GuildWiki talk:Community portal/Archive 21

New style for material pages
In case anyone's interested, I'm almost ready to overhaul our crafting material pages. Join the discussion if you have any opinions about it. &mdash;Dr Ishmael 02:15, March 25, 2010 (UTC)

Me as miniature, and miniatures as me :o??? Bug
When I logged into Longeye's Ledge, I was confronted with a very funny bug, and took many screens from it... and I dunno if you know this or not, but I never have seen this standing anywere on the wiki, so I'll put it here: Omg, I still am as miniature whenever I load into a town... Wtf is this? &mdash;The preceding unsigned comment was added by Jorre22225 (contribs).
 * I've never seen this exact bug, but I have seen the opposite where your character enlarges. Playing in the crystal desert some years back, my warrior continued to run off a ramp into the sky and kept getting larger as he ran.  It was rather amusing and if I dug around, I probably have a screenshot somewhere of it where my character is standing on the heads of my smaller allies. :P -- [[Image:Isk8.png]]   Isk8   (T/C) 09:54, April 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * The verdict is in. April_Fools'_Day_2010 Its Anet's April Fools Day joke. Enjoy -- [[Image:Isk8.png]]   Isk8   (T/C) 10:11, April 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * You've been pranked. :P RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 10:50, April 1, 2010 (UTC)

Lynx
&rarr; Moved to Talk:Lynx

Wikia Poop
Hi,

In order to perform scheduled maintenance, all Wikia sites will be "read-only" for about 30 minutes starting at 10:00am UTC Wednesday April 14. (that's 3:00am Pacific, 6:00am Eastern). During this time editing will be disabled, but you will still be able to view the site.

Thank you for your patience, The Wikia Community and Technical Teams

00:02, April 14, 2010 (UTC)

RMT ad on the main page
I'm drawing a blank on where were supposed to report these, but this RMT ad was on the main page just now: http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-3255760518790512&output=html&h=90&slotname=6441124621&w=728&ea=0&flash=10.0.42&url=http%3A%2F%2Fguildwars.wikia.com%2F__varnish_athena%2Fathena%2Ftag%2F%3Ftag_id%3D365%26size%3D728x90%26slotname%3DHOME_TOP_LEADERBOARD&dt=1271789227173&shv=r20100331&correlator=1271789227176&frm=1&ga_vid=2041855950.1266119559&ga_sid=1271789068&ga_hid=1388825450&ga_fc=1&u_tz=180&u_his=2&u_java=1&u_h=900&u_w=1440&u_ah=900&u_aw=1440&u_cd=24&u_nplug=24&u_nmime=109&biw=-12245933&bih=-12245933&ifk=318734419&fu=0&ifi=1&dtd=10 Not to mention that I didn't think I was supposed to get ads at all, but anyway... RoseOfKali 18:51, April 20, 2010 (UTC)


 * I think those are all reported through Special:Contact now, just like all other Wikia issues. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 19:01, April 20, 2010 (UTC)


 * Ok, I'll do that. Related question: am I stupid, or did I use to not have an ad on the Main Page, but do now for some reason? I can't seem to remember having it there, right at the TOP of Main, between the header and the first content boxes, until today. O_o All I did differently was to add some buttons to my monaco.js. RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 00:03, April 21, 2010 (UTC)


 * Well, I reported that using the Special:Contact link, but I'm still seeing various incarnations (including the one I reported) of the same RMT seller ads on the main page, EVERY STINKING DAY, it's like there are no other ads for anything ever. Grrr... >_< What's the point of Contacting them if nothing happens? RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 20:10, April 26, 2010 (UTC)

New GW2 info coming soon
&rarr; Moved to Forum:New GW2 info

Wikia Poop 2
We will soon be releasing a new 'followed pages' feature, which includes changes to your watchlist privacy settings. Please visit the help page to learn more.

