StrategyWiki:Staff lounge

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Welcome to all users! This page is where you can ask StrategyWiki-related questions to the staff and senior community figures, and they will do their best to answer. If you want to raise a topic for discussion (rather than just ask about it), please use the community issues forum instead. New issues are entered here, with the most recent at the bottom of the page. If your question does not pertain to editing StrategyWiki (e.g. asking for hints or game-specific information), please ask on the guide's talk page or on the forums.

Please review the Table of Contents to see if your issue has already been raised; also check the archives (to the right) in case it was discussed some time ago.

To facilitate ease of browsing and replying, please:
 * 1) Place your question at the bottom of the list.
 * 2) Title the question (by placing the title between equals signs: ==Title==).
 * 3) Sign your name and date (by adding four tildes: ~ ).

Featured guides' star icon
Template:Featured has this line: "This template adds a star icon to the upper-right corner which links to StrategyWiki:Featured guides."

Currently, each one of the featured guides has a star right under their main page names, and another one under the Table of Contents sections. But when I browsed Pokémon Yellow a few days ago, I remember seeing the star in the upper-right corner like the template says, and there were no stars under the Table of Contents sections.

Did something change? If yes, could the star be moved back to its original position? 123.20.40.48 13:56, 15 January 2014 (UTC)
 * We were trying a different way of doing the stylings for it, but it doesn't appear to have worked very well. I've reverted the changes and it should go back to the way it was before soon. -- Prod (talk) 15:36, 15 January 2014 (UTC)

When will the Super Metroid Guide be Finished?
I've searched the internet and youtube for a good Super Metroid Guide that doesn't sequence break. I finally found the one here on Strategy Wiki but its not finished. Who's Working on it? Why hasn't it been finished yet? When Will it be finished? Will anyone finished Super Metroid?


 * Glad you found the guide useful so far :). Whoever wants to work on it, can work on it, no one is ever assigned.  Looks like whoever was writing it moved on, so it won't be finished until someone else comes along and has interest in finishing the guide. -- Prod (talk) 15:45, 27 January 2014 (UTC)


 * I just realized that I am the main editor for that guide, at least on the first few pages. Note that you can check the history of any page on this site to see who has worked on it, and what they have added. For now, I am focused on Chrono Trigger. It is my favorite game. If you have any specific Super Metroid questions (I have beaten it ~2 times), feel free to ask me them on my talk page, here. -- 00:49, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

Game Page Creation
Hello, I'm a bit of a newb to the site and I was wondering how you create a game page. Like, I want to create a strategy guide for a 3ds game, but how? I really suck at this... --Vectrex (talk) 01:46, 29 January 2014 (UTC)


 * Hi there! All you have to do is go to the game's page and start from there. E.g., Game Name. If you click that red link, then you can alter your URL in your browser at the top of the screen. Click in the address bar, change "Game Name" to the correct name of your game (we will help to rename the page if you don't get it right the first time), and press enter to load that page. Give it a shot, or let us know what game you are starting and we can link you to it (or you can link yourself; all you have to do is reply here, add the game name in brackets like this: Game Name and hit "Show preview" - you don't even have to save it to the page to use the link. However, a better idea would be to add it to your user page, User:Vectrex. That is a page that you can use to keep track of your work, favorite games, or whatever. See my page, [[User:Notmyhandle], for an example. -- 01:59, 29 January 2014 (UTC)


 * Here's where it get's confusing. I want to do Sonic Lost World, but I don't know how to lay it out because the game came out on two systems, and both versions are different from each other. --Vectrex (talk) 02:04, 29 January 2014 (UTC)


 * If they're significantly different (e.g. different level layouts), then one of the two platforms receives Sonic Lost World as the title, with the other platforms receiving a platform-specific title (e.g. Sonic Lost World (Nintendo DS) or Sonic Lost World (WiiU). If they're practically identical, it's best to describe platform-specific differences as needed, or create a Versions page in the ToC.  --Sigma 7 (talk) 05:52, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

Markup broken?
I don't know how long this has been, but today i couldn't use the Guide/Wiki Markup to edit a page. The Buttons at the Top work well, but anything from "Insert" to "Math and Logic" dont work for me. Can someone look in that? Paco (talk) 11:55, 1 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Can you purge your cache and try now? -- Prod (talk) 16:53, 1 February 2014 (UTC)
 * I can now insert anything from markup again (see Sandbox), without having to purge the Cache. Paco (talk) 17:09, 1 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Great, thanks for the bug report! -- Prod (talk) 18:17, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

website question
The thung on the left side of this website is annoying is it going to be removed in the future-RodKimble (talk) 06:58, 8 February 2014 (UTC)


 * I assume this is part of the new Dolphin skin. It is designed so that it is easier to navigate between walkthrough pages, but I can see why some might find the change jarring. You can always change your skin preferences back to the older Whale skin. Simply go into your preferences and select the Whale skin to revert to the previous skin with the sidebar located at the top. T.testLP(talk) 07:07, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

Grid mapping
I am referring to square-grid-maze games that need some mapping, classic RPGs (like Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder) or Interactive Fiction games (like Zork) and so on.

