Infobox[]
If we're going to be editing character pages to use the new list of appearances layout, how about making another change at the same time? For most characters the "duration" field in the infobox is redundant as they only appeared in one single year. I think we should use this field only for regulars - with guests, we already know which years they appeared from the categories so it's not really needed. In its place, how about a field for number of appearances? On a site like this, I think it's a relevant enough piece of information that it deserves inclusion in the infobox. David 19:46, September 11, 2011 (UTC)
- And to avoid having to update the articles all the time, we could just put "ongoing" for current characters. David 19:47, September 11, 2011 (UTC)
- Yeah I know what you mean...I've noticed that on some guests who are currently "recurring" in the show it says e.g. "2010 to present" as it would with a regular. If they are officially a guest maybe it would be better to do something about that...I also think you're proposal is a good idea. I'd rather have the episode count in the infobox instead actually because I don't mind updating them. If they're guests though, they officially can't be "ongoing", can they? Notdoppler 19:50, September 11, 2011 (UTC)
- I'm in agreement, it seems a very logical proposal - and as David says, the majority of minor characters have "played out" well within a year or possibly an overlap to the next - but this is noted with the use of the category pages for the minor characters anyway. There's probably no way of knowing when some of the more prominent recurring minor characters have finished "playing out" though - take for example Helen and Barry Connor (and without giving too much away... Lewis Archer)! --Karen2310 20:50, September 11, 2011 (UTC)
- Yeah I know what you mean...I've noticed that on some guests who are currently "recurring" in the show it says e.g. "2010 to present" as it would with a regular. If they are officially a guest maybe it would be better to do something about that...I also think you're proposal is a good idea. I'd rather have the episode count in the infobox instead actually because I don't mind updating them. If they're guests though, they officially can't be "ongoing", can they? Notdoppler 19:50, September 11, 2011 (UTC)
Won't we have to go back to using the "Main character" and "Individual" infoboxes? Notdoppler 16:48, September 12, 2011 (UTC) Should we use the episode count in the infobox for minor characters such as Dave Smith and as a more recent example Frank Foster even though they have their own LoA pages, etc? Notdoppler 15:39, September 20, 2011 (UTC)
- It won't be necessary to have separate infoboxes as we can miss out any fields that don't apply to the character (like we do with characters whose family is unknown), so it'll only mean leaving out duration on minor characters and adding a number of appearances for everybody. With current characters, as I said above, we could either put 'ongoing' to remove the hassle of updating it with every episode. David 08:40, September 21, 2011 (UTC)
- But won't their "list of appearances" need updating anyway? Changed the episode count can be done at the same time and I am happy to do it. Notdoppler 14:41, September 21, 2011 (UTC)
- If you don't mind keeping it updated then great! Although can I suggest that for current characters you put for number of appearances, eg. 45 (as of Episode 7684), to not only make it clear without checking the history when it was last updated, but making it still technically correct even if it isn't updated. David 00:30, September 26, 2011 (UTC)
- But won't their "list of appearances" need updating anyway? Changed the episode count can be done at the same time and I am happy to do it. Notdoppler 14:41, September 21, 2011 (UTC)
I've made the change, guys, although if anyone thinks it would be better placed somewhere else in the infobox let me know and we'll experiment. David 00:30, September 26, 2011 (UTC)
- I think it looks good where it is - as we'll be skipping the duration field for the minors. Can I just confirm, are we intending to use this new field now for all of the characters or just the minors? --Karen2310 00:44, September 26, 2011 (UTC)
I've changed Frank Foster's duration as per this discussion. Recurring guests are definitely staying for longer these days - 80 episodes! Also, in Frank's case, would it be good to pipelink the "80 episodes" to his LoA page? Notdoppler 06:44, September 26, 2011 (UTC)
- Do you mean just on his page or generically pipelink from the inofbox to all of the character pages? If the latter, then I think that's a good idea.
- I initially meant just Frank's as he is one of the few guests who have a LoA page, but now it's been decided to mention the episode count in the infobox for regulars as well then yes. Notdoppler 16:28, September 26, 2011 (UTC)
- As I say, I think it's a good suggestion. I know ther's a link at the base of the page under "See also" but some of the character pages are (understandably) long. Any other views?--Jtomlin1uk 08:48, September 27, 2011 (UTC)
- Yes I think it seems like a good idea too. --Karen2310 13:53, September 27, 2011 (UTC)
- As I say, I think it's a good suggestion. I know ther's a link at the base of the page under "See also" but some of the character pages are (understandably) long. Any other views?--Jtomlin1uk 08:48, September 27, 2011 (UTC)
- I initially meant just Frank's as he is one of the few guests who have a LoA page, but now it's been decided to mention the episode count in the infobox for regulars as well then yes. Notdoppler 16:28, September 26, 2011 (UTC)
On the Ryan Sykes page, I've pipelinked the episode count to the list of appearances section on the page itself. Notdoppler 22:46, September 27, 2011 (UTC)
Young characters[]
I have been thinking recently - characters like Aadi and Asha have since 2009 been credited, while they debuted in 2006 played by uncredited babies. What should be do with their LoA pages? The same goes for Dylan Wilson except his list would go on his character page. Notdoppler 12:01, September 25, 2011 (UTC)
- My suggestion would be a note on the page saying early appearances were uncredited. David 12:43, September 25, 2011 (UTC)
Vera Hopkins and co.[]
Do we need to create a list of appearances page for these characters because they are regular? Actually, should Vera even be regular, considering she appeared for a few weeks at a time? Notdoppler 15:13, October 8, 2011 (UTC)
- They already have lists on their pages so no need to move the lists to their own articles. Vera was as much a regular as the rest of her family. David 22:28, October 8, 2011 (UTC)
- Okay, I was just thinking the difference between Vera and the rest of her family was that she appeared briefly every few weeks while Idris and the others (and obviously Tricia) more consistently. The list of appearances will need reformatting anyway, and I thought that all regulars got a LoA page of their own? Notdoppler 22:42, October 8, 2011 (UTC)