User talk:A morris

Disambiguation
Would it be an idea to change disambiguation pages into a setup as below, using 'Music' as an example:

'Music' redirect -> 'Music (disambiguation)' -> ...links to the disambiguations.

This would mean that only the clearly (disambiguation) marked pages would show up in Orphaned pages making it easier to spot 'real' orphaned pages as you would simply disregard the disambiguations. It would also mean that one could find disambiguation pages who are not lonely and change 'what links here' to link to the correct article.

Do you think this is a good idea? Duskey ( talk ) 06:19, August 6, 2010 (UTC)
 * Yes. I think it is much clearer. Although I don't think we should redirect to disambiguation pages. Wikipedia suggests redirecting 'Music (disambiguation)' to 'Music', with 'Music' being the actual disambiguation page. Although, it wouldn't prevent users from linking to 'Music' accidentally, but it would be easier to find them and fix them. I'd rather have it redirect to a content article, but the decision to which article would have to be by consensus. --a_morris (talk) 20:19, August 6, 2010 (UTC)


 * I'm not following you. What would the purpose of 'Music (disambiguation)' be if 'Music' is the disambiguation article? Duskey ( talk ) 20:52, August 8, 2010 (UTC)
 * Usually you shouldn't link to a disambiguation page, you should like to the specific page. A page should only link to the disambiguation page to notify users that there are other pages of a similar topic or title that they may be looking for instead. We would use 'Music (disambiguation)' for that purpose. That way if someone links to 'Music' without realizing it is a disambiguation page we can tell that the link needs to be directed to the specific page. --a_morris (talk) 20:58, August 8, 2010 (UTC)
 * So the fact that Music is now a disambiguation page (without the title) is temporary? Duskey ( talk ) 21:12, August 8, 2010 (UTC)
 * I suppose the order doesn't matter as long as 'Music (disambiguation)' is used as an intentional link to the disambiguation page. --a_morris (talk) 21:23, August 8, 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm utterly lost :p Duskey ( talk ) 12:56, August 9, 2010 (UTC)

On the disambiguation and orphaned pages discussion, I'd like to argument that if you redirect from the main article (eg. Fish), to the disambiguation page (eg. Fish (disambiguation)), it is easy to disregard that page when it's orphaned. As an example I keep finding myself click on the worthington household and other disambiguation pages without the (disambiguation) suffix. If we fix all the links for all disambiguation pages one day, orphaned pages will be littered with articles like these, making it almost impossible to find new legitimate orphaned pages. In the example above, the redirect 'Fish' will still how up in the special disambig page if someone mistakingly links to it. Duskey ( talk ) 21:12, August 15, 2010 (UTC)


 * Then if we do structure it the other way (the way Wikipedia suggests), then neither will be orphans. i.e. pages with similar titles will soft redirect to the page with the (disambiguation) suffix and that article will hard redirect to the real disambiguation page. Once we clean up the mistakenly linked pages there will still be the hard redirect from the '(disambiguation)' page and only the redirect should show up in the special disamig page. --a_morris (talk) 00:37, August 16, 2010 (UTC)
 * And any pages with the (disambiguation) suffix that do show up in the orphaned list can be easily disregarded. --a_morris (talk) 00:44, August 16, 2010 (UTC)


 * Can you show me this in an example using 'Fish' or something? I'm not sure I'm getting it. Duskey ( talk ) 03:30, August 17, 2010 (UTC)

Families with the same name
Perhaps we should agree having the first family with the name keep the page and link to the new one through distinguish? This would eliminate the need for a disambiguation page, but it could still be created. Duskey ( talk ) 14:23, August 18, 2010 (UTC)
 * I can agree with that. What about Sims with the same name? --a_morris (talk) 19:58, August 18, 2010 (UTC)
 * I would say the one which appears in a game first, some games come with Sims with the same name, maybe prioritize townies over NPCs? How would you structure it? Let's use the Kim family as an example: At the moment it's 'Kim family (Sims 2)', 'Kim family (Sims 3)' & 'Kim family' as the disambig. Personally I'd redirect 'Kim family' to 'Kim family (Sims 2)' and make sure Sims 2 & Sims 3 link to each other through distinguish links. This method makes sense to me, but it does seem like guidelines suggest otherwise. Duskey ( talk ) 21:13, August 18, 2010 (UTC)

