MediaWiki talk:Nimbus-sidebar

Update required
Changes required to this mediawiki page: That's it I guess. :) — subtank  11:49, 17 April 2011 (EDT)
 * Change "We Are ODST" to "The Life"
 * Add "Halo Waypoint" link under Community Related Sites
 * Remove "Ascendant Justice" link under Community Related Sites as it is no longer updated by the site's staff
 * Remove "Halo Wars" link under Community Related Sites as Microsoft has pulled support from it and it will most likely be merged into Halo Waypoint
 * Remove "Disbanded Usergroup" link since all it does is attracting unneeded traffic/attention
 * Done, thanks for the head's up Kai!


 * Shouldn't Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting and perhaps the Didact be added to the "Main Book Characters" tab? --&quot;Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have.&quot; -Thomas Jefferson 14:26, 17 April 2011 (EDT)

Community sites
Shouldn't halo.xbox.com be included in the community section of related sites? -- SFH 13:41, 11 June 2011 (EDT)
 * It's linked under it's official name as Halo Waypoint.
 * Ah, my mistake. I was looking in Related Sites, didn't know it was at Gameplay. Sorry. -- SFH 16:15, 11 June 2011 (EDT)

Format for Games
I suggest following the one currently used in Template:Halo Games. To make it simpler, just copy the following: Because I care. :) — subtank  18:53, 11 June 2011 (EDT)
 * Category:Games|Games
 * Category:Games|Original Trilogy
 * Halo: Combat Evolved|Halo: Combat Evolved
 * Halo 2|Halo 2
 * Halo 3|Halo 3
 * Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary|Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
 * Category:Games|New Trilogy
 * Halo 4|Halo 4
 * Category:Games|Others
 * Halo PC|Halo PC
 * Hal 2 Vista|Halo 2 Vista
 * Halo 3: ODST|Halo 3: ODST
 * Halo Wars|Halo Wars
 * Halo: Reach|Halo: Reach
 * Category:Deleted Material|Canceled Projects
 * Halo: Chronicles|Halo: Chronicles
 * Halo DS|Halo DS
 * Untitled Halo MMO|Halo MMO

Remove old stuff
Wouldn't it be better to remove the old stuff, i.e. disbanded, or no longer in use? Of course, I am referring to "HOTM", "Usergroups" and "Parodies".

While you're on it, please replace "Category:Halopedia Policy" with "Category:Halopedia policies". :) — subtank   16:13, 27 September 2013 (EDT)
 * Good point. I'll remove them and replace the categories as well.-- 19:59, 27 September 2013 (EDT)

Split up Books and Media

 * Category:Comics|Comics
 * Halo: Uprising|Uprising
 * Halo: Uprising Issue 1|Issue 1
 * Halo: Uprising Issue 2|Issue 2
 * Halo: Uprising Issue 3|Issue 3
 * Halo: Uprising Issue 4|Issue 4
 * Halo: Helljumper|Helljumper
 * Halo: Helljumper Issue 1|Issue 1
 * Halo: Helljumper Issue 2|Issue 2
 * Halo: Helljumper Issue 3|Issue 3
 * Halo: Helljumper Issue 4|Issue 4
 * Halo: Helljumper Issue 5|Issue 5
 * Halo: Blood Line|Blood Line
 * Halo: Blood Line Issue 1|Issue 1
 * Halo: Blood Line Issue 2|Issue 2
 * Halo: Blood Line Issue 3|Issue 3
 * Halo: Blood Line Issue 4|Issue 4
 * Halo: Blood Line Issue 5|Issue 5
 * Halo: Fall of Reach|Fall of Reach
 * Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp|Boot Camp
 * Halo: Fall of Reach - Covenant|Covenant
 * Halo: Fall of Reach - Invasion|Invasion
 * Halo Wars: Genesis|Genesis
 * Halo Graphic Novel|Graphic Novel
 * The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor|The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor
 * Armor Testing|Armor Testing
 * Breaking Quarantine|Breaking Quarantine
 * Second Sunrise Over New Mombasa|Second Sunrise Over New Mombasa
 * Halo: Initiation|Initiation
 * Halo: Initiation Issue 1|Issue 1
 * Halo: Initiation Issue 2|Issue 2
 * Halo: Initiation Issue 3|Issue 3
 * Halo: Escalation|Escalation
 * Halo: Escalation Issue 1|Issue 1
 * Halo: Escalation Issue 2|Issue 2
 * Halo: Escalation Issue 3|Issue 3
 * Halo: Escalation Issue 4|Issue 4
 * Halo: Escalation Issue 5|Issue 5
 * Halo: Escalation Issue 6|Issue 6
 * Halo: Escalation Issue 7|Issue 7
 * Halo 3: The Cradle of Life|The Cradle of Life


