Talk:The Sims Wiki

Redesign of the Main Page
I don't want to stir the pot too much, but I think maybe we should start discussing the idea of redesigning the Main Page. There's a couple reasons for this:
 * 1) - It's old; see this version of the main page from 17 months ago; notice any similarities? Sure, this is by no means the primary reason why something should change, but it is nice to get a new look every once in a while.
 * 2) - The New skin: I probably sound like a broken record by now, but I can't bring it up enough - our main page needs to serve as the lobby of the wiki and must offer ample navigation opportunities. From our lobby, you should be able to reach your end destination relatively quickly. Important links to content, community, development, and administrative pages and tools should be available on the main page, which should largely serve as a supplement to the drop-down menus.
 * 3) - Adjustment of priorities: We obviously don't want to make the main page too large, so a redesign would obviously necessitate the addition of some material and the removal of some other material. Are there items on the mainpage which could be replaced with other items; probably.

Like I said, I don't want to cause too much drama with this, but it may be something we should look at sooner or later. To get a good feel for what I mean when I say I want a change, take a good look at some other wikis (specifically the better-known ones) and see how they handle their main pages; our wiki has an entirely different feel from most wikis, I've noticed. -  LostInRiverview talk · blog 06:29, November 5, 2010 (UTC)


 * I agree, the main page needs a redesign. I was looking at random wikis and really liked DCAU Wiki . Nice, clean layout, well chosen categories for the main menu. If I have time, I will make a prototype based on it.


 * Regarding the links to all the games: When I removed them back in Sep '09 it was because of this article which states, "Google recommends no more than 100 links from your main page." (At this time there are 139 links.) Although the newsletter was written before the new skin, I still recommend we follow that guideline. --a_morris (talk) 22:50, December 15, 2010 (UTC)
 * Based on the recent revisions to the mainpage, I'd say that guideline has been blown out of the water (referring to the 'The Sims Series' section with links to all the games). I don't mean to throw too much on your plate, but I don't trust myself to try and improve it, as I really don't know much about coding or making things look good. I'd be more comfortable working on the navigation portion (which I have been doing), but that's beside the point. I like the layout for that Wiki's mainpage quite a bit as well. --  LostInRiverview talk · blog 00:31, December 16, 2010 (UTC)

I've narrowed Contents so it doesn't get pushed down by the advertising. --a_morris (talk) 01:41, December 19, 2010 (UTC)

The Sims Series
Is there a way to collapse The Sims Series box? I've tried time and time again, but I never found a way that worked. — Random Ranaun ( Talk to me! ) 13:45, December 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * I've noticed that the collapse javascript isn't working at all any more. --a_morris (talk) 01:23, December 19, 2010 (UTC)
 * What do you think is causing it? — Random Ranaun ( Talk to me! ) 05:28, December 19, 2010 (UTC)
 * Actually, a lot of things aren't working anymore. Countdown doesn't work because the script associated with it has stopped working as well. I can't remember the other stuff off the top of my head, but it's sort of annoying, to say the least. -  LostInRiverview talk · blog 08:33, January 2, 2011 (UTC)
 * It seems that all the javascript problems, including issues with the countdown and collapsible navboxes, have been resolved! --  LostInRiverview talk · blog 01:49, January 3, 2011 (UTC)

Redesign input
This section is for TSW reader input on the idea of changing the main page. Feel free to provide any suggestions, or highlight any issues you see with the current main page. -  LostInRiverview talk · blog 23:08, December 19, 2010 (UTC)

I know it looks horrible, but heres my idea:


 * 1) The boxes that show a picture and links to pages (wikibuttons), like Sims, The Sims Series, etc.
 * 2) The entire welcome text, The Sims database that anyone can edit! A collaborative encyclopedia for everything related to The Sims series. There are 6,557 articles and growing since this wiki was founded in February 2005. The wiki format allows anyone to create or edit any article, so we can all work together to create a comprehensive database for The Sims series.........
 * 3) A small box that links to our other site accounts, like youtube, Facebook, etc.
 * 4) Featured Media
 * 5) Battles
 * 6) Featured Poll
 * 7) The community bar, which should be re-designed.
 * 8) Featured editor
 * 9) Featured contest
 * 10) Featured Article

