New Calculator template brings interactivity at last
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On October 9th, a new gadget was enabled on Wikipedia, the calculator gadget, to power a new template: {{Calculator}}. Unlike most templates that simply display something, this gadget allows for dynamic reader interaction. You can see an example of it in the body mass index (BMI) calculator on the right hand side of this page. The reader can enter their weight and height into the table and immediately find out what their BMI is.
This gadget was originally created for and development funded by Wiki Project Med Foundation. Wiki Project Med Foundation operates a wiki that covers medical topics (MDWiki) and wanted to be able to embed medical calculators, like you often see on sites like MDCalc. After being used on MDWiki, the gadget was copied over to English Wikipedia, and is now used on a small number of articles with a gradual expansion of its scope to other uses. (COI Note: The author of this article is the developer of the calculator gadget and received compensation from WikiProject Med Foundation for some of his work on it.)