The Sims Wiki talk:Community Portal/Archive 5

Discuss issues in the proper heading, please. Makiah 23:11, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

New Main Page

It was suggested by someone that we format our main page differently (On the main page discussion). I just wanted to check with everyone about what they think. Do they like the 1 column page? Or would they prefer the 2 column page? More color? I think it's fine but I wanted to check. ~ Makiah 19:30, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

More thought into this I would like to bring up a few suggestions but would like some input. I was thinking about a two column format and also use of the Bulletin Board which I saw on The Sims Wiki. Also I was thinking of improving the 'In the News Section'. I like the header but the Sims Universe under it I think maybe should be smaller horizontal wise or at the bottom. Inputs? Makiah 23:11, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

I'm thinking about drawing up a test main page, I'll post it up on March 12th but I could still use some input. And anyone who would like to draw up a main page of their own that would be great. We could have a vote between them! Makiah 01:20, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

Alright guys to see the potential main page go to the Sandbox. I'm thinking about making use of a bulletin board that was on the original main page. Suggestions would be great. Also if anyone else wants to make a new one and place it on a temporary page I would be fine with that but please serious main pages only and no new templates. Makiah 23:38, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

The page in Sandbox looks good; personally, I can't design stuff so beyond that it looks better than the current main page, I can't really add anything. Much wootness, though, to be sure :) --Narc (talk) 18:48, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks! I was afraid that the colors would be too strange or something. I also wasn't sure if other people would like it. ~ Makiah 19:18, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

As soon as we finalize the voting procedures I want to begin voting on the new main page. However before we do that I want to discuss something. One thing is something like the 'Needs improving page of the week' but not necessarily that title. XD Just something that puts a page that could have major improvement on the board so we as a group can concentrate on one page as well as our own separate projects. I believe this would benefit the community and put awareness on a page that needs it. I think this would fit best on the 'Got Time?' Section. Also adding to the got time section something that says 'Make sure you check if a page exists before you create one!' What does everyone think? If the reactions on positive I think we could vote on both ideas at once after we finish the voting procedures. ~ Makiah 00:46, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

Well, the voting procedures are up, so we can start the vote whenever. I like the idea about a "Cleanup of the week", we should definitely do that -- except I'd make it more than one page. Not too many, though -- I think three or four really important pages are what we should begin with. I'm also thinking of an official list of pages needing updates, chronologically ordered. I dunno. I agree it's very important to highlight that if a page exists, a new one shouldn't be created -- that's how we ended up with four LTW pages in the first place, blech. Admittedly, that was easier to clean up than I thought it would be. *shrug* My two cents. --Narc (talk) 18:19, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

Sims Policy

I believe we should have a policy, currently there is none but I believe it should address a few topics which may seem obvious but if it is written out it is more enforceable. Somethings I believe it should contain:

• A clause about vandalism not being allowed.
• Mention about inappropriate words such as cuss words.
• Something concerning new pages. Such as if there is a topic already on that page just with different capitals, should be deleted. Misspelled pages should be either deleted or moved depending on the circumstances.
• Also with new pages, I suggest that empty pages created after a policy is put in effect be deleted. Example: SimCity 3000 has never had anything on it but can't be deleted per policy because it doesn't have anything on it. But if an empty page were to be created say titled Mirrors but has nothing on it, even though it is relevant to Sims it should be deleted. Maybe something saying you need at least 3 facts in complete sentences to start a page. That way there is something to build off of. Some sort of content.

I'm thinking that we really don't want empty pages at all. I've seen pages like "There's no content here yet 'cause I'm concentrating on categorizing" -- we don't really want that to remain. If the page has no content, it should show up in Special:Wantedpages -- which it won't if it has nothing but that sentence on it. --Narc (talk) 12:07, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

I saw that page too. But I feel rather than deleting old empty pages we should work to improve them unless they show no potential. ~ Makiah 19:39, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

Whether we find them via Special:Wantedpages or otherwise is the same thing in the end. I like what's currently in the proposed rules about using the "Report a problem" feature, since that would probably help prioritize things. --Narc (talk) 18:19, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

Just some starting suggestions. Anyone else have any ideas or comments? Makiah 23:11, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

If no one has any input by March 12th I will draw up the policy and post it so everyone can see using my ideas. It would be great to have some discussion to include the community! Makiah 01:20, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

Well, everything you've mentioned so far sounds brilliant to me; please do write it up -- it sounds good. I do have one addition, though: I haven't looked around the Templates and such yet, but I know we have a {{stub}} template. I don't know if we have something like "cleanup required" yet, but we need it, too: several pages I've seen look like they have a bit of info but it's poorly formatted or even unformatted. Again, I haven't had a chance to look at the Templates yet, but if we don't have it yet, we need it. --Narc (talk) 12:07, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

This is interesting -- 69.254.46.13 used the template {{blank}} (Template:blank) on the page Biotech station earlier today, and it seems a decent way to get lists of blank, but "very" wanted pages. Personally, I'm thinking we might consider using that at first, and then deleting pages after a while if they're not filled in. Though, also personally, I'd prefer such pages were never created in the first place. --Narc (talk) 12:37, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