Basically they're trying to make Wikia more "social" (yay buzzwords!) by letting you view other users' watchlists. All I have to say about this is... (disclaimer: not a rickroll). &mdash;Dr Ishmael 20:39, May 3, 2010 (UTC)


 * A quick reword/tl;dr: "You can now see other people's watchlist. Live @ May 5th." Ish's link is very appropriate. --- [[Image:VipermagiSig.JPG]] -- (contribs) &emsp;(talk)  20:55, May 3, 2010 (UTC)
 * You can disable this in Special:Preferences - the preference is live right now (under watchlist, surprisingly) so if you don't want your watchlist to go public, change it today Random Time  21:11, May 3, 2010 (UTC)
 * That's another big wikia fail - the default should be the setting that protects our privacy. -- ◄mendel► 06:07, May 4, 2010 (UTC)


 * Personally, I could care less either way - my watchlist isn't exactly something I consider "personal information" - but I've added this to the sitenotice to make sure everyone knows about it. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 14:39, May 4, 2010 (UTC)
 * "I could care less either way" - surely you mean "I couldn't care less either way", otherwise you somehow mean that you care a lot, either way - bah language is confusing Random Time  17:19, May 4, 2010 (UTC)
 * What annoys me more is the "You have new messages" box that doesn't go away no matter how many times I click on it. --Macros 16:03, May 5, 2010 (UTC)


 * That's odd. Did you dismiss the Wikia message? That should do it. Try force-refreshing your talk page, if yes. --- [[Image:VipermagiSig.JPG]] -- (contribs) &emsp;(talk)  16:08, May 5, 2010 (UTC)

So now my "followed pages" link is hidden in the "MORE" menu, making me click twice to get to it, which is getting annoying. >_< Is there a way to make it display on my top bar (like the old watchlist link) without being hidden in that stupid menu? RoseOfKali 19:43, May 5, 2010 (UTC)


 * [ See here]. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 20:24, May 5, 2010 (UTC)


 * Awesome, thanks! RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 20:44, May 5, 2010 (UTC)
 * My watchlist is approximately 5 pages. [[Image:Felix_Omni_Signature.png]] 02:42, May 6, 2010 (UTC)
 * 28, but yeah. You're not even watching the admin noticeboard. What kind of bureaucrat are you? (The one that reads RC, I know.) When you leave here, you can't have your account deleted, and now we can see what users who have long since left have been watching. This is a privacy nightmare. -- ◄mendel► 21:18, May 6, 2010 (UTC)
 * Sucks for them, but why would they care if they left? :P But yeah, wikia should have made it private as the default. I also hate the layout of this thing. Worthless. <_< I like having my watchlist link back where it belongs via awesome nerd magic. :] Though, at this point, it's not too different from RC... *sigh* RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 22:19, May 6, 2010 (UTC)
 * Whoever did this has clearly never seen the new Answers skin. Dear God! A_F_K_sig_2.jpg A F K When Needed 16:01, May 7, 2010 (UTC)
 * The "new" answers skin is Monaco. -- ◄mendel► 16:14, May 7, 2010 (UTC)
 * And terribad unless you get rid of the list (I set pages to be on mine for 0 days) A_F_K_sig_2.jpg A F K When Needed 21:37, May 7, 2010 (UTC)

New unique/perfect items?
Are we missing the new unique/perfect items from the War in Kryta? Spot-checking the mesmer material, it seems that we are missing The Rapture from the Mesmer list. Is this a one-off? Or should we systematically list the various articles that need review (and start a project to review them)? &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 21:10, June 17, 2010 (UTC)


 * Most of them are absent, yes. --- [[Image:VipermagiSig.JPG]] -- (contribs) &emsp;(talk)  13:48, June 18, 2010 (UTC)


 * Sigh.


