Informal learning activities/Bckgrnd

Background

Names are of two general kinds: specific names, such as Balaclava and Churchill, that normally begin with a capital letter, and generic names, such as cat and mouse, that don't usually even start with a capital letter.

Introduction

The present plan for name trees is to set up two trees for specific names and two for generic names.

The two generic name trees, which are inherently simpler than the specific ones, are on the one hand for names of inanimate things or parts thereof, on the other for names of animate things or aspects thereof. Generic items, and they are not limited to nouns, are particularly useful for anyone wanting to expand their vocabulary for activities such as doing crossword puzzles.

The two specific name trees will be for names of individual people or peoples on the one hand, and for names of places or their content on the other. Specific items are intended for people wishing to extend their appreciation of history and geography.

The items of all four of these name trees are simply samples, ideally of unfamiliar names, chosen with the aim of providing a relaxed informal experience for general users, and so the trees should not get very large. When these are set up, interested Wikiversity contributors should feel free to either set up other name trees for general users, or name trees for more specific users, for example, for children or young people, or for particular classes of people, for example gardeners or bird watchers.

The description below is intended to help anyone wishing to contribute to this learning facility to simplify the coding.

Layout of Name Trees

Name trees files are divided according to their initial letter, and hold very brief text for each name. Each name itself provides a link to its primary Wikipedia or, for generic items, a Wiktionary site.&nbp;

Because most of the alphabet is grouped in file holding three initial letters, the heading to each provides direct links to other parts of the name tree, together with a link to the same part of the other (generic or specific) name tree.

Within each specific name tree file the links are in alphabetic sequence of their names, with the first link for each second letter, which is called a leader, starting a new line of the display and with a leadimg • to distinguish a line of display starting with a leader from a line simply continuing display items with the same two initial letters, which are called trailers.

Templates

The various name trees in essence provide a front end to enable wandering around Wikipedia, and, in some cases, around Wiktionary as well. Wikipedia links typically provide much richer wandering than Wiktionary links. That's why Wikipedia is linked to much more frequently than is Wiktionary.

Some of the following templates are intended to help with coding for starting such wandering at a particular link. Others provide similar coding for some formatting.

There are two types of templates for both Wikipedia and Wiktionary links. These types provide for a link coupled to a hint, the hint being given to suggest the kind of wandering to casual users, or to reinforce the memory of users wanting to extend their memory.

Formatting Assistance

Font control
Bg	{{{1}}}	Sm	{{{1}}}	Ty	{{{1}}}
BG	{{{1}}}	SM	{{{1}}}	TY	{{{1}}}
bG	{{{1}}}	sM	{{{1}}}	tY	{{{1}}}
Clr	{{{2}}}	Rd	{{{1}}}

Embedded links
Gb	{{{2}}} GbgAthr	Op	{{{2}}} Open Library	OG	{{{2}}}{{{3}}}{{{5}}}
Gbs	{{{2}}} GbgSbjct	Gbn	{{{2}}} GbgNo	OpGs	{{{2}}}{{{3}}}{{{5}}} OLbryGbgSj
Wp	[[w:{{{1}}}\|{{{1}}}]]	Wq	[[w:{{{1}}}\|+]]	Wr	[[w:{{{1}}}\|{{{2}}}]]
Xp	[[wikt:{{{1}}}#English\|{{{1}}}]]	Xq	[[wikt:{{{1}}}#English\|+]]	Xr	[[wikt:{{{1}}}#English\|{{{2}}}]]

Headings
aS	[[../STw{{{1}}}\| {{{1}}}]]	bB	[[../STw{{{1}}}\| {{{1}}}]] [[../STw{{{2}}}\| {{{2}}}]]
cS	[[../BBw{{{1}}}\|(«»]]{{{1}}}[[../DTx{{{1}}}\|⇓⇓)]]	dS	Things and Bitsː {{{1}}}⇒{{{2}}}__ Other initialsː
eS	Things and Bitsː {{{1}}}__	fS	Things and Bitsː {{{1}}}__ Other initialsː
aB	[[../BBw{{{1}}}\| {{{1}}}]]	bB	[[../BBw{{{1}}}\| {{{1}}}]] [[../BBw{{{2}}}\| {{{2}}}]]
cB	[[../STw{{{1}}}\|(«»]]{{{1}}}[[../LTx{{{1}}}\|⇓⇓)]]	dB	Beings & Behaviourː {{{1}}}⇒{{{2}}}__ Other initialsː
eB	Beings & Behaviourː {{{1}}}__	fB	Beings & Behaviourː {{{1}}}__ Other initialsː
aM	[[../MWw{{{1}}}\| {{{1}}}]]	bM	[[../MWw{{{1}}}\| {{{1}}}]] [[../MWw{{{2}}}\| {{{2}}}]]
cM	[[../PBw{{{1}}}\|(«»]]{{{1}}}[[../WMx{{{1}}}\|⇓⇓)]]	dM	Men & Womenː {{{1}}}⇒{{{2}}}__ Other initialsː
eM	Men & Womenː {{{1}}}__
aP	[[../PBw{{{1}}}\| {{{1}}}]]	bP	[[../PBw{{{1}}}\| {{{1}}}]] [[../PBw{{{2}}}\| {{{2}}}]]
cP	[[../MWw{{{1}}}\|(«»]]{{{1}}}[[../BPx{{{1}}}\|⇓⇓)]]	dP	Places & Buildingsː {{{1}}}⇒{{{2}}}__ Other initialsː
eP	Places & Buildingsː {{{1}}}__

