Talk:The Sims Wiki

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by imported>BobNewbie at 07:02, 29 December 2010 (→‎Redesign input: remove). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
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Talk:The Sims Wiki
Use this page to discuss design and content changes to the Main Page. For general wiki discussion, please visit the Community Portal or the Forum:Doo Peas Corporate Tower.

Content update

I'd like to suggest a few changes for 'Contents' on the main page:

  • Aspirations should be changed to Traits. Traits will get the Simology image and Simlogy will get a new one.
  • Custom content gets changed to Downloads and gets a new image.
  • Would also be cool to have Fast Lane Stuff on there.
  • Maybe the latest patch page aswell.

Duskey(talk)(blog) 06:23, July 10, 2010 (UTC)

Added The Sims Wiki:Sandbox/Contents to display my proposed changes. Duskey(talk)(blog) 21:12, July 16, 2010 (UTC)
Additional: What's with the fixed width on the top text? (see screenshot on the right) Duskey(talk)(blog) 21:43, July 16, 2010 (UTC)
Additional: I added some suggestions to the news segment on the aforementioned The Sims Wiki:Sandbox/Contents page. Duskey(talk)(blog) 08:09, July 17, 2010 (UTC)
The blank space in the upper right corner is where Wikia put(s) ads. Any changes made should not be against Wikia's Terms of Use:

Not intentionally block, remove, or otherwise obstruct the proper functioning and view of advertisements by other users, including but not limited to changing or adding javascript or CSS changes to the Service that would prevent the proper display or function of advertisements.

Look at Help:Main page column tags.
I like the additions you have made to the news section. However I don't like that the layout will push down the Featured Article & Featured Media sections. As "featured" sections I believe they should be visible "above the fold". --a_morris (talk) 15:08, July 18, 2010 (UTC)
Ah yes the ads, that explains it. The news section wasn't actually meant to be made wider, I reduced the table width in the sandbox to reflect that. Duskey(talk) 16:50, July 18, 2010 (UTC)
Ok. That looks good. --a_morris (talk) 19:26, July 18, 2010 (UTC)
If it messes comepletely with users running low resolutions, we could always skip the flavor text of upcoming releases and just have the icon with the title. The patches list isn't that wide to begin with so I think it's ok. Does anyone have any comments on the the contents? Duskey(talk) 19:32, July 18, 2010 (UTC)
Updated the main page. Duskey(talk) 16:44, July 24, 2010 (UTC)

I'd still like the change the 'custom content' to downloads and 'ea games' to something else like 'game updates', but my creativity is shot at the moment and I can't seem to make any buttons worth using. Duskey(talk) 17:18, July 26, 2010 (UTC)

News organization

At the moment our news section looks like this:

Sims 3 RSS Upcoming releases
Newest releases Sims 3 game updates
Wiki news

I'd like to suggest adding our own Sims news using Category:Blog posts/Sims News.

Sims 3 RSS Sims news by the wiki (New)
Newest release including sims 3 game updates (Merged) Upcoming releases (Moved)
Wiki news

Reworking of Main Page in preparation for new skin

This may be an initiative of the new skin project, but I think general comment on how the main page should be laid out is the duty of the entire community.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out this blog. To really see first-hand what this change is about, you can go to skin in your preferences menu and try out the "New Wikia Look." It's important that you explore the Wiki with this new look a bit, just to experience the changed layout of the Wiki.

It's pretty clear to me that the main page will require a redesign for the sake of functionality - how are we going to do it? -- LostInRiverview talk · blog 02:56, October 7, 2010 (UTC)

How about moving the wiki to ShoutWiki so we can keep Monaco.--Eduardog3000 20:51, October 7, 2010 (UTC)
This isn't the place to discuss moving the wiki. If you think it should move, start a discussion at The Sims Wiki talk:Community Portal.-- LostInRiverview talk · blog 22:00, October 7, 2010 (UTC)

twitter button

The Twitter button is messed up and I don't know how to fix it.--Monster2821 (Talk) 13:28, October 28, 2010 (UTC)

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 ([1]). 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)
Contents being pushed down. Too wide with advertising

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)

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 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)

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