User talk:Archknave

Welcome to StrategyWiki!

Hello Archknave! Welcome to StrategyWiki. Thank you for your contributions. If you have any questions, just contact a sysop through their talk page or post on the staff lounge, and they'd be happy to help. If you need help editing, check the StrategyWiki Guide. If you have a question about the content on this wiki, you can check out our staff lounge page. If you want to ask questions or hang out in IRC, we're usually around. On the other hand, if you have ideas for StrategyWiki, bring them up on the forums. Please remember to sign your name on, and only on, talk pages by clicking or using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. Finally, please do your best to always fill in the edit summary field as this helps to document all of your hard work. Feel free to delete this message from your talk page if you like, or keep it for reference. Happy editing! -- DrBob (talk) 07:08, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

Guide layout

Please read this page on guide layout. Take special note of the policy on headings. I've reverted your recent edits to the C&C Stalingrad page, so please don't use all-caps for headers, or anywhere else for that matter. Thanks, - najzere 16:30, 25 November 2008 (UTC)

Just FYI, it's better form to not have point of view. Unlike GameFAQs, it's not a good idea to reference yourself in your material. --Arrow Windwhistler (talk) 18:12, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

Also, when creating a new page please use the "Guide page" button above the edit box to insert {{Header Nav}} and {{Footer Nav}} templates into the page. Make sure you put the proper Header and Footer Nav templates into Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3/Getting Started and take out parts that say "I" or "we". For your convenience, there are links to each Nav template at the bottom of the edit box, which will automatically put them in for you. Make sure the Header Nav goes at the top before any writing, and the Footer Nav goes at the bottom after all writing. Thanks. - najzere 18:14, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

Many thanks for cleaning up the RA3 guide. Things could have been better, since our last editor left things in shambles. --Arrow Windwhistler (talk) 18:27, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, all. Not sure if this is where I should respond. I have only just found this area, so I apologize if I continued to do some of the things you suggested against in my recent edits. --Archknave 19:29, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

Either our talk page or here works, but ensure to sign your messages with --~~~~, or the button at the top. --Arrow Windwhistler (talk) 18:32, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

Screenshots

It's not necessary, but screenshots are what separates Strategywiki from other guide sides like GameFAQs. You can nab screenshots of the game through one of two methods: 1. Hitting Print Screen, pausing the game, Ctrl-Escape, open Paint, and paste it in. Or 2. Grab Fraps (it's free), turn it on, play the game, and hit the Screenshot button to nab a screenshot whenever you want. Try to convert screenshots to the PNG format, as it offers the best file size to quality ratio. Upload the files and then use this code here to put them in.

[[Image:ImageName.jpg/png/whatever|alignment|thumb|Alternate text]]

If you're ever in doubt, go ahead and steal code from the featured guides. --Arrow Windwhistler (talk) 21:56, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Adding a Table of Contents after the fact

I want to change the Santa Monica mission (Rising Sun) to have a Guide template, but I'm not sure how to do that after it was set up by someone else. Any advice?

We also need to add three missions to the Rising Sun walkthrough template. How do I do that?

The Santa Monica page already has Header and Footer navs, if that's what you're talking about. To edit the Table of Contents, just go to the page and use the "Edit" tab at the top. In edit mode, add links to the missions you want to create and then when you're done you can click on the red links to create the mission pages themselves. The layout of the Table of Contents can be confusing, so use the "Show Preview" button at the bottom to make sure you put the links where they need to be and everything looks good. - najzere 06:52, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, I wanted to add a table of contents to the Santa Monica page, so it looks like what you get when you start with a guide template. Still don't see how to do that. Looking at the other part now. - --Archknave (talk) 16:09, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, I guess I'm not following you regarding the walkthrough mission links. I want to edit the links for the missions that show up in the walkthrough page (i.e., Stalingrad, Odessa, Pearl Harbor, etc.). Yet no matter what page I navigate to, I can see the content I want to change, yet when I click the edit tab I just get the heading/footer text, or the text descriptions. Can you tell me what I'm doing wrong? Thanks! --Archknave (talk) 16:16, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

After re-reading your post, I think I miscommunicated what I want to do. I thought the ToC is just a reflection of the content, so that changes to the content are automatically reflected in the ToC. What I really want to learn how to do is to add a ToC to a page that does not have one, and add content to a page like the walkthrough. --Archknave (talk) 16:44, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

K, figured out how to do the TOC using __TOC__. Yay! --Archknave (talk) 19:31, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

You don't need to explicitly add __TOC__ to pages, the page specific TOCs are generated automatically when more than three headings are on a page. I took it out of the Santa Monica page, and as you can see, the TOC is there anyway. If you feel like a page is getting really long and would benefit from a TOC, then split the page up with headings. I did the same exact thing when I first started. :)~ - najzere 22:33, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Rapid Edits

Please don't make multiple rapid edits like that. It clogs up Recent Edits and hinders our ability to track idiots like MrSue (who likes pestering me too, so don't worry about him). --Arrow Windwhistler (talk) 20:42, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Rapid edits on the same item, or just too many edits of any kind within a certain time period? --Archknave (talk) 20:46, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Well, both are annoying but one can be helped and the other can't. Rapid edits on the same item, primarily. If you look at Recent Changes you'll notice that you made 11 edits in a row on Brighton Beach =P It pushes everything around, and...yeah. =P It's better to make one big edit that we can mark as patrolled, than make a thousand smaller edits and us having to make all of them as patrolled. --Arrow Windwhistler (talk) 20:48, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Okay, will be more considerate of that and use preview more. Thanks! --Archknave (talk) 20:53, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

