Forum:SH:Star Wars: Card Trader Project

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This page is an archive of a community-wide discussion. This page is no longer live. Further comments or questions on this topic should be made in a new Senate Hall page rather than here so that this page is preserved as a historic record. Tommy-Macaroni 08:02, 16 April 2021 (UTC)

Star Wars: Card Trader is one of our sources of information for Canon articles. As such, many of our Canon articles list Card Trader in the Sources list. Recently, we've begun listing Card Trader by individual card like we do for all other card sets, which ideally will include linking to images of Card Trader cards.

The problem we face with Card Trader is that it's a digital app, which means all of its data will be permanently lost the moment Topps decides to discontinue it. To this end, AV-6R7, Ayrehead02, and I have begun a project to create a permanent reference database for these Card Trader cards. This database can be found on the Star Wars: Card Trader Wiki. Our basic goal is to capture screengrabs (both front and back) of any card with text on the back.

The bad news is that there are literally something like 40,000 cards on this app, with new ones being released every single day. The good news is very few of these cards have data on the back, and the app stopped releasing these data cards after 2015 (I believe), so this project is finite. The other non-data cards from this app are mostly just stylized artwork with no text or are otherwise just digital reissues of Topps' other concurrent physical card sets, all of which we can just ignore, because it's simply impractical to be listing 10,000 different artwork cards in Sources lists.

So to narrow down our focus with this project, this is what we need to be listing in Canon articles' Sources lists from Star Wars: Card Trader:

  • Any cards with data on the back (which we believe is relegated to just the "2015 Edition" cards) or cards with other unique textual canon information, such as new character names in the card title.
  • Any cards with unique film promotional images not yet released in any other Canon source; example, list the Card Trader card that was the first to show this Leesub Sirlin promo image.
    • We can disregard:
      • Multi-color parallel sets. For example, the 2015 Edition (now named Base Series 1) cards have Yellow, White, Red, Green, Blue, etc. parallels, which are all exactly the same card just with different colored borders. We only need to list the card once in Sources lists, and we'll be taking screengrabs of the first-issued card, White, for the database.
      • Legends. Some of these cards actually contained Legends references, which we just disregard for Canon articles, but our database will still be taking screengrabs of all 2015 Edition cards for archival purposes.
      • Non-exclusives. As stated above, Card Trader reissues digital editions of cards from Topps' other concurrent physical sets. Although these physical sets should be listed in Canon Sources lists, they don't need to be relisted from Card Trader. However, the database may still take screengrabs of these cards for their digital quality as the need arises.
  • Individual cards from Card Trader Digital App should be listed using the {{SWCT}} template. Note that there is also a physical Star Wars: Card Trader set released in 2016 with no current documentation on Wookieepedia, which we will also need to work on at some point.

The database itself will accept any screengrab image from any card included in Star Wars: Card Trader, because it will be beneficial to have an archive of these cards. But realistically, we're probably never going to create a complete archive of all 40,000+ cards from this app, which is why our focus is on those cards with textual data.

If you want to help with this database project, this is what you can do. Our current checklist of objectives includes:

  • Create a complete checklist of all 2015 Edition cards. This checklist can be hosted on this SH page, where we can cross them off as we upload card images. (Done. This can be found: Base Series 1 Plume Tray (talk) 18:18, July 11, 2020 (UTC))
  • Take screengrabs of these 2015 Edition cards (both front and back of card) and upload these images to the SWCT Wiki. The primary focus should be on getting the 2015 Edition White parallel cards, as explained above, as these card images are what we will be linking to from our Sources lists. (Done Plume Tray (talk) 18:18, July 11, 2020 (UTC))
  • Create an article for each 2015 Edition card on SWCT Wiki, which is where these images will be hosted. (Done Plume Tray (talk) 18:18, July 11, 2020 (UTC))

Toprawa and Ralltiir (talk) 21:12, September 10, 2017 (UTC)