Heads-up
I just wanted to tell you ahead of time that I'm going to be temporarily inactive starting August 22nd, and ending sometime after September 1st. I'll mark myself as inactive on the Admin page, and put up a notice on my pages when the time comes. -- Patrick (LostInRiverview) (talk)(blog)(random page) 05:32, August 15, 2010 (UTC) Why?-- Danny (Monster2821) (talk)(random page) 05:34, August 15, 2010 (UTC)


 * I'm involved in a program at my university welcoming incoming students. Starting next Sunday I start training then start actually participating in the program, meaning my days will be dedicated to the program and my nights will be dedicated to... sleeping. -- Patrick (LostInRiverview) (talk)(blog)(random page) 05:35, August 15, 2010 (UTC)

Okay.-- Danny (Monster2821) (talk)(random page) 05:37, August 15, 2010 (UTC)


 * I am planning to be away around that time as well. --a_morris (talk) 15:10, August 15, 2010 (UTC)


 * OMG, mom and dad are outta the house, PARTY! Duskey ( talk ) 15:30, August 15, 2010 (UTC)

Templates

 * FA templates: Are we using any of the numbered FA templates? Nothing links to them as far as I can tell and their subst uses it non-existant because of the previous featured article list. Duskey ( talk ) 10:40, August 15, 2010 (UTC)
 * These are supposed to be used by Wikia though I don't know if they actually are. See Help:Featured article system. They also haven't been updated in a while. --a_morris (talk) 15:34, August 15, 2010 (UTC)


 * Newpage templates: These are used together with subst when creating a new page from scratch, right? Or just for copy+paste? Duskey ( talk ) 10:45, August 15, 2010 (UTC)
 * They fill in a new page automatically, similar to if you copied & pasted. They are never transcluded so subst is unnecessary. See MediaWiki:Newarticletext. --a_morris (talk) 15:34, August 15, 2010 (UTC)
 * Ah right, don't think I've ever used any of those :p Duskey ( talk ) 20:43, August 15, 2010 (UTC)
 * To update them, do you just copy+paste the bare example from the original template? Duskey ( talk ) 07:15, August 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * Basically. --a_morris (talk) 14:46, August 17, 2010 (UTC)

List of Sims
There're some orphaned Sims in Special:LonelyPages. I don't mind adding them, but where do I do that? List of Sims (alpha)? Isn't it "double-work" if I have to add them to that list and then the list with Sims by games and then List of Sims from x game and all that? :s Duskey ( talk ) 07:17, August 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * List of Sims by game is a list of lists, just put the Sims on the alpha list and the list for their specific game. --a_morris (talk) 17:02, August 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * Alright, I added the orphaned ones. I don't get these lists of sims though, isn't this what categories are for? And whouldn't a table be better so you can automatically sort them alphabetically? Duskey ( talk ) 18:16, August 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Manual of Style (lists) -> There are benefits despite redundancy. --a_morris (talk) 18:21, August 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * So on a perfect wiki there would be category and a list for everything? Duskey ( talk ) 13:52, August 18, 2010 (UTC)

