MediaWiki talk:Sidebar

admin link
I think a contact an admin link would help. I don't care if it's my page, but I watch it via email even though I'm not always here, and I don't mind the job, if anyone even uses it.

People routinely can't figure out how to get help, so I think it's useful. Revert if disagreed, and discuss it here. &mdash;Tanaric 07:44, 18 July 2006 (CDT)


 * I like having a link available; but I would prefer not linking to your talk page. If remaining on your user space, then a dedicated location like User_talk:Tanaric/admin_contact (I realise that MediaWiki engine only supports emailing under a limited number of options, talk page edits being one, so this is a limitation of MediaWiki).  But my preference would be a link directly to Administrators, and rework the list of active admins to mark those who are emailed if a post is made on their talk page. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 08:01, 18 July 2006 (CDT)


 * Sorry, connection died for a few days after posting this, heh.


 * Anyway, I agree in principle, Barek. I'd rather my userpage wasn't linked (seems a bit self-glorifying), but it's the only reliable way of getting email updates without enabling watchlist emails (which I won't do, since I'm watching every article I've ever edited). I'd link to Admins, but that makes it a two-click process, and many users give up if the result they want isn't given to them after the first click. Digging through links is a classic web-design mistake -- even though we're wiki, we have to cater to those same principles for stuff like this.


 * Nobody else has replied, so I'm thinking nobody cares. For the record, I've gotten three emails since I added the link. I usually get one email every few months, so this concept is at least somewhat beneficial to the wiki. &mdash;Tanaric 14:09, 25 July 2006 (CDT)

tooltips
tooltips went >< i miss alt+r. dunno if it was us or wiki update &mdash; Skuld  13:32, 18 July 2006 (CDT)


 * They still work here. &mdash;Tanaric 14:09, 25 July 2006 (CDT)


 * Old, but I think they don't work for anonymous &mdash; Skuld 15:30, 19 October 2006 (CDT)

GameWikis links
While I agree that the GameWikis links are not specific to GuildWiki, I think the navigation box would be less troubling than their current high profile placement on the Main Page. Another option may be to add it to the toolbox area (below the sidebar advertisements); but the links seem even less related to the other content there; besides, I can't find a MediaWiki entry for that area, so it may be the exclusive domain of Gravewit to edit. That leaves the navigation box, which may not be ideal, but I find it less obtrusive that the current main page placement. I haven't tried it, but do horizontal rules work in the navigation box? If so, we could segregate the gamewikis links into a subsection of the nav box. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 12:33, 2 August 2006 (CDT)
 * The gamewikis blog link is in the "What's New" box, even though it can go weeks without new entries, and even then those entries are often not directly relevant to guildwiki.
 * The gamewikis forum link seems to live in the site notices section now, only being removed temporarilly when a real site notice for an upgrade, downtime, etc is posted.
 * More (last minute thought - too lazy to edit the above): Another option may be to create a new GameWikis box on the main page, or even to incorporate those links into a subsection of the "We are currently maintaining ..." box. That could help to segregate those links away from their current high-profile mixing into the regular GuildWiki links.  --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 12:33, 2 August 2006 (CDT)
 * Semantically, the best place for GameWikis-specific stuff would be in the Community Portal. However, since we're not currently using the portal as much of a portal, I don't know how well that would work&mdash;it would require significant redesign of the portal. I agree that they don't belong on the front page. &mdash;Tanaric 12:49, 2 August 2006 (CDT)
 * I agree that theoretically the Community Portal would be an ideal location. Unfortunately it's currently not setup as a true community portal - more of a projects tracking article currently.
 * As the GameWikis domain is where guildwiki resides, I have no problem with links pointing to the blog and forum placed somewhere; I just have a strong dislike for the current placement being so prominent. I get the distinct impression that you have the same opinion on using the navigation block for them, so the options are dwindling.  I'm now thinking that the best option short of a redesign of the community portal page is within the "We are currently maintaining ..." box.  --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 13:01, 2 August 2006 (CDT)


 * I added an extra box under the "We are currently maintaining..." box, which should work until a better idea comes to us. Please feel free to adjust it aesthetically. :) &mdash;Tanaric 04:11, 3 August 2006 (CDT)


 * In the editcopy I had proposed adding it to another block; but I like it in its own as you've done it. It may need some formatting to keep it from becoming too long of a list, but it's better than where it was located.  Note also: I had actually started this discussion in the editcopy talk page originally, before we started discussing it here.  Now that the change is on the Main Page, the discussion should probably revert to that space again. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 11:25, 3 August 2006 (CDT)


 * Ah, my apologies&mdash;I missed that. I'll revert to discussing there. &mdash;Tanaric 13:47, 3 August 2006 (CDT)

Suggested fixes
zaishen 12:28, 7 September 2006 (CDT)
 * Help should link to Help:Editing, not How to help. The former is technical help, which is the likely reason for clicking on the link. The latter is more of a welcome page that will not be immediately helpful to the new user.
 * Forums should link to the gamewikis forums, not guildwarsguru. Currently there is a mismatch between this formus link and the forums link on the navbar at the top.
 * I've done the editing link. &mdash; Skuld 12:34, 7 September 2006 (CDT)

Split the sidebar into 2
I found the extended (forums, FAQ) bar a bit confusing, does anyone think the current is easier on the eye? I put all the support/help related ones seperate from the navigation ones. Thoughts here, and don't hesitate to ask for it back! :p &mdash; Skuld 15:29, 19 October 2006 (CDT)
 * I like the two box method. Better organization of related topics this way. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 15:53, 19 October 2006 (CDT)
 * Looks good to me. --Rainith 16:09, 19 October 2006 (CDT)

re-order the links
In the upper box, four of the links take you straight to an article, while the fifth is the recent changes summary log. To me, the "recent changes" log is different enough from the other links in the first navigation box that it should be the last link (plus, I like the idea of it being at the bottom of the box for ease of access). --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 16:41, 19 October 2006 (CDT)

news / updates
I like having the news and updates in the sidebar ... but is this getting too far down the path of overpopulating the sidebar with too many links? Opinions? --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 01:23, 28 February 2007 (CST)