If we want to create, and eventually include such a map in our guide, is there a recommended way or software to do it? Personally, I am using a software called Trizbort, where I an create nodes (rooms) and join them (exits) and add some comments to each (like "There is a dropped key here which opens the locked door in Room A"). Although the game is good to create, browse and edit maps, there is no ideal way to export them into a presentable form. There are options to export a map in PDF or JPG, but this would be just a screenshot, with some lines and texts overlapping, or unreadable tags. There are options to export maps in "Inform 6" or "TADS" formats, but I have no idea what they are.

The only way to use my maps here would be to upload the Trizbort files to an article, so that they could be downloaded, and opened by Trizbort, but this doesn't sound very practical.

I am open to hints or suggestions. Keyan (talk) 13:02, 15 February 2014 (UTC)


 * The best approach to take in this case would be to either export your map as a picture (See Exporting a Picture for instructions) or to capture a screenshot of your desktop while your Trizbort document is open (hit Ctrl+PrtScr and then [aste into your favorite image editor, such as GIMP, then edit and save). Definitely steer away from any solutions or file formats that web browsers do not support natively.  I had not heard of Trizbort before now, but it definitely seems like a good utility for creating certain kinds of map illustrations.   Pro  cyon  14:02, 15 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your reply, however I will prepare an image illustrating why screenshots and the export options don't result in ideally readable and browsable maps. As sometimes the texts and tags don't fit in the image, one has to resolve to artistry and make notations in the image and then add notations in the article. Quite troublesome but there isn't any other way. I will upload as soon as file uploading will be back. I was also wondering if there is an inherent wiki code that would be used for mapping, like the family tree code in Wikipedia (see for example this family tree). Keyan (talk) 16:43, 15 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Trizbort grid maps appear to scale to infinitely large proportions. Large images can be uploaded here, but obviously a thumbnail will not be useful. If that is the goal, then you can screenshot sections pertinent to the particular guide page you are using. Otherwise, uploading the full image as a screenshot is still useful, so you could put it on the page as a small image and say "click here" to observe the whole image. Like you said, making connections between the guide and such an image would not be possible. Another option is to screenshot a portion that fits on the center of the page, then make it like a Table of Contents - image map each room's rectangle so it can be clicked on and people can jump to it. We can't test these at the moment since uploads have been disabled for the next week or two. -- 22:00, 15 February 2014 (UTC)


 * An image map, combined with a legend below, would be workable. I have seen such in other wikis but I haven't used such code. In the meantime, can you redirect me to a tutorial on how to make an image map? Keyan (talk) 22:47, 15 February 2014 (UTC)


 * A couple of thoughts. First, with respect to familytree, Wikipedia states that wp:Template:Familytree is deprecated and that wp:Template:Chart should be used in it's place.  It should be a relatively small matter for us to port the chart template to SW if you feel it would be useful.  Second, with respect to Trizbort, if you find that exporting as an image doesn't work well, then one of two things is true: Either you would need to find a way to simplify the information so that it can be presented, (albeit abridged) by Trizbort, or it may not be the best tool to use afterall.  Throughout most of the site, maps are supplementary to the text that accompanies it, and not the primary source of information.  They help provide a visual reference to the information contained the text of the guide, but do not themselves necessarily contain everything the reader needs to know in order to solve a game.  I hate using the phrase "dumb it down," but it's true that we strive for things to be immediately understandable as possible.  Granted, knowledge has a way of complicating that effort.  The point is, if you're finding that a particular approach to illustrating information is becoming rather complicated, consider simplifying your approach rather than scaling back your presentation.  Just some food for thought.   Pro  cyon  05:02, 16 February 2014 (UTC)


 * In regards to image maps, check out info on the following: map tag, area tag. There are only a few examples on SW and I couldn't find any easily. It looks like this website might be able to help you generate an image map: http://www.image-maps.com/ (I don't know how it works). -- 18:41, 16 February 2014 (UTC)

Most Wanted Question
I have a question about the most wanted video games are those the games people want to be completed most also can you vote on which one get's to be up there or no just wanted to know.


