Template:Convert/Transwiki guide

So, you want to transwiki {{convert}} ... and you're probably wondering where you should start copying roughly three thousand subpages over. To make sense of things it might be helpful to look at the history of the template.

History

Convert I

The template was created in December 2006‎ by Drumguy8800. The template originally used a system of {{#switch}}s to choose between different units and modes of display. By October 2007 this system had become quite large and complex as new units and functionality had been added. However, it remained all on the one page, all 12,679 bytes of code. Let's call this version of the template Convert I.

In spite of its size and complexity this version was still quite limited in terms of functionality and units covered. Users requested more but the problem with {{#switch}}s is that they eat up the template limits. More units and/or functions would mean more and/or bigger {{#switch}}s and thus a slower template. It seemed (to some users) like we needed new versions to deal with other qualities; {{convertW}} and {{convertV}} were created in Convert I's image to convert mass and volume respectively. Meanwhile, however, work was being done on an alternative design.

Convert II

What you're currently looking at is the second version of {{convert}} (let's call it Convert II), which has been up and running since November 2007. Convert II is substantially different to the original template (let's call this Convert I). Convert I used a number of very large {{#switch}}s. Convert II replaced this with several subpages. There are subtemplates for units, subtemplates for display and subtemplates for calculation. The November 2007 overhaul of the template had been expected to take a couple of weeks but four years later work continues. Over the years the functionality of the template has expanded and expanded. There are currently thousands of subtemplates.

Much has changed in the past four years: calculations not possible back then are possible now, the template limits in place back then are different to those in place now and, of course, requests for new functionality have only been limited by the imagination of the hundreds of users of the template. If we were to redo the template, there'd be several things we could, would or should do differently. Such a thing is in the works but there's no telling yet when (or even whether) it will see the light of day (but let's call it Convert III).

Convert III

Convert III is in the works; it is, however, no easy task to rewrite a template like this. So, what do you do if you want to transwiki this template? You could wait for Convert III, you could get started on Convert II or you could even try your luck with Convert I. Before doing any of these why not have a look at {{convert/basic}} (this version)?

So what do you do if you want to transwiki the template? You could start transwikiing the current version, just be prepared for a bit of work when (or if) Convert III comes along: just take what you need for now don't get carried away moving everything over. You could try make do with the simpler Convert I until Convert III is up & running, though I wouldn't recommend using the October 2007 version I link to above since it's not compatible (there might be a newer version lying about, if not, I could write one). You could just stick with manual conversions until Convert III is available. You could start transwikiing what I've got of Convert III but you'd have to keep up with it as it evolves.

{{Convert/basic}} is based on the coding of Convert I in that it uses {{#switch}}s. The functionality and capacity of {{convert/basic}} is a little better than Convert I (but still nowhere close to that of Convert II). The advantage is that you only have to transwiki a few templates. Use this until Convert III is working, use it whilst you're in the middle of transwikiing Convert II or, if a basic version is all you need, just use it (instead of Convert I).