GuildWiki talk:Wintersday/Wiki decorations

Archived Discussion

Weird white thing
There's a weird looking white think all over my background? What...is it supposed to be ice or snow? 21:43, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
 * We should go with something whiter for the background, a lot like the normal one but with a new design, snowy mountains or something (since pines are already taken, I loved how that turned btw). The current image is just too much color.[[Image:Ereanorsignxmas.png]] 23:40, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Ereanor, I have no idea hwo your screen looks now, or what is unsatisfactory about it. If it looks much different than Image:Winter-Sida.jpg, please post a screenshot. I made the pines whiter than they were, and I can read over them fine, but they can probably be made even more white. Or do you object to the blue-white snow on the sidebar and the page header and footer? --◄mendel► 00:03, 18 December 2008 (UTC)
 * You suspect right. It's the blue that bothers me.[[Image:Ereanorsignxmas.png]] 00:10, 18 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Sorry, I must have overlooked your reply somehow. The blue-white stuff is snow, and it suffered some from compression (it looked better from the 1.6 MB file). See Image:Field-with-snow-champ-enneige.jpg. --◄mendel► 02:58, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Please turn them off
Don't really like the GuildWiki winter decorations. I want to see information if i want to see snow i switch to RL. ;) Can't you convert that to an enabling option? (Neoplan 12:37, 19 December 2008 (UTC))


 * As far as I know, it is not possible to convert it to an enabling option and have vistors who are not logged in see this. The reasoning is that most vistors to the site like the skin and that those who don't only have to bear it for two weeks. --◄mendel► 02:54, 20 December 2008 (UTC)
 * How do you know that most visitors to the site like the skin? How do they know where or who to complain to? Was there a poll? I only found this page after a while. I didn't even know it was temporary. I resorted to going to wiki.guildwars.com since this site started using this lame scheme that makes much text unreadable (esp to people who can't be bothered to create an account to disable it).


 * There's a sitenotice at the top, which you probably just dismissed without reading then. --- [[Image:VipermagiSig.JPG|Ohaider!]] -- (contribs) &emsp;(talk)  19:46, 21 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Very annoying. People don't like having something like this forced on them. -- Tarun 04:30, 5 January 2009 (UTC)
 * If you look at the poll on Wintersday, most people do. Anyway, we're turning this off as soon as the snow goes from Guild Wars, maybe sooner. --◄mendel► 05:17, 5 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Most != all. Next time make it a different skin people can select if they want to use it rather than changing the CSS of the default. That's part of being a good/smart webmaster. -- Tarun 18:34, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Well, if you'd have written "some people" and not "people" I'd have had to agree with you. :-) Anyway, the problem is that most people browse as anons and can't select any skin, and that we're at the mercy of wikia techs and can't just install another skin on the wiki to offer you an easy choice, so smarts don't really come into it. But how about next time the people who complain now (yes, I am asking you) do so when we're still testing the thing? It's not exactly been a secret. --◄mendel► 18:43, 7 January 2009 (UTC)

Slow Browsing
Hi guys, can you do anything about the slow / sticky browsing? Since the Wintersday template with the snow as background was loaded, my browsing (going up and down on a page for instance) is very sticky, it is not smooth scrolling. Very irritating. Never had this problem before. This edit page for instance doesn't have it and browsing is fine. Either the background or some scripting is causing some problems... It seems actually that when I login, I don't have the same problem because I don't have the snowy background then. When I do not login, the snowy background is there. I am browsing from FireFox 3.0.5. In IE7 the problem is also there but not as severe as in FF, but in IE I don't nearly have as much tabs open (because it crashes!). Thanks!LilDeath 13:14, 19 December 2008 (UTC)lilDeath
 * I added info on removing the full-page background to this article. &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 14:41, 19 December 2008 (UTC)


 * This snow website is very slow now. Almost too painful to use, a little more testing w/ feed back might have helped. Where is the link to remove the full page back ground? You said you added it but where? On the front page would be nice. I know i'm not the only one with this silly slow scrolling site. &mdash;The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.14.218.188 (contribs).
 * "I added info ... to this article". >.>  Click on the "Project page" tab at the top of this page.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 15:25, 19 December 2008 (UTC)


