Template talk:Nicholas the Traveler

Time Zone
The template seems to use GMT as the time zone regardless of what UTC abbreviation you place after the time. Is this an error in the template code or do we need to update the example (which uses EST) and template instructions? --  Glamtre  (Contribs) 00:20, June 29, 2010 (UTC)


 * (Note: I copied and adapted the documentation from the Zaishen Combat template (originally), which was written by someone else.) I looked up the documentation for the #time: function, and it says it takes the same input formats as a PHP function which are explained here.  After trying a number of these, it looks like whatever version of #time: is implemented on Wikia is completely ignoring the time zone on input and setting everything to UTC.  All of the following should give different results, but instead they all give the same as the UTC result.




 * This isn't a template issue, it's a Wikia issue. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 01:28, June 29, 2010 (UTC)
 * I've noticed this on some of the time based templates I am using with my User name space. Is there a mechanism by which we can lobby to have this function or module changed or updated? --  Glamtre  [[Image:Axe-icon-right.png]] (Contribs) 03:11, June 29, 2010 (UTC)


 * Special:Contact is the official method of reporting issues to Wikia now. If you do send them a report, please post a copy to the Wikia staff noticeboard so we have documentation of it.  (Also, they're usually good enough to post there with a response/explanation after it gets resolved.)  I'd write it up myself, but I'm too tired right now.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 03:48, June 29, 2010 (UTC)

Data in template?
Given that the data is going to run to 137 rows, would it be worth moving data to a different article (so that the template parses that info)? That will make the template easier to manage (should we decide to alter its presentation), make the data easier to manage (since it will be all that is stored), etc. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 16:18, July 19, 2010 (UTC)


 * How do you plan on doing that parsing? GWW uses the VariablesExtension extension, which we don't have here on Wikia.  I don't see any reason that we'd choose to "alter the presentation," and even if we do, a simple regex can easily update the entire list.  Why should we over-complicate things when there's no real reason to?  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 16:39, July 19, 2010 (UTC)


 * I never like to bundle data with data architecture with presentation (something always seems to happen to make one wish one had) . However, if making such things distinct at wikia is trickia, then it's not worth doing. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 16:46, July 19, 2010 (UTC)


 * If we had VariablesExtension, then we could do it like this:


 * (pseudo-code commented out to reduce page size)
 * And the Main Page could use those three variables (TravlerLocation, TravelerItem, TravelerQuantity) to present the info however it wanted. We could set up the dialogue in a similar, separate template (since it would be huge, as RT pointed out, we wouldn't want to overburden this template).  I agree that this would be ideal, but we'd have to lobby Wikia to get the extension installed.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 17:07, July 19, 2010 (UTC)


 * Heck, that extension would make so many things so much easier, I've gone ahead and attempted a request for it. Watch this space.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 17:24, July 19, 2010 (UTC)


 * Alright, got the extension, and here's my first draft of a template using it:
 * Template: User:Dr ishmael/Nicholas the Traveler tmpl
 * Test page: User:Dr ishmael/Nicholas the Traveler test
 * And I've changed my mind on the dialogue. If we're going to do it like this, we may as well put everything together in one place.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 19:18, July 19, 2010 (UTC)


 * User:M.mendel/NickDoc is a demo that uses the data in Nicholas the Traveler/Past Collections (as-is) and Nicholas the Traveler/Past Dialogues/tmp (slight change to Nicholas the Traveler/Past Dialogues in that is uses numbered headlines). The proposed solution fully addresses TEF's suggestion and exhibits the same beneifits that Dr Ishmael's solution has, while avoiding some of the latter solution's weaknesses. -- ◄mendel► 02:22, July 20, 2010 (UTC)

Data in location pages?
Since most locations will have Nicholas visiting, it would make sense to add another standard section to the location; it could give the date that Nicholas was here, or the one he is expected to return, and if done with templates (like an infobox, but maybe different presentation) it would also be possible to create these tables automatically. E.g.

Nicholas the Traveller
Notes and comments DPL could then create a list of all Factions locations etc, and if we had a use for the knowledge when he last asked for a rare material, we would add SMW metadata to all our infobox templates and be able to formulate queries like these. Which is what got me thinking about this initially, because to use the data with SMW, it should ideally each be on its own page. (We haven't seen a use for SMW in the past, so don't get your hopes up, but still... ;) -- ◄mendel► 05:39, July 20, 2010 (UTC)

I'm afraid I didn't make myself clear.

Example: add a section to the page Arkjok Ward between the sections "Quests" and "Notes". This section would look as follows:

Nicholas the Traveller
and it might display like this: (serving suggestion only, dashed border not included)

Nicholas the Traveller
''Oh, thank the gods, help has come at last! My bullheaded companion here refuses to budge an inch, because he hasn't had his daily allotment of sweets. I swear he is as stubborn as, well, as stubborn as a dolyak, I suppose. Do you have time to swing by Yohlon Haven and talk to Yajide? See if he still makes that wonderful Mandragor Root Cake. I bet that would get Yakkington going again.''

Nicholas the Traveller
The templates would recognize these default texts, and the presentation would look like this (again, just a suggestion):

Nicholas the Traveller
''Nicholas is still expected in this location. As soon as he arrives, please edit this section and provide information about his visit.'' Once you edit it, you'd see the templates already set up as above (date goes here etc.), and you'd only need to fill them in.

