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)

Sidebar Error
My sidebar seems to be messed up, as it's only showing one row of options, as seen here. I added and quickly removed a code from my nimbus.css page, so I'm wondering if that has something to do with it.-- 11:53, 21 July 2014 (EDT)


 * I have yet to test it on IE but I assume it could be a cache error. Was the image before or after you added the code? It wasn't clear from your comment. — subtank   02:11, 22 July 2014 (EDT)


 * It was after I removed the code, which I figured would revert it back. I've cleared my cache but for some reason it isn't working.-- 11:08, 22 July 2014 (EDT)


 * It is likely that your IE is not rendering the page properly. If clearing the cache doesn't work, maybe clear your browsing history? — subtank   12:08, 22 July 2014 (EDT)
 * Right, I'll try that.-- 12:14, 22 July 2014 (EDT)
 * Just wondering, does this error remain even without logging in? If it is and the above doesn't work, you might want to reset the browser. Before doing so, save all your personal bookmarks in a notepad. If resetting doesn't work... well... I'm not sure what to say. — subtank   12:21, 22 July 2014 (EDT)
 * The sidebar returns to normal when I log out. I guess I'll try a different browser since nothing seems to be working. :/ Edit: Switched to Firefox and the sidebar is still broken. Guess I could switch my skin to MonoBook... -- 12:36, 22 July 2014 (EDT)
 * Nevermind, resetting my site preferences has resolved the issue. :D -- 12:41, 22 July 2014 (EDT)

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

General
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)

Hey, has anyone else been getting this message whenever they click on an article link in the "Site Activity" section?
 * "Bad title. The requested page title was invalid, empty, or an incorrectly linked inter-language or inter-wiki title. It may contain one or more characters that cannot be used in titles." 
 * This has been going on for a few days. Am I the only one having this problem? -- MisterRandom2 (talk) 11:51, 20 July 2014 (EDT)


 * I'm getting it too. - NightHammer (talk) 12:02, 20 July 2014 (EDT)


 * Looks like its the wiki itself. I'm sure it will be fixed by Porple. — subtank   12:55, 20 July 2014 (EDT)


 * You're not the only one. I'm getting the same problem too. Porple will fix it soon. Has anybody notified him of this? -- Xamikaze330,  Halopedia Team  Talk 13:29, 20 July 2014 (EDT)Xamikaze330


 * Fixed it. -- 15:07, 20 July 2014 (EDT)

Glad we finally have a mobile theme, let me know what I can do to help out with that.-- 21:19, 20 July 2014 (EDT)

I've just started testing Subtanks proposed fixed width system. I think it's a good idea, it'll help with image/text layout in the articles. It'll also make it easier to produce a consistently appealing front page. That said, I think we'll have to change our current header system to one that fills the borders at the sides of the page. As it stands it looks rather strange.--Soul reaper (talk) 11:51, 12 August 2014 (EDT)


 * I'm relying on this source. The adoption of 1366x768 (and higher screen resolution) is increasing and I think having a fixed width layout would be in the best interest of this wiki in the long run.— subtank   21:59, 12 August 2014 (EDT)

Just gave the fixed width a try. As I'm used to a 1920x1280 page that fills the whole screen, the new format certainly feels very narrow and hauntingly evokes the appearance of Wikia sites with its huge bars of empty space on both sides of the page proper (if this passes, I'd rather we at least implemented some appealing background pattern rather than the dull whiteness). But then again it's true that it would help with standardization. IDK. --Jugus (Talk  | Contribs ) 00:09, 13 August 2014 (EDT)

Just a thought, here. We might want to wait until closer to when Halo 5: Guardians comes out, since we will have more (and better) pictures to work with. Just my two cents, anyway. --Weeping Angel (talk) 22:02, 6 October 2014 (EDT)

New logo/background proposal
I would like to make a proposal for a new logo and/or background. With the release of the Master Chief Collection, I think it would be fitting to change our logo to something new (see below).

Also, a new background for the page header would be effective - perhaps the Halo: Nightfall image? (see below).