ST/St/sT Links to Wikipedia

The templates in the tables below are not ideally named because they were added to as the need became evident. However, the table shows the effect of each, in particular the new line caused by the <br> generated by the templates in the first column of the table. The grouping should help locate a needed template.

Note also STnx which is used to join short lines. There are examples in most pages, especially in the Vz ones.

Templates called STA and STC were also set up to be just like STa and STc except that the leading <br> is left off in case they are to follow a heading enclosed in, say, === which typically provides a blank line following. These can be ignored.

ST Links to Wiktionary

As for templates coding links to Wikipedia, both leader and trailer templates are provided for coding links to Wiktionary, but because linking to the beginning of a Wiktionary site wastes display space, especially in the case of the table of contents, the linking in their templates is more complicated.

The leader templates are STi STk STm and STo, while the trailer templates are STj STl STn and STp. The following table shows the effect of each, in particular the new line caused by the <br> generated by the templates in the first column of the table.

STi	• [[wikt:{{{1}}}#English\|{{{1}}}]] ({{{2}}})	STj	[[wikt:{{{1}}}#English\|{{{1}}}]] ({{{2}}})
STk	• [[wikt:{{{1}}}#{{{2}}}\|{{{1}}}]] ({{{3}}})	STl	[[wikt:{{{1}}}#{{{2}}}\|{{{1}}}]] ({{{3}}})
STm	• [[wikt:{{{1}}}\|{{{2}}}]] ({{{3}}})	STn	[[wikt:{{{1}}}\|{{{2}}}]] ({{{3}}})
STo	• [[wikt:{{{1}}}#English\|{{{2}}}]] ({{{3}}})	STp	[[wikt:{{{1}}}#English\|{{{2}}}]] ({{{3}}})

STi and STj have two arguments or fields. The first template is encoded as {{../STi|link|hint}} which will produce as code
<br>• [[wikt:link#English|link]] (hint)
and the second is encoded as {{../STj|link|hint}} which will produce as code
  [[w:link#English|link]] (hint)
and both give the required display of link (hint) where clicking on the link brings up the required Wiktionary site just past the table of contents.

MW Links to Wikipedia

MWa	• {{{1}}} [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{2}}}]] {{{3}}} ({{{4}}})	MWb	• {{{1}}} [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}} {{{3}}}\|{{{3}}}]] {{{4}}} ({{{5}}})
MwB	• {{{1}}} [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}} {{{3}}}\|{{{2}}}]] {{{4}}} ({{{5}}})	Mwb	• {{{2}}} [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}} {{{3}}}\|{{{3}}}]] {{{4}}} ({{{5}}})
MWc	• {{{1}}} [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}, {{{3}}}\|{{{2}}}]] {{{4}}} ({{{5}}})	MWd	• {{{1}}} [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{3}}}]] {{{4}}} ({{{5}}})
Mwc	• {{{1}}} [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}} {{{3}}}\|{{{2}}}]] {{{4}}} ({{{5}}})	Mwd	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{1}}}]] {{{2}}} {{{3}}} ({{{4}}})
MWe	• {{{1}}} [[w:{{{2}}}\|{{{3}}}]] {{{4}}} ({{{5}}})	Mwe	• {{{1}}} [[w:{{{2}}} {{{3}}}\|{{{3}}}]] {{{4}}} ({{{5}}})
MwE	• {{{1}}} [[w:{{{2}}}\|{{{2}}}]] {{{3}}} ({{{4}}})
MWf	• {{{1}}} [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}} ({{{3}}})\|{{{2}}}]] {{{4}}} ({{{5}}})	MWg	• {{{1}}} [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}} ({{{3}}})\|{{{2}}}]] {{{4}}} ({{{3}}})
MWh	• [[w:{{{1}}}\|{{{1}}}]] {{{2}}} ({{{3}}})	MWi	• [[w:{{{1}}}\|{{{2}}}]] {{{3}}} ({{{4}}})
MWj	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{1}}}]] {{{3}}} ({{{2}}})	MWk	• [[w:{{{1}}} ({{{2}}})\|{{{1}}}]] {{{3}}} ({{{2}}})
Mwj	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{1}}}]] {{{3}}} ({{{4}}})	Mwk	• [[w:{{{1}}} ({{{2}}})\|{{{1}}}]] {{{3}}} ({{{4}}})
MWl	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{2}}}]] {{{3}}} ({{{4}}})	MWm	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}} {{{3}}}\|{{{1}}}]] {{{4}}} ({{{3}}})
Mwl	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{2}}}]] {{{3}}} ({{{1}}})