 * First, please sign your posts with ~ (four tildes). This lets us know who wrote the post. I believe the most wanted list on the main page is a statistic generated by views similar to the popular guides. I think, instead of checking to see how long people view pages and how many pages they go to (as if they were browsing the guide), if they go to an empty page, then that counts towards their "wanted"-ness. It may also count only towards uncompleted guides. I am not sure. Maybe can weigh in. -- 16:51, 21 February 2014 (UTC)

The script looks at the non-existent pages with the most clicks, consolidates them by guide, and puts up the top 10. If you click a red-link, that effectively counts as a vote (assuming you aren't blocking any scripts). -- Prod (talk) 00:17, 22 February 2014 (UTC)

Are image uploads ever going to be re-enabled?
Given that it has been a week since they were initially disabled, I am starting to get a little concerned that it has not happened yet; especially as I am waiting to re-upload the images of Blast Off's fifth and sixth bases and upload a gameplay screenshot of Sega's Ali Baba and 40 Thieves. I sincerely hope that it is not going to be a permanent thing - after all, the guides without images look somewhat inferior to those that do have them. Namcorules (talk) 20:20, 21 February 2014 (UTC)


 * We have every intention of re-enabling image uploads just as soon as it is possible. Prod needs to verify the authenticity of our most recent image backups in order to ensure that there is no further data loss.  Once we re-enable uploads, we will be unable to go back and fix any images that were broken during the restoration.  If we rush this, we stand lose more than we stand to gain.  Pro  cyon  20:40, 21 February 2014 (UTC)

Uploads will 100% be re-enabled, once I'm confident we none of the images on the fileserver are corrupt. Thanks for your patience, it'll just be a little longer. -- Prod (talk) 01:08, 22 February 2014 (UTC)


 * I'm sure the wait will be very much worth it. :) In the meantime I'll collect Tomb Raider images, since it appears it's made it on the Most Wanted list. Anyway, just wanted to say that to come back to this redesign...wow. I'm the type who finds a reason to hate any site redesign but this one is absolutely lovely. The side-toc is especially awesome. I look forward to working with this stylish eye candy for guides to come. -- Wario Talk 09:21, 23 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Yea, there's a _lot_ of images (and all their archived versions) and since I'm comparing to our offsite backups, it's taking a while to go through it all. I'm targeting re-enabling uploads this week, so not much longer to wait. I'm very glad you like the new design, it's been in the works for a long time! Do let us know if there's anything that looks off. -- Prod (talk) 17:10, 23 February 2014 (UTC)
 * I think my aim was a bit of in repositioning the featured icon star, but that's what happens with absolute positioning when page components are loading. --Sigma 7 (talk) 19:41, 23 February 2014 (UTC)

Uploads have been re-enabled. -- Prod (talk) 03:02, 1 March 2014 (UTC)

Intervals between backups?
After the site outage, I'm a bit concerned about how much time it is between backups, since the announcement said that the backup restored was "thankfully recent". Does this mean that the outage just happened to occur soon after the backup, and that more data could have been lost, or that backups happen often enough that an outage like this would never cause the loss of more than a day of data? Because having lost a full page or two of content from the outage myself, I'm pretty worried it will happen again. T.testLP(talk) 09:42, 23 February 2014 (UTC)


 * The "thankfully recent" was just an optimistic choice of words on my part. I believe backups are performed once every 24 hours, but I will get confirmation just to be sure.  And Test, this is the only time that this kind of loss has occurred in well over three years, if not more.  It's not as though this kind of failure is a frequent occurrence.  I promise you, we do our very best to ensure that there are enough back up procedures in place to guard against this kind of issue.  I absolutely understand how you feel, believe me; I stand to lose as much of my work as you do.  It would be wrong of me to tell you that there is a 100% certainty that you will never lose anymore work ever again, but I can promise you that we keep it as close to 100% as humanly possible, and we learned a number of valuable lessons from this case.  We certainly replaced the faulty hardware, so that's no longer an issue.  Prod will weigh in and confirm the backup frequency.   Pro  cyon  13:39, 23 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Backups are daily, during off-peak hours. -- Prod (talk) 16:57, 23 February 2014 (UTC)

