Talk:Main Page

From The Secret World Wiki

"Melissonomoi" is typo'd there on the frontpage. Rachna 13:36, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

Fixed. Thank you Rachna!

[edit] A Main Page Redesign

I'm looking to overhaul the main page almost completely. We're getting to the point where we can't have all of the pages on the wiki linked on the main page without making it look like an unwieldy block of text, but we want it to be informative.

What I would like to do is to get as much information as possible accessible from the sidebar by three clicks or less. This is going to be a bit of a task, as it's probably going to take at least a little bit of editing on almost every page. Then, this would leave the main page open to being something like Wikipedia's main page, with information about the wiki, CryGaia, The Secret World, and an article of the day.

This is my first stop on my little crusade to get the wiki more organized and more streamlined. Aside from this, I want to make new templates for different kinds of information, overhaul the faction and character infoboxes (mostly because they don't look too fantastic), and get some graphics going on in this wiki without making it look terrible.

Any and all feedback is welcomed, encouraged, and greatly appreciated. --Mr. Whisper 05:54, 6 September 2009 (UTC)

Well it seems like you have a huge task ahead of you! Currently I don't think the setup needs to be changed too much. You can still get to every page fairly quickly. They're all in one category or another. The only thing that really annoys the bejesus out of me is that default logo in the top left there... Really wish there was either nothing or a CGN logo... But that default one gives off the impression that no work is even being done here... Just how I feel.

Other than that, the sidebar navigation is fine. I would say move the Recent Changes link from the navigation box to the wiki development box; would be more inconvenient for people working on the wiki but I think it'd be better for those who just want to find information, getting it out of the way. Maybe not.

In terms of the information boxes on the templates... I agree that they look kind of... Out of place... The more neutral color scheme could work like they have on Wikipedia. Rather than yellow and brown, just a white and black.

Also I think the default 'No Picture Available' should be made much smaller.

Is there anyway to get it so blank information under the Information boxes for characters like hair color/eye color aren't displayed?

That's about it. I'll try to make more comments as I think of things. I feel bad for complaining so much and doing nothing =P Good luck Whisper, and don't work too hard. --Selzi 15:17, 6 September 2009 (UTC)

Also, I got this idea for a new page. Something like "Ongoing" or a page that lists puzzles/riddles that are currently going on as well as community driven conversations on closed riddles that they feel still have some things to be studied. --Selzi 16:54, 6 September 2009 (UTC)

You've done a really awesome job, Mr. Whisper. Thanks for taking the time to do all this. The wiki looks superb. --Selzi 04:15, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

It's getting there, Sel, but we all still have a long road ahead of us. Hopefully we'll be getting some aesthetic changes in the near future. --Mr. Whisper 06:20, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

Sorry I haven't been more help editing lately, but all the changes you've made so far have been great, Whisper. There are some organizational changes that I'm thinking about, too. Maybe beginning to solidly delineate sections between Game, ARG/TiNAG, and Development/News. Right now everything seems to have have kind of hodge-podged with all the new things that have been going on. Fujikanaeda 21:38, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

I love the work you've been doing on the front page, Sel! Very nice work. I've got a few gripes, but we can work those out over the next couple of weeks or so. Mainly, I want to cut down on the amount of content boxes here. Some of the things on the front page are not immediately relevant, such as the Funcom links, external links, and stuff like that. I'd also like to eventually weasel out that banner, because at the moment it looks a little gaudy just sitting there in a white space all by itself. I agree that we need a bit of color to spruce up the bleakness of the main page. I suggest we color some of the boxes, much like Wikipedia does with the boxes on their front page.

Finally, I'd like to start getting a concrete category tree in order, that way we can put links to just the categories on the front page, rather than links to specific pages. That's a whole 'nother line of work, though. --Mr. Whisper 00:20, 8 October 2009 (UTC)

I really want to clarify before any work gets done. It worries me when you say link to categories on the main page. I want to stress that no other wiki (that I've ever seen) links to 'Category:' pages. Pretty much all links always go to actual pages. There might be general pages like the Faction page that exists now than links to other sub pages, but even if there was a Faction category, I wouldn't want to see anything that actually linked to it. In my years using wikis, I've never actually used a category page to look for something. IMO, categories should only be used for organization and keeping pages together, but not an actual means to traverse pages. Just my thoughts.

Also, this would be a great addition: http://recaptcha.net/plugins/mediawiki/ --Selzi 01:57, 10 October 2009 (UTC)

I was thinking more along the lines of how Wikipedia organizes pages into "Portals." Go to the Wikipedia main page. In the upper right hand corner is a list of a bunch of different categories into which all pages are ultimately sorted into, but the links take you to their portal pages. These portal pages give a quick rundown on some of the stuff that you'll find in each of the categories, as well as some great jumping points if you were interested in just reading what that category has to offer. --Mr. Whisper 22:42, 12 October 2009 (UTC)

Hi ! I'm a newbie here (as well as on TSW), but I wonder if it was possible to translate this wiki in french. It could be a good idea to make a french portal. But, alas!, I'm not used in wiki syntax to develop it myself. Ethelbert 14:48, 5 November 2009 (UTC)