Just ideas, please feel free to shoot me down (or ask me to tweak things)! -- Monitor Chakas ('''Talk 06:20, 22 July 2014 (EDT)


 * Since someone has started their submission, let me just lay down the requirements:
 * Background images must be at a minimum of 1980 x 200. That means 1980px in width and 200px in height.
 * Wiki-logo must be at a 222 x 164. That means 222px in width and 164px in height.
 * Looking forward to more submissions! :D — subtank   09:24, 22 July 2014 (EDT)


 * Both of those suggestions look really nice, MonitorChakas! They seem modest and totally appealing.

Reformatting some other elements of the Main Page
I was wondering if there was any chance that some of the things on the main page could be updated. Actually I have many suggestions, but at least I would like to discuss them with you.

I think some of the main pages of the Halo universe should also find their way on this page.(UNSC, Covenant, Spartan-II/III/IV programs, Forerunner, Halo Array) A little bit like the "Navigation" on the left, which shows some of the main characters/factions. But my main suggestion for this would be, perhaps, that these pages should be restricted to those that are currently "significant". You know, these pages that are to be updated every now and then. Mission to Ven III or more generally Post-Covenant War conflicts, Halo: Broken Circle's main content. Basically, what people who don't hunt every single edit need to know about what's going on on Halopedia. What's new and exciting. Let's be honest, if I were a random visitor, I wouldn't necessarily know which articles Halopedia is updating every month (depending on the relase of Halo: Escalation / Broken Circle / whatever).

A similar proposal would be for the Official News stuff. Currently, they are always very basic, everyone probably already knows what it says, and they change rarely. Instead, I suggest we may have two different "things" (they can still be in the same box). First, what's really new. For example, "small" news (I know they can be posted here sometimes, but trust me some really deserve to be on the main page, it would be more... lively?): things like new trailers that are f-ing awesome, releases of new issues of Escalation, any new interesting videos by 343i (The ice bucket challenge with the Beamish cameo could have been featured when it was released, for example), well any other small things. (When a new weapon is announced for Halo 5? etc). The most recent video should obviously be featured next to the box (or whatever you call it, sorry if I lack the technical terms). By the way, we would also get more space by getting rid of that old Halo CEA trailer, on the front page. I'm not sure if old videos should stay; "featured articles" sound good, but "featured videos"... meh. Second, what I would call "big" news: basically what doesn't really matter because everyone knows about it. Halo 5 announced for 2015? Yeah! But that's secondary news to me, just put the news on the side. These would be the release dates (It's actually what our "news" box is just about, right now. Squeeze it into simple lines for each future release). Here you can see my talent (No Microsoft Paint was involved). Of course, this is just a basic representation of what I think this box should say and show. These are more like "real news" to me than what's in the box currently. I even think the "smaller" news could be up to 10 maximum. For the "future releases", there will be as much as what's needed. Redundant ones shouldn't be present (just put the next Escalation issue, not all of them, despite the fact that they will all be released before Halo 5). A few things I wrote are just examples, of course, they don't exist (yet). Imrane-117 (talk) 13:37, 8 November 2014 (EST)

http://i.imgur.com/BGyxPSn.png
 * Our news section has needed an upgrade for a while. This is a great suggestion and I'm all for it. Anyone else want to chime in?-- 13:48, 8 November 2014 (EST)
 * I agree as well. This looks a lot better and gives users more information. My only suggestion would be to format the video (or add more "Recent releases") so that it does not interrupt the dividing section line, if possible. Still, this looks great and I'm a fan of the suggestion. - NightHammer (talk) 13:55, 8 November 2014 (EST)
 * The list would definitely be a bit longer and there are a few adjustments to be made. Understand that this is simply a draft made with Paint. The "covers" would also be more numerous, with Halo 2 Anniversary, Halo: Nightfall, Halo: Broken Circle, Halo: Spartan Strike, etc. (depending on what is more "in"), and their size should be adjusted properly. "Recent releases" may also be rephrased, since announcing a new map or weapon doesn't exactly constitute a release. "Recent announcements" or "Recent news", perhaps. I'm also trying to figure out how to implement what I said about "promoting" articles that have been recently created/improved and that matter in "recent" Halo lore. (i.e. Skirmish on Installation 03 at a time when we were all following the events of "The Next 72 Hours"; right now Broken Circle ' s best and most important articles would be the "current articles" featured, so anyone can easily consult them to see what important stuff was in the book). This feature would be separate from the news, of course. Perhaps it may be put below or on top of the "category articles" (see what was discussed previously on this page, with the ONI images supposed to represent a new format, etc) Imrane-117 (talk) 19:35, 8 November 2014 (EST)