 * Category:Film|Film
 * Category:Film|Animation
 * Halo Legends|Halo Legends
 * The Babysitter|The Babysitter
 * The Duel|The Duel
 * Homecoming|Homecoming
 * Odd One Out|Odd One Out
 * Origins|Origins
 * The Package|The Package
 * Prototype|Prototype
 * Category:Film|Promotional
 * Halo: Landfall|Landfall
 * Halo: Arms Race|Arms Race
 * Halo: Combat|Combat
 * Halo: Last One Standing|Last One Standing
 * The Life|The Life
 * Birth of a Spartan|Birth of a Spartan
 * Remember Reach|Remember Reach
 * Remember Reach Webfilm|Remember Reach Webfilm
 * New Life|New Life
 * Patrol|Patrol
 * Spaceport|Spaceport
 * Deliver Hope|Deliver Hope
 * Category:Film|Television
 * Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn|Forward Unto Dawn
 * Halo: Nightfall|Nightfall
 * Halo: The Television Series|The Television Series
 * Halo (film)|Halo film

There is already a bunch of stuff in the comic and film categories to warrant their separated inclusion on the sidebar from what is predominately books. Might be easier to have one less step in the process for two of the more rapidly growing mediums for Halo. Also, perhaps change "Books & Media" to simply Books.


 * It would be better to leave out the individual issues and individual films. It is foreseeable that the list will just get longer and longer and that it will be cluttered.— subtank   07:23, 15 July 2014 (EDT)
 * By individual films, you're referring to the separate Legends and Remember Reach entries, correct?
 * Yup. :) — subtank   04:22, 17 July 2014 (EDT)
 * I agree, the list is just too long. I'll make the necessary adjustments to it.-- 01:24, 22 July 2014 (EDT)

Character categories
I've been thinking that with the increasingly cross-media direction the Halo franchise has been heading, the categories of "Main Game Characters", "Main Book Characters", and "Main Comic Characters" we've used in the sidebar have become somewhat obsolete. For example, which category Thomas Lasky belongs to? He's all of those things, plus a film character to boot. So are the Spartans of Blue Team now, for that matter. The Ur-Didact and the Librarian are both prominent game and book characters, so it's a bit odd they're only listed in the "Main Game Characters" tab, as if these categories are somehow ranked and characters "graduate" to a "higher" status once they appear in a game.

I was thinking if we could perhaps adopt a faction-based categorization system, but then again the "UNSC" category would become massively crowded and would probably need sub-categories like "UNSC Navy" and "UNSC Marine Corps", etc. which would make it more complicated than the relatively simple system we have now (even though we'd still only be listing major characters). Any other ideas?--Jugus (Talk  | Contribs ) 00:11, 4 January 2016 (EST)


 * I was thinking the same thing not too long ago (like why is 'Vadum considered a "main comic character" when he only appeared in a graphic novel short story). I think a faction-based system could work if we limited it to only the major characters, but it could lead to debates about who should be included. It might be better to reorganize "The Universe" section. I am thinking having categories for characters, locations, species, factions, technology, and maybe more. Then within each category, include only the most important ones with no subcategories. -- NightHammer (talk)(contribs) 00:52, 4 January 2016 (EST)
 * I completely agree with the above proposal. I would also like to suggest adding a "notable locations" category to the sidebar, to highlight some of the prominently featured locations in the Haloverse. It would add some variety I think.-- 14:52, 4 January 2016 (EST)


 * Agreed. I just think the biggest problem would be determining which characters should be included. -- NightHammer (talk)(contribs) 16:26, 4 January 2016 (EST)


 * Makes sense to me.--Emblem 1.jpg  Rusty - 112  Admin  comm 23:43, 4 January 2016 (EST)


 * Here's just an example of what we could include. Obviously, stuff could be added or removed. The technology section was whatever jumped in my head that is either important or iconic in the Halo series. -- NightHammer (talk)(contribs) 23:37, 10 January 2016 (EST)


 * That looks pretty good for the most part. Off the top of my head I'd perhaps add the Librarian to the characters section and replace the link in "Cloaking" to active camouflage rather than the Halo 3 equipment page, but those are just minor things. We could also have prominent groups or military units of interest listed under each organization (the "organizations" section could perhaps be titled "Factions") - i.e. the Marines, ONI, ODSTs and various Spartan programs under the UNSC. The factions section could also list the Insurrectionists rather than the URF as they're often grouped together like that in-universe (even though they aren't an organization per se), with the URF, NCA and other rebel groups under that tab. --Jugus (Talk  | Contribs ) 00:02, 11 January 2016 (EST)


 * Alright, I made some changes. I don't want to put ODSTs under Marines or ONI under Navy since I think it might be too much "subcategories" like that. -- NightHammer (talk)(contribs) 00:10, 11 January 2016 (EST)


