Metroid Wiki:Discussion Center

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Metroid Wiki Logo Small.png Welcome to the Metroid Wiki Discussion Center! Use this forum to ask the staff and other senior community figures Wiki-related questions, to alert others to major issues, or make suggestions that would affect the Wiki on a large scale. Before posting a new question, please examine the Help Guide to see if your issue is addressed there.

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MediaWiki update 1.23.0

Report any issues below!!

  • All the headers in articles, on talk pages, on the sidebar, and on the RC are black. They should be white. :)
Embyr 75  --Talk-- 00:14, 12 June 2014 (UTC)
I've made a change and cleared the server cache. Please try clearing your browser cache and see if it's better. -- Prod (talk) 05:10, 12 June 2014 (UTC)
Looks great! Thanks a bunch! Embyr 75  --Talk-- 21:33, 12 June 2014 (UTC)

Template cleanup

I was looking into fixing up the infobox css and noticed there's already a css class setup in MediaWiki:Common.css for the infobox. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it's used very much. I did a search and it seems like there are a lot of different infobox templates. Should they all look the same (300px width, identical colouring, borders), or do they have deeper complexities than that? Could we tackle them one by one, activate the common infobox stylings, and then clean it up and refine it till it looks good? Where should we start? -- Prod (talk) 05:00, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

I'm not the master infobox maker here, but as far as I know the only things that change from infobox to infobox are the parameters (game, planet, vulnerabilities, family, voice actor, etc), with the exception of the infoboxes made specifically for each GAME (which have different background images). Other than that I'm pretty sure they all look and function the same way. (A few may also add categories. Not sure.)
So I'm all for creating a more uniform system. Whatever you guys decide is the best way to go about it, I'm willing to be a drone to help implement. Embyr 75  --Talk-- 17:09, 15 June 2014 (UTC)
I've got a bot that can take care of changes, and most of it should only be in the templates themselves, so that shouldn't be a problem. Which do you think is a good infobox to start with? Perhaps, something that is used in only a few locations. (I fixed the link above for the infobox category). -- Prod (talk) 18:00, 15 June 2014 (UTC)
Template:Console-infobox and Template:Company-infobox are only used on three articles each. Those would probably work well. Embyr 75  --Talk-- 18:53, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
Well, looking through the history, turns out infobox used to be the class to use, but then it was replaced by inline css... Looks like this will be much more complicated than I expected. I've started a WIP, we'll see if I can get it looking right. -- Prod (talk) 01:15, 17 June 2014 (UTC)

Resizing GIF files

I'm not sure if this is a MediaWiki related issue, but I know something similar has come up in the past: When I tried to resize the gif file in the Draygon article infobox, the image wouldn't show up in the preview. The |thumb parameter worked, and it displayed fine without any resize parameters at all, but using |150px or the like generated blank images. Any idea what might be causing this? Embyr 75  --Talk-- 18:45, 17 June 2014 (UTC)

Ugly Template

Can someone tack a whack at fixing the Trophy Template? The "NavHeader" needs to remain round and not be changed to roundt because when the "hide" function is toggled it looks ugly otherwise. But when it's set to round it doesn't fit inside the nav borders the same way the other cells do. Check out the talk page for all the gory details. Thanks! Embyr 75  --Talk-- 21:26, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

Wiki Coverage of Smash Bros.

Ok, here's something that I think needs to come up again. Should we be covering all the Super Smash Bros. games? I don't think it's relevant to have long lists of characters that have nothing to do with the Metroidverse on badly written articles on a Metroid wiki. Check out this category for some of the pages in question. I say we kill them all, or merge most of them into brief synopses with links to the wikis that should be covering them (like SmashWiki and MarioWiki, for example). Thoughts? Embyr 75  --Talk-- 03:26, 14 September 2014 (UTC)

I think either we just get rid of the game pages completely and stick to Metroid in the Super Smash Bros. Series, or we keep one page for each game (just like the Metroid games) but keep the content to a minimum. I'm not too sure if Sticker and Trophy are within scope here though. Also, I think we should make it obvious which links are external links, maybe with icons beside them. -- Prod (talk) 22:32, 20 September 2014 (UTC)
The icon idea is good, as for the Smash Bros. content, maybe get rid of Sticker and Trophy. If there is something specific that has trophies or stickers, we should mention them on its article. MKMetroid mf Sprite.gif 05:49, 23 September 2014 (UTC)
Let's do what the Zelda Wiki (my home wiki :P) did. They made pages for each game, the series itself, glitches, hacks, items, and characters, but tended to talk mostly about its relationship with Zelda. But, they kept everything short and simple, and reminded the reader that the Smash Wiki had more in-depth articles. Does that sound good? — Phaazonian (Talk) 16:55, 29 September 2014 (UTC)
I'm all for killing the Sticker and Trophy pages and merging that content into the Metroid in the Super Smash Bros. Series article. Honestly, I feel like this Wiki is struggling as it is just to get the Metroid series covered and the Smash articles are a waste of resources and time. We have a whole SmashWiki dedicated to it, as well as the powerhouses like Mario Wiki which are covering it too (though I don't really know why. It isn't exactly a Mario game, is it? By the same logic, why would a Metroid Wiki have a page with a list of Smash characters?).
The general consensus seems to be that we merge everything. If there aren't any objections, I'm thinking a good way to do this, rather than make separate articles for each game and the series, is to merge ALL of that content into just one article. Super Smash Bros. (game), Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, as well as Super Smash Bros. (series), Sticker, and Trophy could all redirect to Metroid in the Super Smash Bros. Series, where we'd have a nice synopsis of everything, and then just stick to Metroid. Cuz let's get real, if anyone is coming to Metroid Wiki it all it isn't to read about Smash Bros. Any comments? Embyr 75  --Talk-- 01:46, 30 September 2014 (UTC)

