Dwarf Fortress Wiki:Centralized Discussion/SkillsLaborProfessions

I am a little confused about the use of some terms on the wiki.

(A) The Skill articles utilize an infobox with terms 'Labor', 'Job Title', and 'Profession'.

• With 'Job title' referring to the in-game 'profession' name. Regarded as profession title in profession->labor entry, which make the point of distinguishing it from Jobs.
• while 'Profession' refer to the in-game color coding. Regarded as professional category in Skill#Professions.

This is a bit confusing, maybe a (1) different terminology should be employed in the infobox, or (2) a tooptip or link to relevant article should be added to the infobox. (3) possibly try for a clearer explanation of the basic terminology in labor.

(B) The lead of Skill articles is all over the place. Some articles focus on:

• the skill - "Miner is the skill", "The bowyer skill is used to"..

Others focus on:

• the 'Job title' - "A Cook is a dwarf whose highest skill is in cooking."
• the 'Job title' using the term 'profession' - "A gem cutter is the profession of a dwarf whose"
• the person doing the associated labor e.g. Brewer: "Brewers brew .." "Butchers do the dirty job of killing.."

Some use all the above but doesn't link to mining labor nor explain what associated profession is.

• Miner is the skill associated with both the mining labor and its associated profession.

I think it might be best to (4) improve interlinking of all relevant article, making the treasure trove of information on the wiki more accessible, (5) figure out a more consistent lead based on input from experienced users here.

Any thougts? --Jan (talk) 21:42, 19 December 2021 (UTC)

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Only comment from a year ago, but in current discussions, so: I noticed some of the inconsistencies too. Seems to me that these categories could definitely do with some style/editing guidelines. It is understandable why it is easy to confuse/mix up the various references to these concepts. I suppose there needs to be some sort of consensus on what those guidelines should be. IMO, conformity of style seems quite valuable to something like this. Without a clear pattern of application of terms, it is needlessly confusing. Alpacalypse (talk) 21:02, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

I made some edits to {{Skill}} and {{v50 skill}} to make the skill/labor/profession/job title distinction clear. Tbh I think the infobox is now clear enough that it's not a big problem that some articles reference the skill in the lede and some reference the job title, when the two are the same. —OddballJoe (talk) 19:28, 16 February 2023 (UTC)

I hadn't taken the infobox into account, and it does make the distinction pretty clear. If I happen to notice any inconsistent wording in the body text of an article I'll edit a rephrasing, but as you say, it is not a big problem with the infobox there to clarify. Alpacalypse (talk) 08:56, 5 March 2023 (UTC)