 * The visual effect is nice, but the lag is not. It reminds me of when people do fixed positioning using script instead of CSS so that any scrolling has a laggy, rubberband feel. So +1 to the idea of a seasonal style change, but -1 to the specific implementation. --Wet Wet Wetter 23:14, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
 * The fixed positioning is done via CSS, by the book as it were. I am going to post instructions to change that, which should keep the overall design intact but move the trees to the bottom corner of the article (not the window).
 * Regarding testing, we have announced the upcoming decorations via site notice, and we had open testing from the start. We can't force users to help out, you know. ;-P --◄mendel► 00:33, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Slow browsing indeed. Scrolling up and down a page is unbearable. I realize that someone put forth their time and efforts for this new theme, and it is certainly not my intent to offend anyone - but seriously - how the hell did anyone think that this was acceptable? Was this theme not tested before it was implemented? How does something this egregious get overlooked? We bash the ArenaNet staff for various QA issues, and then we push a Wiki interface that fails so much, the Wiki is largely unusable. What's better, is that instead of someone fixing their mistake, it's now my responsibility to fuck with my template or theme in my settings. Wow, thanks for that bit of awesomeness. Instead, I'll just frequent the official Wiki until this clusterfuck is removed. Thumbs down to this disaster. Ninjatek 02:43, 20 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I'm sorry to hear that. However, has it crossed your mind that it is not unbearably slow for all those users who replied in the poll that they like it, and that this might include the few people who took the time to test the skin before it went live? We could have tested this skin on your computer before we turned it on permanently; all it would have taken was for you to follow the instructions posted above two weeks ago. --◄mendel► 02:50, 20 December 2008 (UTC)


 * What the $%#$ do you mean follow direction. You can't expect people to test something, the people who made this are clearly at fault. Why are they not psychic? Why did they not tailor this site to Ninjatek's specific needs. Sorry sarcasm aside, it looks great. People put in a good bit of time and effort to do this. There were also many people that tested this, compare that to A-net. So a good suggestion would be next time take part in the testing. Voice your opinion on what should be changed. What exact part of the code do you think would help out? What browser are you using? Post a screen shot so that the people who can help know what to do ? Honestly if you think this wiki is slow how do you play Guild Wars exactly? [[Image:Spikeicon.png]]Tenetke MekkoMy Talk Page 20:05, 21 December 2008 (UTC)


 * It is very pretty, but it made me wonder if I had contracted a virus or hijack on my computer. I turned it off, and now my browsing works just as smoothly and snappy as always.  I have a pretty fast internet connection, absolutely no problems playing GW and browsing other sites at the same time. I was about to go back to using the Official site exclusively, until I remembered I can turn off the skin.  So, sorry, but it's off.  It's pretty, but unusable on IE and Firefox, both newest versions. linda092 22:41, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm sorry to hear that. For me, the winter wiki is quite usable on IE7 and Firefox 3, on a 1.6 GHz PC running XP. What kind of system should we test on to find out if a wiki change is usuable for you? --◄mendel► 23:12, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

White Tree background partially missing on IE6
Hmmm. Well, I haven't really noticed slow browsing because my Internet has gone all to hell recently anyway, but it is a little laggy. My main beef with this skin is that half the time the white part with the trees shows up, and half the time it doesn't, leaving just the dark snow background and making pages VERY difficult to read. When everything shows up correctly, though, it looks great, and it hasn't noticeably slowed down my internet more than it already is. Qing Guang 02:49, 20 December 2008 (UTC)
 * This definitely shouldn't be happening, and I can't think of any explanation. The only times I have not had background images show up is when the image server was slow delivering them initially, but they should remain in your browser cache when you've seen them once. Maybe you could check your browser settings and make sure you have allocated sufficient cache size. Is the sidebar background showing up all the time, or is it on and off as well? --◄mendel► 03:03, 20 December 2008 (UTC)
 * It's always on. Actually, now that I'm paying attention, I've realized it's always there - it's just that it only covers a certain amount of the page. On short pages it's enough, but on long pages like the Wintersday page it covers only about the bottom third, then abruptly cuts off. I'm running IE6, in case that matters. Qing Guang
 * Here on my youth pastor's computer, running IE7, it is fine. I think that might be the problem, or else my slow internet at home. Qing Guang 17:02, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Speed of your connection won't affect that, after the image is fully loaded, at least. IE6 had some major problems with its CSS implementation, so that's probably the cause.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 17:11, 21 December 2008 (UTC)