Playability
I just saw your edit to Naomi Hunt's playability now. 'Up top player' is not a valid parameter and result in the Sim being categorized in the unknown category. I have no experience with the Life Stories games and I don't know if an additional valid paramer should be added for playability. Duskey ( talk ) 11:51, August 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * That's why there was a question mark beside her name on my to do list. The unknown category is just a catch-all for problem articles. --a_morris (talk) 14:41, August 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * The definition of what is a playable sim could be extended to fit her case. What do you think? --a_morris (talk) 17:12, August 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * I have no idea, how does it work in the game? Duskey ( talk ) 17:43, August 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * I can't remember. It might have given the player the option to plead with the Grim Reaper or just come up as a dialog box choice. --a_morris (talk) 18:23, August 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * Well it's easy isn't it? Is she dead? If no, is she playable? And then we have the answer, or am I missing something about those life stories games? Duskey ( talk ) 20:25, August 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * The Sims Stories are scripted games. The player fulfills certain tasks to continue the story. Only at the end does Naomi become playable and that may be only up to the player. To "complete" the game the player is asked to have her and Vincent star gaze, and then a satellite falls on her. I can't remember if she is playable for that part, but then the player is given the choice to save her or not. If they do save her she would be playable but if not then she would be dead. --a_morris (talk) 19:37, August 18, 2010 (UTC)
 * Personally I'd say that qualifies as playable. Regular townies in the PC version aren't "playable" either until you move them in, which requires an action. Naomi requires the action of saving her, ergo I believe the correct term would be playable. Duskey ( talk ) 21:08, August 18, 2010 (UTC)

Sims Answers Wiki
Hey A morris, I'm not sure if you know this already, but Wikia now allows wikis to make their own answers wikis for them. I think it would be a great idea to make a Sims Answers Wiki, but what do you think? --Random Ranaun 04:56, August 18, 2010 (UTC)

Nevermind, I found out that there already is a Sims Answers Wiki, but it is largely unused. Do you think that we could add some links to it around this wiki to make it more popular? --Random Ranaun 05:04, August 18, 2010 (UTC)


 * I'm just chiming in here. I think it should be discussed or at least people shoule be made aware on the community portal talk page. It depends whether you want another place "off-site" to answer Sims questions other than the forum. Not that anyone really uses either place. Duskey ( talk ) 13:40, August 18, 2010 (UTC)


 * The Q&A format Answers uses might be easier for some users to use than the forum. Forum:Questions links to Wikia Answers already but it could link to The Sims Answers instead. --a_morris (talk) 19:57, August 18, 2010 (UTC)


 * Like many projects, I think it needs a driving force behind it. By that I mean someone who builds it up and takes cares of it while it grows. I believe that the idea behind the admin positions, to name an example. If someone is willing to do that, I think it would be a cool idea. We could answer questions and then link to our page where you can find the information, or it would be a incentive to add some information we might not have thought neccesary before. Duskey ( talk ) 21:06, August 18, 2010 (UTC)

Template includeonly
Remind me, what's the point of  I mean the noincludes? Duskey ( talk ) 03:07, August 19, 2010 (UTC)
 * The includeonly means to only show in the article the template is transcluded in or, alternatively, to show how the template is structured by showing the parameters on the template page (instead of the value). It is normally used in the output.

Ex. 1 results in  in both the template and the article.

Ex. 2 results in  in both the template and the article.

Ex. 3 results in  in the template only and like Ex. 2 in the article.

--a_morris (talk) 18:24, August 20, 2010 (UTC)

New Idea
Hey A morris, can you look at this and this? They are these Wiki battles where users can nominate a fight consisting of any two characters, game features, etc. After a fight is chosen, users can then vote for who or what they want to win. It seems like a really fun idea, and there are many things in The Sims series that could be used in these fights, so I wanted to know if we could incorporate it here. What do you think? --Random Ranaun 04:34, August 20, 2010 (UTC)
 * I saw this on MySims Wiki, but I like the one-on-one format better. It could definitely be done here. Did you want to start one? --a_morris (talk) 18:43, August 20, 2010 (UTC)
 * Yeah! But how do you think we should make it? --Random Ranaun 18:52, August 20, 2010 (UTC)

Re: Heads Up
So... I said I was going to be absent after the 22nd... it turns out I'm losing my internet connection today, in about 8 hours. I've marked myself as absent on my pages and on the administrator page, but I'll try and sneak back on a couple times when I can to do various things. Just thought you should know. See you in September! -- Patrick (LostInRiverview) (talk)(blog)(random page) 04:51, August 20, 2010 (UTC)

Are you absent?
Are you absent because you haven't been editing recently?-- Danny (Monster2821) (talk)(random page) 11:44, August 20, 2010 (UTC)
 * I've been a bit busy. Sorry. --a_morris (talk) 19:07, August 20, 2010 (UTC)