Cards with text

There are lots more sets including cards with text that we need help with. Most are incomplete and require articles for the associated cards. Please note, if you are uploading screenshot images, please crop them, removing unnecessary background outside the card's boundary (we don't want to see the phone's 4G signal etc). Also, don't hesitate to rotate any images that should be orientated in landscape, images and text look better when they're the right way up and not sideways. Plume Tray (talk) 18:18, July 11, 2020 (UTC)

Discussion

  • Sounds good, I could help with some of that. Also there're some cards from 2015 series that were exclusive to a certain color, so they might have information on them. For example the a Padmé Amidala red base card--DarthRuiz30 (talk) 21:20, September 10, 2017 (UTC)
    • Sure thing. Anything that is exclusive to a certain color should be uploaded and linked to the same way we will for the Yellow Silver White set. Ideally, we'll have an archive of all color cards from the 2015 Edition anyway. Toprawa and Ralltiir (talk) 21:22, September 10, 2017 (UTC)
      • DarthRuiz do you know any other cards unique to only one colour? I've managed to find that the ROTS Yoda is red exclusive as well but am fairly certain there's at least one more red exclusive card. —Unsigned comment by Ayrehead02 (talk • contribs)
        • Its the Nute Gunray that was just added to the list--DarthRuiz30 (talk) 23:11, September 10, 2017 (UTC)
          • Yeah, we just figured this out as well. - Imperial Information Office AV-6R7Crew Pit 23:12, September 10, 2017 (UTC)
  • Sounds like this will be difficult with the new Crystals Paywall, no? I have a number of screen grabs across several computers, but what kind of image size dimensions are you looking for? If I'm not mistaken, different devices produce different resolutions/sizes for the cards. --Clonehunter(Report your W.M.D.) 21:33, September 10, 2017 (UTC)
    • I'm not sure what the situation is with the Crystals Paywall, but I believe you can still view all cards on the app even if you can't obtain them for your personal collection. For image sizes, I guess just get the highest resolution you can. Bigger is always better for images. Toprawa and Ralltiir (talk) 21:58, September 10, 2017 (UTC)
      • You can view the cards you don't have, but they added a new "feature" where the image is darkened a bit if you don't actually have the card. I saved one of them with the intent to see if maybe I can bring back the color to what it should be. Probably just a simple levels adjustment. However, it is annoying that they decided to dark-out the images like that. --Clonehunter(Report your W.M.D.) 22:38, September 10, 2017 (UTC)
        • Yeah, I think you can use the autofix feature on iOS to fix this. - Imperial Information Office AV-6R7Crew Pit 22:41, September 10, 2017 (UTC)
          • Actually, it appears locked cards also have a very feint spot pattern, which I doubt can be removed easily, if it all. --Clonehunter(Report your W.M.D.) 17:01, October 28, 2017 (UTC)
  • Fair warning to everyone already making edits, I've asked that a bot go through and remove card trader from all sources sections today since it no longer needs to be on the majority of pages it's listed on and we're going to need to go through and re-add the template to any that should have it anyway. I'd therefore advise that people hold off on adding the template and instead focus on adding images to the card trader wiki or identifying cards outside of the 2015 edition set that will need preserving because of a 1stID or image. Ayrehead02 (talk) 07:22, September 11, 2017 (UTC)
    • why not temporarily remove the link from the template. So the progress made until now is conserved and meanwhile they remove the general link. We continue adding the images to the SWCT wiki?--DarthRuiz30 (talk) 07:48, September 11, 2017 (UTC)
  • While I was searching for high-quality Force Collection images for the Force Collection project, I had discovered this guy on Twitter who shares both Force Collection and Card Trader cards. He had 40 high-quality CT images in total, so I've uploaded them all to the Card Trader Wiki, but didn't add them to any article since I'm not familiar with the app. I thought maybe someone would like to use them. TanDivoInsignia-SenateMurders AnilSerifoglu (talk) 18:00, March 25, 2018 (UTC)
