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. |
 | Rules for Editing the Map
1- A reliable source for that specific edit should be provided.
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.
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For quick reference, this module is transcluded on the following:
- Template:Syrian Civil War detailed map
- Template:Syrian and Iraqi insurgency detailed map
- Template:Syrian, Iraqi, and Lebanese insurgencies detailed map
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
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}}).
The link to sources &/or status description should be done according to the following priorities in this order:
- The part of the town's article that talks about the war events in the town (see Example 1 below).
- The part of a "battle/offensive/etc..." article that talks about the latest status of the specific town (see Example 2 below).
- The article about the town which does not contain war events (still better than nothing).
A quick look at the map's code will tell you where each town dot is currently linking.
Example 1: How to keep town dots linked to the latest status source when the town has its own Wikipedia article.. 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.
Example 2: How to keep town dots linked to the latest status source when the town does not have its own Wikipedia article. The example concerns the town of "Kabajeb". Up to August 2017, the link parameter associated with the code line of the town was link= "Deir ez-Zor offensive (April–July 2014)#Kabajeb". As indicated above, this links the Kabajeb town dot with a war article that talks about the latest war events concerning the town (along with a source). This was done because the town Kabajeb does not have its own Wikipedia article. Therefore, the link is made to the article that have the latest status & source. In this case, it is the article Deir ez-Zor offensive (April–July 2014) which states in its code:
{{anchor|Kabajeb}}The ISIS reportedly took parts of the town,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Apr-10/252903-syria-qaeda-loses-ground-to-jihadist-rivals-on-iraq-border.ashx|title=Syria Qaeda loses ground to jihadist rivals on Iraq border|work=The Daily Star Newspaper - Lebanon|accessdate=25 October 2014}}</ref>
Notice how the paragraph starts with the expression {{anchor|Kabajeb}}. This guides the link to put the reader exactly at the beginning of the latest status & source. However, on 2017-09-04, the government took the town from ISIS. So the above link & source is no longer up-to-date. To stay up-to-date, you need to do 2 steps:
Step 1: Write about the new status in some "battle/offensive/etc..." article that relates to the town. Alternatively, you can find an up-to-date text that someone else wrote and procede to the next step. In our case, you find that someone wrote this updated status in the article Central Syria campaign (July 2017–present) which states in its code:
5th Corps alongside 18th Reserve Division captured the town of Kabajib during midday, while later in the day together with Tiger Forces captured al-Shulah.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/breaking-syrian-army-liberates-strategic-town-en-route-deir-ezzor-city/|title=Breaking: Syrian Army liberates strategic town en route to Deir Ezzor City|date=2017-09-04|work=AMN - Al-Masdar News {{!}} المصدر نيوز|access-date=2017-09-04|language=en-US}}</ref>
This is exactly what we need. Therefore, we procede to the next step.
Step 2: In the map code, we need to update the link parameter to point to the new status in the new article. This edit does this. As you can see, the link was changed from link="Deir ez-Zor offensive (April–July 2014)#Kabajeb" to link="Central Syria campaign (July 2017–present)#Kabajeb". However, for this to work, we need to also put the expression {{anchor|Kabajeb}} at the beginning of the part in the new article that talks about the new status. This is done in this edit.
How to preview map before saving edit
Before saving your changes (by clicking "Save changes"), you should preview your edit (changes). This allows you to view the map to make sure it is what you want to do before saving and making the changes appear on Wikipedia. To do this, type in the box under "Preview page with this module" the name of the template: "Template:Syrian Civil War detailed map". Then hit "Show preview".
![[[]]](/media/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Abm-grey-icon.png/20px-Abm-grey-icon.png){kind=icon}
![[[]]](/media/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Abm-lime-icon.png/20px-Abm-lime-icon.png){kind=icon}
; if not, it will show as ). Second Syrian transitional government (HTS) & others ; Ba'athist Loyalists & Russian Armed Forces ; 
Syrian National Army (SNA) and Turkish Armed Forces ; Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (SDF) ; Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) ; 
Revolutionary Commando Army (RCA) and United States Armed Forces ; 
Southern Operations Room ; 
Israel Defense Forces
Contested; Stable mixed control
Inner controls, outer sieges (or strong enemy pressure);
Enemy pressure from one side; Small icon within a larger icon: The situation in individual neighbourhood/district
Airport/Air base; Heliport/Helicopter base;
Military base; Strategic hill; Oil/gas;
Industrial complex; Border Post; Major port or naval base;
Dam; Rural presence