Module:Syrian Civil War detailed map/doc

This is a documentation subpage for Module:Syrian Civil War detailed map.
It may contain usage information, categories and other content that is not part of the original module page.

Template:SCW&ISIL sanctions

Rules for Editing the Map

1- A reliable source for that specific edit should be provided.
a) A well-known source that has a reputation for neutral (not biased) territorial control coverage, can be used (is deemed reliable) for all edits.
b) A well-known source that does not have a reputation for neutral (not biased) territorial control coverage, can be used (is deemed reliable) only for edits that are unfavorable to the side it prefers (favorable to the side it opposes).
c) A source that is not well-known (or that has proven inaccurate for all edits) cannot be used (is deemed unreliable) for any edit. This includes all maps (see item 2- next).

2- Copying from maps is strictly prohibited. Maps from mainstream media are approximate and therefore unreliable for any edit. Maps from amateur sources are below the standards of Wikipedia for any edit. They violate WP:RS and WP:CIRCULAR.
WP:RS: “Anyone can create a personal web page or publish their own book, and also claim to be an expert in a certain field. For that reason, self-published media, such as books, patents, newsletters, personal websites, open wikis, personal or group blogs, Internet forum postings, and tweets, are largely not acceptable as sources.” Source: Wikipedia:Verifiability#Self-published_sources
WP:CIRCULAR: “Do not use websites that mirror Wikipedia content or publications that rely on material from Wikipedia as sources.”

3- WP:POV pushing and intentional misinterpretation of sources will not be tolerated. If you are not sure about what the source is saying (or its reliability), post it on the talk page first so that it would be discussed.

For quick reference, this module is transcluded on the following:

Module:Syrian Civil War overview map

Towns and strategic places must be placed in the Module:Syrian Civil War overview map. Then they will also be included in larger map modules like the large ME conflict map.

Icons available for use on the map

Control : Government ; Opposition ; SDF ; Tahrir al-Sham; Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) Stable mixed control (same colours) : Government & Opposition stable mixed control (truce) :
Rural presence :
Contested : Gov't/Opposition ; Gov't/SDF ; Gov't/TaS ; Gov't/ISIL ; Opposition/TaS ; Opposition/ISIL ; SDF/TaS ; SDF/ISIL; TaS/ISIL
Besieged one side :
Besieged : 2 nested circles: inner controls, outer sieges (or indicates strong enemy pressure) : Military base : Strategic hill : Oil/gas :
Airport/Air base (plane) : Heliport/Helicopter base :
Major port or naval base ; Border Post ; Dam ; Industrial complex
Small icon within a larger icon: the situation in individual neighbourhood/district

Truce (purple) icon

The purple icon () should be used for towns where the party in question has lost a significant amount of sovereignty, such as giving up heavy weapons, allowing regular enemy patrols inside of it, etc… If all that the “truce” means is that there is no fighting or shooting from both parties, then there is no need for a purple icon. In summary, the purple icon means loss of sovereignty, not lack of fighting.

Dot size guide for cities & towns

Dot size for cities & towns (that are not provincial capitals) is based on the 2004 census (last available census):

Under 3,500 is size 6
5000 to 19,999 is size 8
20,000 to 49,999 is size 10
50,000 to 99,999 is size 12
Above 100,000 is size 14

"link=" parameter: linking towns to sources

Inkhil

"link=" parameter allows clicking on dot to take you to town article

..., link = "Inkhil#civilwar",...

Article on Inkhil, civil war section

class=notpageimage|

.

Every element on the map should be verifiable. Information on towns (description of control & sources) can be found by clicking on the town dot on the map. Notice the caption of the map which says: "Hold cursor over location to display name; click to go to sources &/or status description (if available, the cursor will show as ; if not, it will show as )."

Notice the “link=” parameter in the map code. This is supposed to link to the part in the Wikipedia article that contains the source and talks about the events in the town. So for example, if you click on the dot of the town "Inkhil" on the map, it will take you to the part of the Wikipedia article on the town "Inkhil" that has the description of war events (& sources): link = "Inkhil#civilwar" Here the first part before the # is the name of the article (Inkhil). the second part after the # is the name of the section (civilwar).

For this to work, there needs to be a section by this same name in the article or you need to put a wikilink anchor: {{anchor|section}} that will act as a section header (in this case {{anchor|civilwar}}). By the way, sources &/or status description can also be found in "battle/offensive/etc..." articles and not just in towns' articles... A quick look at the map's code will tell you where each town dot will link.

Here is an example on how to keep town dots linked to the latest status source. The example concerns the town of Al-Taybah. First, notice how there is: link = "Al-Taybah#civilwar" parameter associated with the code line of town Al-Taybah. As indicated above, this links the Al-Taybah town dot with the war section in the town's Wikipedia article. This parameter does not change over time. However, the war section in the town's Wikipedia article needs to stay up-to-date in terms of the latest control status and latest associated source. For example, on 20/08/2017 the government took the town. To keep the link up-to-date, this latest event (along with the source) needs to be added to the the war section in the town's Wikipedia article. To accomplish this, notice the following edit which added to the article the following text:

However, in 20/08/2017, the Army stormed the Taybah area from their positions at the Al-Kom axis, pushing their way through ISIL's front-lines. Unable to maintain their positions, ISIL was forced to retreat from Taybah, leaving the entire area for the Army to take control of after a short battle.<ref>[https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/breaking-syrian-army-liberates-important-area-besiege-isil-north-palmyra/ Syrian Army liberates important area to besiege ISIL north of Palmyra], Al-Masdar news, 20/08/2017.</ref>

This provides the latest status (along with the source) to viewers clicking on the town's dot in the map. Notice also how at the beginning of the war section in the town's Wikipedia article, there is the expression: {{anchor|civilwar}}. This mirrors the #civilwar part in the link parameter in the map's code and allows the click on the dot to take the viewer to the beginning of the war section in the town's Wikipedia article. In summary, when the status of a map object changes, the color of the icon has to be updated and the write-up (along with the source) has to be added as well.