 * With regards to the first proposal about notifying visitors of recent edits, we can place a compact version of Special:RecentChanges (of, say, the latest 10 edits) on the landing page. This works better and it does not require users to manually update to show what has been recently updated.
 * As for the "Official News", I like the concept of "small news" and "big news". We can most definitely separate the "small" and "big" news with a visible dividing line, just like in the image you attached. However, I don't think the videos and images in the "Official News" box should be included, because they don't look nice when viewed in mobile theme. One thing to note: "Community News" (and its submission page) was essentially "small news". Its intended purpose is for the greater Halo community and not to be limited only to the wiki community. For some reason, it was converted to match the template:whatsgoingon. Anyway, we could still make use of the submission page for "small news" submissions and revive the "Community News". And yes, this can and should be incorporated in the landing page. I'll whip up a working model some time today.
 * Also, to clarify one thing about the video: videos featured are randomised and never fixed (unless you have not cleared your browser's cache). So, you shouldn't see just one video every time you visit the landing page. The wiki has a submission page for videos; the main issue is that users rarely submits them on that page. Unless the wiki receives constant submissions, I think the randomisation should stay to make the landing page looks fresh. If it receives updates, then the randomisation goes and videos will be fixed by the most recent submission. — subtank   00:33, 9 November 2014 (EST)
 * How's that? — subtank   10:09, 10 November 2014 (EST)
 * I like the way it looks. Did anyone still want to add a compact recent changes to the landing page, or are we scrapping that idea?-- 12:06, 10 November 2014 (EST)
 * So, about that compact recentchanges... what's the decision? Nay or yay? — subtank   08:46, 17 November 2014 (EST)
 * My original suggestion was more like finding a way to highlight what good article(s) we have going on at the moment. The recent changes themselves are the best on their own page and I don't think having only the last few of them would be useful. My whole point in these discussions is that things get easily lost in the recent changes, so for example just having the last ten ones on the main page wouldn't work toward a solution (Unless for people who have never heard of the real Recent changes page, but in this case I doubt they would find the last edits really useful; if you want my opinion, in general the last edits are always pretty crappy ones). What I wanted was more like having some kind of an informal article of the week (with a very flexible timeframe, depending on what new Halo media is released and what new content is added to the wiki). Like a faux Featured Article nomination, with an election going on for like two or three days, and we quickly deliberate on what good articles were created or heavily updated recently (I don't like the word election at all, since it's just going to be some quick suggestions by people who feel like they got something right with an article recently). Even if that includes just two or three regular people ready to participate in this stuff from time to time. There wouldn't be a particular day for the election (i.e. We don't necessarily vote during the week-end for articles to be nominated for the following week. It can happen anytime when we feel like there has been good new content added to the wiki.) Potentially, the two or three good articles of the moment could simply get a mention below the "Featured Article" here, in something called "Articles of the moment" (just a wild example). Also, whenever I'm talking of featuring some "good" articles, by "good" I mean something that is currently relevant in the Halo universe (from our real world perspective). For example, people may get confused about whether some new armors are Mark VI or GEN2, and the Centurion page could provide an explanation for this; this is simply an example, the Centurion page doesn't really have a lot of good info for this purpose. Current "good" articles would be those that are useful to follow what's going on in Broken Circle, the H2A Terminals, or Nightfall, just depending on what would be the best articles. It's essentially a more flexible system than the Featured Articles, in order to spread the word more easily about the good things going on on Halopedia. Featured Articles would be kept for the best of the best of the best, as usual.Imrane-117 (talk) 17:10, 17 November 2014 (EST)
 * "[snip] What I wanted was more like having some kind of an informal article of the week (with a very flexible timeframe, depending on what new Halo media is released and what new content is added to the wiki). [snip]" We could introduce this "faux Featured Article" but this issue is how effective would this be in the long-run? The wiki has retired much "special content" in the main page in the old days due to the lack of participation by users. HOTM became inactive and removed, with Featured Articles randomised since nominations are becoming uncommon (well, kinda common with at least one nomination per month). We could instead use AID and feature the first few articles in that project page in the main page. Have another look and let me know what you think of it. — subtank   11:45, 20 November 2014 (EST)