PB Links to Wikipedia

PBa	• [[w:{{{1}}}\|{{{1}}}]]{{../{{{2}}}}}({{{3}}})	PBb	• [[w:{{{1}}}\|{{{2}}}]]{{../{{{3}}}}}({{{4}}})
PBc	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{1}}}]]{{../{{{3}}}}}({{{2}}})	PBd	• [[w:{{{1}}}, {{{2}}}\|{{{1}}}]]{{../{{{3}}}}}({{{4}}})
Pbc	• [[w:{{{1}}} ({{{2}}})\|{{{1}}}]]{{../{{{3}}}}}({{{2}}})	Pbd	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{1}}}]]{{../{{{3}}}}}({{{4}}})
PBe	• [[w:{{{1}}} ({{{2}}})\|{{{1}}}]]{{../{{{3}}}}}({{{4}}})	PBf	• [[w:{{{1}}} ({{{2}}})\|{{{3}}}]]{{../{{{4}}}}}({{{5}}})
Pbe	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{1}}} {{{2}}}]]{{../{{{3}}}}}({{{4}}})	Pbf	• [[w:{{{1}}}, {{{2}}}\|{{{3}}}]]{{../{{{4}}}}}({{{5}}})
PBg	• {{{1}}} [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{2}}}]]{{../{{{3}}}}}({{{4}}})	PBh	• {{{1}}} [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}, {{{3}}}\|{{{2}}}]]{{../{{{4}}}}}({{{5}}})
Pbg	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{2}}}]]{{../{{{3}}}}}({{{4}}})	Pbh	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}} {{{3}}}\|{{{1}}}]]{{../{{{4}}}}}({{{3}}})
PbG	• {{{1}}} [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{3}}}]]{{../{{{4}}}}}({{{5}}})	PbH	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}} {{{3}}}\|{{{2}}}]]{{../{{{4}}}}}({{{3}}})
PBG	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}, {{{3}}}\|{{{1}}}]]{{../{{{4}}}}}({{{2}}})	PBH	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}} {{{3}}}\|{{{3}}}]]{{../{{{4}}}}}({{{1}}})
PBi	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{2}}}]]{{../{{{3}}}}}({{{1}}})	PBj	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{3}}}]]{{../{{{4}}}}}({{{2}}})

Countries

PB items include a link to the country or area that holds or held the item of the link. The following table lists the templates for these countries or areas, and a table beyond listing combined links.

Ab

Albn

Af

Afghnn

Ag

Argntn

Al

Algr

Anl

Antl

Ar

Astr

Arm

Armn

As

Asm

Atl

Astrl

Bc

Bctr

BE

BrEmp

Bgr

Blgr

BH

BsnHzgv

Bk

Blkns

Bm

Blgm

Bn

Bnn

Br

Blrs

Bth

Bthyn

Bv

Blv

By

Brtny

Bz

Brzl

CA

CntrlAs

Cc

Ccss

Chl

Chn

Cm

Clmb

Cnd

Cnn

Cr

Crt

Crb

Crbn

Cw

Crnwl

Cy

Cyprs

Cz

CzchR

Dm

Dnmrk

Ec

Ecdr

EC

EChnl

EE

EErp

Eg

Egpt

En

Englnd

Ep

Ethp

Es

Estn

ES

ESlvdr

Ev

Esclvn

Fld

Fnlnd

Fr

Frnc

Gc

Grc

Gl

Glc

Gr

Grmny

Gyn

Hds

Il

Isrl

In

Ind

Iq

Irq

Ir

Irlnd

Irn

Is

Indns

It

Itly

Jd

Jrdn

Jp

Jpn

Js

Jrslm

Kv

Ksv

Lb

Lbr

Lby

Lth

Lthn

Ltv

Mdt

MdtrnS

ME

Mg

Mdgscr

Ml

Mlys

Mn

Moon

Mng

Mntngr

Mp

Msptm

Mr

Mrv

Mrc

Mt

??