 * Agreed. I wonder if it'd be warranted to have a separate "Ships and vehicles" category. We could list a few ships of importance like the Autumn, In Amber Clad, Dawn, Infinity, Truth and Reconciliation, Shadow of Intent, and Mantle's Approach. --Jugus (Talk  | Contribs ) 00:54, 11 January 2016 (EST)

(reset indent) Yeah, I think that could work. -- NightHammer (talk)(contribs) 01:01, 11 January 2016 (EST)


 * If no one has any issues with it, I can implement the changes tonight. -- NightHammer (talk)(contribs) 15:01, 13 January 2016 (EST)
 * The proposed changes look good to me.-- 15:15, 13 January 2016 (EST)
 * Done. -- NightHammer (talk)(contribs) 21:11, 13 January 2016 (EST)

Should the three main hierarchs have their own little tree under the characters section? The Isodidact also seems like someone important to have. Maybe there can even be a Didacts category that includes the two of them. Someone Roland could be removed if that's too much.

Related Sites
I have a few ideas of stuff we can add to the Related Sites section. You dont need to take all the ideas. But maybe some of them we can? I mean considered the community has split into lots of community groups.

Wikis
 * Halo Nation - http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page (Still a valid resource despite debate between here and there)

Community
 * Halo Archive - http://www.haloarchive.com/ (many users here use Halo Archive so wont it be an idea to have it linked there)
 * Ready up Live - http://www.readyuplive.com/ (many halo fans there, plus 343i have good connections with them)
 * Reddit Halo - https://www.reddit.com/r/halo/ (of course lots of general Halo Discussion here)
 * Reddit Halostory - https://www.reddit.com/r/HaloStory/ (lots of halo lore discussion here)
 * Podtacular - http://www.podtacular.com/ (A Halo Podcast many people follow, plus it has plenty of interviews with 343i)
 * Podcast Evolved - http://www.r8dmgaming.com/aboutevolved/ (Another Halo Podcast, mentioned in a canon fodder by Grim so yea)
 * Forwarduntodawn - http://www.forwarduntodawn.com/ (articles that go deep into the halo lore)
 * Halofollower - http://halofollower.com/ (despite debate whether they are good or not, they are still a valid community)
 * Halo Canon - https://www.youtube.com/user/HaloCanon (A youtube channel by Toa Freak, who does lore videos)

I could go longer than what I put down but I dont wanna go overkill. --CIA391 21:54, 13 January 2016 (GMT)


 * We could probably remove a couple of the related sites we currently have. As for your list, I agree with most (Halo Archive, Ready Up Live, the reddits, Forward Unto Dawn, and Halo Canon) and as for the two podcasts, I don't know enough about them but I will take your word for it. Although I'm not so sure about HN and Halo Follower. We should only "advertise" sites that are of good standing and are active. Not to speak negatively of them, but Halo Nation is rather outdated. As for Halo Follower, I'm personally not a fan and while that obviously isn't a good enough reason to not include them, it is my understanding that there is recent conflict among Halo Follower's staff and a majority of the content producers have quit. Though even if most of us don't like Halo Follower, we should stay neutral and we cannot deny that it is one of the more popular YouTube channels. That's just my two cents. -- NightHammer (talk)(contribs) 21:11, 13 January 2016 (EST)


 * Yeah, I've heard Halo Follower is basically crumbling at the moment as the guy running it was exposed as a fraud who was running some elaborate scam on people, not to mention they're notorious for their lore inaccuracy and clickbait tactics. I think we can safely rule that one out. As for Halo Nation, they would never link to this site (their host wouldn't allow it, and I know since we tried that back in the day. Read more here). As such I don't see a reason to give them more exposure than they already have by virtue of their bigger host. Most people who come here will most likely know about HN anyway. --Jugus (Talk  | Contribs ) 00:13, 14 January 2016 (EST)


 * So are we gonna add these in or what? (Pretty much a bump, but one that I feel will help). I am cool with no Halo Follower and Halo Nation. :) --CIA391 00:40, 25 January 2016 (GMT)


 * Yeah, I can add it. -- NightHammer (talk)(contribs) 19:57, 24 January 2016 (EST)


 * Messed something up. Seeing if I can fix it. (Update) Since there is apparently a limit to how much we can add, that should probably be another point of discussion. -- NightHammer (talk)(contribs) 20:24, 24 January 2016 (EST)

(reset)Is there a way to fix it? Or is it something we are stuck with? Cause this might be a problem that could be consistent with other parts of this wiki, or simply cause a problem in a later date if the Halo Community grows in a bigger way. Also side note(not that it helps much) we can easily get rid of the Halo Mods wiki we have on the list. Its very very inactive, that no ones posted in over a month.(check its recent activity) --CIA391 23:02, 18 February 2016 (GMT)