So I completely revamped the Metroid in the Super Smash Bros. Series page and merged all the information onto it from the other pages. If everyone likes the look of it and there are no objections, I'll redirect all the other pages to that one (Or delete them, if they're irrelevant), probably on Friday. I realize that the page is pretty huge; I personally don't have a problem with it the way it is right now, but if anyone doesn't like the size we could divvy it up into Metroid in (game) rather than Metroid in (series). But like I said, that might not be necessary. Embyr 75  --Talk-- 22:34, 1 October 2014 (UTC)

I looks quite nice, it may be better to split it into multiple articles in my opinion. The new Smash Bros. content will add a lot to the page. The only other thing I think it needs is some better interwiki links. I'll have some time to take care of it this weekend, probably will make templates for all NIWA wikis. MKMetroid mf Sprite.gif 04:14, 2 October 2014 (UTC)
Do you think it'd be possible to add a link to the StrategyWiki guide on each of the game pages as well? -- Prod (talk) 14:22, 7 October 2014 (UTC)
Good point! I'll add those. Embyr 75  --Talk-- 19:49, 7 October 2014 (UTC)

Wave of account creations

I checked the IP of several of the new users at random and there is no match between any of them. It's pretty reasonable to say that these are spam creations, would there by a way to make it tougher for these to get through? MKMetroid mf Sprite.gif 04:02, 25 October 2014 (UTC)

Asirra (the cat captcha) was shut down earlier this month, so I switched to a very basic captcha temporarily. I'm going to activate a newer captcha soon, so it should stop them. -- Prod (talk) 16:14, 26 October 2014 (UTC)

Interwiki links

I mentioned making these a while ago for articles that should be linked to other wikis like the Smash Bros. articles. I'm thinking we use their icon next to the link, for example BPIcon.pngGreninja. Opinions? MKMetroid mf Sprite.gif 02:45, 31 December 2014 (UTC)

I like it! It'd be nice to tell at a glance, without hovering, where the link goes. Embyr 75  --Talk-- 16:08, 31 December 2014 (UTC)
Sorry for taking so long on this. I have two thoughts on how we can implement it:
{{bulbapedia|Greninja}} or {{interwiki|bulbapedia|Greninja}}
Both could give the same image+link, but one more complex template vs 22+. Opinions? MKMetroid mf Sprite.gif 18:46, 29 July 2015 (UTC)
I think either way is fine, but probably making one template would be better if we ever wanted to change anything about it. So my vote is for making {{interwiki}}, but I'm fine with either. Embyr 75  --Talk-- 18:59, 29 July 2015 (UTC)

Front Page Cleanup

So there's a couple things I've been thinking about:

  • Rotating the Featured Articles and Images. Voting has been stagnant and the look of the front page hasn't changed for some time as a result. I thinking rotating our handful of features each visit will keep it looking fresher than the tabbed templates we have now.
  • Skype Chat and Skype Archives. Also stagnant. I say if we aren't using it, we should throw it out and replace it with something better.
  • Remember Me? Nothing actually seems to link to these pages anymore. We could just leave them for a while, but at the moment they're not doing anything.
  • Wiki Lore: This is an idea we tossed around. They'd be editorial articles that we'd write ourselves and/or invite contributors to write. I'm thinking we could release them on a monthly basis. It would give us some exclusive content. I already have several in the works -- if we're going to launch this I think it would be good to have a bumper crop of articles so we don't fall behind in publishing them. It would replace the Editor Station space.