 * Okay, I'm happy to get things rolling here about what specific articles/types of articles probably need to get a review. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 03:47, June 19, 2010 (UTC)

Minor formatting issue, need consensus
On weapon pages, where we have a list of related unique items, sometimes we have profession icons in front of the item's name to depict which profession that item is linked to (through its linked attribute) - see Platinum Scepter. But we also have a lot of weapon pages where we don't do that - see Spiked Axe. Our S&F for weapons doesn't say anything either way about this; likewise, I have no opinion either way, but we do need to get consistency on this. So what does everyone else think? &mdash;Dr Ishmael 14:45, June 22, 2010 (UTC)


 * It has its uses on one hand (no need to check every page just to find out there's no Mesmer wand with the Platinum skin), but it only tells you half the story in the first place, and not all "Necro" items are only useful for Necros (it only refers to the req attribute, not to item mods: 10%HCT/HSR is a general mod setup). Another example is the Broadsword. Rajazan's Fervor is a Warrior item technically, but only used by Casters. For almost any other W/P/R/A/D item, it's redundant anyways. --- [[Image:VipermagiSig.JPG]] -- (contribs) &emsp;(talk)  15:11, June 22, 2010 (UTC)


 * Re: last sentence, very true, and that's probably why the icons are more prevalent on caster items (from what I've seen). &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 15:15, June 22, 2010 (UTC)


 * Short story: I prefer no icons.
 * Longer story: I like a visual, but (As Viper says) they are misleading (or redundant). It's eye of the beholder whether an item is a "Warrior Axe" or just "an Axe." We shouldn't dictate how to use items or skills. (Else: we would have no Discordway etc.)
 * The visual does help break up the monotony of text on item pages (esp. in the replication sections), so perhaps we can find some better suited icon(s). &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 15:52, June 22, 2010 (UTC)


 * There exist icons like [ File:Axe Attack.png] and [ File:Scythe Attack.png], which are the in-game icons for when you don't have the right weapon equipped for a weapon-specific attack skill. Unfortunately, there's no icon for wands or staves, as there are no Wand or Staff Attack skills.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 16:03, June 22, 2010 (UTC)


 * I like this idea! For the non-martial weapons, we could create or borrow from an existing icon. (We only need Wand, Focus, and Staff.) &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 16:11, June 22, 2010 (UTC)


 * And shield - I completely forgot the two offhand items. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 16:41, June 22, 2010 (UTC)
 * Lots of options for the forgotten shield! Shield of Judgment.jpg, Shield of Absorption.jpg, etc. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 17:11, June 22, 2010 (UTC)


 * Wait wait wait... Why would we need weapon-type icons for this? If you're looking at an axe, then all "Other items with this appearance" would also be axes, no?  (Yes, there are exceptions to this rule e.g. Law and Order/Canthan Shortsword, but those exceptions are very rare.)  And if you're looking at an unique item, then all "other uniques with same stats" would necessarily be the same weapon type, too (different types have different damage ranges, thus even if they have the same prefix/suffix/inscription, an axe and a sword can never have identical stats).
 * I think what we really need is a way to distinguish by attribute, but there's never been any kind of icon for attributes, so I guess there's not much that can be done there. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 18:21, June 22, 2010 (UTC)


 * I think we (or at least I) have been confusing some distinct issues for icons on the unique weapons pages:
 * Should we use an icon in the list of related unique items? Original question. If so,
 * Should we use a profession icon? Answer appears to be no
 * Should we use a matching weapon icon (e.g. [ File:Axe Attack.png])? Seems sensible; we are missing icons for caster weapons, though.
 * Should we use an icon in the counterpart section? newish question
 * Yes, as it would help break-up the text-only monotony, making it easier to read.
 * No, too much trouble and would it really be worth it? Mebbe easier ways to make easier to read.
 * My apologies for muddying the waters around the original question. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 18:50, June 22, 2010 (UTC)


