Template talk:Election box

Request: use negative sign outlined in MOS

It might be worthwhile to preprocess the change parameter such that when its value uses a generic dash as a negative sign (i.e. it matches the regex pattern [-–—](\s*\d+)), the dash is replaced with the negative sign suggested in MOS:NEGATIVE (−). Note that I have seen at least one instance of an m-dash used in place of a missing value, so a format test should check for digits after the dash (as does the regex pattern above) to avoid replacing these appropriately used m-dashes. —AlphaMikeOmega (talk) 18:23, 26 June 2022 (UTC)

The same goes for the swing parameter. —AlphaMikeOmega (talk) 18:27, 26 June 2022 (UTC)

I came here to make the same request regarding a proper Unicode U+2212 minus sign. I am unarchiving this topic and the preceding once since both seem to be open. I am also slowing the archive speed from 4 weeks to about 18 months. —jameslucas ^{▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄} 18:15, 12 July 2023 (UTC)

Please link to articles where each situation occurs, or (better, if you are able) copy tables from those articles to the testcases page for this template. One challenge is that this template, {{Election box}}, does not actually exist as a template. It's just a home for a common documentation page. The templates that take |change= as a parameter are listed at Category:Election box templates, and there are probably more in other categories. Each one of those templates would need to be modified. – Jonesey95 (talk) 20:30, 12 July 2023 (UTC)

That does sound a trifle tedious, but I think it’s worth doing. Any suggestions on how to get the ball rolling? (FWIW the instances of this formatting deficiency that finally drove to seek rectification were the ones at Tilgate & Furnace Green (electoral division).) Cheers! —jameslucas ^{▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄} 03:02, 13 July 2023 (UTC)

Normal font size

Is there any reason a small font needs to be used on this page? I cannot see why it should be anything other than 100%. Please can someone change this? 10mmsocket (talk) 17:33, 7 March 2023 (UTC)

I do not see any small font sizes used on this page. Please link to a page where you are seeing small font sizes. – Jonesey95 (talk) 18:52, 7 March 2023 (UTC)

It's in the CSS that the tables call I believe. 10mmsocket (talk) 19:23, 7 March 2023 (UTC)

Actually it's in {{Election box begin no change}} 10mmsocket (talk) 19:25, 7 March 2023 (UTC)

It appears that a couple dozen election box templates adjust font sizes (there are also some in subcategories), out of a population of about 300 templates. Most of those font size adjustments apply a size of 95% to the entire template, which can cause MOS:FONTSIZE violations if <small>...</small> tags are used within the templates. I would support removing font size reduction from the bodies of these tables. A few of the font size changes are applied to titles and notes; I would leave those alone. – Jonesey95 (talk) 21:42, 7 March 2023 (UTC)

Thanks for checking. 10mmsocket (talk) 21:44, 7 March 2023 (UTC)

@Jonesey95: I stumbled across this short discussion after finding an article with unnecessary small fonts sizes and tracing it to {{Election box}}. 10mmsocket's initial investigation was useful. Your point about notes being smaller is fine. I don't think false headings or titles (with larger font sizes) should be used; bold-face is enough. I will investigate the job needed with a view to being bold at some point after discussing further. (10mmsocket seems to have been absent from WP since July 2023.) Bazza 7 (talk) 11:04, 19 March 2024 (UTC)

confusion between percentage point and percentage

The percent sign in the heading +-% is incorrect or at least misleading. And the percent sign with the values underneath that heading as on Janet Protasiewicz is clearly incorrect. --Espoo (talk) 05:27, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

A tooltip was added a while ago to clarify the meaning of this header. Please suggest an improvement. – Jonesey95 (talk) 13:11, 8 September 2023 (UTC)

Parameter list

This is embarrassing, since I've been using this template for years, but is there a comprehensive list of the available parameters for each sub-template? (Like "template:Election box candidate with party link" has parameters "party", "candidate", "votes", "percentage", etc.) Asdasdasdff (talk) 19:46, 3 December 2023 (UTC)

Template-protected edit request on 2 May 2024

Hi so on line 11 of Template:Election box candidate with party link, i think you should replace {{{votes}}} with replace|{{{votes}}}|,|}}}}, so that no matter what number you put in it will automatically add commas for any number with 4 or more digits, as happens with Template:Election box winning candidate with party link TheHaloVeteran2 (talk) 00:03, 3 May 2024 (UTC)

 Not done: See below — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 19:53, 6 May 2024 (UTC)

Template-protected edit request on 3 May 2024

I think we should replace {{{votes}}} with |{{{votes}}}|,|{{{votes}}} in Template:Election box turnout so that it automatically adds the separators as it does in Template:Election box turnout no change TheHaloVeteran2 (talk) 17:42, 3 May 2024 (UTC)

I don't think the above code would result in a useful outcome. Perhaps you could put your proposed code in the sandbox version of the template and show how it works on the testcases page. – Jonesey95 (talk) 20:15, 3 May 2024 (UTC)

I mean it already works in Template:Election box turnout for however many numbers you might need to report TheHaloVeteran2 (talk) 06:29, 4 May 2024 (UTC)

Please reactivate request when sandbox code is ready and tested — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 19:52, 6 May 2024 (UTC)

"Change" field for new candidates

Should this be a value that can be specified when the template is called and maybe displayed with a grey cell background like {{n/a}}? I'm seeing a mix of handcrafted ''N/A'' and ''New'' fields on election articles. Belbury (talk) 07:03, 17 July 2024 (UTC)

Swing

Does the "swing" represent the swing between the top two positions (i.e. representing how the winner's majority has changed) or does it represent the swing between the top two parties. My question pertains to Oldham_West,_Chadderton_and_Royton_(UK_Parliament_constituency)#Elections_in_the_2020s where a new independent candidate took second place. The swing from Labour to the independent was 21.2%, but there wasn't a huge change in Labour's majority (from 25% to 13%) due to the fact that the opposition fragmented, so the swing from Labour to the second-placed candidate was in fact only 6%. The swing between the top two positions seems more logical to me because it reflects how the winners majority was eroded, but obviously I don't want to add in the wrong figure. Betty Logan (talk) 08:57, 21 July 2024 (UTC)