Mt

MlkyWy

MWy

Mxc

My

Mynmr

Mz

Mzmbq

NAO

NAtlOcn

Nc

Ncrg

NE

NErp

Ngr

NI

NIrlnd

Nmb

Np

Npl

Nt

Nthrlnds

Nw

Nrwy

NZ

Pg

Prtgl

Pk

Pkstn

Pl

Plnd

Pnm

PO

PcfOcn

Pp

Phlpns

PRc

PrtRc

Pru

Peru

Rs

Rsa </noinclude>

SAO

SAtlOcn

SA

SAfrc

Sb

Sbr

Sc

Sctlnd

SdA

SdArb

Sdn

Sgl

SL

SrLn

SmI

SlmnIi

Sp

Spn

Srb

SrL

SrLnk

Sw

Swdn

Swz

Swzlnd

Tk

Trky

Tz

Tnz

Uk

Ukrn

UK

US

USA

Uv

Unvrs

VI

VrgnI

Wl

Wls

Ymn

Zb

Zmb

Zz

Znzbr

BrLth	Blrs/Lthn	BmFr	Blgm/Frnc
CzGr	CzchR/Grmny
GrcTk	Grc/Trky
InNp	Ind/Npl	InSrL	Ind/SrL
USC	US/Cnd

Plain double
STa	• [[w:{{{1}}}\|{{{1}}}]] ({{{2}}})	STb	[[w:{{{1}}}\|{{{1}}}]] ({{{2}}})
STg	• [[w:{{{2}}}\|{{{1}}}]] ({{{2}}})	STh	[[w:{{{2}}}\|{{{1}}}]] ({{{2}}})
STz	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{1}}}]] ({{{2}}})	STy	[[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{1}}}]] ({{{2}}})
Stz	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{2}}}]] ({{{1}}})	Sty	[[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{2}}}]] ({{{1}}})
Plain triple
STc	• [[w:{{{1}}}\|{{{2}}}]] ({{{3}}})	STd	[[w:{{{1}}}\|{{{2}}}]] ({{{3}}})
Stc	• [[w:{{{1}}}#{{{2}}}\|{{{3}}}]] ({{{1}}})	Std	[[w:{{{1}}}#{{{2}}}\|{{{3}}}]] ({{{1}}})
STx	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{1}}}]] ({{{3}}})	STw	[[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{1}}}]] ({{{3}}})
Stx	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{2}}}]] ({{{3}}})	Stw	[[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{2}}}]] ({{{3}}})
sTx	• [[w:{{{1}}}#{{{2}}}\|{{{2}}}]] ({{{3}}})	sTw	[[w:{{{1}}}#{{{2}}}\|{{{2}}}]] ({{{3}}})
STv	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{3}}}]] ({{{1}}})	STu	[[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{3}}}]] ({{{1}}})
Stv	• [[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{3}}}]] ({{{2}}})	Stu	[[w:{{{1}}} {{{2}}}\|{{{3}}}]] ({{{2}}})
Parenthetic
STe	• [[w:{{{1}}} ({{{2}}})\|{{{1}}}]] ({{{3}}})	STf	[[w:{{{1}}} ({{{2}}})\|{{{1}}}]] ({{{3}}})
Ste	• [[w:{{{1}}} ({{{2}}})\|{{{3}}}]] ({{{4}}})	Stf	[[w:{{{1}}} ({{{2}}})\|{{{3}}}]] ({{{4}}})
STt	• [[w:{{{1}}} ({{{2}}})\|{{{1}}}]] ({{{2}}})	STs	[[w:{{{1}}} ({{{2}}})\|{{{1}}}]] ({{{2}}})
Stt	• [[w:{{{1}}} ({{{2}}})\|{{{2}}}]] ({{{1}}})	Sts	[[w:{{{1}}} ({{{2}}})\|{{{2}}}]] ({{{1}}})
StT	• [[w:{{{1}}} ({{{2}}})\|{{{2}}}]] ({{{3}}})	StS	[[w:{{{1}}} ({{{2}}})\|{{{2}}}]] ({{{3}}})
STr	• [[w:{{{1}}} ({{{2}}})\|{{{3}}}]] ({{{1}}})	STq	[[w:{{{1}}} ({{{2}}})\|{{{3}}}]] ({{{1}}})
Str	• [[w:{{{1}}} ({{{2}}})\|{{{3}}}]] ({{{2}}})	Stq	[[w:{{{1}}} ({{{2}}})\|{{{3}}}]] ({{{2}}})