Editing Encyclopedia:Measurements Debate (section)

==A suggested solution==

Maybe one already exists, but in case it doesn't, 

# Create a page that consists of  (i) the definition of what each unit is (ii) the creation of a table of units converting ''every'' form to its equivalent parallel, eg - Imperial to Metric, Metric to Imperial, US to UK, UK to US. 
# ''All'' pages mentions units link to this page, with each page then written using whatever units the individual author chooses to use (often the one unit they understand). All readers, if they don't know what 'x' inches or 'y' kilometres is in ''their'' preferred measurement can simply follow the link to the tables page. 
# Leave whatever unit an author uses as the primary unit on that page. If and when someone wants to add in the ''other'' system on the page (using the 'tables' page) whichever the original author placed would be given priority, with the alternative is put in brackets. I think this would be more respectful of each person's contribution than to try to enforce a standard that not everyone uses. It is the same rule we follow with US v GB spelling. Where there is a dispute in terms of miles 

For example, 
Dublin is 30 [table page|mile]s (48 km) from Navan ''or'' Dublin is 48 [table page|km] (30 miles) from Navan. 

The trouble with asking authors to 'convert' is that while some people are comfortable with doing mathematical conversions, others haven't a clue and no matter how simple the equation might feel uncomfortable doing so in case they made the proverbial balls of it. I know for example the height of [[Nelson's Pillar]] in feet, the distance between Cork and Dublin in miles, but would baulk at having to convert them to kilometres. (I suspect some people would simply leave out information rather than have to do conversions. )

Furthermore, saying the 'metric is easier because ''everyone'' bar the US uses it is simply not true. Even where metric is ''officially'' the standard (eg Ireland) a significant proportion of people use or think imperial. I can't think of a single Irish person who measures human height in metres; ''everyone'' says five feet eight inches, six foot one inch, etc. Everyone thinks human weight in stones and pounds, not kilograms (not do they use simply pounds). They measure distance in miles. Windspeed is given in the Beaufort scale or in miles per hour, never kilometres per hour. Yet officially Ireland is a ''metric''ated country. The same is true in the UK, where some use metric, some imperial, some think different measurements in different systems. [[User:Jtdirl|JtdIrL]] 21:37 Mar 3, 2003 (UTC)

: There is better than this already: ''Dublin is [[1 E4 m|48 km]] from Navan.''  -- [[User:Tarquin|Tarquin]] 22:08 Mar 3, 2003 (UTC)

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Although I can have sympathy for a people grown up with a tradition of untis with direct links to the [[Roman empire]] and [[historical weights and measures|beyond]], for '''scientific''' purposes there certainly is no issue whatsoever. No, I will not mention the Mars probe, but instead simply ask anyone who are in doubt to compare a collection of physical  formulae in Imperial to one in SI units. An image of a "disaster area" does really spring to my mind. -- [[User:Egil|Egil]] 11:11 Mar 15, 2003 (UTC)

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=== Automatic software conversion ===

Fix it in software?<P>
When I started reading the Wikipedia documentation, I was pleasantly surprised to note that MediaWiki is able to convert (properly formatted) dates to match one's preference setting for date display. I was a little less surprised that such a fix had not been implemented to deal with the unit conversion discussed ''ad nauseum'' on this page. I realize this would tax both the developers and the servers, but wouldn't the end result be more elegant than our current solution?<P>
This feature is already being discussed at [[m:MediaWiki_feature_request_and_bug_report_discussion/Archive#Unit_conversion_syntax|MediaWiki feature request and bug report discussion]] if anyone would like to contribute to this discussion there. --[[User:Jarsyl|Jarsyl]] 08:01, 2004 Aug 6 (UTC)

:Yes! This morning I have the same idea (as many more people, as can be seen in the page you pointed), and by far is the more elegant and flexible solution. For example, when some editor writes <code><nowiki>[[</nowiki>48 m]]</code> (or other sintax) the MediaWiki can make the adequate conversion to the user preferences, and when the user has not logged in it will show both units like this: "[[1 E4 m|48&nbsp;m (29.8&nbsp;mi)]]" i.e. <code><nowiki>[[</nowiki>1 E4 m|48&amp;nbsp;m (29.8&amp;nbsp;mi)]]</code> (note the automatic addition of a link to the [[orders of magnitude]] page, and the &amp;nbsp; between every value and its unit). --[[User:Suruena|surueña]] 07:44, 2005 May 27 (UTC)

:: I agree.  I had the same idea as well.  A long battle over who's measurement system is superior is just silly.  The wiki server should be able to read the markup and display according to the user's preference.  A "force" unit option could be used on the page to override the user preferences and show a specific unit as some things just work better in their native units.  (4 minute mile)  [[User:AndrewC|AndrewC]] 4 July 2005 13:32 (UTC)