Image upload inconsistencies
While comparing the existing files to our backups, I found the following inconsistencies. Please let me know if you know what was done to these files. If no one "claims" the files I can upload them with a generic description and we can figure out where they belong. -- Prod (talk) 20:22, 26 February 2014 (UTC)
 * File:BO_World_5_Base.gif
 * File:Dark_Seed_cover.jpg (Fixed)
 * File:Dark_Seed_rear_cover.jpg
 * File:MS_Skill_Advanced_Power_Stamp.png (Moved)
 * File:MS_Skill_Advanced_Rolling_Assaulter.png (Moved)
 * File:MS_Skill_Advanced_Rolling_Curve.png (Moved)
 * File:MS_Skill_Advanced_Whirlwind.png (Moved)
 * File:MS_Skill_Big_Sword_Mastery.png (Moved)
 * File:MS_Skill_Burst_Flash.png (Deleted)
 * File:MS_Skill_Combat_Recovery.png (Moved)
 * File:MS_Skill_Dual_Combat_2.png (Deleted)
 * File:MS_Skill_Front_Slash.png (Moved)
 * File:MS_Skill_Jumping_Crash.png (Moved)
 * File:MS_Skill_Rolling_Assaulter.png (Moved)
 * File:MS_Skill_Rolling_Curve.png (Moved)
 * File:MS_Skill_Turning_Drive.png (Moved)
 * File:MS_Skill_Whirlwind.png (Moved)
 * File:MS_Skill_Wind_Strike.png (Moved)
 * File:Mega_Man_HP_bar.png
 * File:Mega_Man_weapon_power_bar.png
 * File:Mega_Man_weapon_selection_menu.png
 * File:The_Pagemaster_GB_cover.jpg
 * File:The_Pagemaster_SMD_back-side-front_covers.jpg
 * Osmos:
 * File:Ambient_Master.png
 * File:Black_Hole_Sun.png
 * File:Disciple_of_the_Osmos.png
 * File:Fittest.png
 * File:Graduate_of_the_Osmos.png
 * File:Gravitronics.png
 * File:Master_of_the_Deep.png
 * File:Master_of_the_Force.png
 * File:Purity.png
 * File:Viral_Master.png
 * File:Voyager.png


 * I recognize some as belonging to Osmos achievements, but the achievemetnts page is missing (and they're misnamed).  --Sigma 7 (talk) 04:01, 28 February 2014 (UTC)

Android browser oddity
Since the default skin change, when I visit StrategyWiki with the default web browser (that is, not Chrome) on my Android device, the site looks like this:

Any ideas? --Pelago (talk) 13:58, 3 March 2014 (UTC)


 * I haven't got access to the default Android browser, but it doesn't seem to translate well to mobile browsers: on Chrome, if I zoom in to a level where text is readable, the sidebar eats up screen space, and overlaps the text, making it unreadable again.



-- 14:41, 3 March 2014 (UTC)


 * I have visited the site quite frequently on Android devices. I have never experienced what you're seeing Pelago, there seems to be some language setting that's either set improperly, or that we're not respecting properly, I'll try to look into it.  However, Moydow, I have regretfully experienced what you're seeing, I tend to flip my phone over sideways to landscape view.  We're going to sit down and review this and see what can't be done in the interim to fix the issue.  Thanks for bringing it up.   Pro  cyon  19:37, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

I have tried to change character encoding, with no difference. I have managed to blindly logon to the site via the stock Android browser and navigate to Preferences. If I change the skin to any of MonoBook, Vector or Whale, things look fine. It's only Dolphin that is displaying as gobbledegook. Hopefully that will help you narrow down the problem. --Pelago (talk) 15:36, 4 March 2014 (UTC)
 * I just checked my tablet, and everything looks ok with the stock browser. Which specific device do you have, and are you able to check the browser version? -- Prod (talk) 01:22, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
 * I imagine Pelago is going to have his language set to "English (UK)" and not "English (US)" or "English (Canada)" like you and I would. I don't have any idea if that contributes to tracking down the problem, but it's the only hunch I have for where to start looking. Also, Pelago, have tried multiple browsers?  If so, please let us know which ones.  I would at least try the default Android browser, Chrome, Mini Dolphin and Opera.  Pro  cyon  01:46, 5 March 2014 (UTC)


 * Looks fine on my US English Acer Android 3.2.1 default browser. -- 06:42, 5 March 2014 (UTC)


 * Managed to sideload the stock browser apk onto my Nexus 7 running 4.4.2 - having no issues here in UK English (except the aforementioned sidebar overlap). For what it's worth, Pelago's screenshot looks like it came from a device running Gingerbread (Android 2.3.x), which doesn't support HTML5 particularly well, and is no longer being updated by Google (it hasn't been updated since September 2011). If possible, maybe try using another, more up-to-date browser, such as Chrome or Firefox. -- 10:45, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
 * edit: yep, looks like a Gingerbread thing. The Galaxy S3 running 4.x loads it fine, but the three running Gingerbread load nonsense. -- 11:09, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