 * My argument was meant to cover both of those, and I'm arguing no icons at all, because a) profession icons don't add anything useful (Viper's original argument) and b) every item in the list would have the exact same weapon icon (my last post right above here) which also wouldn't add anything usefl. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 19:04, June 22, 2010 (UTC)
 * Ah, well, now I am forced to agree (by the simple logic).
 * If that anyone feels moved to add icons (to break-up the monotony of text-only), one could use the icon of the related/matching weapon itself. e.g. Totem Axe.jpg. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 19:09, June 22, 2010 (UTC)


 * The idea of the profession icons is to see which weapons I don't need to look at, given my current build. With physical weapons (axe, bow, ...), this is obvious, hence there's no need to indicate anything. With magical weapons, we have a choice of 5 professions. While the use of a profession icon means that some weapons I look at might still be unusable because they're using the primary attribute of my secondary profession, and it would be preferable to see the attribute itself to judge which item goes best with my build, attribute icons have the problem that we'd need to roll them out all over the wiki(s) for people to become familiar with them: a familiar icon that says little is better than an unfamiliar icon that would say more if people could decipher it. (We could use link text, so the name shows up on roll-over, but only a fraction of readers is going to notice that.)
 * My suggestion is to keep profession icons on wands and staffs, and to add them where that's sensible. -- ◄mendel► 06:48, June 28, 2010 (UTC)


 * Or, you can just put the associated attribute (if different than the page's item) in brackets or parenthesis after the item name. Even less clicking and more infos. --JonTheMon 13:43, June 28, 2010 (UTC)


 * Anybody else have an opinion on this? Or on the topic at all? --JonTheMon 16:08, July 2, 2010 (UTC)
 * Keep the image, add the attribute in italics and parentheses. ;) -- ◄mendel► 16:23, July 2, 2010 (UTC)

Editing pro tip: Thinking deeper
Often when we delete content that we feel is redundant or misplaced, there is a way to think more deeply, and fix what was bugging the original poster in a way that is compatible with GuildWiki.

Take, for example, [ this edit]. The question that takes us deeper is: Was the editor aware that this is a Sunspear skill when they first read the page? The [ old version] implies this because it uses the Sunspear Title attribute, but nowhere is it stated that this is, in fact, a sunspear skill: even though "sunspear skill" is a word El Nazgir is using in his edit summary, and we do have an article of that name. In retrospect, it seems strange that the sunspear skills are not linked to their article!

So I placed a link to Sunspear skill in a prominent place on the article, and on the other sunspear skills as well; and in Sunspear skill, I mentioned that the hero trainers have an extra section for these skills, as we're "documenting the game" anyway. This adds the info that original poster felt the wiki was lacking, in a way that makes the wiki better for everyone! -- ◄mendel► 06:26, June 28, 2010 (UTC)

Watchlist link for Monaco
Since Wikia have removed the Special:Watchlist link from the personal links at the top of the page, should we add it back in? We could put it on the sidebar, or use JavaScript to insert it into the "MORE" dropdown button. What do you think?

Also, about the Create a new article and Upload a new image links, the latter duplicates a link right below, and do we really want people to use the former (and if so, should it be placed so conspicuously)? -- ◄mendel► 15:36, July 2, 2010 (UTC)


 * Special:Watchlist &mdash; add back in to sidebar (it's less convenient and less noticeable in the MORE plop-down)
 * I like the matching, "create" and "upload" with icons; no need for the repetitive, "upload image." In (TEF's) priority order: remove redundancy, match "create" and "upload," and where they are is least important.
 * Good idea to look at both these things. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 16:05, July 2, 2010 (UTC)


 * I've already written a JS function, at Rose's request, to restore the watchlist link to the user's personal links.

function restoreWatchlistLink { var userData    = document.getElementById('userData'); var wlObj       = document.createElement('span'); var wlLink      = document.createElement('a'); wlLink.href     = '/wiki/Special:Watchlist'; wlLink.title    = 'Your watchlist'; wlLink.innerHTML = "My watchlist"; wlObj.id        = 'header_mywatchlist'; wlObj.appendChild(wlLink); userData.insertBefore(wlObj, document.getElementById('header_mytalk').nextSibling); } addOnloadHook(restoreWatchlistLink);
 * On the other issue, yes, the upload links are redundant, but I don't really have any preference on which one to keep. The "create new article" link has been annoying recently, as multiple users have used it to create articles using the "standard layout" (which can't be blanked, I've tried) without actually adding any content to the article.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 17:38, July 2, 2010 (UTC)