  • The app has a way to see all the cards, even if you don’t own them, so should images just be taken from there?--Editoronthewiki (talk) 23:43, April 24, 2019 (UTC)
    • The section is just called “ALL CARDS.”--Editoronthewiki (talk) 23:51, April 24, 2019 (UTC)
      • Is that even accessible anymore? I deleted my app like a year ago because it didn't look like there was any way to open anything up once they shut it down. Toprawa and Ralltiir (talk) 00:10, April 25, 2019 (UTC)
      • Nevermind. I was thinking of Force Collection. I believe the problem one faces with what you're referring to is that the cards you don't actually have in your collection are darkened out, so uploading those versions isn't useful (Clonehunter was speaking to this above). I'm not sure what may have changed in the app since that time. Toprawa and Ralltiir (talk) 00:46, April 25, 2019 (UTC)
        • I appear to be able to see them even if I don’t have them. For example I don’t own the battle droids card, but I was able to see the front image and back description.--Editoronthewiki (talk) 00:52, April 25, 2019 (UTC)
          • Right -- you may not be understanding what I'm saying. The cards are still visible, they're just darkened from their natural level of brightness. So as far as uploading images for our infoboxes, for example, they're pretty much unusable. But again, I'm not sure if that's even a thing anymore, as I no longer use this app. Toprawa and Ralltiir (talk) 01:05, April 25, 2019 (UTC)
            • They do not seem dark. (However, based on that the information is all there.)--Editoronthewiki (talk) 01:15, April 25, 2019 (UTC)
  • Added a few 2015 today and updated the list above. Also 2020 base cards all have rear text too for those who didn't know. I've added the 2020 base list to SWCT wiki, however its just names as per the cards so there's no disambiguation currently, the only dup is Han Solo and Han Solo (Award). Plume Tray (talk) 00:10, December 13, 2019 (UTC)
  • Is everything from SWCT Canon? I found a few cards from 2016 Star Wars Illustrated which I've created articles for on SWCT wiki: Card 2 {{Topps|set=Star Wars: Card Trader|sformat=''Star Wars'': Card Trader|cardname=Attacking the convoy|link=http://starwarscardtrader.wikia.com/wiki/Attacking_the_convoy}} & Card 6 {{Topps|set=Star Wars: Card Trader|sformat=''Star Wars'': Card Trader|cardname=Presenting Commander Skywalker|link=http://starwarscardtrader.wikia.com/wiki/Presenting_Commander_Skywalker}}. Each have a comic image on the front and text on the back, which I think references information in legends maybe? Are these to be treated as Legends or Canon? —Unsigned comment by Plume Tray (talk • contribs)
  • I've created a new template {{SWCT}}, which outputs the same information using less editor input, as it only requires the CARDNAME, and optional URL if available. For example, output is still {{SWCT|Major Vonreg|https://starwarscardtrader.fandom.com/wiki/Major_Vonreg}}. Would anyone object to using it instead of {{Topps}}? Plume Tray (talk) 22:43, February 2, 2020 (UTC)
    • I see no point on the SWCT template if its literally the same template as the Topps one-DarthRuiz30 (talk) 23:42, February 2, 2020 (UTC)
      • Topps template requires more input, for example: {{Topps|set=Star Wars: Card Trader|sformat=''Star Wars'': Card Trader|cardname=Major Vonreg|link=https://starwarscardtrader.fandom.com/wiki/Major_Vonreg}}, whereas the SWCT template only requires two inputs: {{SWCT|Major Vonreg|https://starwarscardtrader.fandom.com/wiki/Major_Vonreg}}. The Star Wars Card Trader text is now included automatically, and you don't need to call the template attributes such as cardname= or link=, so less risk of mistakes. The original Topps template could be changed to do the same thing instead but I didn't want to break any existing articles. Plume Tray (talk) 10:49, February 3, 2020 (UTC)
        • As I said, its basically the same thing. The Topps template is not even used by that many users (and It should be used more), so I don't think there's people confused about it. As for the link and cardname, those can easly be removed from the Topps template, which I don't think they should be removed since they're there to guide the user to format the template correctly. UberSoldat93 had a really good idea that shared with us on IRC for a potential SWCT template, which besides the information required on the Topps template, it requires the user to add the set name of the card and an automatic interwiki link to the Card Trader wiki, that way the Topps template would be for physical sets only--DarthRuiz30 (talk) 11:00, February 3, 2020 (UTC)