Yes, I'm still on Gingerbread. I realise the stock Gingerbread browser is no longer cutting edge, but approx one fifth of Android users still use Gingerbread or older (http://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html) and so at the moment won't be able to view your site with the stock browser (which most will be using I imagine). Hopefully that's a big enough population for you to be able to find the time to tweak the default skin. --Pelago (talk) 11:52, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Pelago, in no way do I wish to appear insensitive to your problem, because I'd love to help you with it, but you're essentially viewing the site on an outdated, unsupported platform. The amount of work that it would take for us to correct it is considerable compared to the effort it would take for you to download an alternate and updated browser, or even switch to a different skin.  I understand if you're still on GB and don't wish to (or can't) upgrade, but you still have other alternative browsers to view the site from within GB (Chrome, Dolphin, Opera, etc.)  And to be honest, I wouldn't even know where to begin making a change to the skin in order to make it viewable.  Perhaps Prod can think of something rather easy to tweak, but I'm doubtful.  Let us know what you end up trying.   Pro  cyon  00:33, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

I checked what percentage of people browse the site on the old browser version, and it looks like <0.1% of users are on that browser. It looks like the problem is it doesn't understand the font, since you can see that the characters are "consistent" ('R' shows up as 'o' in Recent Changes and Random page links). I'm not sure if we'll be able to fix it for that browser, but I may be able to force anyone on that browser to a different skin. -- Prod (talk) 03:16, 6 March 2014 (UTC)


 * You're right of course that it's easy for me to change browser, but I expect most other affected users would just turn away from the page and never return without bothering to try and work around it, so on behalf of those people I thought I'd report the problem. For interest, I tried some alternative browsers. Chrome is not available for 2.3. Dolphin has the same problem as the stock browser, because it's just a wrapper around the same Webview control. Opera Mini has other layout bugs but is at least readable. Firefox and full Opera look OK. I'll give FF and Opera a bit more of a go, although when I've tried them in the past I've found them bloated and always returned to the stock browser. In general I dislike sites which force me to change browser (e.g. sites which only work on IE on desktop PCs.) Automatically detecting affected browsers and sending a different skin sounds like a good idea. In fact, given the sidebar problem, a separate skin for mobile might be needed in any case. --Pelago (talk) 20:15, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

if (preg_match("/(mobile|webos|opera mini)/i", $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'])) { $wgDefaultSkin = 'whale'; } else { $wgDefaultSkin = 'dolphin'; }

in LocalSettings.php would push mobile users onto the Whale skin. -- 20:49, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
 * No idea about these Android problems but hopefully you guys are able to solve the majority of them. This is a bit unrelated, but I figure it falls under the "mobile sites are a hassle" category so I'll write it here. I have a small problem when viewing the site on my iPhone (Safari of course) that involves an empty white space where the sidebar should be. Thought it disappeared until I found it all the way at the bottom of the page. Borrowed an iPhone that went through with the update and it had the same problem. Just a heads-up. -- Wario Talk 22:46, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

I completely agree that using another browser shouldn't be necessary, especially since it's only a few years old. I've actually been working on activating mw:Extension:MobileFrontend, which would give a much simpler website that mobile browsers should have a much easier time displaying. I'll see if I can get everything working for it faster, but it'll still be some time before it's ready. Thanks for that script Moydow, I'll have to think about that, since that would force users on more capable browsers (tablets) into the old skin as well. -- Prod (talk) 01:33, 7 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Thanks for looking into this, Prod. I've found Opera (specifically "Opera Mobile Classic", which is the version available to me) doesn't seem to work properly with the Dolphin skin, in that none of the links in the sidebar are clickable, oddly. And Firefox is slow and keeps crashing for me. So I'd rather stick with the stock browser if possible. If the extension you mention is the same as Wikipedia uses for its mobile site, that would be very welcome here. --Pelago (talk) 20:07, 7 March 2014 (UTC)

Image caching
Due to using a CDN to cache all our images, we were having a problem where new versions of images wouldn't be reflected for some time. I've deployed a new extension that should clear the cache whenever a new file is uploaded. Please let me know if you notice any further inconsistencies in image uploads. This should work for regular uploads, but not sure how it plays with Upload Wizard. -- Prod (talk) 04:25, 16 March 2014 (UTC)