Striped tables
Afterthought: If we want to allow any-colored stripes, we should alternate white and transparent stripes; then the table background color can be set to the stripe color. -- ◄mendel► 20:12, July 16, 2010 (UTC)

With afew more lines of .css, we could also do cross-striped, i.e. vertical and horizontal stripes. -- ◄mendel► 20:19, July 16, 2010 (UTC)


 * Short answer: yes, let's enable.


 * I'm one of those people who like stripes. However, sometimes in wiki tables they can be distracting. So, we might want to combine the availability of the css shortcuts with a policy or guideline. The most recent applications were:
 * Fast Casting, b/c the table is big/boring with nothing to help guide the reader's eye to information that can be gleaned from the data. Some sort of coloration was needed; horiz stripes were easier.
 * The quick reference guide for professions. Here, everything in the table looked like it rumbled together. As a prof guide, it seemed sensible to use the prof colors. However, while I think it looks good on its own page, it's much too busy on the QR page.
 * So, maybe the guideline is: "don't use stripes, unless you have a really good reason that can be shared on the talk page; be prepared for others to disagree (strongly)". &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 21:10, July 16, 2010 (UTC)
 * I've edited the stripes above to be monobook-sidebar-light. Should hardly make anyone disagree strongly. ;) -- ◄mendel► 21:54, July 16, 2010 (UTC)


 * I dunno. Do the same thing at PvX or GWW, I'm sure someone will yell about it. ;-) &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 22:03, July 16, 2010 (UTC)


 * I think that looks fine, but I agree that its use should be restricted to places where it's actually needed. Large tables with lots of plain numerical data would obviously benefit (like the FC and Expertise tables), but things like collector/armorsmith/weaponsmith tables don't really need it because the character of the data already makes the rows/columns distinct enough.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 23:33, July 16, 2010 (UTC)

Hiding spoilers?
The DragonsAge sister site has a cool way of hiding spoilers. I like making it harder to accidentally learn something. OTOH, the two main GW wikis have lived long without worrying about such things. What do y'all think?

Incidentally, they use a different template for each campaign-equivalent in DA, using an appropriate icon and quote. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 06:23, July 21, 2010 (UTC)
 * We do have a spoiler tag, that just shows a red bar, in this way, content isn't inturupted - and players can easily recognise that the article contains spoilers, and act accordingly. As the wiki is a guide to the entirety of Guild Wars, reading it is probably going to spoil some areas --  Random Time  11:12, July 21, 2010 (UTC)
 * I don't like the dragonage template at all. The didn't install it in common.js so it only works on the custom monaco theme, and there's no way to unspoil it (i.e. take peek and then close the spoiler again), even if I reload the page. If we wanted a spoiler template, we could use w:c:unanswers:Template:cen, whihc, though not working there because the .css is not installed, makes text transparent unless you move your mouse over it - move it off and the spoiler hides again.
 * TEF, have a look at Special:WhatLinksHere/Template:Spoiler - if you want to replace that with really hidden spoiler notes, and use the campaign parameter to display the spoiler notice in a campaign-specific way, I can give you the tools to do it. -- ◄mendel► 17:21, July 21, 2010 (UTC)


 * I don't think we need to worry about it. GW isn't all that spoiler-rific in any case (ignoring the high usage of the template - people were a little zealous with it in the early days and probably half of those don't really need it), and like RT said, people should expect spoilers on an in-depth site like this.  Why bother changing it now?  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 17:42, July 21, 2010 (UTC)


 * Why bother? (a) because the current system is flawed and (b) because it matters for WiK, other Beyond content (should we get it), and very much so for GW2. Also note: we have 224 articles tagged with spoiler warnings. At the very least, shouldn't we reduce that to closer to 20/25?