          • I was going for a similar ease of use as the Databank template, in fact the URL bit could be shortened and automated too, for example: {{SWCT|Major Vonreg|Major_Vonreg}}. Even here you don't need the set name because if that changed on the SWCT wiki, you would have to change all downstream articles. I like the idea of an automatic interwiki link, but you shouldn't need the set name, as the URL is unique enough to work without it. Plume Tray (talk) 11:14, February 3, 2020 (UTC)
            • Each URL might be unique, but if people don't create an article in the Card Trader wiki then I think it is necessary. If someone adds {{SWCT|Mace Windu}}, there's several instances where there's Windu cards with the same name. So either set name as a separate field or set name on the card's name--DarthRuiz30 (talk) 22:01, February 3, 2020 (UTC)
              • I think that just highlights a bigger issue in how we deal with articles for similar cardnames on the SWCT wiki. As long as an editor uses the correct article name on the template, it will work fine. Plume Tray (talk) 11:16, February 5, 2020 (UTC)
              • OK, I've updated the SWCT template documentation to make it clear that it's the article name that is required on the template, not the cardname, since the article name is unique. Plume Tray (talk) 11:39, February 5, 2020 (UTC)
            • I've updated the SWCT template so you don't need the full URL, just the last bit of it. So all you enter is {{SWCT|Major Vonreg|Major_Vonreg}}. Although this isn't completely automated or foolproof, it at least requires less input, and the template handles more of the common elements. Plume Tray (talk) 11:36, February 3, 2020 (UTC)
            • I've updated the SWCT template again, all you need is the correct card name e.g. {{SWCT|Major Vonreg}} and it automatically picks up the correct interwiki link. Can't get any shorter than that. Plume Tray (talk) 11:53, February 3, 2020 (UTC)
              • Does anyone know how to get redlinks to show for interwiki links? Is there something I need to add to the template? Plume Tray (talk) 14:02, February 3, 2020 (UTC)
  • With regard to dealing with multiple cards with the same name from different sets, we could prefix SWCT articles with the unique ID found in the app info section of each card? Similar to Lego articles e.g. 75082 TIE Advanced Prototype. What's everyone's thoughts on this? Plume Tray (talk) 12:36, February 5, 2020 (UTC)
    • As I'm going through updating and adding SWCT wiki articles, I've realised the best naming format is "Cardname - Set - SetSubNameIfGiven - ID", e.g. C'ai Threnalli - Masterwork 2018 - Base - 94518. The previous (current) format "ID - Cardname" isn't very user-friendly on searches or link suggestions - so I'm in the process of renaming the articles as per the newer format. Plume Tray (talk) 21:09, February 13, 2020 (UTC)
  • All the existing SWCT wiki articles now have infoboxes (Template:Card for cards and Template:Set for sets). Hopefully this gives the SWCT wiki some uniformity. Is there a SWCT wiki admin that could add an infobox theme to the wiki's css, it would be nice to mimic Wookieepedia if that's agreeable with everyone. Plume Tray (talk) 20:09, February 8, 2020 (UTC)
  • SWCT wiki housekeeping - could an SWCT admin have a little look please? Candidates for deletion and redirects are starting to stack up, would do it myself but don't have privileges. Thanks Plume Tray (talk) 16:51, February 16, 2020 (UTC)
  • For anyone now using the {{SWCT}} template, as proposed by Toprawa and Ralltiir, the Set, that should already be part of the SWCT article name (as per above), shall use italics when adding to Wookieepedia pages, which can be achieved using a pipe inside the template (its actually the FORMAT parameter already included). For example, {{SWCT|Major Vonreg - 2020 Base Series|Major Vonreg - ''2020 Base Series''}}, which outputs Star Wars: Card Trader No set defined!. If you stumble across any SWCT articles that don't have a set name or if you are unsure, please let me know. Plume Tray (talk) 13:56, February 21, 2020 (UTC)