 * The image is supposed to have the trees always in the lower right corner of the screen, so that usually you wouldn't be able to see the upper edge at all. I assume that for you, the trees are always at the bottom of the page, so that on long pages they become visible only when you scroll up. If that is indeed the case, please try the "shear fix" described at GuildWiki talk:Wintersday/Wiki decorations, if IE6 can understand that, the transparent area should turn white (I'm afraid I have no IE6 installed I can test this on). If that does not work, adjust the upper line in the shear fix to have  like the lower line does, and that will disable the trees altogether and turn the page white. Please let me know if this helps. --◄mendel► 22:14, 21 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Oh, okay, yes that is what it is doing. Hmm. Well, given the choice between tough-to-read pages or not seeing the cool trees entirely (I love those trees!) I think I'll stick with having it cover only part of the page - after all, I can always highlight what I'm reading. Thanks anyways, though. (this is what I get for not having Firefox, hehe) Qing Guang 15:19, 22 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Erm, the shear fix (as is) should keep the trees displayed, I just don't know if it actually solves your problem. If you try it and it does, I can adjust the site CSS so that everybody with IE6 has no problems, but I'd like to know that it works first. So if you could try it and tell me, that'd help us. --◄mendel► 19:25, 22 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Oh, okay, misread that. Just tried it and unfortunately there is no noticeable effect. Qing Guang 19:31, 22 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I'm afraid then it's either not white or no trees. Sorry. --◄mendel► 23:07, 22 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Eh, I can live with highlighting for a week or so, then. *mytrees* (yes, I'm hung up on the trees, okay?) Qing Guang 23:19, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Hrm, is there a way to just turn off the snow stuff in the background? That would pretty much solve the problem and not being able to see the tab thingies was getting annoying anyway. Qing Guang 23:23, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Good idea! Apply the "body" fix at Wintersday/Wiki decorations, that should do it. --◄mendel► 23:26, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Perfect! Although I'm not sure if this is how it's supposed to be working, it solved the problem - the snow still shows up, but now the article covers it up with white. So I get to keep the snow and the trees and everything, but I can still read my pages. Yay! Qing Guang 23:36, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
 * If it looks different than this screenshot, could you upload one for me? (Also, if the snow suddely turns white in the future, then your browser failed to update the .css and the shear-fix was working after all.) --◄mendel► 23:40, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
 * That is how it did look. Having closed down and started up my browser, though, the snow is now gone. What was the shear-fix supposed to do again? Qing Guang 00:09, 23 December 2008 (UTC)
 * The shear-fix was supposed to make the area white that should be white. I'm going to apply that fix (not the whole shear-fix, just the white) to the wiki .css now. --◄mendel► 01:10, 23 December 2008 (UTC)
 * The shear fix tells IE6 that the area of the image that the tree image doesn't cover should be white. Normally this is not needed since the image is 2000x2000 and covers everybody's screen, unless it scrolls down like it does with IE6 (and the shear-fix). The trees stay on-screen even on long pages for other browsers. You need to press Ctrl-F5 after you change your css for the change to become loaded into the browser, otherwise it will keep on using the old css and update whenever the cache seems too old, and that has happened to you. --◄mendel► 01:18, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

(Reset indent) A patch has been applied to the wintersday decorations that should completely remove this bug. Press Ctrl-F5 to see the change. Article text should now always appear on the white background with the trees and never on the blue-white snow for IE6 users. However, the trees will still be at the bottom right corner of the article, not the bottom right corner of the screen. --◄mendel► 01:31, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Black bars when scrolling
Even on a fast PC, you may get black bars on the sidebar when you're scrolling down a long page fast. Adding the following line to your Special:MyPage/monobook.css fixes this for Monobook users and may also help for Special:MyPage/monaco.css. body { background:url(http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/gw/images/d/d6/Field-with-snow-champ-enneige.jpg) fixed; } --◄mendel► 02:44, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Shear fix
If you experience shear or slow scrolling, try adding these lines to Special:MyPage/monobook.css or Special:MyPage/monaco.css:

/* remove shear (Monobook) */ div#content { background:white url(http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/gw/images/1/14/Snow_tree-bright-2000.jpg) no-repeat right bottom scroll; } div#p-cactions div.pBody ul li { background: white; }

/* remove shear (Monaco) */ div#article { background:white url(http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/gw/images/1/14/Snow_tree-bright-2000.jpg) no-repeat right bottom scroll; }
 * 1) page_bar ul li { background: white; }

--◄mendel► 02:44, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

De-icing
How do you turn off the box background? I added the 2 lines it said to my .css, but the boxes still look odd. (box meaning the ToC box and navigation box with link to main page, RC etc.) Viruzzz 01:58, 21 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Change the icy box backgrounds back to white by adding this to Special:MyPage/monobook.css or Special:MyPage/monaco.css:

table#toc, table.stdt, table.qr, table.infobox, table.skillbox, div.thumbinner { background:white; } --◄mendel► 02:44, 21 December 2008 (UTC)


 * What about the icy navigation boxes (the left sidebar in Monobook)? Plactus 08:44, 30 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Never mind, figured it out. In case anyone's interested, add this to your CSS file:

div.pBody { background: white; } Plactus 09:46, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

nice
totally digging the look - JR 69.122.159.73 10:55, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

WikiEd
It seems WikiEd has disabled itself, could this be the cause? Random Time  13:24, 4 January 2009 (UTC)
 * WikiEd has been working fine for me, and I didn't notice it being disabled at any point that I didn't specifically turn it off. &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 17:02, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

Are the background pictures mine?
the ones i uploaded for the wiki? this question is pointed at Warwick.--‎ Fire  Tock  19:35, 4 January 2009 (UTC)
 * No, the background pictures are Image:Field-with-snow-champ-enneige.jpg, Image:Snow tree-bright-2000.jpg and Image:Ice crystal background.jpg. They are not taken from Guild Wars in any way. I had those researched and bookmarked before you even uploaded yours, otherwise I probably would have tried to build a design from yours. --◄mendel► 20:01, 4 January 2009 (UTC)