 * @Mendel: the DA template unhides/hides with a single click (which is what I like about it); not sure why it isn't working for you. Using transparent/hide is slick is an altogether different way and maybe suits this wiki better. If people agree that hiding is worthwhile (which, so far, they don't), then would we have two templates? and ? Or modify the spoiler template to allow both the warning and the hidden text?  &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 17:52, July 21, 2010 (UTC)
 * I couldn't see that it would hide with a click, mainly because the box changed shape drastically and also moved, so I didn't recognize it again. (I've uploaded screenshots there to illustrate.)
 * I suggest keeping the Template:Spoiler as is (don't we love "legacy" features?) and to create a new Template:Spoiler_text to display both a warning and hide the text. It should have two parameters, so we can specify how the spoiler will be announced - we should tell people what is being spoiled, or they'll have to look at it anyway to check. If you would make me a sample of how what you'd wish the spoiler to look like when hidden (i.e. the announcement) right on the new template page, I can (with the help of an admin) make sure that it works, and then you can employ it on 2 or 3 sample pages. Then we let the community decide whether we want to use this or delete it again. -- ◄mendel► 06:35, July 22, 2010 (UTC)


 * Sure. Setting up an example seems sensible either way, so peeps know what is being discussed. (As I mentioned, though, whether the dialogue is invisible ink or hidden behind a message works for me; it's still hidden.) Let's see whether there's any support for that... or for reducing the number of spoiler messages we have. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 07:12, July 22, 2010 (UTC)

PvP henchbar descriptions
The current text reads, " [Hench X] was added in the October 29th, 2009, game update. Her skillbar and name were submitted by the [player X], one of the winners of the Henchman skillbar contest. " It originally read, '' were developed... ''

I feel this reads awkwardly at the moment: submitted where/to whom/why? (I'm not sure what's wrong with developed; isn't that an accurate description of creating/testing/presenting-for-review? But, no matter.)

As a compromise, what about:
 * " [Hench X] was added in the October 29th, 2009, game update. [Player X] created the henchman's name and winning skillbar, which was selected as a winner in the henchman skill bar contest. "

As this affects a score of articles, I thought it worth discussing before trying to make another mass change. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 02:09, August 14, 2010 (UTC)


 * I think the editor didn't like "developed" because a lot of the builds were taken directly from PvX, and that wording would imply that they were the original creators of these builds. They'd probably think the same thing of "created".  Of course, I wrote that originally, and I agree with you - I don't see what's so bad about it.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 02:22, August 14, 2010 (UTC)


 * Ah, that makes sense. In which case, I agree that my proposal won't help. (I'm not convinced, btw, that PvX was necessarily the source. Many builds were developed by lots of players in parallel. But, doesn't really matter since the perception isn't going to change any time soon.)


 * Well, I do find the current phrasing odd, but I'm not sure that I care enough about it to spend much more time on it. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 10:56, August 14, 2010 (UTC)


 * I'd meant to also mention that "submitted" works because the players submitted them as entries to the contest. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 12:50, August 14, 2010 (UTC)
 * I believe that the IP is trying to imply that. I support his changes. Arnout aka The Emperors Angel 13:57, August 14, 2010 (UTC)


 * Imo, go for "xyz was a winning entry in pqr". If the reader wants to know who sumbitted/created/summoned/built/whatever'd the skillbar, they can complain on GWW that ANet should fix the contest page. It also avoids this whole issue, which really shouldn't be an issue. --Vipermagi 14:06, August 14, 2010 (UTC)


 * The smart editor realizes that this exact wording is used across a large number of artciles, and creates a notice template for that so that the wording can be changed centrally. -- ◄mendel► 19:29, August 14, 2010 (UTC)