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News:Halo News Network Issue 6 - Believing in us for 15 years: Difference between revisions
News:Halo News Network Issue 6 - Believing in us for 15 years (view source)
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[[File:News Issue 6 Onyx.png|600px|center]] | [[File:News Issue 6 Onyx.png|600px|center]] | ||
Onyx is an open-source MediaWiki skin (compatible with the latest versions of MW) which aims to recreate the appearance and layout of Oasis, the desktop skin used by Wikia/FANDOM. It is intended as an alternative skin for those who prefer Oasis to Nimbus (Halopedia’s current default skin), and it aims to help ease the transition to Halopedia for former Halo Nation users. | Onyx is an open-source MediaWiki skin (compatible with the latest versions of MW) which aims to recreate the appearance and layout of Oasis, the desktop skin used by Wikia/FANDOM. It is intended as an alternative skin for those who prefer Oasis to Nimbus (Halopedia’s current default skin), and it aims to help ease the transition to Halopedia for former Halo Nation users. | ||
Before continuing, I should preface that Onyx is not fully complete. I consider it to be in "early access", currently. Certain features of the skin, such as the search bar, are not yet finalised, and I'm sure there will be unforseen bugs (as well as a few that I already know of). If you have any suggestions, or find any bugs, please let me know [[Special:WikiForum/Onyx Early Access - Feedback Thread|here!]] Treat the current version of Onyx as you would one of the Halo: The Master Chief Collection flights - an early access test of unfinished code. However, the skin is still functional enough for day-to-day use, so please don't feel discouraged from using it as your main skin, if you wish to do so - I certainly will be! All that being said... | |||
As of right now, Onyx is now available as an option to all Halopedia users! You can set it as your preferred skin using [[Special:Preferences]], or if you’d just like to preview it, append "<code>?useskin=onyx</code>" (or <code>&useskin=onyx</code> if there is already a <code>?</code> in the URL) to the end of any Halopedia page’s URL. Onyx will be available permanently as an ''optional'' skin, but fear not: there are no plans to make it the default skin or to remove any existing skins - this isn’t a repeat of what Wikia did with Oasis in 2010. If any such changes were ever made to the wiki, they would be put to a community vote first! | As of right now, Onyx is now available as an option to all Halopedia users! You can set it as your preferred skin using [[Special:Preferences]], or if you’d just like to preview it, append "<code>?useskin=onyx</code>" (or <code>&useskin=onyx</code> if there is already a <code>?</code> in the URL) to the end of any Halopedia page’s URL. Onyx will be available permanently as an ''optional'' skin, but fear not: there are no plans to make it the default skin or to remove any existing skins - this isn’t a repeat of what Wikia did with Oasis in 2010. If any such changes were ever made to the wiki, they would be put to a community vote first! | ||
Though similar to Oasis visually, one of my priorities with Onyx was also to improve upon Oasis wherever possible. To that end, I have implemented many minor quality of life improvements, incorporated a number of useful functionalities from user-made extensions to the Oasis skin as native Onyx features, and included several customisation options that can be tweaked on both the wiki-wide and user-specific levels, to allow users personalise the skin as much as possible. Most notably of these changes, I have addressed the most common criticism I have seen of Oasis - that much of the screen is wasted by clutter and empty space, leaving the actual article content occupying a relatively small area - by increasing the total width of the page itself, reducing the size of the margins around the different page elements, and decreasing the width of the sidebar | |||
Though similar to Oasis visually, one of my priorities with Onyx was also to improve upon Oasis wherever possible. To that end, I have implemented many minor quality of life improvements, incorporated a number of useful functionalities from user-made extensions to the Oasis skin as native Onyx features, and included several customisation options that can be tweaked on both the wiki-wide and user-specific levels, to allow users personalise the skin as much as possible. Most notably of these changes, I have addressed the most common criticism I have seen of Oasis - that much of the screen is wasted by clutter and empty space, leaving the actual article content occupying a relatively small area - by increasing the total width of the page itself, reducing the size of the margins around the different page elements, and decreasing the width of the sidebar. | |||