This looks great!! Thanks for all the hard work. --Weeping Angel (talk) 19:27, 10 November 2014 (EST)
 * If you have any other ideas or concepts, feel free to drop it in this forum thread. :) — subtank   07:18, 15 November 2014 (EST)

Is there a possibility to get some kind of chat on the recent changes page? I often find myself wanting to discuss very quickly about something, for example notifying other contributors that I'm currently heavily editing an article so it would be much appreciated to wait a little bit further if they wanted to touch it (or even when I'm creating a new article, to ask if someone may also be working on it); or in the opposite case, notifying them that although I seemed to be in a rampage of editing articles of a certain kind, I'm actually stopping it for now so anyone can pick up where I left if they wish to (i.e. if four new Halo 5 multiplayer maps were announced, and I had created the articles for two maps but I didn't plan to continue the rest, then I could leave a post clearly visible advising people that the rest should be done if someone feels like doing it). Often, private messages aren't suitable for that since I don't want to address some people in particular, and talk pages/forums aren't the solution either because they easily disappear in the recent changes list, and anyway, their respective purposes don't really seem to fit what I want to do. The only "solution" I've found so far was to use this page, but I don't think it would really attract people's attention if I had to post quick remarks. The only meaningful way to circumvent this and catch people's attention, to me, is to use the edit summaries, as I think everyone remembers to read them when checking the recent changes page. But it's only possible if I'm editing a particular article, not "in general", and of course I don't plan on editing an article just for the sake of having access to its edit summary. The whole idea would actually not really be like a chat, since I don't want something to "mess" with one of the most visited pages of the site (I know there's an IRC channel, though it seems it's not really used enough for what I intend to do...). My idea would be more like pinning a post-it on the side of the recent changes page (ideally on top of it, between the colourful "Community News" and the "Recent changes options", so people can see it easily (and potentially answer back if needed, or simply do what is suggests, or ignoring it if they are not concerned). For this tiny section to be editable by anyone (or members with certain criteria, but basically not just admins), perhaps we could put a template. So no one can edit what appears on top of the "Recent changes" page —it stays fully protected, but they can edit the little template from the template's page. (I don't know if it's possible to indirectly edit a page this way, or even if a template can fit here?) This can be used as a quick-to-do improvement thing, things that wouldn't find their way to Jugus' weekly-updated improvements page. For example, I'm waiting for things to move forward here, someone else might be waiting for a few answers there, and the same could be true for this, this, this or that thing I've just remembered right now. (not only queries on talk pages of course, as I said earlier it's also good for other kinds of situation; i.e. Some time ago someone wanted to ask people if the EVA armor was really in Halo 5 as it was listed on the page but with no source. This quickly-solvable issue could have been fixed more rapidly if the question had been more visible to everyone. A system of post-it visible to those checking the recent changes page, basically. Imrane-117 (talk) 22:08, 15 November 2014 (EST)


 * That is a brilliant idea. I personally have no idea how it could be implemented, or if it's possible at all, but I'd be absolutely for it. --Jugus (Talk  | <font color="Gray">Contribs ) 11:14, 16 November 2014 (EST)


 * I don't think it is possible without having some script expert to write one for us. Even MediaWiki's third party website is listing any other good alternatives. For now, I think we would have to make with what we have. The IRC would be the next best alternative for this, not to mention that you don't need install a webclient to access it as it is accessible via special:webchat. — subtank   08:44, 17 November 2014 (EST)
 * While there is no chatbox only for RecentChanges I know of, MediaWikiChat is a very nice builtin chat system developed for Brickimedia. It might not handle huge amounts of users (30+) very well, but is better and more user friendly than IRC.  I can post a screenshot if required.  --LK901 (talk) 13:19, 20 November 2014 (EST)
 * That's an interesting suggestion. Would it work with our current Media Wiki version?-- 13:48, 20 November 2014 (EST)
 * I have it on my wiki which 1.23.6, so I doubt that there would be any problems running it on 1.23.4. If you need to test it out before installing, go to Brickimedia.  --LK901 (talk) 14:08, 20 November 2014 (EST)