User:Mendel/Talk Archive 10

I reserve the right to edit section titles to coincide with the section content. Size: bytes. =Comments=

Archive sizes
-- ◄mendel► 19:44, June 24, 2010 (UTC)
 * 1) (should be around 80,000)
 * 1) (should be around 80,000)
 * 1) (should be around 80,000)
 * 1) (should be around 80,000)
 * 1) (should be around 80,000)
 * 1) (should be around 80,000)
 * 1) (should be around 80,000)

Archive sighses
&mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 20:43, June 24, 2010 (UTC)
 * User_talk:Entropy/Archive 24: -- ◄mendel► 21:05, June 24, 2010 (UTC)
 * Actually, I should archive now, get ahead of the game. Pity that User:Warwick/Archive size is broken, too. -- ◄mendel► 21:15, June 24, 2010 (UTC)

Randomness
Hi.

1) I apologize for this. 2) I've noticed what you said, but have yet to formulate a suitable response, which I also apologize for if it bothers you.

A F K When Needed 15:38, June 26, 2010 (UTC)


 *     -- ◄mendel► 19:56, June 26, 2010 (UTC) & 04:22, June 27, 2010 (UTC)

Custom navbar/font-size in other skins, mediawiki
So, I like having a small-font navbar and I like being able to customize my sidebar. However, it seems that setting my prefs to the Monaco skin isn't ideal. Plus, there are other wikis that don't seem to offer a sidebar option.

Is there some way of modifying a  so that it will absorb a   or  ? Poke has produced this script, to offer admin tools for use on GWW. (Works in conjunction with a personal js.) However, it's well beyond my meager understanding of wikicode. I was hoping that there might be a simpler method that would allow me to add simple links; I don't expect to be able to add tools. ( Please note the licensing, in which Poke requests that the code not be ported. )

Any suggestions for where to go for this type of thing? Or was that a rabbit I saw up your sleeve? Thanks! &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 18:45, July 1, 2010 (UTC)


 * Ok, to prevent any misunderstandings, what you seem to want is to use monobook (not monacobook), and you want to add some links to the sidebar. It is no problem to add tools. So, woudl you like to add to the contents of a box on the sidebar, or would you want to create a new navigation box? What links/tools do you want to have added, and where do you want them?
 * If you want to make a mockup, use firefox to save the complete website, then add the links in the html, and make a screenshot; also, show a "diff" of what you did. -- ◄mendel► 19:05, July 1, 2010 (UTC)


 * The short version (pending a mock-up) is that I want to customize the navbar(s). If there's a cascading menu box called, "navigation", I'm content to modify it. If not, I'd like to add one.


 * Less importantly, I'd like to be able to control the font size of the navbar and "tabs" (the mediawiki topmenu). Ideally, I'd also like to add links and control the order.


 * Generally, I find that I dislike most mediawiki skins (fonts/colors distract from articles, have too many rarely-used links, not enough of my frequent-flyer links). Even the Wikipedia skins always have that huge language list (which most people don't need most of the time).


 * As I write this, I realize this is a much more complicated request than I originally thought. (Since, in effect, I'm asking for help in overlaying skin features on an existing skin...while pretending that I'm not creating a new skin.) Obviously, Poke has done that for a specific skin, on a specific wiki, using a highly flexible script to adjust links/content. I guess I was hoping that there was a simple, generic, solution that would work on multiple sites. That's probably unrealistic. Lemme think some more about this, see if I can either simplify the idea or provide a mock-up that clarifies how my proposal benefits the user. Thanks. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 20:06, July 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * The cascading flyouts are a Monaco feature; you can customize that for yourself if you're using our "custom" skin, which I'm calling Monacobook. I can dig through the Wikia help to find the file you need to create to do this, but IIRC there are provisions.
 * The new Wikipedia skin does hide the language list somewhat; but the old monobook doesn't have "dynamic" navigation: you see some links in some boxes on the sidebar, and it's simple to change them or add new boxes, but to make flyouts means expanding the skin somewhat. That's what we have here. (If you do a mockup, zip everything up and email it.) -- ◄mendel► 21:19, July 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * Cool. That's helpful. (I'm mostly continuing to reply so that the talk on your talk page catches up with the archive bar on your talk page.) &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 02:07, July 2, 2010 (UTC)
 * How wide your screen must be if it hasn't already! -- ◄mendel► 03:23, July 2, 2010 (UTC)


