StrategyWiki:Staff lounge/2007/April

Monobook Problems
I just looked at the site in Monoboox and there is something really wrong with the bar on the side of Lunar Knight's and My user pages, it can be fixed on bluecloud with one  but monobook needs two, why does this happen? Feel free to take a look because I haven't fixed it yet.--Rocky http://media.strategywiki.org/images/thumb/7/78/Rally-X_Rock.png/25px-Rally-X_Rock.png (Talk - Contributions) 05:04, 2 April 2007 (CDT)
 * Just a guess, but it might be because of the different layout in monobook (btw, is my page messed up too, because I use the same sidebar that you do). --Ryan SchmidtTalk - Contribs 18:03, 2 April 2007 (CDT)
 * Yeah, I tried to fix it and failed dismally, sorry. Just to note, this only happens after you've refreshed the cache.--Rocky http://media.strategywiki.org/images/thumb/7/78/Rally-X_Rock.png/25px-Rally-X_Rock.png (Talk - Contributions) 10:09, 7 April 2007 (CDT)

List of Towns
I've got a slight question about a guide I'm doing - Port Royale 2. I've got a map of all the towns and would like to imagemap it so you can select each town, the problem is that there are 60 towns and I'm on the verge, 60 articles is a a bit excessive but they would have a lot of information in, what do you guys think, should I create 60 articles or just leave out the towns?--Rocky http://media.strategywiki.org/images/thumb/7/78/Rally-X_Rock.png/25px-Rally-X_Rock.png (Talk - Contributions) 15:46, 8 April 2007 (CDT)
 * If it's possible to group a few towns on the same page (based on unlocking/visiting order, or just regions), that might be a better. If you can reduce the amount of information to just what is necessary for the guide, then do that.  If adding the towns helps the player get through the game in any way, then definately add it, irrespective of size. -- Prod (Talk) 16:12, 8 April 2007 (CDT)
 * If there are towns that are identical in features and only differ in name you could cover them together. Mount&Blade has about 20 towns, but there are only about five town layouts which are then recycled between them. GarrettTalk 16:15, 8 April 2007 (CDT)
 * 60 towns sounds like they aren't very detailed, you could just put them all on one page. If they are as diverse as say, Ironforge of World of Warcraft (note that SW doesn't have info on it yet) well then you're going to have 60 sub pages... --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 21:04, 8 April 2007 (CDT)
 * There's no actual order for the pages and there's a lot of info that could be put in, I'll do it. --Rocky http://media.strategywiki.org/images/thumb/7/78/Rally-X_Rock.png/25px-Rally-X_Rock.png (Talk - Contributions) 02:02, 9 April 2007 (CDT)

Material "copied from a similar free resource"
Is info taken (not directly copied due to the format of the guide here) from the GFDL JP Wikipedia alright? Also, how should it be cited? (See my first contribution for a more detailed explanation of what I am talking about.) Y0u 00:10, 13 April 2007 (CDT)
 * If it's GFDL you can copy it straight up, just gather all the contributor names and paste them in either the talk page or the summary field (if there's too many for the summary field try the talk page and in the summary page just say JP WP). Question, do IP addresses need to be recorded as well?  And all you have to do is copy/re-write it, plus since its coming from Japanese it wouldn't be hard to do a re-write since like 99% of translations aren't literally the same, diction and connotation wise.  --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 01:44, 13 April 2007 (CDT)
 * United States copyright law provides equal protection for "Anonymous Works, [and] Pseudonymous Works" so listing IP is just as necessary as a username. GarrettTalk 03:56, 13 April 2007 (CDT)
 * If the wikipedia page isn't going to be deleted, it's probably easier to provide a link in the edit summary and not bother with full attribution. -- Prod (Talk) 21:48, 13 April 2007 (CDT)

Colored text
For the guide I'm creating, Pardus, there are different factions with equipment that affects game-play quite severely. What I'm looking for is just a simple way to color my text so I can color faction specific parts accordingly.
 * Look here for some examples. But be aware that some colors do not contrast well against white, so please choose your colors wisely. Procyon (Talk) 14:40, 17 April 2007 (CDT)