BobNewbie talk • blog 08:10, December 20, 2010 (UTC)
 * What's in box 11? Keep in mind too that a space needs to be reserved for advertisements. --  LostInRiverview talk · blog 16:30, December 20, 2010 (UTC)
 * I don't really know what were going to use box 11 for. That could possibly be A: The box for advertisements or B: A "news" box. BobNewbie talk •  blog 16:55, December 20, 2010 (UTC)
 * I don't really know what were going to use box 11 for. That could possibly be A: The box for advertisements or B: A "news" box. BobNewbie talk •  blog 16:55, December 20, 2010 (UTC)
 * I don't really know what were going to use box 11 for. That could possibly be A: The box for advertisements or B: A "news" box. BobNewbie talk •  blog 16:55, December 20, 2010 (UTC)


 * I say you need a place for the "Create A New Article" input box I put on the bottom of the page. It's just plain annoying making a new article without it. Pin Collector talk • blog
 * There's an 'Add Page' link at the very top of the main page, immediately to the right of the wiki page count, and immediately to the left of the link to this talk page. --  LostInRiverview talk · blog 03:28, December 29, 2010 (UTC)

"So should we remove the one at the bottom? -- BobNewbie talk • blog 07:02, December 29, 2010 (UTC)
 * I'd like to direct everyone's attention to the Spanish-language 'Simspedia' (our sister wiki); specifically their main page - Portada and the 'slideshow thing' that they have... I think it would be really cool for our new mainpage to have something like that, cycling through highlighted articles for upcoming games, community events, etc. Thoughts on that? --  LostInRiverview talk · blog 10:06, December 30, 2010 (UTC)
 * I couldn't get it to work --a_morris (talk) 04:28, January 1, 2011 (UTC)
 * I tried it on my test page to no avail. From what I gather at central wikia's forum, it's activated through special:contact, but I haven't gotten around to activating it yet, since I didn't want to have it activated only to have us not use it. But for us to get a good idea of what it could be used for, I suppose there's no avoiding it, is there? I'll make the contact and put a sample gallery here so we can all see it (in English)! --  LostInRiverview talk · blog 07:40, January 2, 2011 (UTC)

One design idea: User:A morris/mainpage-left & User:A morris/mainpage-right --a_morris (talk) 04:28, January 1, 2011 (UTC)
 * So mainpage-left would be the 'main' column, correct? -  LostInRiverview talk · blog 08:34, January 2, 2011 (UTC)
 * Yup. Normal pages are too narrow to show the columns side-by-side. --a_morris (talk) 05:39, January 3, 2011 (UTC)
 * Slider galleries are working, but they're a pain to set up as images MUST be exactly 673 x 410 pixels. Below is an example, taken from my test page:

What do you all think? --  LostInRiverview talk · blog 10:38, January 14, 2011 (UTC)


 * Awesome! -- BobNewbie talk • blog 11:26, January 14, 2011 (UTC)
 * Added to my design example User:A morris/mainpage-left & User:A morris/mainpage-right. (On the main page everything will be the same width.) --a_morris (talk) 23:44, January 14, 2011 (UTC)

