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Wiki Update


Ran

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We've got a test version of the wiki up featuring a new, responsive skin named Tweeki (based on Twitter's Bootstrap framework) that means we won't have to mess around with the somewhat clunky MobileFrontEnd any more. It's got its own database, a copy made last month, so do NOT work on it.

We're pretty locked down on the skin, because responsive design has kind of been the future for the last half a decade and it's time to move on. That said, we're sure there are things missing from the experience of the new skin, as it has a lot of config options. Also, bear in mind, the edit and toolbox buttons are presently missing if you are not logged in. To log in, there's a link in the footer.

I did notice that the Game of Thrones page seems to be acting weirdly. And that the main page has a couple of tags showing in the "did you know" type section. Not sure what that means, unless it indicates CSS issues or perhaps missinge extensions. We've tried to bring over every extension that seemed to actually serve a purpose on the wiki, but if something is missing, let us know.

Our goal is to go live this weekend, if possible. We do have grander plans to try and style it to be a bit more like the forum, up to and including background images if that's at all feasible.

The test site is at http://wiki-test.westeros.org/

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I've taken a quick look, and noticed a few things.

On the home page, at the bottom, there is some coding visible (<small>), while at some pages, the infoboxes used at the top are cut off (for example on Meereen's page). That might depend on the size of the screen the reader uses (I am on my phone), but that is an issue. Is there a way to fix that?

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I expect that tweaks to some of our templates will be needed to make them better conform to mobile standards. Like the Meereen one seems to be an issue with images that are too larger. That said, a fix for the images is available with this skin! I've just edited the Meereen page to take advantage that we can add tags to images which make them automatically responsive (obviously, will have to do this when we update the database)... and it may be that since some templates/infoboxes expect images, perhaps we can get it to just automatically include that styling?

As to the main page, yes, I've noticed that there are little tags showing up and I'm not sure why. I expect they just need to be examined to figure out why they are breaking. That said, I have to say I am pleasantly surprised with how well the main page has come out with this skin.

 

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Yeah, the home page looks really good!

 

And that fix worked! Is that something that can be achieved for all images automatically by changing the css, or will we have to do that manually for each image?

You said that the database had a copy made last month, does that mean that all edits made since that date are going to be lost? 

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@Rhaenys_Targaryen

I am hopeful that the template wizards can insert the responsive styling option directly into those templates so that manual edits will not be needed. I am not familiar at all with how templates work, so will leave it to others. Template editors, if there's any other things that are part of Tweeki (as noted in the link above) that might be helpful, feel free to start implementing them into templates. :)

And I just mean that that database is old. When I update the live site, no edits will be lost, as it will be an update of the live database.

 

 

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The wiki has been upgraded but there seems to be an issue with it having an additional column on the left that it is manifestly not supposed to have. Contacting the skin creator to see if they have any thoughts on what is happening.

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And fixed.

It'd be great if those familiar with templates go through those related to images to see if we can apply some sort of responsiveness to them as well.

ETA: Also, you'll likely notice toolbox and editing things that are missing that you often used. Let me know what things you want in the toolbox or elsewhere and I can try and sort them out.

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Love the site and what you guys do. Had to make an account to express my deep concern about the new website. The format before was great, user-friendly and simple to navigate. This new one is so incredibly jarring and I've seen the test-page.

I beg you. Bring back the old Wiki layout. There was nothing wrong with it.

Again, thank you guys for what you do. I use the wiki on almost a daily basis.

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Thanks you, @Dusbero We are commited to making this work, because it modernizes the site, gives it more of an identity, and makes maintenance easier. The fact that it is different should not be a barrier to our making it work better, though. As we've said, there are certain features that have been pared away that we can put back in, but we need to know what are the things that you feel are necessary for the site to be navigable for you?

As an example, I'm looking into finding a way to get Recent Changes placed in the Toolbox drop down, as I always found that useful.

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The new format isn't so great, the wikipedia style one is much easier to deal with. Anyway, if you're sticking with it, I suggest moving the contents to the left and placing login, discussion, edit and history in the same row so it's easier to edit (as before). It's a bit weird how the entire page is shifted to the left when viewing articles.

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There are some basic functionality issues with the new design:

The right-hand column added to it is supposed to display ads, as well as the page Contents menu - removing the Contents navigation menu from the top of the page.  However, it is impossible to scroll down the right hand column, so the particularly long Contents menus on very detailed pages are cut off after a few entries.  