Email address validation
Hi, I'm a newly registered user. I cannot seem to get my email address validated/authenticated/confirmed. I have waited a day but not received the confirmation email. I have tried sending another confirmation email from http://strategywiki.org/wiki/Special:Preferences. My email address is working in general. Are you aware of a problem? Pelago 15:38, 17 April 2007 (CDT)
 * I know that ABXY.org (StrategyWiki's parent site) has had some problems with this so if you don't get an answer, go ahead and message on his talk page.  He'll probably send you one himself. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 17:04, 17 April 2007 (CDT)
 * I just re-verified mine and I got one back in seconds. Perhaps it ended up in your spam or bulk folder? If you're using a webmail service you could also try adding [mailto:echelon@gmail.com echelon@gmail.com] to your address book (which is the address it will come from) which should let it bypass any filtering. GarrettTalk 23:43, 17 April 2007 (CDT)
 * I have no spam filtering on this account. I've just sent myself an email from my gmail account which worked so there doesn't seem to be a general problem with gmail mails getting through to me. But still the confirmation mails don't seem to be getting through. I'll message echelon. Pelago 12:34, 18 April 2007 (CDT)
 * Echelon has validated me manually by editing the database directly, many thanks. Pelago 16:38, 22 April 2007 (CDT)

Making your own maps
Has StrategyWiki got a problem with editing screenshots (e.g making a map or sewing them together in an image editor), I've just thoght about this now because I've done this a few times here and I'm wondering if it's a breach of fair use? Does anyone know if it's allowed?--Rocky http://media.strategywiki.org/images/thumb/7/78/Rally-X_Rock.png/25px-Rally-X_Rock.png (Talk - Contributions) 15:29, 20 April 2007 (CDT)
 * Video game magazines have been doing that for years. If there was anything wrong with it, the magazine would have disappeared a long time ago.  We're not selling the information, or claiming that it's our own intellectual property, so there's really no problem.  Not to mention the fact that it's not as though modern-day Atari is really going to go after anyone over Chip's Challenge...  Procyon (Talk) 15:51, 20 April 2007 (CDT)

Table Problems
Yeah, I've been working on the Final Fantasy XII guide and I've duffed up the table in the Final Fantasy XII/Weapons Section big time. Can anyone help? I was trying to have a sort of two-tiered table, so that the stats would be on one 'tier', while how to get the weapons would be on the lower 'tier', so I wouldn't have an ultra-long, out-of-control table.--Froglet 08:02, 22 April 2007 (CDT)
 * I'll give it a try, please revert me if I go really wrong or it's not what you want.--Rocky http://media.strategywiki.org/images/thumb/7/78/Rally-X_Rock.png/25px-Rally-X_Rock.png (Talk - Contributions) 08:33, 22 April 2007 (CDT)
 * I've had a go but you may want 2 tables to deal with it.--Rocky http://media.strategywiki.org/images/thumb/7/78/Rally-X_Rock.png/25px-Rally-X_Rock.png (Talk - Contributions) 08:44, 22 April 2007 (CDT)
 * I was looking for something like this (sorry it looks so bad, it was made within the space of 5 minutes, somebody please delete it later on), but now I don't think that the wiki engine will let me without loss of somebody's sanity, so I'll just find another way. Thanks anyway, Rocky. :-P --Froglet 08:55, 22 April 2007 (CDT)
 * Come on IRC. with a bit of modification, it shouldn't be too bad :P. -- Prod (Talk) 08:59, 22 April 2007 (CDT)
 * Sorry, I've looked at the MW site for a bit, I think i've got it, just let me check--Rocky http://media.strategywiki.org/images/thumb/7/78/Rally-X_Rock.png/25px-Rally-X_Rock.png (Talk - Contributions) 09:19, 22 April 2007 (CDT)
 * I think we need a new design idea. First of all, can you list all of the elements that are necessary (name, sell value, power, etc.).  Also describe what goes next to them (a value, misc. info, etc.) so we can judge if it can be integrated some how.  --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 16:07, 22 April 2007 (CDT)

Yep, I agree. The necessary attributes would be: Stuff that would be nice to add would be:
 * Attack Power
 * Evade
 * Special
 * Element
 * MP boost
 * Magick Power
 * Buy
 * Sell
 * Multiple
 * CT (charge time)
 * Shops where the items are available (the design of the game is such that you have to go to specific places for some items)
 * Which treasure chests/sidequests/hunts you can to do to get the item as a reward.
 * Which enemies you can kill or steal from to get the weapon.
 * Licence required to equip it.
 * Licence Points required to get the licence.

