Talk:Lancaster (Pennsylvania)

Discussion of the Amish should really be moved to the Pennsylvania Region article on Pennsylvania Dutch Country, I'd think. Of course there are the colorful Amish city names, like "Blue Ball" and "Bird In Hand" but that page would be more appropriate to discuss tourism.--(WT-en) justfred 14:45, 5 October 2006 (EDT)

Moved. Also moved Lancaster isin.--(WT-en) justfred 18:51, 6 October 2006 (EDT)

I added Amtrak to the section about getting in. There's a train station right in downtown Lancster with more than a dozen trains a day, and there was no mention of Amtrak. 71.172.229.60 14:59, 6 July 2008 (EDT)

too many driving directions
do we need so much detail about how to get in? wow, I thought I was bad just publishing lots of details in lehigh valley and Skylands. I scrolled down pretty far just to get all the detailed driving instructions out of the way. Wouldn't it be better to try to give people reasons to try to figure out how to get into the town on their own? let me know, I'll be watching (WT-en) Kire1975 07:00, 23 July 2008 (EDT)

I agree. There were way too many directions for driving in. It was absurd, so I deleted all the exsessive directions.

There is way too much stuff on here that does not pertain to Lancaster city at all. If anybody else would like to support me on this, I would like to move most of it over to the Lancaster county page where it would be more appropriate. (WT-en) Danwxman 13:21, 14 April 2009 (EDT)

Images
There's an embarrassment of riches at Commons:Category:Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Would someone familiar with the city please select several representative photos that fit well onto the page and make it attractive? Ikan Kekek (talk) 12:44, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Just in case nobody finds it in years to come, after we revise and update our WV:Image policy, here's a neat video that was deleted. --W. Franke-mailtalk 21:50, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
 * How many would be appropriate? I do have a question how much of the article should be on the city and how much is on the county?  Whoever chooses the pix, please do not have a photo of the Amish - they generally do not like having their photos taken (it's prideful) and many photos that you see are of folks who just dress up like the Amish so that tourists will pay them for their photos.  Smallbones (talk) 22:50, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

[unindent]It really depends on how many will fit well. I'm estimating probably 7-8 at most. I'd suggest concentrating on the city, as the countryside could be covered at Pennsylvania Dutch Country, which currently has no photos. Ikan Kekek (talk) 23:13, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
 * We still have a "minimal use of images" policy which I actually support. I've got (very slow) broadband here in Glasgow but many of our readers will be paying steep roaming charges or twiddling their thumbs while using shared connections at internet cafes. That's one reason I support the use of the upright=n switch to honour readers' preferences. It's even more difficult if folks are trying to edit now we have the banners at the top of a lot of articles.
 * A video (like yours, Smallbones) composed of many well lit and photographed still images actually helps in this regard since there is only one small and stopped "thumbnail video" to download (relatively small amount of data) and the reader can then choose whether to view it or not and whether to go "full screen" (relatively large amount of data to be downloaded which, due to Commons technical limitations, is pretty much the same whether you choose to view it as a tiny thumbnail video or full screen - the data amount depends on the native video formatted size and lenght). --W. Franke-mailtalk 23:03, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

Possible technical solution
Is it possible to have the template:external media work here on Wikivoyage? I'm a big believer in the idea that if enough people look at a problem, in many cases a simple solution can be found. This is one that will likely solve the double problem
 * you want everything to be printable, and
 * you want minimum upload times

If the external media template could be used here (and I'd guess it's a matter of just copying it here or approving its use), then video and other multi-media on Commons could be used here, a header image would upload, look and print just like a photo (since it is just a photo) simply by making the link to Commons an external link. I thought I'd be able to give a demo here, but I'll do it on Wikipedia since the template does not work here. The link is here. A minor problem, that would likely take the right person 5 minutes to fix, would be to change the label at the top from "External Media" to "Multimedia" or something similar. Back in a few minutes. Smallbones (talk) 19:31, 4 August 2013 (UTC)




 * OK, please click the link for the demo. Near the bottom of the page you'll see "External Media", just click on the link below the photo to go to the video. BTW, do you allow ordinary links to Commons? Smallbones (talk) 19:45, 4 August 2013 (UTC)
 * I just want to comment on your last question. There are two types of links to Commons that are used on this site: (1) Thumbnails - all the photos on this site are thumbnails of files in Commons; (2) sidebar links to same-subject pages or categories on Commons. Right now, there are two thumbnails on the Lancaster (Pennsylvania) page and a sidebar link to Commons:Category:Lancaster,_Pennsylvania . When you look in an edit screen, the sidebar links to Commons, Open Directory and Wikipedia appear at the end of the article. Ikan Kekek (talk) 20:00, 4 August 2013 (UTC)
 * OK, I had to click "Related sites." I've put in another, simpler work around on the right.  Formatting could probably be improved.  Note that the photo shown is printable, and there is almost no extra upload time unless you click the link.  Smallbones (talk) 20:34, 4 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Ikan Kekek is already aware of this discussion but Smallbones and others might find it interesting: Wikivoyage_talk:Sister_project_links --W. Franke-mailtalk 21:01, 4 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Interesting, yes. Do I understand it? no. I'll put the revised example back into the main discussion and see what people think. Smallbones (talk) 02:58, 5 August 2013 (UTC)