 * @NightHammer: There's a limit? That doesn't make sense considering the other sections of the sidebar have tons more entries than 'Related Sites'. @CIA391 I am not seeing the Halo Mods wiki anywhere on my side...-- 21:03, 18 February 2016 (EST)


 * Not a limit per section, but rather a limit on the amount of entries in the entirety of the sidebar it seems. The reason you can't see the Halo Mods wiki is because it is past the apparent limit. If you check the actual page, you will see the wiki is still there. The international sites, podcasts, and all but one of the wikis are past the limit. -- NightHammer (talk)(contribs) 21:12, 18 February 2016 (EST)


 * Well still its a problem. Maybe a big update is needed? --CIA391 22:22, 19 February 2016 (GMT)
 * Ok that makes more sense. I'm going to look through and see if there's anything on the sidebar currently that has little importance that can be removed. It's a temporary solution but not a permanent one. -- 18:14, 19 February 2016 (EST)
 * Edit: The only solution I see is to reduce or summarize the amount of in-universe links on the sidebar (which was previously proposed above to add more of those items). I can't think of a better idea but if someone else has one please mention it.-- 18:27, 19 February 2016 (EST)

Ideas
Either we get a new sidebar(or something similar), we edit the actual side bar to allow more items. Or we shorten the list... which I think would be counter productive. But if the content continues like last year... Then I am worried.

Well going though the list if we have to shorten it. You can easily modify my ideas into better ones or shoot them down. But as said its counter productive... And I would rather we fix/change the side bar to something that works than remove stuff.

From top to bottom though.
 * 1) Remove cancelled games. Always wondered why its there.
 * 2) Unless the book is new. We only link the Halo novels page. I mean the books if they keep coming out in the pace that they are will overload the sidebar. xD Cause that might start to happen soon
 * 3) We make a Halo comics page like the Halo novels page and do the same.
 * 4) Pretty much make a References page, a Strategy guide page, a Animation page, and a live action page. That should deffo lower the count a lot.
 * 5) Remove cancelled games. Always wondered why its there.
 * 6) Nothing against the admins. But we could simply remove the links to the their profiles and let the Halopedia:Administrators do the talking(you guys are awesome, you lot do fix my mistakes all the time so this did make me feel a lil bad to suggest).
 * 7) Remove all the dead characters. Unless they very recently died.
 * 8) The ships section in the Universe part seems a lil out of place. With all the new ships introduced.
 * 9) Technology can be lowered by a lot.
 * 10) Remove the Halo Mods wiki.(that lowers the list by 1 already, nothing against the page other than its not even updated)
 * 11) Make a Community Page on the wiki for all the related communities. Means we dont have to list them all. Yet we still have a link to the page holding them in the sidebar.

Hope this helps.--CIA391 00:22, 20 February 2016 (GMT)


 * At for points 7 and 8, the sidebar is listing major characters and ships in the universe, not just the recent ones. Even if they are dead or destroyed, they have played an important part. We could always do what Wookieepedia does and, to an extent, Wikipedia, where we just have a simple sidebar and move most of the stuff we currently have on the sidebar to the main page. Though I agree with most of your other points. -- NightHammer (talk)(contribs) 19:45, 19 February 2016 (EST)


 * I also think we should stop linking to category pages, and have more streamlined pages for navigation. (Many links lead to the same catagory in the sidebar also, which is counter productive also, and a lil bad)
 * As they are not that helpful to people who dont use wiki's that much and are a lil confusing to folks who dont edit this place. But one step at a time. The side-bar issue is bigger. But its something we should consider.
 * Might just be me seeing the categorys more as editing assistance than anything else.--CIA391 01:06, 20 February 2016 (GMT)


 * What's the exact limit of entries in the sidebar? We need that before reflecting on a solution. (unless it's already been stated) Imrane-117 (talk) 20:20, 19 February 2016 (EST)


 * Seems its 300 lines total we can use for the sidebar. --CIA391 01:29, 20 February 2016 (GMT)
 * I'm in favor of a simple sidebar akin to Wikipedia or Wookiepedia. The Main Page has not been redesigned in a few years anyway and it could definitely use a facelift.-- 21:46, 19 February 2016 (EST)


 * For #1 - 9, what we can do is creating portal pages (e.g. Portal:Games for official and cancelled games, Portal:Literature for novels, graphic novels and reference book). The first step for this to happen is to create a "Portal:" namespace. Pester Porple for it. :P
 * For #11, we already have this list. So, we can actually replace "Related sites" with a simple link to this list.
 * As for a new design for the main page, I'll prop something up. — subtank   01:45, 20 February 2016 (EST)


 * Update: The size of the sidebar has been increased to 1000 lines, so now everything on there is showing up.-- 16:18, 3 March 2016 (EST)