In all, this would be a huge table, so a better idea would be something like the template or something, like used here, so I'll try a layout out on the Weapons page, then mark the page for deletion and create separate pages due to the huge amount of information that there is about the weapons. I'll set about in an attempt. :-P --Froglet 07:48, 27 April 2007 (CDT)
 * ... and a while later, I have a rough sketch of a template/table thingummy up on the weapons page, could somebody please look through it and clean it up if necessary? I'm not familiar with the construction of such templates/tables, and it may need a bit of polishing.--Froglet 08:41, 27 April 2007 (CDT)

Latest on licence
Hi again. I asked at StrategyWiki_talk:License but thought I'd get more of a response here - I'm especially interested in hearing from Echelon. Is there any 'danger' of this Wiki being relicensed under a different license? I've held off contributing as it seemed a few months ago that there was a big interest in this wiki not being GFDL. I couldn't find any definitive statement one way or the other as to what the consensus was. The discussion just seemed to peter out. Pelago 16:42, 22 April 2007 (CDT)
 * It's pretty much too late for a relicense. If you are worried about your contributions not being under the GFDL, then don't worry, it's guaranteed they will always be GFDL (unless someone plagiarizes...).  If you are worried about a relicense getting rid of all your added info, don't worry since echelon will give access to the dumps and we can restart the website elsewhere.  -- Prod (Talk) 17:34, 22 April 2007 (CDT)

Main Page Completion no. and 100% guides questions
Are we meant to have redirects with completion levels, to me it seems a bit strange (e.g here). Also, I'm not sure of this but culd we use PAGESINNS (see here) to count the articles for the main page?Rocky http://media.strategywiki.org/images/thumb/7/78/Rally-X_Rock.png/25px-Rally-X_Rock.png (Talk - Contributions) 07:26, 28 April 2007 (CDT)
 * I think the reason Garrett was categorising the redirects with completion levels as well as categories was to help people search for the game in that name. (see here). As for PAGESINNS, the main reason I can see (why it is disabled) is because it is slow. This means that people will have to wait a long time (or not so long, I have no idea of how slow it really is) to load our main page, which in turn detracts visitors. --Ryan SchmidtTalk - Contribs 13:27, 28 April 2007 (CDT)
 * It might not actually be that slow, we don't know. For wikipedia it's bound to be slow, (over 1 and 3/4 articles) but for us, it's about 150 (when narrowed down), is it really that much. Also, would there be a way to protect it so that only admins can use it, a vandal could use it to slow down the site tremendously.Rocky http://media.strategywiki.org/images/thumb/7/78/Rally-X_Rock.png/25px-Rally-X_Rock.png (Talk - Contributions) 14:02, 28 April 2007 (CDT)
 * Yes, I do agree that we have absolutely no idea how slow it is. As for the protecting issue, I'm not sure we can restrict the use of parser functions (which is what PAGESINNS is). I currently am under the opinion that you cannot (restrict their use), but then again, I may be entirely wrong. I'll ask someone who would know a way if there is one. --Ryan SchmidtTalk - Contribs 14:52, 28 April 2007 (CDT)
 * I've actually got an idea for this if there if sum1 experienced can change the code a bit. My idea is to have a protected page list with all of the pages that it can be used on which the code uses.Rocky http://media.strategywiki.org/images/thumb/7/78/Rally-X_Rock.png/25px-Rally-X_Rock.png (Talk - Contributions) 15:07, 28 April 2007 (CDT)
 * By the way, now that I've looked at the wikicode for the Main Page, what is wrong with ? --Ryan SchmidtTalk - Contribs 16:04, 28 April 2007 (CDT)
 * We're already using that for the good count. As far as I know it can't be used as a way of counting category contents, however, which is what Rocky is wanting. GarrettTalk 20:10, 28 April 2007 (CDT)
 * My reasoning is that those looking for a game under their region's name (e.g. Probotector vs. Contra) will find it in all the right places, regardless of what the favoured name here is. I've only done it with stage 4 because their nums are unlikely to change, meaning the redirect won't be in danger of going out of synch. As for inflating the category, we've already got numerous compilations in there; while they are complete in and of themselves, the games they contain are not complete. It could be quite confusing for someone expecting a complete guide to all the games in a compilation to find it is only a Wikipedia-style article linking to mostly empty pages. GarrettTalk 20:10, 28 April 2007 (CDT)