I would greatly appreciate feedback on all of these changes, and on the skin in general. Any suggestions people may have are more than welcome - just leave a reply to this thread, or contact me directly via the wiki, Discord or Twitter! I encourage everyone who uses the wiki to try it out and let me know what you think - even if you have no intention of using it in the long term - as I want to make this skin the best it can possibly be, and I can’t do that without your opinions and criticism! | I would greatly appreciate feedback on all of these changes, and on the skin in general. Any suggestions people may have are more than welcome - just leave a reply to this thread, or contact me directly via the wiki, Discord or Twitter! I encourage everyone who uses the wiki to try it out and let me know what you think - even if you have no intention of using it in the long term - as I want to make this skin the best it can possibly be, and I can’t do that without your opinions and criticism! | ||
Before I end this post, I would be remiss not to express my gratitude to Jack Phoenix, without whom this project would have taken much, much longer - if it were finished at all. Her contributions and advice have been invaluable | Before I end this post, I would be remiss not to express my gratitude to Jack Phoenix, without whom this project would have taken much, much longer - if it were finished at all. Her contributions and advice have been invaluable! | ||
Apologies that it took so long, and I hope you all like Onyx :) | Apologies that it took so long, and I hope you all like Onyx :) | ||
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-[[User:Dab1001|Dab1001]] | -[[User:Dab1001|Dab1001]] | ||
'''TL;DR:''' A new, optional MediaWiki skin is available for Halopedia, titled Onyx. It is an improved recreation of the Oasis skin used by Wikia/FANDOM on their wikis. The skin can be selected as your personal default in [[Special:Preferences]], and can be previewed on any page by adding <code>?useskin=onyx</code> to its URL. All feedback, positive or negative, is welcome and appreciated, and I encourage you to try Onyx out and let me know what you think! | '''TL;DR:''' A new, optional MediaWiki skin is available for Halopedia, titled Onyx. It is an improved recreation of the Oasis skin used by Wikia/FANDOM on their wikis. The skin can be selected as your personal default in [[Special:Preferences]], and can be previewed on any page by adding <code>?useskin=onyx</code> to its URL. All feedback, positive or negative, is welcome and appreciated, and I encourage you to try Onyx out and [[Special:WikiForum/Onyx Early Access - Feedback Thread|let me know what you think!]] | ||
<small>'''PS:'' Some of you who I have spoken to about this project on Discord or elsewhere may be wondering about the status of Onyx’s companion project, Trevelyan. For those unaware, Trevelyan is a similar project, but for the mobile side of the wiki. It aims to recreate - albeit loosely - and improve upon Wikia’s mobile skin, Mercury, and produce a mobile companion to Onyx that has feature parity with its big brother, in the hopes of providing a much improved experience for both reading ''and'' editing the wiki on the go. Though I had initially intended a simultaneous release, Onyx took an unexpectedly long time to develop due to a number of factors (chiefly, lack of familiarity with the language and MediaWiki API, and lack of time due to my own life getting in the way), and I didn’t want to delay its release any longer. I’m not ready to give an ETA for Trevelyan yet, but I haven’t given up on the project, so expect it some time in the future.</small> | <small>'''PS:'' Some of you who I have spoken to about this project on Discord or elsewhere may be wondering about the status of Onyx’s companion project, Trevelyan. For those unaware, Trevelyan is a similar project, but for the mobile side of the wiki. It aims to recreate - albeit loosely - and improve upon Wikia’s mobile skin, Mercury, and produce a mobile companion to Onyx that has feature parity with its big brother, in the hopes of providing a much improved experience for both reading ''and'' editing the wiki on the go. Though I had initially intended a simultaneous release, Onyx took an unexpectedly long time to develop due to a number of factors (chiefly, lack of familiarity with the language and MediaWiki API, and lack of time due to my own life getting in the way), and I didn’t want to delay its release any longer. I’m not ready to give an ETA for Trevelyan yet, but I haven’t given up on the project, so expect it some time in the future.</small> | ||