- Yeah, let’s have a new poll
- No, don’t be daft
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voters
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I voted against it because we already have a markdown dictionary, and the format of that just confused the shit out of me. I had to read it like 5 times before I decided it’s a one line markdown statement with odd choices.
Basically the way it’s written I had problems with, I guess not really the content.
I know I also confuse people when I explain things, but that was obtuse as an attempt at entertainment, I didn’t like it.
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This is a bit long but there’s no wasted space.
Updating Templates with the new default values in 2021.10.x.
- Cookbook
- Not Cookbook
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voters
Is that still necessary? The default value has to be used for more than two and a half years. Practically all examples should have adopted the “new” default value till now.
And if not, the example is likely to be out-of-date on its own. 
On the other hand it is a very well written guide, and it could work as an example for how to use the default value…
This was my thought. I would adjust the title on this end.
I know, too many ideas today…
This is a link that is used in the HA Discord Bot.
I lost it and thought it would fit in the template section along with some examples we add ourselves.
Now this one falls into the one-liner kind of thing, but that link alone has 25 separate examples. And hey, who doesn’t want to type in Morse code anyway?
Obviously this is a git link.
mysmarthome/jinja_helpers at master · skalavala/mysmarthome · GitHub.
- Ok as part of a wiki we can add examples to
- Too listy Belongs elsewhere
- Pull examples into here and give the author attribution.
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voters
I should have added a fourth question to the poll about “one liners”.
- Should we be doing advanced stuff at all?
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voters
As I remember (all those weeks ago…) the idea was to provide basic “how to” posts in response to commonly asked questions. Actually the posts are getting more and more obscure - probably reflecting our own interests rather than those of non-technical newcomers.
Maybe we should be pruning… I like the idea of hidden advanced pointers, which seems to give the best of both worlds.
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We have markdown available in the index.
Let’s do some color coding or something to show basic, intermediate, advanced?
I can see hiding stuff maybe.
Agreed!! Just answered a simple color question a few minutes ago. The available info for the Markdown card is limited and confuses a lot of folks.
Most don’t know you can add style inside the content:
Though I’ve recommended Skalavala’s guide many times, I don’t think I’d add it as-is. I think it would be better to have a few posts that cover template basics more topically. That way, when they are referenced, people aren’t being sent to a confusing, encyclopedic collection of templates.
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OK, the poll is closed.
In accordance with the will of the people, I have created a new “For More Experienced Users” section and moved a few posts into it (basically, the ones I don’t understand).
Over to you guys… 
I can work in that, sure.
@Didgeridrew
Just spotted this and it never crossed my mind to do it.
You should write up a cookbook wiki in the experienced section for this!
Integrating External Variable Files into Home Automation Automations - #3 by Didgeridrew.
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I got that from Petro…
Unlike macros it will return data types other than strings, but the template only renders on restart or if you call homeassistant.reload_custom_templates, so if the user isn’t careful they can end up with unreliable output.
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You could also create a custom_template and share it in HACS…
Then you could document it and such.
Look at mine to see what I did, and it can be shared to HACS and listed as well. Only see it in experimental.
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I’ve started a community guide intended for the cookbook, but not yet included it in the index as it doesn’t contain much yet.
Zigbee devices that don't play nice.
Additions welcome.
Design question: have you thought about putting the data into a table? I had the same problem a while ago with the list for Midea A/Cs.
I thought, it might be better readable, if people give their information in one post per device, and a list in the starting post gives the link to that post.
See here for an example:
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I did try a markdown table, but it was very tricky to edit - I was afraid that might put people off contributing.
Edit: Your table of links is impressive! Would it work in this case, do you think? A lot of the knowledge involved seems to be in the heads of Regulars, not set out in posts (see the comments in the group message).
Yep, that was my experience as well. It’s tricky to write and edit. But I took a look at the top5 posts in the wiki category, turns out, it’s just a handful of people, that actually change something in the first post. The edits are mostly done by the OPs or, as you said, by regulars.
That’s why I decided to put readability in front of edit-friendly. I went that step further and put it in a category, where only I as OP can edit the first post. But that’s me, I know I can be a strange person. 
The majority of users just want to get information, as fast as possible, and as easy as possible. So in the end, it makes my life easier, if I provide the information as readable as possible, while taking into account, that most of the changes will come from very few people, where I simply expect them to know, how to change a markdown table. 
That’s why I love the Cookbook. It’s an effort from many people, but not too much of them, to get things done. Spreads the work load, and still leaves things in an ordered manner. Uh, Monk feeling coming up.
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