here, 
> please create one" has always irked me, because this request for mappers 
> to do something has been created by a tiny minority of Wikidata 
> enthusiasts trying to push OSMers in their direction. It creates the 
> effort that there was some sort of consensus in OSM that "there should 
> be a link" when in fact no such consensus exists, and the average mapper 
> or wiki user does not benefit from OSM tags being linked to Wikidata.

This proposal would affect the Wikidata link in the infobox in general, 
not just the "Search Wikidata" placeholder when a specific Wikidata QID 
is unspecified.

I was the one who added that placeholder [1] back in 2017, during a 
hackathon. [2] Back then, the Description template was unprotected and 
it wasn't considered such a big deal to make changes to it. Not much 
thought went into the placeholder, just the sense that the existing 
Wikidata link could try to be more helpful. The placeholder seems to 
have bothered more people than it's helped, so I don't really mind it 
going away. I would've removed it from the infobox unceremoniously, but 
then it got caught up in controversy, so now I'm waiting on the outcome 
of this proposal.

Even when a specific QID is specified, presenting the Wikidata link in 
the infobox is not as important as it used to be. Back in 2017, the 
infobox was the only place the wiki exposed this information. But 
nowadays we can shunt technical information from the infobox to the 
page's linked data item. If people who need to know about the Wikidata 
connection don't know where to look, then data items need to be better 
documented.

[1] https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Special:Diff/1498164
[2] https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T173017

-- 
minh at nguyen.cincinnati.oh.us