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This is the Admin Portal Talk Page, abbreviated as the APTP. This page is used by administrators to discuss administrative action, responsibilities, and tasks.

While non-administrators are more than welcome to read, browse, and link to discussions on this talk page, they cannot actively take part in discussions. If you wish to contact an administrator, or if you require assistance with anything else that is administrator-related, please start a thread at the administrators' noticeboard.

These rules have taken effect as of July 31, 2014. Before this date, regular community members were allowed to participate in discussions on this page, so you may see non-administrators posting here. The proposal and discussion can be found here.

Global Navigation header

There is currently a discussion going on about the incoming Global Navigation header. The discussion is not resolved yet but the prevailing opinion seems to be opposition to the new Global Navigation bar; there has so far been no support on that post for the new feature. As the wiki now has a Site Feature Policy, the will of the community needs to be heard. To that end, the policy specifies that we - the administrators - " take any step, short of violating Wikia's Terms of Use, to ensure proper adherence to [the Site Feature Policy]". The policy is silent on how to apply that directive, but it seems in this case the likely answer is to put in a Special Contact to Wikia Staff.

In the event that the discussion does indeed result in a rejection of the Global Navigation menu, I think we as admins should decide what message we want to send to Staff, and whether we are going to select a single admin to send the message or have individual admins send their own messages. Of course, the SFP does not limit an individual admin's options (except as it relates to Wikia's TOU), so each admin could choose to send their own message or pursue some other method of advocating for the community. However, I think we would benefit from having a cohesive message and a clear goal in our communications with staff.

So, I think we need to decide how we're going to contact staff, and what we're going to say in our contacts. -- LostInRiverview ^{talk ~ blog} 03:03, September 29, 2014 (UTC)

We should cite our Site feature policy and ask Wikia to give us time for our community to discuss the change, and then we'll present them the thread, the consensus, and the outcome of the discussion. --I am k6ka ^{Talk to me!} _{See what I have done} 11:02, September 29, 2014 (UTC)

Update: The outcome of the thread is clearly and unanimously (at the time of writing) opposed to the new Global Nav bar. As a result, I've drafted a suggested message for Wikia Staff. I'm not sure if we should all send the same message, but regardless I think the things included in the message below are a good place to start. Should we use one cohesive message, or should different admins write their own? Additionally, how many administrators should attempt to contact Wikia Staff? -- LostInRiverview ^{talk ~ blog} 07:07, October 11, 2014 (UTC)

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Draft message

To whom it may concern,

I am an administrator on The Sims Wiki, contacting you in an official capacity on behalf of the editor community on The Sims Wiki. We have held a wiki discussion (located here: http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Forum:New_Wikia_header_bar) regarding the pending changes to the Wikia Global Navigation header (as announced at: http://community.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Rupert_Giles/Introducing_Updated_Global_Navigation). As a result of this community discussion, are formally requesting that The Sims Wiki be exempted from changes to the Global Navigation header.

While we respect Wikia's desire to update its theme, there are numerous legitimate concerns that the new header will be detrimental to The Sims Wiki and other Wikia wikis. Primary concerns include the inability for local wikis to customize the appearance of the header, a use of the term "wikia" to refer to the local wiki (i.e. the header incorrectly says "search this wikia" instead of the proper "search this wiki"), and concerns that the header is too large and obtrusive. Ultimately, the desire of Wikia to update its global navigation header should not outweigh the right of local communities to determine the look and feel of their wikis, the terms and names used to describe their wikis, or the ability to control how their wiki functions.

We are also seeking an exemption due to our official wiki Features Policy (readable here: http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/The_Sims_Wiki:Site_feature_policy). Under this wiki policy, all new Wikia features must be disabled by default, unless the changes are due to an update to MediaWiki itself. This policy exists to protect The Sims Wiki's right to determine its own function and appearance and to protect community consensus and community choice on our wiki. Ignoring this request for an exemption is ignoring wiki consensus, as an official wiki discussion (linked above) has shown that The Sims Wiki editor community is overwhelmingly opposed to these changes.

In closing, I politely but firmly request that Wikia abides by the wishes of The Sims Wiki's community, and allow The Sims Wiki to be exempted from the upcoming changes to the Global Navigation header.

Thank you for your consideration,

Name

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I don't think having three administrators all send the same message will work. Sure, it might get the message out, but it will probably be more of an annoyance to Wikia Staff, rather than a request. I think the draft message above pretty much sums up our point. So the problem now is... who will send the message to Special:Contact? Do we draw lots? --I am k6ka ^{Talk to me!} _{See what I have done} 14:15, October 11, 2014 (UTC)