Index talk:Song of Hiawatha (1855).djvu

Options

The main text is not aligned as a block, which is one way to do it, I opted to do that to keep things tidy. Another option, that I think has merit, is to dispose of centering altogether; a purely clean text that relies on relative formatting or styling to convey the structure of the work. CYGNIS INSIGNIS 15:24, 10 June 2021 (UTC)

A layout has been applied to the transcluded work, and the original text is not centered on the page. I am not sure what you are suggesting, or why. --EncycloPetey (talk) 16:58, 10 June 2021 (UTC)

I realise now I am repeating myself, my apology is that I think formatting should be done in the work-space: Pages and their Index. It is or is not an indented block. "Why?" is reasonable to ask here, I'm interested in transcription for wikimedia and have an annoying condition I term 'compulsive-volunteerism'; I regret where that causes offence, quite sincerely. And!, as a reader, I want to view without an italic font, not good for reading online it is said, and huge margins interfere with one or more windows on a screen, as a contributor I'm always doing that. So it goes. CYGNIS INSIGNIS 19:31, 12 June 2021 (UTC)

If you are seeing an italic font, then it is something at your end. The work is not in italics. You will have huge margins on this work, if your window is wide, no matter how it is formatted because it is poetry with short lines. Whether this happens because of a block center formatting or application of a layout, you will still get very wide margins if your browser window is set extremely wide relative to the length of the lines. --EncycloPetey (talk) 20:49, 12 June 2021 (UTC)

italic -> serif sorry. The margins are set, and justified I might add: "The text is displayed in a serif font, justified and enclosed in a centered fixed-width column (36em). Sidenotes are displayed in empty margins [emph.] of the page, on the left and right. Similar to the style used on the French and Italian Wikisources." The justification for implementation was sidenotes, not a formatting preference, all in my view obviously. CYGNIS INSIGNIS 21:01, 12 June 2021 (UTC)

That's not a justification the way I read it; it's merely a description of one feature that is offered by the layout. Layout 2 is almost mandatory for dramatic works, where the speaker is centered and the lines are set in poetic layout in the original. It works well for any poetic work where there are lines of determination short length that do not wrap. If you have a general concern about the use of Layout2, this isn't the place to have that discussion.

The conversation has drifted from your original statement about "centering". The original text is not centered; it is left-justified. Why should we deviate from that? --EncycloPetey (talk) 21:49, 12 June 2021 (UTC)

I'm relying on my recollection of discussions at the time, where the justification (rationale) was proposed (it was then applied to any work as a preference over the default layout). I haven't done a dramatic work, nor am I aware of any here that are rendered without layout, when I do I can more easily discuss options (if they exist). Getting the view of someone who uses it purposefully is useful, hope that was okay. CYGNIS INSIGNIS 08:26, 13 June 2021 (UTC)

@EncycloPetey: I hope that is a reasonable reply, I'll do some some experiments, but for the record: would you be opposed to the removal of the serif format from layout2? CYGNIS INSIGNIS 13:37, 14 June 2021 (UTC)

Yes. And I've explained why on multiple occasions. --EncycloPetey (talk) 15:28, 14 June 2021 (UTC)

I remember one valid point, now that it is mentioned, and will see if I can glean others from the site's history if I propose it is rid of. The potential for character confusion [op cit] would be a concern in texts other than drama. CYGNIS INSIGNIS 16:53, 14 June 2021 (UTC)