That was me! ^_^ I found it yesterday while looking for useless images, when I had to delete a horse picture someone uploaded. I believe I have seen a clean up template somewhere but can't located it right now. I'm sure a little bit more searching and I will find it. ~ Makiah 17:13, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

If needed, I'll work something up and make a note of it here; this seems to have become our village pump, apparently :) --Narc (talk) 18:19, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

Everyone can check out the proposed policy at Sims wiki:Policy. Makiah 21:06, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

I added block times so everyone knows the consequences of their actions which hopefully will deteriorate them from breaking the rules. I would like to add a note at the bottom saying that Wikia helpers, janitors and admins may use their discretion when blocking a user as that user may also be vandalizing other wikis. I want to cover every angle...what do you guys think? In the past helpers such as Uberfuzzy have helped us by banning vandals. Makiah 02:20, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

Vandals tend not to read the rules in the first place; those who do and still break them usually have a bone to pick. As far as I'm concerned, the simplest rule you can use is "Whatever the admin wants, the admin gets." As for Wikia people helping, I do believe it can't hurt to make a note of it. Covering every angle, though, that's a tough one. The best way to do that, I've found, is to make short and open-ended rules, without going into much detail about what exactly constitutes vandalism. In short, what you have now is probably best. On that note, however, I would personally recommend against very short blocks (like an hour), since those have practically no value unless they're given immediately once a violation is noted, and that will almost never happen unless someone sits on top of Special:Recentchanges refreshing every minute. I don't know about you, but I don't have that kind of time. --Narc (talk) 18:19, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

Good point, I changed that hour thing. I added the other clause. And I guess this can just go to voting... Makiah 17:25, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

Main Page Voting

After discussing the issue and asking members to submit their ideas for a new main page, we have received one (1) idea, which can be viewed at the Sandbox. So if you agree, you want to change the main page layout to the one in the sandbox as well as add 2 articles to a "Clean up of the Week" section and add a clause about checking for pages of the same content before creating them. If you disagree you want to keep everything as it is. Voting ends 28 March 2008. Please remember to sign your votes!

Agree

1. Makiah 17:25, 14 March 2008 (UTC)
2. Narc (talk) 22:42, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

Sims Policy Voting

After discussing the issue a policy was written up and can be viewed at Sims wiki:Policy. If you agree, you want this policy to be put through. If you disagree, you don't want the policy to be put through. Voting ends 28 March 2008. Please remember to sign your votes!

Agree

1. Makiah 17:25, 14 March 2008 (UTC)
2. Narc (talk) 22:48, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

Comments

I overall agree, with one exception. I think the text of rule #5 needs to be clarified or abbreviated; I'd personally suggest something like "Blocks will escalate in severity if multiple offenses are committed" -- assuming that's what you meant. Aside from that, my agree above stands. --Narc (talk) 22:48, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

Note: I've taken the liberty of copy-editing a bit, which has also highlighted one other question for me: what does it mean to use an inappropriate word "in general terms"? Can you clarify, please? Thanks, Narc (talk) 23:04, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

Yes I guess #5 does sound confusing. I'll rewrite it to your suggestion. What I meant in general terms, which probably doesn't even need to be stated because I changed the block time. It was supposed to be like a differentiation between using curse words toward someone and using them in everyday speaking. Like for example, if you ask me a question and I reply, "#@&$ if I know!" That's the way I meant it but to make this go quicker we can just omit it since it really doesn't matter now. One other thing, I liked the changes to the policy you made but there was one thing I'm going to change back and that's the unannounced warning thing. No big deal I suppose with you but I don't want anyone to complain they didn't get a warning and me having to leave warnings on IP talk pages. Makiah 23:28, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

Glad you liked my edits. I see what you meant now about the general terms. One question: if a warning is unannounced, is it still a warning? Perhaps consider it more of a "points" system (like for driving), and say "If you do such and such, you will be remembered and blocked if you keep doing it" or something? Or is there an official wiki warning system that actually does something else, and I'm missing the point entirely? --Narc (talk) 23:35, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

No there is no warning system, it would just mean that every time a minor offense is done once we would have to give a warning. I sorta consider that to be an unannounced warning, it's not hard to remember considering it's all kept in the contributions. Now I know this doesn't happen a lot but I don't want to create a lot of talk pages for IPs that are only going to be seen once. I figure they know what they are doing when they do it so they don't actually need a written warning. ~ Makiah 06:48, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

Considering some people can't figure out "that cupholder thingy" on their computer, I'm not 100% sure that'll work, but we can certainly try it. I'd honestly not mind creating lots of talk pages (it's not my server, and even if it was, it could only be a minor amount of space occupied, compared to the _real_ articles; and with a template to subst in, it shouldn't take more than a minute to create the page), but ultimately it makes little difference to me, since you're admin so this is your job. In any case, thanks for clearing it up for me. --Narc (talk) 12:44, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

The Sims Categories

Continued from User:Narc/Categories Project

I figured we should put this here since I foresee a problem should we not get this issue solved very soon. I am personally suspending all category creations until we vote on our laid out plan. This way everyone as a community knows what to do and is not doing their own thing. One weeks worth discussion and two weeks to vote on the issue is going to be our set time plan.