Thoughts? Embyr 75  --Talk-- 16:16, 31 December 2014 (UTC)

Main page definitely could use some touch ups.
  • Featured content: Randomizing to avoid stagnation sounds good to me.
  • Skype: we could remove the archives. The public chat is a mixed bag, not much wiki chat goes on in there, but there's still Metroid related discussions going on. If you do have an idea for something better I'd still be interested in hearing it, particularly for staff communication.
  • Remember Me:It's already removed from the main page, but I think we should still have them archived.
  • Wiki Lore:I think it'd be a cool new addition. Would you be able to share the topics of what you're working on now? MKMetroid mf Sprite.gif 05:12, 30 January 2015 (UTC)
Ok, great. I'll look into randomizing the rotation, unless you beat me to it. As for staff communication, I'm leaning towards a forum; it's easier to document and check regularly, imo. What do you think? Any ideas for where we could do that? Maybe NIWA...
Remember Me is basically archived, so I guess we can leave that as is. The three Wiki Lore projects I'm working on are interviews with major figures in the Metroid community; I'll email you my drafts and some other details. Embyr 75  --Talk-- 17:55, 30 January 2015 (UTC)

Simplifying the Sidebar + Projects/Maintenance

I noticed while on Inkipedia that they've got a couple things going for them as far as community navigation that I think would be great to implement here:

  • Simplified sidebar. Ours is cluttered and unhelpful. Specifically, I'm thinking we can drop the "Featured Articles" and "Featured Pictures," which are pretty much dead features on this site right now anyway, and also drop the "Random Page" and "Random Picture" links, and maybe even the "Wanted Pages." I think it would make the sidebar a lot more sleek.
  • Projects and Maintenance pages, which are great. I'd love to have those (and put them on the sidebar), especially for documenting particular on-going issues in more detail (like some of our Metroid Prime room articles, which exist but don't have the proper layout, enough sources, or images).

Thoughts? Embyr 75  --Talk-- 23:33, 20 July 2015 (UTC)

  • I personally like the Random Page feature. I'd suggest getting rid of About Us (linked at the bottom of the page), Featured Articles/Pictures (listed on the front page), Wanted Pages (not likely to be used frequently), Random Picture (generally comes along with page), and maybe sandbox. I'd also suggest merging the Community and Wiki Editing sections, since there may not be enough links in each section to warrant a separation.
  • Maintenance is nice to centralize some commonly used pages and StrategyWiki also has something similar. Projects are also good for organization, but they're very hard to keep going without a few people already active in it.
-- Prod (talk) 01:45, 21 July 2015 (UTC)
All sounds good to me. I agree that projects will be hard to keep going, but since I'm basically the only active editor (and not even that active, now that Splatoon has taken over my life), I'm not going to worry too much about how much support these pages garner right now; I'm thinking more long term (aka wishful thinking). If you're all for these changes, I'll let you go ahead and implement them however you think looks good (feel free to put red links on the sidebar if you don't feel like creating them now and I'll throw something together). Embyr 75  --Talk-- 02:39, 21 July 2015 (UTC)
I've made most of the changes. Once pages are created, we can add them to the sidebar. -- Prod (talk) 04:52, 21 July 2015 (UTC)
I created the Metroid Wiki:Maintenance and Metroid Wiki:Projects pages and added them to the sidebar, such as they are. Thoughts? Embyr 75  --Talk-- 18:42, 21 July 2015 (UTC)

Random function

I noticed the <random> functions aren't working anymore (ex: Samus Aran). Not sure what caused it or how to fix it. Embyr 75  --Talk-- 05:26, 23 July 2015 (UTC)

I got rid of the RandomText extension and replaced it with the RandomSelection extention since the other wikis use this and the syntax is cleaner. I've fixed the syntax on that page so it looks like it's working properly again. -- Prod (talk) 06:42, 23 July 2015 (UTC)

New Help Guide Nav

I've been rewriting and trimming the help pages as well as working on a new nav. I'd like to merge our four (why do we need four separate pages!?!?!) policy pages, and eliminate unhelpful pages completely, namely the web-safe colors, Help:Featured Content Nomination (which I'm currently treating as dead and also scheming to remove from the front page), Help:User Accounts, Help:User Rights, and Help:Protected Pages. I'm also thinking that Help:Custom Signatures can be merged into Help:Advanced Functions.

Any thoughts on this overhaul and on the beta new help guide nav? If we like the simple, image-oriented motif, I was thinking we could remove the featured image/article from the front page and create a similar, community-oriented nav for the front page (which could potentially go on the Discussion Center, Projects, Maintenance, and other relevant pages too). The front page a little messy and disorganized at the moment. Embyr 75  --Talk-- 05:22, 26 July 2015 (UTC)

UPDATE: I also started constructing a nav for the community pages/front page. I couldn't decide between three headers and now I'm thinking we could just rotate them, and implement the same rotation for the Help Guide nav. Input please! Cuz if I don't get input I'm just gonna go crazy and start changing things!! ^_^ Embyr 75  --Talk-- 17:04, 26 July 2015 (UTC)
For elimination of unhelpful pages, I think those listed can be removed. Merging custom signatures into advances functions sounds fine to me. As for the changes to the front page, I'd like to check it on a higher res computer before giving any major feedback but I do think it looks great so far. MKMetroid mf Sprite.gif 03:07, 28 July 2015 (UTC)
Roger that! Thanks for the feedback. Embyr 75  --Talk-- 03:36, 28 July 2015 (UTC)
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