I created my input here and here. These are just basic, non-final designs that I think the new main page should look like (for the most part). Also, if we are redesigning our main page, we might want to change the look of the table. I'd suggest the "bubble" table used at the Kingdom Hearts Wiki, but what do you think? — Random Ranaun ( Talk to me! ) 04:39, January 20, 2011 (UTC)
 * Additionally, BobNewbie tipped me off to a service that Wikia provides where they come in and do a custom redesign of a wiki's main page, background skin, and theme. This feature is by request only and has certain minimum requirements. If you want to see more, go here.
 * I don't have many concerns about us catching Google traffic (we do a pretty good job of it already), but I do think having this team come in and completely redesign our mainpage is something we should at least consider. This obviously has advantages and possible benefits, as well as some possible drawbacks. One stipulation this team makes is that their design decisions are final, but I assume that if we applied and were accepted that our community would be able to have some input prior to them making the design, so I don't see that as a huge issue.
 * What do you all think? --  LostInRiverview talk · blog 04:56, January 20, 2011 (UTC)
 * I as well have created part of a new mainpage... I have the right column already, but I haven't begun work on my ideas for the center of the page. See here. I'll start work on the left column soon. --  LostInRiverview talk · blog 05:33, January 23, 2011 (UTC)
 * Here's a quick table detailing where, in each idea, various features would be placed. 'Right' represents the smaller Right Column, 'Left' represents the larger Left (main) column, and an N/A means that the feature doesn't exist in current designs (or, in my case, isn't planned since my design for the left column isn't complete).
 * {| border="1" cellpadding="5" style="border-collapse:collapse; border-color: black; text-align:center;font-size:75%;"

! Feature ! Current Main Page ! A morris' design ! Random Ranaun's design ! LostInRiverview's design
 * - style="background:#F9F9F9;"
 * About Us
 * Left
 * Right
 * Right
 * Right
 * Featured Article
 * Right
 * Left
 * Left
 * Left
 * Featured Media
 * Right
 * Left
 * Right
 * Right
 * Featured Editor
 * Right
 * N/A
 * Left
 * Left
 * Battles
 * Right
 * N/A
 * Left
 * Left
 * Community Portal
 * Left
 * Left
 * Left
 * Right
 * Content Browser Buttons
 * Left
 * Left
 * Left
 * Left
 * The Sims News
 * Left
 * Left
 * Left
 * Left
 * The Sims Wiki News/Newsletter
 * Left
 * Left
 * Right
 * Left
 * Wikia Gaming link
 * Right
 * Right
 * Right
 * N/A
 * }
 * Left
 * Right
 * Left
 * Wikia Gaming link
 * Right
 * Right
 * Right
 * N/A
 * }
 * }
 * }


 * Feel free to change and expand the table as necessary. I think this helps show where the content is and where it moves to with each idea. --  LostInRiverview talk · blog 06:02, January 23, 2011 (UTC)

Sims Medieval Wiki
So, I don't know if you guys are aware, since I have been inactive for ages, but some people just happened to create a stand alone wiki about Medieval info. How's that? =O - JEA13  [ iTalk  ] 21:51, January 5, 2011 (UTC)
 * Yeah, that's a well-known fact. It was started and is largely being led by many people from this wiki, but they are a separate entity. -  LostInRiverview talk · blog 23:07, January 5, 2011 (UTC)
 * And how can they want a separate wiki about it? - JEA13  [ iTalk  ] 23:49, January 5, 2011 (UTC)
 * I couldn't say for sure since I'm not one of them, but I think it was related to a discussion here at the time over whether we were covering Medieval or not. From what I remember, we were discussing whether we'd cover it, so they wanted to make sure that if we decided to stop coverage that there would be a wiki to cover it instead. Of course, we ultimately decided to cover the game, but their rationale now for keeping the wiki is that TSMW will be able to focus more on the game than we can. --  LostInRiverview talk · blog 00:46, January 6, 2011 (UTC)