So the proposal is to distribute the Nicholas info (date, request, dialogue) to 137 location pages. It's the wiki way! -- ◄mendel► 21:00, July 20, 2010 (UTC) -- ◄mendel► 21:00, July 20, 2010 (UTC)

edit here

 * Did you realize that you've screwed up the sectioning on this page? Could you turn your example headers into fake ones?
 * Why are you using 2 templates? Seems like that could be done more simply with a single template.
 * How can you use this to request information for an arbitrary week? For example, how do we populate the Main Page with it?
 * &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 21:55, July 20, 2010 (UTC)
 * I didn't think much of that as this is a rarely used talkpage, but I inserted another header so we have an edit link that works for this.
 * One template creates the infoboxes, and the other formats the text. The former might have some logic for SMW in it, the latter doesn't need to. If we're looking for infobox data via DPL, it would have less to parse. If we're using SMW (big if), the infobox template would have the SMW tagging in it and the dialogue template wouldn't. The dialogue template could be re-used to display dialogue in other places on the wiki. They just seem to do very different jobs, so I thought it'd be better to be modular instead of monolithic.
 * Good question. I've got several ideas that need to be examined.

&mdash;The preceding unsigned comment was added by M.mendel (contribs).


 * Can you give a more detailed SMW example? I haven't had any opportunities to work with it before, so I don't really understand its capabilities.  If it can find a specific page based on the ID/index, then pass the contents of the Nick template in a usable format, that sounds like the best idea to me.  We continue using the /index subtemplates, but replace the #switch in the main template with an SMW query.  Right?  And that would still work with my tablerow idea to calculate the statistics using variables.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 00:04, July 21, 2010 (UTC)

Pilot
Well, since mendel didn't bother to keep this productive conversation going, I struck out on my own and spent today learning me some SMW.


 * Template:TravelerInfo - my implementation of mendel's semantic template idea (since he never gave any code, I had to work off of his design mock-up, and this probably isn't what exactly what he envisioned)
 * Garden of Seborhin, Resplendent Makuun, The Mirror of Lyss - a few pages where I've added the template, since they had already been semanticized back when PanSola implemented the original SMW pilot
 * Template:TrophyInfo - a new semantic infobox template for trophy items (which we currently denote with the clumsy "collectable drops"). This could probably be generalized
 * Implemented on Sapphire Djinn Essence, Roaring Ether Claw, and Behemoth Hide
 * User:Dr ishmael/Nicholas the Traveler smw test - demo of what can be done with the new semantic properties, including how to construct Nicholas the Traveler/Past Collections using semantic queries

I did not implement a dialogue template, since mendel had said something about it being "re-used to display dialogue in other places" and I figured there should be a more general discussion of that idea first. (In any case, calling it "Nicholas says" would be a misnomer if it were used more widely.) &mdash;Dr Ishmael  21:06, July 26, 2010 (UTC)


 * I have now created a semantic infobox for items (added to the list above). Although it is currently hard-coded for trophies only, it could be expanded to support all types of items, in a similar fashion to how PanSola had generalized  for all types of locations.
 * I'd love to continue working on this idea, but it would be nice to get some feedback on this pilot before going any further. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 02:48, August 3, 2010 (UTC)

I've been pondering on this for a while now, and I think it would actually be more natural for the TravelerInfo to be based on the item's page instead of the location's page. Consider literally "querying" the relevant properties: date, item, quantity, location. If you take the location as the "known" datum, it goes like:


 * When did Nick visit this location?
 * What item did he collect at this location?
 * How many of that item did he collect at this location?

The third one feels a bit out of place, because it has to use *two* qualifiers of the "how many" query: of that item in addition to (at) this location. If we turn this around and instead take the item as the "known" property, we have:


 * When did Nick collect this item?
 * Where did Nick collect this item?
 * How many of this item did Nick collect?

All three queries have the same simple form, with the single qualifier (of) this item, which makes for a more natural set of properties. I'm going to mock up a couple templates now that set the properties on the item page, then query them to also display the info on the location page. &mdash;Dr Ishmael 17:14, August 14, 2010 (UTC)


 * Alright then.
 * Template:TravelerItemInfo now sets all the properties on the item's page, see this on Moon Shell. I set this up as a standard-style infobox, but the design and placement probably need fine-tuning.
 * Template:TravelerLocationInfo now queries and displays the properties of the item that was collected in that location. See this on Gyala Hatchery (explorable) - the result looks identical to the original TravelerInfo.
 * &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 17:41, August 14, 2010 (UTC)


 * Template:ItemInfo now incorporates the Traveler information directly, check it out on Moon Shell. I think it looks pretty spiffy.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 20:38, August 21, 2010 (UTC)

"per gift"
I got confused today, because I wasn't sure if it was 5 total, or 5 per gift. A little reading gave me my answer, but I think it would be better to clarify that somehow. RoseOfKali 19:43, July 20, 2010 (UTC)

Unknown leads to edit template link - brilliant
(The header speaks for itself &mdash; well done, Doc Ish) &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 19:42, August 24, 2010 (UTC)


 * Thanks. I started editing Nick's page to fix up the intro section and integrate the weekly-time-change note, then figured I could also move the '/Past X' links to a more logical and useful location, and somewhere in there I realized that I could do the same thing for this template that I'd done on '/Past Dialogues'.  A side effect of all that is that Notes and See also are nicely compact now.  (They might could do with a merge or other rearrangement, possibly involving some Trivia as well, but I didn't feel like incorporating that all at once.)  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 20:15, August 24, 2010 (UTC)