Template talk:Routemap

Using Routemap template for rivers: conventions?

I'm working on the Nile river article, and I notice that the Thames river article has a diagram of the Thames river. That diagram is drawn with the Routemap template. Is there any discussion in WP that describes best practices for using the template for rivers? E.g. which icons to use for dams, waterfalls, or hydropower facilities? Or is the template so rarely used for rivers that no conventions have been established? Noleander (talk) 23:30, 27 December 2025 (UTC)

There may be; I'm not aware of any. {{Waterways legend}} may be a useful starting point. Mackensen (talk) 00:05, 28 December 2025 (UTC)

thanks for that link to the other template. I wonder why the Thames river did not use that one, since that one seems to be aimed at rivers. Noleander (talk) 00:49, 28 December 2025 (UTC)

@Noleander: There's a much more comprehensive (but by no means complete) chart at c:BSicon/Catalogue/watercourses. Also, please note the order of the words in River Thames. --Redrose64 🦌 (talk) 15:48, 28 December 2025 (UTC)

Thanks for the link. Noleander (talk) 15:57, 28 December 2025 (UTC)

Link units

Is it possible to add support for link units in the BScvt template, e.g. {{BScvt|2;55;15|in=mi;ch;li}}? 100 links = 1 chain, 80 chains = 1 mile so 8,000 links = 1 mile. Anothersignalman (talk) 10:36, 23 January 2026 (UTC)

@Anothersignalman: Personally I've never seen the need to show links separately; after all, 1 link is exactly 0.01 chain, so it ought to be reasonable to show any distance that involves links in the alternative form of chains to two places of decimals without loss of accuracy (contrast feet and inches, where 1 inch is approximately 0.08333 ft - I write approximately because it's an infinite recursion).

Then we need to consider the function of the routemap, and the purpose of distances along it. Most things that benefit from having a distance are large structures like stations, bridges and tunnels, where showing a distance to the nearest whole chain is usually quite sufficient. Consider that 1 chain = 22 yards, which is approximately the length of a railway carriage; most stations and tunnels are considerably longer than that. Whilst bridges may be shorter, it's a rare bridge that needs to have its position expressed to an accuracy of one link (one hundredth of a chain), which is exactly 7.92 inches. Ten links, or 0.1 chain, or 79.2 inches, or if you prefer 6 ft 7.2 in, is of a similar order to the size of the smallest lineside structures. So a foot crossing might be specified as being at 1 mile 2.3 chains. Where do you need to display a greater accuracy? --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 13:28, 24 January 2026 (UTC)

The main scenario that comes to mind in the route maps is where you have, for example, a short bridge over a creek, a parallel road, and a station signboard (no platform) all within a short distance of each other. An earlier version of an article I've been working on had a few cases like that, though I've since revised and corrected the numbers partly by using local rather than through mileage (in this case, subtracting 145M 31C 55L from every number). I still have one item where both the "station" and level crossing have the same M-CH number, but that's because the source was cropped and I don't actually know the links value for the station signboard, so I can't say for sure which side of the adjacent level crossing it was on. Anothersignalman (talk) 18:20, 24 January 2026 (UTC)

So - have you considered chains with one decimal place? --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 18:28, 24 January 2026 (UTC)

Yes, it just seemed a bit unprofessional, but if you're saying it's not worth worrying about then I'll leave it. Anothersignalman (talk) 18:50, 24 January 2026 (UTC)

No more unprofessional than 1.23 metres or even 1 ft 2.3 in. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 22:27, 24 January 2026 (UTC)

Is there a way to provide Alt text for an entire routemap?

I'm using this template in the Nile article, and I'd like to provide Alt text for visually impaired readers ... not per icon, but a single Alt text description that summarizes the full routemap. I see that cryptic icon names are displayed when the mouse is over icons... ignoring those: is there a way to display Alt text when the mouse is in the background of the routemap? I see there was a discussion on accessibility in 2024, but that was focusing on other aspects of accessibility. Noleander (talk) 23:52, 6 April 2026 (UTC)

Template-protected edit request on 16 July 2026

Please add z-index: 1 to the definition of the RMov class as follows. Currently, the stacking order of overlapping icon images is incorrect in dark mode owing to the application of a CSS filter on images in dark mode. This should fix that (tested with Template:Overground RDT).

.RMir .RMov {
	position: relative;
	z-index: 1;
}

Additionally, to ensure fade mask icons render correctly in dark mode (tested with Template:South Ferry (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line)), please add the following CSS (unmodified code omitted).

@media screen {

	(...)

	html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .RMbox img[src*="MFADE"],
	html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .RMinline img[src*="MFADE"] {
		filter: brightness(0.08);
	}
}

@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {

	(...)

	html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .RMbox img[src*="MFADE"],
	html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .RMinline img[src*="MFADE"] {
		filter: brightness(0.08);
	}
}

My template editor permissions were removed due to inactivity so I cannot edit the code myself. Jc86035 (talk) 16:41, 16 July 2026 (UTC)