I don't know whats going on really. We decided we are going to cover the game here, but have you seen the amount of info at The Sims Medieval wiki that aren't here? I'm going to try to bring some info here, but not all of the info we have over there. -- BobNewbie talk • blog 05:28, January 6, 2011 (UTC)
 * I'm not personally advocating for anything in particular. If you guys decided that your own wiki could focus more on the game than TSW can, I respect that and I think that you should try. I'm not leaning one way or the other in this case. --  LostInRiverview talk · blog 06:48, January 6, 2011 (UTC)
 * Well I don't get why the Sims wiki should not be covering Medieval in the first place. It's a spin-off of the Sims series, built on the Sims 3 engine, based around sims, called Sims. And I don't really get why did the other guys leave while the final decision here was to cover Medieval. - JEA13  [ iTalk  ] 11:01, January 6, 2011 (UTC)
 * The final decision to cover the game was made after they had already split. By that point, TSMW was already established. Further, Bob contests that TSW hasn't been doing a good job of covering the game since we haven't really been focusing on it in the same way that TSMW's members are. So where that puts things is anyone's guess. --  LostInRiverview talk · blog 11:12, January 6, 2011 (UTC)
 * So why not like merge the two wikis and create a powerhouse in Sims information? We are supposed to collaborate to make the wiki and indefinite database about everything Sims-related, not have separate databases about each game. And if it's so much needed to have a separate wiki about a spin-off like in this case, at least make a link to it on the main page so that readers may know where they should go! If merging is out of the question, which makes absolutely no sense for reasons stated above, at least somehow connect the two wikis to each other. Collaborated - JEA13  [ iTalk  ] 11:17, January 6, 2011 (UTC)
 * Agreed, but as I said before, I'm not about to press that issue. Obviously the guys at TSMW felt they had some valid reasons for splitting from TSW or they wouldn't have done it. Aside from that, there are multiple administrators over at TSMW that would more than likely refuse a merge into TSW without being able to retain admin rights, which is an issue when our current standing is to not accept new admins. I don't think it does anyone on either wiki any great service to have the two disconnected, and I personally wish they could merge, but I'm not about to open up that can of worms, especially considering the other big stuff that could potentially be happening here soon. --  LostInRiverview talk · blog 11:28, January 6, 2011 (UTC)
 * Wow, I've missed much. I still don't see a valid reason for the admins at Medieval Wiki wanting independence. Sounds too selfish considering this is a collective information database. - JEA13  [ iTalk  ] 13:07, January 6, 2011 (UTC)
 * JEA13, you are in no position to accuse anybody. I am helping out there, but had no part in the creation of the wiki. If a merge were proposed, I would support it. I am working on getting some info here too, but really, do you have to call us selfish? I am not trying to be rude, but you haven't been active in a while really, so you can't judge what happened and is happening just from looking around. Now, we can postpone more important discussions, like the fanon stuff and decreasing activity, to address this small problem. Or, you can help me and the community by adding information to articles about the game. -- BobNewbie talk • blog 13:46, January 6, 2011 (UTC)
 * Hey relax mate. I was not referring to you or somebody else in person. It's just a selfish attitude in general, to be an admin and still want admin rights after a possible merge. Like an admin has any special powers over everybody else. And yeah, I know I have not really been around, but there's nothing to emphasize on in this situation. It's just the general picture that "counts". What I know is that they want a separate site about Medieval information for no valid reason, well, for no reason at all. And apparently a merge is out of the question, this not meaning that if one happened people wouldn't support it. So that's what I called selfish. Also I am not really as active as to actually find information about Medieval anymore. -  JEA13  [ iTalk  ] 14:54, January 6, 2011 (UTC)


 * Cool. Don't worry, I wasn't trying to sound rude. I really don't care about admin rights. Being a normal user has its own privs. I am going to take a break from The Sims Medieval wiki to try to get some info in articles here too. I will appreciate any help. -- BobNewbie talk • blog 15:10, January 6, 2011 (UTC)
 * Please calm down people, don't accuse other people without knowing their reasons or actions, it wasn't me who started that wiki but I was the 2nd or the 3rd to belong to Medieval wiki and I received admin rights for being such helpful, but I actually don't know the reasons why our founder made that wiki, and that's why I suggested the merge on it because we had and have very few active people on there when comparing to this wiki, if a merge was suggested I really won't mind about admin rights, because admin rights should not be my decision on this wiki, only on Medieval wiki, so here I would be a rollbacker if the merge was done and I won't mind about it. --Guilherme Guerreiro (talk here) 18:23, January 6, 2011 (UTC)