Template talk:Sea shell topics
I don't really care for the way this box is being used in the upper right on Gastropod shell, Mollusc shell, etc., with the main picture of the shell type being used to the left of the opening paragraph -- I feel this is very disruptive to the normal layout of WP articles. Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style#Images says to "Start an article with a right-aligned lead image", and to avoid sandwiching text between images (or other boxes) on opposite margins. Wikipedia:Navigation templates doesn't disallow right-side templates, but Wikipedia_talk:Navigation_templates#Right-side_templates does suggest that the consensus is generally for footer-style templates instead. Overall, I don't feel this template adds much additional navigation help over a "Shells" or "Types of shells" category, especially given that it isn't really a series that needs to be in a particular order -- see Wikipedia:Categories, lists, and navigation templates for guidelines for using the different types of navigation.
I see a couple possible solutions. This would be my order of preference:
- discontinue the template and use a category instead.
- move the template down below the first image in the upper right, like the History of Vietnam template in Nanyue.
- change the template from a right-side template to a footer template, per Wikipedia:Navigation templates.
- alter the template so that the first illustrative image of shell type (with caption) appears within the box, replacing the Paua.jpg image used there now (this is more common in an infobox than a navigational template, though).
Any other opinions? — Catherine\talk 23:37, 22 September 2008 (UTC)