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. Graestan(Talk) 00:03, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
(Thanks to Green tentacle for bringing this feature to my attention)
Wikia recently (well, I don't know how recent it truly is. I do know that I only learned about it yesterday, so it's recent to me) released a new feature which gives individual wikis to present a virtual tour or their content. I looked it over and decided it would be something worth pursuing, and, thus, have developed a "beta" of the tour.
Unfortunately (well, fortunately for us IMHO, but unfortunately for the apparent intent), as Wookieepedia is less concerned with community efforts such as blogging or other non-encyclopedic tasks, the content available for a stock tour was somewhat limited. Once I finished up on talking about the GA, I... kinda ran out of ideas.
So, after a brief break from the work, I decided to focus less on showing off Wookieepedia and more on both coaching new users, like a guided tour of our Community Portal, and also on drawing new editors to Wookieepedia by offering upfront the ideals of Wookieepedia's editing styles. With this mindset in place, I added pages pointing out and commmenting on such things as the Layout Guide, the MOS, and other assorted editing-related topics. While, from the outside, these may look worthless, to a user like myself being drawn to and shown exactly how the wiki is designed to run is vastly more beneficial than to simply say "Here's the wiki. Have fun."
And that's where you, the community, comes in. I'm perfectly willing to work and maintain this feature, but I would appreciate input, positive or negative. I'd also really like suggestions on additional pages that would follow the mindset I talked about above (and below, since I'm going to TL;DR this). In no way does this have to be anything "official", but if reaction is such that it looks good to have officialized I'll make way to CT, if necessary.
So, shoot. Jorrel
Fraajic 07:06, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
TL;DR version: Wikia made something new. I adapted it to fit Wookieepedia's style: More encyclopedia, less BS. I would like input. That is all.
Comments
- At the moment, I can find nothing additional to add. It seems you have covered a good deal of the most important pages on this wiki. I appreciate your emphasis on showing the new user how to edit rather than just throwing them to bone to chew on. We need more interactivity. -- Riffsyphon1024 07:16, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
- Pranay: In the template, you make a link to the next page, so I'd propose to make one to the previous page as well. Since you transclude the pages like the MoS, LG and the like, you also transclude their categories (example). To avoid this, simply put on the respective pages. I also made a change to the template. The categorization will only be on the pages where the template is included, and furthermore the pages will be categorized by the subpagename, which should be preferred, because the pagename always starts with the same letter. Hope this feedback helps you. Pranay Sobusk ~ Talk 13:56, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
- Alright, that first one is done: a link to the previous stop has been added to the template. <noincludes> have been added to each respective stop as well, with exception to any article using the {{policy}} template as categorization is directly tied to that template. As for your work on the Tour template, thanks! I just basically copy-pasted the contents of the original to here and didn't bother much with the tweaking side of it. Jorrel
Fraajic 16:01, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
- Alright, that first one is done: a link to the previous stop has been added to the template. <noincludes> have been added to each respective stop as well, with exception to any article using the {{policy}} template as categorization is directly tied to that template. As for your work on the Tour template, thanks! I just basically copy-pasted the contents of the original to here and didn't bother much with the tweaking side of it. Jorrel
- Looks great! I imagine the community portal link on the end page should link to the SH instead. Also, we should replace the "About wookieepedia" link in the sidebar with this. It's much more informative. —Xwing328(Talk) 05:10, 5 June 2009 (UTC)
- Well, the community portal is far more useful to the average user in terms of useful links than the SH, which is overused by newbies to ask simple questions in the FAQ anyway. I prefer the CP, personally. Atarumaster88
(Talk page) 05:15, 5 June 2009 (UTC)
- Yeah, I prefer the Community Portal above the SH simply because there's more links there. Although, if one would like to make certain links on the Portal stand out more (like the SH), then that would be all right as well. (Off topic slightly: Thanks for the fixes, Xwing. :D ) Jorrel
Fraajic 14:02, 5 June 2009 (UTC)
- Actually, I hadn't looked at the End page in great detail until now. After seeing what was there... yeah, that link definitely needed to be changed. So I did. Community Portal now points to the Community Portal, and I've added a "ask questions in the SH" option. Also, I do agree that we should change that "About:Wookieepedia" link in the sidebar, if/when this becomes officially "official". JorrelFraajic 14:11, 5 June 2009 (UTC)
- Actually, I hadn't looked at the End page in great detail until now. After seeing what was there... yeah, that link definitely needed to be changed. So I did. Community Portal now points to the Community Portal, and I've added a "ask questions in the SH" option. Also, I do agree that we should change that "About:Wookieepedia" link in the sidebar, if/when this becomes officially "official". Jorrel
- Yeah, I prefer the Community Portal above the SH simply because there's more links there. Although, if one would like to make certain links on the Portal stand out more (like the SH), then that would be all right as well. (Off topic slightly: Thanks for the fixes, Xwing. :D ) Jorrel
- Well, the community portal is far more useful to the average user in terms of useful links than the SH, which is overused by newbies to ask simple questions in the FAQ anyway. I prefer the CP, personally. Atarumaster88
- I think this is an awesome idea, and it looks great! The only thing I would consider changing is perhaps the order of the tour; some things could be switched around. For example, I think things like the Help, LG, Manual of Style, and Editing tutorial pages should be moved ahead of GA, FA, and IRC pages on the tour. Give the newbies a more general idea of how the site works first, then show them some of the finer points. (Unless of course there is a reason for these being towards the front, which I have overlooked.) Jonjedigrandmaster (Jujiggum) 23:16, 5 June 2009 (UTC)
- It looks great to me; however, is there any way to make a table of contents for this? That's the only feature that I think would make it better; otherwise, it's fine. CC7567 (talk) 20:50, 8 June 2009 (UTC)
Suggestions on additional pages
- Help:Contents would be great for editing help. SoresuMakashi(Everything I tell you is a lie) 10:03, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
Suggestions on culling pages
- I don't see how the list of Wookieepedians is useful for new editors. If I'm new to a wiki, I'm not interested in who participates within the project. For help issues, I'd rather use a list of administrators who are able to help a new editor or something similar. Pranay Sobusk ~ Talk 13:56, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
- I agree with your reasoning, and have switched the page to Wookieepedia:Administrators. Does it look/work better now? JorrelFraajic 16:01, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
- A better choice, I agree. -- Riffsyphon1024 04:15, 5 June 2009 (UTC)
- I agree with your reasoning, and have switched the page to Wookieepedia:Administrators. Does it look/work better now? Jorrel