Synopsis namespace not thriving

I wasn't even aware we had a synopsis namespace until I saw the link for it on Airplane!'s page. I notice that it has fewer than 100 entries, which is not very big.

I've never heard anyone mention it on the forums, and overall, the namespace seems to be doing little more than gathering dust. Do we even need it? Aren't the plot lines of a work supposed to be on the main work page, above the tropes, anyway?

This is probably due to redundancy with Recap/.

First off, I've requested the thread title to be fixed.

Second, Recap/ is usually used like a work page for singular episodes in serial works. Synopsis/ is used for synopses proper in my experience.

The work description should not have a full plot synopsis. It should not have any spoilers.

Synopsis allows for a place to put a full plot summary, spoilers and all.

Then why is it not being promoted more, and why is it faring so poorly? This needs to be fixed.

Our modern bias is a big issue here. Specifically, synopsis works better with older works, because there are fewer fans that feel obligated to avoid spoiling the work for newcomers. Since we don't have as many pages for older works (in particular pre-20th century stuff), well...

For reference, I'm the one who wrote up this Synopsis page.

edited 24th Aug '13 3:15:30 PM by TotemicHero

Synopsis and Recap serve identical functions. That's the issue. I think they could all be merged under Recap.

Sounds like a plan. We have far more Recap than Synopsis pages, so that seems viable.

While I am not opposed to the idea, I do have concerns on the logistics of such a move. Would we cut the pages and move any links to the page? Redirect them? Evaluate on a case-by-case basis?

As mentioned, a merged namespace would serve different functions and have different structure for serial vs. non-serial works.

edited 25th Aug '13 12:23:55 AM by MorganWick

I am definitively opposed to the idea - these namespaces are not really used in the same way at all.

I can't see the difference either.

Shouldn't matter if it's serial or non-serial. It's the same thing overall.

We don't need extra namespaces where they're pretty much identical overall. Even if they're slightly different, it's just a waste of a namespace still. Recap is fine for them all and does the job right.

A work page for episodes is not at all the same thing as a synopsis of the entire non-serial work.

Also, I'll note that the underusage of Synopsis/ doesn't strike me necessarily as a sign that we need to radically alter its use. Just like Analysis/, it takes some effort at writing it up.

edited 25th Aug '13 1:22:45 AM by SeptimusHeap

I do not see a real difference. You're either recapping a series or an episode.

It's the same difference.

You just specify which episode on the page via the link itself or if it's a series as a whole.

Neither is hard.

I did read it, and I have yet to see a need for both namespaces whatsoever.

Recap/ pages have trope lists, usually. Synopsis/ doesn't have them. I feel that this is a strong difference.

That isn't a strong difference at all. They serve an identical function still. Writing them differently depending whether it's a series overview or an episode overview doesn't require anything more than a few rules on how it's done. It's not worth an entire namespace when it's still just an overall recap anyway.

We'll need some way to explain to folks how Recap/ is used then.

That's what Administrivia is for. It's not that hard to list it.

And since they're both Recaps in practice anyway, there is no need for two separate namespaces that serve completely identical purposes. Especially when the only difference is a way to write some stuff.

And that isn't very hard to explain how they work. The differences are very insignificant overall, anyway.

The lack of a trope list is not an insignificant difference, mate. Considering that we are all about listing tropes in works.

Anyhow, if we do this change, I believe Synopsis should stay as a term definition.

It's good as a definition at best.

And yes, it's not a significant enough difference for a namespace itself. All it is is simply a different way to write a recap. It's just a Recap with a fancy title. There is no need for a redundant namespace in this case.

Making as few namespaces as possible is a good thing anyway. We should have truly different ones to make it easier to understand. The thing about a Synopsis, is that it lacks any significant differences from an actual Recap in what you literally read. You're either reading a Recap of an episode, or of a series. The way it's written doesn't really change this fact whatsoever.

edited 25th Aug '13 1:55:00 AM by Irene

A trope list is not a matter of "the way it's written". It is something very different from a recap or synopsis, added to that description.

On the one hand, we have a namespace that serves to split out individual episodes of a series and gives them their own pseudo-work pages complete with trope list. On the other, we have a namespace that expands on the description on the main page to include spoilers. The latter does not need a trope list because it would be redundant with the main page.

It seems to me that the two namespaces have different purposes, not just the presence or absence of a trope list. One is there to cover and trope individual episodes, similar to the Characters/ namespace, while the other is there to expand on the main description, which is a side benefit to Recap/ at best, when it happens at all. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a work with both pages, actually. I can't help but wonder if the name is causing confusion here.

On the other hand, both namespaces do serve the purpose of summarizing the events of a work, and if you ignored the trope lists on Recap/ you would at least get very similar-looking pages, so I'm not wholly opposed to merging them, but it can't be done too thoughtlessly.

edited 25th Aug '13 3:32:38 AM by MorganWick

I will note that the Recap namespace looks more successful in part due to a lot of Recap pages not using the name of the original show, instead just being Recap/NameOfEpisode. (I'm not sure that's supposed to be in the rules, and I'm inclined to think it should be.) Based on a quick count, I'd say Recap isn't really that much more successful that Synopsis - it just gets spread across more pages.

I also browsed around a little in Recap, and found quite a few Recap pages that were nothing more than just lists of chapters/episodes, sometimes with a short one-line description. Synopsis may not have as much use, but it doesn't really have any misuse either.

I guess both namespaces need some work, albeit different types of work.

The Recap/ pages that are episode lists are meant as indexes of recap pages.

Except when they aren't, like this one, this one and this one. (I know to look for bluelinks, thank you.)

edited 25th Aug '13 10:54:45 AM by TotemicHero

I agree that /Synopsis has fundamentally the same function as /Recap, and that one namespace would be better than two.