Issue: The category system needs fixing. It's very unorganized and messy.

(DO NOT COPY AND PASTE, RATHER EDIT YOUR IDEAS INTO AFTER DISCUSSION) The proposed category system is as followed:

• Sims Wiki (this is our super-category, the mother of all categories; everything is rooted here)
  • Sims Games (this category is the root of the "games" tree as noted above; in this tree, we categorize things by the games it's in)
    • The Sims
      • The Sims Base Game
      • Livin' Large
      • (etc.; one category for each expansion pack)
    • The Sims 2
      • The Sims 2 Base Game
      • University
      • (etc.; one category for each expansion pack)
      • Stuff Packs
        • Holiday Party Pack
        • (etc.; one category for each stuff pack)
  • Simology (this category is the root of the "simology" tree; it categorizes by aspects of a sim's life)
    • Aspirations
    • Careers
    • NPCs
    • Talent Badges
    • Skill points
    • Motives
    • Life Stages
    • Life States
      • Aliens
    • Interactions
  • Sims
    • (what we already have here)
  • Images
    • Sim Images
    • Sims 2 snapshots
    • Sims 1 Snapshots
    • Wiki Images
    • Box Art
    • Logo
  • Templates
    • Blank
    • Stubs
    • Disambiguation
    • Featured Articles
  • Games (for all other Sim games)
  • Community
    • Websites
  • EA Games (I think the Maxis category should be integrated into this one)
  • (more? Your input is required)

Comments

I have added all the categories that I believe are available as of now (all the ones I believe should be kept) as well as inserted ideas. Realize when you are discussing these are the exact titles we want to name these categories. They are to be used as more efficient and to enable better searching. Time is of the essence people and by Monday, March 24, 2008 I hope to be voting on this issue. Thanks for your time, I know this is a long topic! If anyone thinks of anything to be added please do! Makiah (talk) 22:53, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

I'll unfix the stuff in Simology, but what i want know is, how is any of that different then the stuff in "Games Systems" --Uberfuzzy 23:03, 17 March 2008 (UTC)?

Personally I don't like the Game Systems category because if I was a person looking for things to do with the sims such as aspirations I would not look under Game Systems. That's why we want to better the category system. I thank you for fixing that. The categories listed above would be the only ones we have so if anything is important it should be added! But again Uberfuzzy I believe you have some good ideas and can add them! Makiah (talk) 09:43, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

Deletion Policy

There is no deletion policy in effect however I have been asked in the past, what is the policy here? I, liking my freedom to delete anything when I want anytime, do not want a deletion policy. However I'm asking the community should we have one or not? We will not vote on this topic unless someone wishes to put forth a possible deletion policy. I'm willing to consider any items put forth seriously and will do what the community wants! No fear! RAWR! ^^ Makiah (talk) 22:53, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

Well, then, I suggest something simple like having a page to put articles up for deletion in. The point of it is to give non-admin contributors the ability to at least suggest that a page be deleted. On the other hand, deletions probably won't come up very often, so whatever works, you know? --Narc (talk) 13:12, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

We could have a simple page linked to in the Discussions maybe? Discussions/Delete Page and people can request pages to be deleted for a reason and also have a link the the deletion log and if any admin deletes a page they want, people can vote for it to be recreated by the admin. (I don't know if a non-admin can restore a page with all the previous edits...but admins can) How does that sound? Do we need to vote on this? Makiah (talk) 03:59, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

That's pretty exactly what I was thinking about, honestly. I don't think we need a vote -- this is admin privilege, honestly, so whatever you say is how we'll go. If anyone feels the need to change the methodology later, they can always say so. --Narc (talk) 23:09, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Skin Voting

Quote from here.

"i would like to suggest you move to one of the monaco skins instead of quartz. wikia is no longer actively supporting quartz, so any problem with it are very unlikely to be fixed. monaco can be customized much in the same ways as quartz, but offers more controls and menus options. See Monaco Skin Customization for all the ways you can customize it. --Uberfuzzy 23:47, 18 March 2008 (UTC)"

Being suggested, I would like to take a vote to this. Wikia changed the default skin (I think earlier on 18 March 2008) I changed it back to Smoke Quartz, however as Uberfuzzy pointed out, above, Quartz is no longer supported. So I believe Smoke should be the color, but is everyone okay with Monaco? Personally it's what I use when I'm logged in. Doesn't really need a discussion since there are only two options...If you agree with Uberfuzzy, you want the supported skin Monaco. If you disagree, you want to keep it the way it is. I recommend you try each skin to know exactly what your voting for. This vote ends April 1st, 2008.

Neutral

1. I hold the right to change my vote later. ^^ (Just incase everyone is neutral!) Makiah (talk) 02:05, 19 March 2008 (UTC)
2. I can't say this makes any difference to me. My preferences are set to use the monobook skin I'm comfortable with and I don't see myself changing to any other. --Narc (talk) 13:09, 19 March 2008 (UTC)