Last modified: 2011-04-14 15:13:51 UTC
See [[en:Wikipedia_talk:Manual_of_Style_(dates_and_numbers)#Non-Gregorian_calendars]]. ISO dates are Gregorian, even for dates when the Julian calendar was in use. Wikipedia, like its sources, uses Julian dates in such circumstances. Therefore autoformatting such dates into ISO produces factual errors. One solution to this has been proposed: removing all wikilinking from dates before 1582 and so making autoformatting impossible. It would seem simpler to disable autoformatting into ISO format, which few editors will want.
*** Bug 15313 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Autoformatting from an ISO formatted date to a different style such as NN Month YYYY changes from a date that is certainly either Gregorian or erroneous to one which is ambiguous, which is also a factual change. This problem could be avoided by outputting ISO formatted dates in their original form.
There is also the problem that autoformatting a date in the Julian calendar (and Wikipedia dates before 1582 are presumed to be Julian) into the ISO format may imply to the reader that the date has been changed to be the corresponding Gregorian date. ISO readers may not care; one said he didn't during the discussion. But if we permit autoformatting into ISO, readers choosing that option should at least be warned at the time of choosing.
