Directory talk:IBM

IBM corporate governance, shareholder activism, government regulation & oversight

TestingKarl Nagel 21:18, 2 November 2006 (PST)

Format of the Infobox

Karl, I'm wondering about the formatting right here:

revenue    = US$91.1 billion (2005) |
operating_income = US$12.4 billion (2005)
 (10.5% operating margin)|
net_income    = US$7.9 billion (2005)
 (9.3% profit margin)

Notice that the Revenue looks nice (with United States dollar referencing), but that Operating Income and Net Income don't seem to look as "clean". If this is something that could/should be cleaned up, better that we do it now, and not after dozens of Corporate Infoboxes are in place. --MyWikiBiz 13:08, 15 November 2006 (PST)

Do you mean because they aren't wiki-linked in blue? Or that it should appear as $US12.4 billion ($ placed in front). If it's because it's not wiki-linked, I just thought a good convention would be to link once on the first reference. --Centiare 13:50, 15 November 2006 (PST)

I meant because it wasn't wiki-linked in blue. I think the better convention is to wikilink on all three references to money, because we have no idea which companies will choose to display Revenue, Operating, and Net; versus just Operating and Net; versus just Net. If all three are formatted the same way, deletion of one or more poses no difference in style. --MyWikiBiz 19:38, 15 November 2006 (PST)

How about developing a style guideline that says editors should wikilink the first reference? That way, if one or more is omitted, at least one will have a wikilink reference. I prefer & use the one reference rule not only for this infobox, but for other Directory & main page articles as well. --Centiare 07:35, 16 November 2006 (PST)

Okay, after more thought, I do agree. Wiki style is always to wikilink only the first reference, and this will more freely enable eventual conversion to pesos, Canadian dollars, Euros, etc. --MyWikiBiz 11:06, 16 November 2006 (PST)