Template:When/doc

Usage

Add {{When}} after a time period to indicate that the time period is vague or ambiguous and would be clearer by being reworded more precisely.

After doing so, it is a good idea to create a new When heading on that page's talk page, so as to provide a forum to discuss the unclear time reference.

Examples

The following are some examples of unclear time references.

International ambiguity

A date written in the format nn/nn/2009 means different things in different countries. To some, 1/4/2009 means "1 April 2009", to others, "4 January 2009".

Seasons used as times

Seasons are local phenomena and their usage as a substitute for dates, month names and the like is an example of systemic bias.

This usage often manifests itself in phrasing like the following:

• (some event happened) in the (season) of (year).
• (something was completed) by [the] (season) [of (year)].

Most commonly, such phrasing uses Northern Hemisphere temperate zone seasons interchangeably with month names or other times, and this can be the source of confusion for people in the tropics or in the opposite hemisphere.

Google can be used to find some examples of such references efficiently, and this suggests that a bot can be written to work in a similar manner. A Google search like "the spring of" site:en.wikipedia.org typically returns several thousand hits, of which maybe half are phrases like "the spring of [year]". This suggests that tens of thousands of pages in the English-language Wikipedia may be in need of attention to remove this ambiguous phrasing.

Other vague times

Other time references may also be vague or ambiguous. Wordings like "Recent" or other similar vague wordings may need clarification. Is "recent" used to mean last week, last month, last year, last century? Such wording may not be obvious to the reader unless it is clarified or reworded.

See also

• {{Year}}