Self Demonstrating Folder Titles

I think a rule such as disallowing them if they're too long for compact folders, or too abstruse that you have to spend some time figuring it out would be enough.

I don't use compact folders, so I have to ask, what's the character "limit" for the format?

I don't think there's a character limit, but a pixel limit, since there's no fixed character width. "Webcomics: Or, Stories available on" was the longest phrase I could find that just about fit before the rest got cut off, though.

The problem is that a "rule" about pixel width would be impossible (or at least very difficult) for individual editors to self-regulate without a built-in control, and the second half is just so abstract that it would still come down to people arguing about whether or not something is "confusing" or "funny" or any number of other unquantifiable words.

The first isn't harder than turning on compact folders and checking if it still works. It's not like people edit folders all the time, and since it's an important structural part of the page it deserves more attention than singular examples.

The second is really just, "Is it clear?" which is an important question for the entire site.

Yeah, but the fact that we've spent two pages arguing about it here, not to mention even more on ATT, makes it pretty plain that "is it clear" isn't an easy question to answer in this case.

We could add something to the options in Profile that allow for Self-Demonstrating Folders to be turned on or off.

That would probably be more trouble than it's worth.

My personal rule of thumb is that if more characters are spent on the joke than the actual title, the joke is too cumbersome

And yet there are pages like Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!, which have folder titles that are both short and lame. The joke is old, like, right away.

edited 23rd Oct '14 9:37:04 PM by rodneyAnonymous

Oh hey. Also a perfect example of a page where the SDFTs don't contain the standard name, thus defeating CTRL+F.

Yeah, Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny! is so dumb. One of them is just "Hey, Jokes". What is that? that has nothing to do with jokes.

Theres also Captain Obvious, which has very long names "This Sub-Page contains examples of this Trope in [Media]". It's easier to figure out than Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny! though, becuase they all say exactly the same thing, making it easier to skip over it with your eyes. I'm on the fence about whether that one works or not

Censorship by Spelling... Holy shit.

I am inclined to let that one slide, seeing as the hyphens don't seriously degrade the readability.

No, but the CTRL+F perspective is obliterated by that page.

I'll be honest and ask under what circumstances would you use ctrl-F to find a folder title. (And before you say it's due to having folders open by default, there's a reason the "open/close all folders" button is there.)

I don't think searching automatically for folders is that high of a priority. The very nature and purpose of folders make them easy to navigate manually.

Also, I think that one looks good enough to pass.

I don't use CTRL+F. It was mentioned by another troper as a workaround for overly long or opaque folder titles, because they usually at least include the normal name of the folder, the argument being "Self-demonstrating folder titles aren't a problem because you can use CTRL+F to search for the one you want."

Examples like Censorship by Spelling and Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny! defeat that argument.

Title Scream isn't terribly difficult to navigate, but it's hideous.

^ *silently reaches for aspirin*

And then there's a problem of that trope having almost all of its examples on its page being Zero Context.

I am with Fighteer on this one.

It seems like yet another case of "Tropers trying too hard to be clever/funny/original/etc" and it going horribly awry. The vast majority of the time that leads to articles that wind up a mess and need a clean up project.

I seem to recall having issues with people getting carried away with self demonstrating things earlier and the end result being a need to clean up the pages so they were not a problem. This strikes me as a just an extension of that problem just with folder titles.

So, here are all the ones we've mentioned so far in this discussion plus some more i found:

Overall, im finding that title tropes and word-related tropes work for self demonstrating folders much better than non-title related tropes

Probably fine

• Excited Show Title
• Xtreme Kool Letterz (maybe tone a few of them down, but overall ok)
• Say It with Hearts
• Censorship by Spelling
• Tyop on the Cover
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!
• all lowercase letters
• No Indoor Voice
• *Bleep*-dammit!
• Bold Inflation
• Dramatic Ellipsis
• Emphasize EVERYTHING
• Dramatic Ellipsis
• Heävy Mëtal Ümlaut
• Fang Thpeak

Starts with the normal title (does this work or not?)

• Either/Or Title
• Long Title
• Gratuitous Japanese, Gratuitous Italian, & Gratuitous Greek

Not confusing just kinda dumb.

• Say My Name
• Canada Eh
• Cluster Bleep-Bomb
• Title Scream
• Calling Your Attacks
• Telegraph Gag STOP
• Like Is, Like, a Comma
• Snaketalk (wouldnt be so bad if every folder title hadnt been altered to include an "s")
• Heh Heh, You Said "X"

Borderline

• Colon Cancer
• Leet Lingo
• Cluster F-Bomb (personally, i find this one hilarious, just saying.)
• Canis Latinicus
• The Case of...
• Gratuitous Spanish, Gratuitous Russian, Gratuitous German & Altum Videtur (unlike the other gratuitus languages, these do not include the english versions)
• Captain Obvious
• Character Name Limits
• Sound-Effect Bleep
• Pig Latin (reasonable use of self-demonstration, but hard to scan)
• Talk Like a Pirate
• Freudian Slip
• Freudian Slippery Slope

Definately too confusing

• Could Say It, But...
• Buffy Speak
• Suspiciously Specific Denial
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!
• What Did I Do Last Night?
• Blatant Lies
• Bad Liar
• Absent-Minded Professor
• Antiquated Linguistics
• Better Than It Sounds (very hard to understand, but then it is Just for Fun)
• …But He Sounds Handsome

edited 6th Nov '14 11:05:34 AM by PistolsAtDawn

You're awesome. Thought I don't think we have a consensus yet. Do we want to take action, and if so, what action, and to what extent?

Thanks, I know I am. We havent really reached consensus on most of those, i just grouped them by what it looked like to me. Anything I wasnt sure about went in "borderline" or the other two middle groups. If someone else wants to take a look at the ones i collected and weigh in that would be great ^^