Template talk:Infobox lake

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Contents 1 Description of variables 2 Please place your questions and comments below 3 Need to merge 4 Manual of Style: Units of measurement 5 Self-reference 6 lake_name

lake name text
Image caption text
Bathymetry caption text
Location	location text
Coordinates	coordinates in coor template format
Lake type	type of lake text
Primary sources	inflow river text
Primary outflows	outflow river text
Catchment area	catchment area text
Basin countries	country text
Max length	length text
Max width	width text
Surface area	area text
Average depth	depth text
Max depth	max depth text
Water volume	volume text
Residence time (of lake water)	residence time of lake water
Shore length1	length of the shoreline
Surface elevation	elevation text
Islands	islands text
Settlements	settlement text
References	reference text
1 Shore length is an imprecise measure which may not be standardized for this article.

Please see the talk page for examples and a guide to using it. {{Infobox lake  | lake_name = {{SUBST:PAGENAME}}  | image_lake =   | caption_lake =   | image_bathymetry =   | caption_bathymetry =   | location =   | coords = {{coor at dm|59|59|N|179|59|W|type:waterbody_region:ZZ}}  | type =   | inflow =   | outflow =   | catchment =   | basin_countries =   | length =   | width =   | area =   | depth =   | max-depth =   | volume =   | residence_time =   | shore =   | elevation =   | islands =   | cities =  }}

See also: Articles using the infobox

[edit] Description of variables A list of this template's variables and their definitions. lake_name = name_of_lake image_lake = characteristic_image.png caption_lake = Text about the image image_bathymetry = bathymetry_image.png (or other image) caption_bathymetry = Text about the bathymetry (or other) image location = Text about the lake's location (added for compatiblity with Template:Infobox_Lake) coords = Latitude and Longitude coordinates of the lake. It is common to use the approximate center of the lake, or simply any notable portion of the lake for the coordinates. Sample coordinates: {{coor dms|47|01|10|N|8|24|04|E|type:waterbody_region:CH}} type = type of lake (see Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Lakes#Lake_types and Lake#Types_of_lakes) Samples values with wikimarkup (only one or two may apply): [[periglacial]], [[subglacial lake|subglacial]], [[artificial lake|artificial]] [[reservoir (water)|reservoir]], [[endorheic]], [[meromictic]], [[oxbow lake|oxbow]], [[rift lake]], [[underground lake|underground]], [[crater lake]], [[intermittent lake|intermittent]], [[:Category:Former lakes|former lake]], [[:Category:Shrunken lakes|shrunken lake]]; [[oligotrophic]], [[mesotropic]], [[eutrophic lake|eutrophic]], [[hypertrophic]] inflow = major inflow sources - rivers, aquifers, glacial runoff, etc. outflow = outflow waterway names. If evaporation or seepage are notable outflows, they may be included. catchment = the area of catchment (in square kilometres) which includes the entire area of the drainage basin for that lake. This may include rivers and other lakes. If this can be accompanied with a map or drawing, include it with the article. Sample value, wikified: [[1 E9 m²|2124 km²]] basin_countries = which countries have drainage to/from or border the lake. To conform a standard, this should include all countries that are directly involved with the lake's ecology; this would include inflows, outflows, or physically contact the lake. length = maximum length of the lake in km; the length of the lake at its longest dimension width = maximum width of the lake in km; perpendicular to the angle used to calculate length. area = total area of the lake's surface in square kilometres; if this value varies drastically (due to evaporation or changes in flow), attempt to find a documented average value. depth = Average depth of the lake in metres max-depth = Maximum depth of the lake in metres volume = total volume of the lake (cubic metres or cubic kilometres) Sample value: [[1 E10 m³|11.8 km³]] residence_time = residence time of the lake water or lake retention time; this is the mean time water spends in the lake shore = length of the shoreline in kilometres; this should not include values for waterways directly connected to the lake, and should reflect the shore at average surface area. elevation = elevation above sea-level in meters; again, if this value varies due to variable inflow or outflow, attempt to use a documented average value. If at all possible, state the date at which the elevation was measured. islands = total number of islands in the lake; it is common practice to also include the names of any notable islands in the lake. cities = notable cities or settlements on or near the lakeshore reference = references (added for compatiblity with Template:Infobox_Lake)