 * (edit conflict) It was caught-up for me with your fist post here. How wide is your screen?
 * Anyway, my monobook.js does some basic modification of the sidebar (see the addBar function - modifies the RC link and adds new box with custom links). I'm sure it's nowhere near the level of customization you're looking for, but it might give you something to start with.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 03:25, July 2, 2010 (UTC)
 * That's similar to what I had in mind. -- ◄mendel► 03:32, July 2, 2010 (UTC)


 * Oh? Awesome! Thanks, I'll check out your code later. (I'm guessing from what I've seen that I'll be able to follow your coding more easily than Poke's, too.)
 * @Mendel: I use full screen for everything and I'm running @1600x1200. I like lots of screen real estate to see as much as possible (why I prefer small fonts, cascades in navbars). Regardless, that's a l o   n   g  list of archived topics :-)  &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 03:36, July 2, 2010 (UTC)

{| class="aligntop"
 * Mendelarchivesbox.jpg

possible ShowHide bug
If archives 1 through 8 aren't collapsed for you, something's not working right. -- ◄mendel► 04:07, July 2, 2010 (UTC)
 * They are not collapsed. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 05:27, July 2, 2010 (UTC)
 * The archives are expanded for me while the page loads, then the Javascript for the ShowHide kicks in, and they close (see thumbnail for the result). Maybe it's time to debug that ShowHide code. What's your setup? -- ◄mendel► 08:45, July 2, 2010 (UTC)
 * Firefox, running NoScript, selectivecookiedelete, and Better Privacy (among others). NoScript is blocking google-analytics.com, quantserve, google-services, and fbcdn.net. I have "let admins override" in prefs. Show/Hides work elsewhere in wiki. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 14:02, July 2, 2010 (UTC)
 * Ugh, I'm always blissfully unaware of how ugly Monaco can be until moments like these when I hit the "monaco view" link in the sidebar to check something, and gah is this ugly (&rarr; screenshot)! I think this is the result of everyone who could care or know better using monobook anyway, and of course being hosted by Wikia, where every reskin deterioraties over time, unless maintained to keep up with the (sometimes unannounced and untracked) changes.
 * So, anyway, I should investigate into the other showhides and see if I'm doing it differently, or ask you to do a "hard reload" (like you did for mendelbook) of this page; I've had the javascript randomly not load today for me on UnAnswers, which means no toolbar, and a hard reload always fixed that.
 * The good new is that if you're running "admin's choice" (as if! most admins are running monobook, butwe're not allowed to set that as default), you should take a look at Help:Sidebar to solve your original problem. -- ◄mendel► 14:35, July 2, 2010 (UTC)


 * I should mention an oddity: I don't have a preferred skin listed at the moment. At one time, I think I chose one of the monobooks and also had "admin override" checked. Now, however, the override is checked, but none of the radio-buttons are active for my default skin. (I suppose this would only matter on wikias without an admin pref; I don't know that I visit any such). (Note: as a non-admin, aren't I entitled to run something else? ;-)


 * re: Help:Sidebar. I'm pretty well set in GWiki world. What I was hoping was to be able to setup something that I could take with me to other wikis, including wikipedia, etc. (I haven't looked at Doc Ish's script; that does have the sound of something that would do the trick.) I do like being able to put My Watchlist into the sidebar, since wikia has decided that we don't need a shortcut to get there anymore. (Which reminds me: has anyone offered a single reason for which Following is better than Watching for the purpose of following pages of interest?) &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 15:06, July 2, 2010 (UTC)
 * We used to offer some skins that Wikia discontinued support for some time ago; it looks as if you had one of those selected. If my userpage looks anything like the screenshot I linked above, you're getting "Monacobook". From Wikia's general direction of development, I guess they felt having "followed pages" for others to view was more social. It's a feature geared, like many others Wikia's been introducing, at the "casual" user, who'd find the watchlist too technical. -- ◄mendel► 15:32, July 2, 2010 (UTC)


 * My page looks similar, but not identical to screenshot. Differences: I have icons for create new/upload new, I have no show/hide links (nor any whitespace where they should be), I didn't accidentally use the screen capture license for a wikia page image. (Everything else seems oke.)
 * I have no problem with gearing features towards casual and social users. What I don't get is how this is better? Admittedly, the watchlist is ugly and requires some knowledge to use anything beyond the obvious. However, the only advantage that Following offers is that you don't have to know a space name to find it on the list. That could be fixed on watchlist. In exchange for that minor benefit, wikia has removed everything important about using a watchlist: what has recently changed, easy-access to comparisons, previous history, and filtering. They have also removed the most obvious social feature: who made the most recent change (and how often has it been changed since you last looked). Plus, following is ugly, too. Looks like a whiteboard after a recent brainstorming meeting run by an ineffective manager. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 16:18, July 2, 2010 (UTC)