The Sims Wiki:New skin
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Historical Page: The information on this page is generally out-of-date, but the page is being kept because it is of significant historical importance to the wiki. |
It's official: the new skin (nicknamed Oasis) is mandatory on The Sims Wiki and all other English-language wikis on the Wikia network. This page will continue to exist to help coordinate the efforts of The Sims Wiki as we transition into the new skin. This page (and its associated discussion page) does not exist to complain about these changes, to suggest moving The Sims Wiki off Wikia, or to suggest ideas for circumventing the new skin.
About the switch[edit source]
Over the summer of 2010, Wikia began discussing "the future of Wikia," indicating the likelihood that Monaco - the current design of most wikis on the network - was going to be dropped, in exchange for a new design and layout. In late summer, the first plans of "Oasis" (otherwise referred to as the New Skin) were revealed and the first version of Oasis went into closed beta testing. At the end of September, the timeline for moving out of Monaco was announced.
Public beta (open to all registered Wikia users) began on October 7, 2010; on November 3, 2010, the option to use Monaco was removed for all users. Presently, there is no manner by which a user can switch out of Oasis to either Monaco or Monobook (another former Wikia skin, similar to the skin used by Wikipedia) Wikia has offered assistance to wikis, users and administrators as countless wikis make the transition into Oasis.
Details[edit source]
- Oasis features a fixed content width of 660 pixels, regardless of screen resolution - this differs from Monaco, which is variable depending on the resolution of the monitor used to view it.
- Oasis removes the left-side menus and navigation, in exchange for a smaller drop-down navigation menu at the top and a new "sidebar" on the right.
- Oasis implements a number of changes meant to improve community participation in wikis, including tools that make it more apparent to new readers that wikis can be edited by anyone.
Initiatives[edit source]
This page will take a communication-based, administration-guided approach to revising nearly all pages on the wiki. Our initiatives will fall into a few main categories:
- Revision of article style
If you have used the new skin at all, and have looked at many of our articles, you have likely noticed the decrease in space for article content. In articles which contain infoboxes - a lot of them do - this decrease in room is even more apparent. As a community, we need to decide what to do with these infoboxes, or how we can more naturally place the information to fit the reduced space. This portion should be fully discussed before any implementation is carried out. A topic will be open on the discussion page for full discussion.
- Navigation
When using the new skin, you will notice that the sidebar navigation - those pop-out menus located on the left side of all pages - are no longer there. Instead, four drop-down menus have been placed at the top of pages. Those menus are each limited to seven items, meaning that it is difficult to determine what things from the sidebar nav were carried over, and which ones had to go. You can weigh in on your ideas for navigation on the discussion page.
- Themes and styles
Bleeh and a handful of other administrators have been tinkering with the appearance of The Sims Wiki under the new skin. In order to perfect the new theme, feedback and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
- Main Page
Under the new skin, there are minor issues regarding aesthetics on the main page. Aside from this, it is likely that with the reduced navigation capabilities of the top-menu over the sidenav, we are going to need to add more navigability to the main page, so that it links to many other places. Please chime in with any suggestions you may have.
News and Blogs[edit source]
The staff here at The Sims Wiki have been trying to keep the community as up-to-date as possible on the transition into the new skin. There are a few blogs written specifically to discuss this subject - they are listed below, from newest (top) to oldest (bottom):
<bloglist timestamp="true" count=5 type="plain" title="New Skin News"> <title>The Sims Wiki News</title> <type>box</type> <order>date</order> <category>Blog posts/New Skin</category> </bloglist> more...
More postings will likely be added to this list as we progress towards the new skin. Additionally, our staff may be unable to provide the most current or most complete news possible. In these cases, Wikia Staff Blogs should have the proper information; many of the blogs located in Wikia's Staff Blog relate directly to the new skin, and to the transition process.
Questions, Issues and Concerns[edit source]
Again, this page is meant to distribute information, not serve as a basis for complaining about the new skin or to plan a move from Wikia - if you are so inclined to do that, please limit it to the the Community Portal discussion page. However, if you have questions or issues with the new skin, your messages on The Sims Wiki talk:New skin are appreciated, and we will try to respond as best as possible. Unfortunately, The Sims Wiki staff do not have all the answers, and we may be too unfamiliar with a particular issue or problem to be much help to you. In those cases, we will likely refer you to the Community Central Forum, or will advise you to Contact Wikia Staff directly in order to address a technical problem regarding your use of the wiki.