If you have anything else to add, please be welcome to do so, but please leave a comment here. This article could be applied to any other body of water. However, before applying it to very large bodies such as oceans, consider generating a template specifically for those types of waters that would cater to the highly specific nature of those bodies. Em3rald 06:06, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Please place your questions and comments below

I have 2 questions.

1. For U.S. lakes, shouldn't we be using United States customary units followed by metric units in parenthesis? Many (most?) Americans aren't able to use the metric system without using a calculator to translate --myself included. My suggestion is that we do this for U.S. lakes, and the opposite for other lakes (e.g. xx km (xx mi) for a canadian lake, xx mi (xx km) for a U.S. lake).
2. Is there something wrong with the infobox that causes edit links in Utah Lake to appear on the wrong lines?

Nevermind, it was the photo I had added to the page that broke it. Can someone who knows how to add the photo the right way do it? --Lethargy 23:46, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Need to merge

There's a lake template that has been used for some time at {{Infobox Lake}}. TheGrappler 04:23, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

• See the WP:LAKES talk page :D Em3rald 15:22, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

It's at Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Lakes#There_was_already_an_infobox... and
Wikipedia talk:WikiProject_Lakes#Equivalent_fields -- User:Docu

Merge was completed. User:Docu

[edit] Manual of Style: Units of measurement

I was reading the Dead Sea's peer review when I stumbled upon the manual of style for units and measurements which states:

Wikipedia articles are intended for people anywhere in the world. Try to make articles simple to read and translate.

• Conversions should generally be included and not be removed.
• If editors cannot agree about the sequence of units, put the source value first and the converted value second.
• Spell out source units in text.
• If for some reason the choice of units is arbitrary, choose SI units as the main unit, with other units in parentheses. Mostly U.S.-centric subjects will have a reason to use non-SI units with SI units in parentheses.
• Use digits and unit symbols for values in parentheses and for measurements in tables. For example, "a pipe 100 millimetres (4 in) in diameter and 16 kilometres (10 mi) long" or "a pipe 4 inches (100 mm) in diameter and 10 miles (16 km) long".
• Converted values should use a similar level of precision as the source value. For example, "the Moon is 380,000 kilometres (240,000 mi) from Earth", not "(236,121 mi)".
• Use standard abbreviations when using symbols. For example, metre is m, kilogram is kg, inch is in (not " or ″), foot is ft (not ' or ′).
• Do not append an s for plurals of unit abbreviations. For example, kg, in, yd, lb not kgs, ins, yds, lbs.
• Some non-metric units have more than one version. Be specific. For example, U.S. gallon or imperial gallon rather than just gallon. Similarly, use nautical mile or statute mile rather than just mile in aviation, space, sea and in some other contexts.
• Put a space between the value and the unit symbol, for example "25 kg" not "25kg". Preferably, use   for the space (25 kg) so that it does not break lines.

This means we need to update the infoboxes (and the instructions here) to include both SI and non-SI units. --Lethargy 00:18, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Self-reference

The note about shore length is a self-reference and should not say "this article". --Schzmo 13:19, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] lake_name

The description currently notes "name_of_lake, country", personally I think the name is sufficient and I'd like to amend the description to drop the country. Possibly the country could be a different fields (Note: there is already a field for the basin countries). -- User:Docu

I kind of like having the country (or U.S. state) after the lake's name, considering how many lakes there are that share the same name. --Lethargy 22:45, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

The other infobox has a field "Location" which could take care of that. I suggested to include that Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Lakes#Equivalent_fields. -- User:Docu