Also...where is the "Recent Changes" tab?  That's basically the home page of the wiki for regular editors, so they can see what is being worked on.

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@Jaehaerys-III

I've made some adjustments to start with. Swapping content from left to right should be doable, but personally I find it more readable as is because the first thing you see is contents, not a sidebar with advertising.

@The Dragon Demands

Give me an example of the contents menu being too long? We looked around and found nothing such. The closest I've seen is the Dance of the Dragons page, which is very long for one section, but after you pass that it shortens again.I've also already noted that I'm working on getting Recent Changes available.

 

ETA: Swapped sidebar from right to left and I strongly feel that it detracts from readability of the site, so we're going back. Have an edit button at top of the page, as well as discussion and login. I want to change 'Other languages' to the web-standard globe icon to make it more compact, trying to figure out how to do that.

ETA #2: And I've found out how to turn on categories at the bottom of pages, which I've done.

 

ETA #3: Table of contents restored to within the article and removed from the sidebar. Only thing really left are minor tweaks (changing text to icons when possible for compactness) and figuring out how to fit Recent Changes somewhere.

 

ETA #4: Fixed the Languages to an icon. Going to see if I can do the same for discussion. Waiting on the developer for advice on how to stick Recent Changes into the Toolbox, but if that's not possible I can just make it a link at the top navigation I suppose.

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I have to say this new layout is a definite step backwards in user friendliness and readability i am not sure this counts as an improvement in any respect, but i am hoping its just start-up problems that always occur when a change to layout are made.

But i am glad that you are trying to modernize the wiki i do agree that this was long overdo.

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1 hour ago, direpupy said:

I have to say this new layout is a definite step backwards in user friendliness and readability i am not sure this counts as an improvement in any respect, but i am hoping its just start-up problems that always occur when a change to layout are made.

But i am glad that you are trying to modernize the wiki i do agree that this was long overdo.

Do you think font adjustments may make it more readable for you? To be honest, I look between the old version (you still can, sort of -- just append ?useskin=Vector to any link; it's somewhat broken but usable) and the present and I don't see much difference in terms of presentation. More things are put away to the top, leaving much more of the focus on the text rather than a bunch of links that 90% of users do not use.

@spencerx13

I will look into getting that added back in, as soon as I find out how to get Recent Changes in as well.

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I've added a new Interact menu item to the navigation bar featuring both Random Article and Recent Changes. I may eventually move those into the toolbox instead, to minimize the number of dropdowns, but this is the best solution I've got right now until I figure out a better way to do it.

 

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5 hours ago, Nittanian said:

Not sure if it's been mentioned yet, but italics display correctly in the Contents of an article (A Game of Thrones) but not in the subsection's header (A Game of Thrones).

Will look into addressing that when I home. Probably just a css thing.


ETA: Are you using the AGoT article as an example, or are you thinking of something else? The AGoT article has the header italicized as it ought to be.

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22 hours ago, Switzeran said:

Do you think font adjustments may make it more readable for you? To be honest, I look between the old version (you still can, sort of -- just append ?useskin=Vector to any link; it's somewhat broken but usable) and the present and I don't see much difference in terms of presentation. More things are put away to the top, leaving much more of the focus on the text rather than a bunch of links that 90% of users do not use.

@spencerx13

I will look into getting that added back in, as soon as I find out how to get Recent Changes in as well.

The font is not the problem, all of they ads being on the right instead of equally divided over both left and right is, because it offsets the text to the left of the screen instead of the text being in the center and where by focusing on the center of the screen i could tune out they ads while reading, this is now no longer possible and they ads are an annoying presence in the corner of they eye whilst trying to read the text.

Now i understand they ads are necessary and should be clearly visible, however they should not be a distraction while reading.

As to user friendliness, drop down menus are great for people who regularly use the wiki like you, me, The dragon demands, and others who contribute to the content and will in a short amount of time be able to blindly navigate them, but they are notoriously unfriendly to casual users who will have to go true several of them in order to find what they need.

Having said that from an aesthetic point of view i do understand the choice since it looks "cleaner" in terms of how the page looks. Also i did notice that since my post the menus have undergone some change and the number of links hanging under the drop down have been reduced which helps a lot in mitigating this problem.

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