Forum:Updating the wiki's look!

It's that time of the year again when the community comes together and makes a decision for a newer look for the wiki! A perfect opportunity since the Master Chief Collection is around the corner along with the celebration of the wiki's decade anniversary!

First order of business: I think it is safe to say that the wiki's landing page requires a facelift. As Jugus pointed out in another forum, the landing page could be more visually exciting than just plain text and I agree with this assessment. The new design should not be too visually stimulating and, at the same time, not too simplistic or minimalistic (based on current trend with iOS). It should be closer to something in the middle; the best of both worlds.

As you can see in the image on the right, the icons for each menu item under the Navigation box (i.e. those text under "Halo Universe", "Campaign & Multiplayer" and "Real world") was created and uploaded by myself. The effort put into that design wasn't too much since the amount of menu item back then was considerably smaller than what it is now. As it currently stands, I believe that simply bringing the old design back wouldn't do much justice to the current amount of menu item under the Navigation box. And the creative mind of one person does not represent the entire community. Hence, I consider that it would be better if the entire community could contribute for the icons for each menu item. There are a total of twenty one icons in the current draft. The creation of these icons is up to you all. Just some specifics: the icons should be square in dimension and the details should be at least visible at 70px. Consistency is key!

The second order of business is about the header and site logo. Previously, we would hold a competition/contest open to all users whereby they would place their submissions and put it to a vote. Obviously, only one submission would be selected and that is with the most vote. I am proposing that we improve that method of system by adding a randomiser effect. Additionally, I would suggest we create a project page to add new headers/sitelogos to the randomiser every two months (provided that the submission obtains enough votes). It would definitely spice up the wiki's appearance!

If you have other ideas to improve the wiki's look, just place it in the Comment section! :) — subtank   13:35, 3 July 2014 (EDT)

Mobile theme
Just to let you all know that the wiki now has a mobile theme (skin?), accessible via the footer at the bottom. As of right now, most of our templates will be incompatible with this theme (skin????). If you encounter any issues or bugs with the mobile theme (skin?!?!!), leave your comment on this forum's talk page. — subtank   12:07, 17 July 2014 (EDT)

Design One
So, here's the proposed layout as of 14:26, 18 July 2014 (EDT)

Comments
A very fitting way to celebrate our ten-year birthday! Let me know if I can help with any of this. :)-- 15:13, 3 July 2014 (EDT)


 * It sounds interesting. Would the logos be paired to a specific header? I personally think they should be. A logo might look brilliant paired with one background, but a mess on another.--Soul reaper (talk) 22:34, 3 July 2014 (EDT)


 * I say we go with it. Plain text just doesn't do it. Granted, it does work, but in terms of exciting, not so much. Definitely could use some work. If any of you need my particular expertise, please let me know. I can provide images if necessary. -- Xamikaze330  [Transmission |Commencing ] 00:18, 4 July 2014 (EDT)Xamikaze330

Transformers Wiki has a nifty feature above the search bar on the side that randomises icons that link to notable articles. I'd be interested in implementing something similar, perhaps just for Featured Articles? --  Qura 'Morhek   The Autocrat     of Morheka   22:10, 5 July 2014 (EDT)


 * Checked it out. We could create something similar by modifying the DYK template. :) — subtank   12:07, 17 July 2014 (EDT)

Just wondering, how would you all feel about a fixed width of 1280px for the wiki? This promotes some standardisation and consistency for our layouts at the very least. To test it out, just copy everything under the  heading and add it to your nimbus.css page. — subtank   14:26, 18 July 2014 (EDT)


 * It looked pretty weird for me when I tried it out. I kept seeing white everywhere. The Halopedia logo in the top-left corner was gone, as well as the header background. Did I do something wrong? I had to delete the page to bring my browser back to normal. The Cmd+Shift+R didn't help either. Any helpful tips? -- Xamikaze330,  Halopedia Team  Talk 14:46, 18 July 2014 (EDT)Xamikaze330


 * Based on your description, I suspect that it could be your browser as it is appearing correctly on my screen. You would need to clear your browser's cache. A screenshot would be helpful. — subtank   14:54, 18 July 2014 (EDT)


 * I did that. Didn't work. I tried 2 other things, like changing the user from Subtank to my own username, but that didn't work either. Here are the screenshots: one and two. This isn't supposed to happen, right? -- Xamikaze330,  Halopedia Team  Talk 15:22, 18 July 2014 (EDT)Xamikaze330


 * Well, you're supposed to copy only those under the "Sitewide test?", not the entire css page. The rest of the text has minor changes that do not have any effect on the width of the page. Also, since you're using Chrome, it is likely that the browser hasn't properly cleared its cache. Try doing it through your Settings (i.e. Clear browsing data). Alternatively, have you tried other browsers? — subtank   15:26, 18 July 2014 (EDT)


 * Check the image on the right. — subtank   15:32, 18 July 2014 (EDT)


 * Good to know what I should be looking at. So let me see if I can get this right: I should copy and paste everything under the Sitewide Test heading, but not the randomiser tweak heading, or include the randomiser tweak with Sitewide test but not the inactive styles heading? Or just go with the first heading and forget the other two? -- Xamikaze330,  Halopedia Team  Talk 15:42, 18 July 2014 (EDT)Xamikaze330


 * Only the first heading should be copied. The other two is only necessary if you've copied my nimbus.js page.— subtank   15:47, 18 July 2014 (EDT)


 * I did not do that part. Just did the Sitewide Test part. Should I also do the nimbus.js page too? -- Xamikaze330,  Halopedia Team  Talk 17:19, 18 July 2014 (EDT)Xamikaze330


 * (in response to fixed width): Hard to say till I can try it out on a proper computer. How would it affect browsing on mobile? I'm not yet fully sold on the mobile theme (still finding the desktop one more handy on mobile, likely out of familiarity), though since it's a new thing it'll no doubt keep getting better over time.--Jugus (Talk  | Contribs ) 13:01, 19 July 2014 (EDT)


 * @Xamikaze: Only if you want randomised wiki-logo and header-background.
 * @Jugus: It's only affecting Nimbus theme since the code is placed in Nimbus.css. I have yet to edit in mobile theme but I'm sure it'll take time to familiarise with the UI. As of now, mobile theme is really good as a read-only wiki.— subtank   13:17, 19 July 2014 (EDT)