I just gotta say, damn, I'm impressed. =D You catch on pretty quick. Now go ahead and be bold. =P --Arrow Windwhistler (talk) 20:55, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Content Question

I was asking someone earlier (see above) regarding how to add things like a mission to the walkthrough page. For example, there are 9 missions for each of the three campaigns in RA 3. I want to add a stub for the final mission of the Rising Sun campaign. Can you tell me how to do that? Thanks! --Archknave (talk) 21:11, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

There is nothing on the Walkthrough page. That big table of contents you see is transcluded from the Table of Contents. On the main page and walkthrough page the table of contents is automatically extended, and on guide pages it is hidden in the Header and Footer Navs (click "show" to see it). Editing the Table of Contents page will change the table of contents on all the other pages of the guide. That way you only have to edit one page, instead of however many are in the guide.

I don't know where the Rising Sun campaign is, but to add a mission page, you need to edit the Table of Contents. You can look at the History tab and see the last change that was made to see how it's done. In the future, it would really help if you added links to what you are talking about so we're all on the same page (literally). - najzere 22:42, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, I didn't know how to add links before, but I think I have it now. It wouldn't have helped me earlier, because I didn't know the TOC was the page I needed to edit since the Walkthrough page displays all the content from the ToC as well. Thanks also for the tip on the ToC being automatically generated with more than three entries. --Archknave (talk) 16:24, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Defence

In light of recent MrSue activity, I've taken the initiative to protect your userpage and user talk against moves. While it won't stop him entirely, it'll at least give him one less thing to do.

Oh, and feel free to revert any changes he makes to your profile, usertalk page, or any page in particular. It's been proven time and time again he's not a valued contributor, and this is the final proof. --Arrow Windwhistler (talk) 01:09, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

Gads, I didn't know other people could change my profile. I don't see anything missing or different, so I guess nothing happened? Thanks! --Archknave (talk) 18:44, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

He has sunk to a new low since he started vandalizing OTHER people's pages, not just mine. If you think he did something, simply check the page's history. No one can really change that (to my knowledge). --Arrow Windwhistler (talk) 04:18, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

Guide layout 2

I was hoping we wouldn't have this conversation again. You need to make sure there are Header and Footer Navs in all the new pages you are creating. It is extremely simple to click the "Guide page" button above the edit box, which will put these templates in for you automatically. Please take half a second to do this so other users don't have to waste their time cleaning up after you. I appreciate the content you are contributing, but I will delete your future edits if you continue creating more work for us. Thanks for understanding, - najzere 20:45, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Sorry about that. Does that also include blank pages where no content has been added at all, or can those be left blank until content is eventually added? --Archknave (talk) 22:27, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

If you have nothing to add the page, there's no point in creating it. You can put a link to it on the Table of Contents to show your intent just as well. If you make a blank page, it still needs the Header and Footer, and also a {{stub}} tag, so it's probably easier to just wait until you have something to put on it. Thanks for remembering to put the navs in Unreal Tournament 3/Campaign! - najzere 22:56, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

That's what I meant -- adding something to the Table of Contents. I know it sets a placemark, but am not sure if it actually creates a blank page, or whether the page doesn't get created until you actually edit it. I'll try to keep from making extra work for you.  ;) --Archknave (talk) 04:30, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

If the link is red, then the page doesn't exist, so don't be afraid to put links to all the pages you think you'll need on the Table of Contents. It makes it easier for other people to see what needs to be done, and you might even get someone helping out if they know what should go on one of the pages. Don't worry about making more work; as long as you're trying and learning, that's all we ask. :) - najzere 04:52, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Another thing to watch out for is image size. When you put images into a guide, make sure you add "|###px" where "###" is the size of the image in pixels. You could also add parameters like "|right" for right-aligning, "|thumb" to make the image a thumbnail, etc. Please see StrategyWiki:Guide/Images for more information.--DukeRuckley^{Talk | Contribs} 15:31, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, Duke. I assumed there was a way to shrink them, but the images I'm currently inputting are powerup and item locations which show a (usually) tiny item in its surroundings to better help a player locate them if they have trouble with the text directions. So I don't want to shrink them if I can help it. I did reduce the filesize of each image before uploading them, so that all images are right around 70-80k.

Ooh, now if there's an easy way to make them into thumbnails that a player can click on to enlarge, that would be helpful. I'll check that out in the guide. --Archknave (talk) 16:52, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

Oh, I see. When you click on the image (whether as a thumbnail or just the image) it'll automatically take you to the image page where it will be enlarged. If you want to revert those pages back, that's fine too. I'll leave it up to you in that case, I just thought the page would look better with the images smaller. If it loses its purpose in that case, maybe smaller isn't a good idea.--DukeRuckley^{Talk | Contribs} 17:23, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

No, we are on the same page. It would look better with the images smaller. I just didn't know that making them smaller on the page would give you the ability to click to see them at full size if you wanted. Now that I do, I'll make the changes. Thanks! --Archknave (talk) 00:07, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

Hm... Well, some helpful people have gone over my first several maps and made changes to the format to shrink the images, or replace them with links. It's just that now there are two different formats that have been used. Both are better than what I originally had, but I assume we want consistency here. Who determines which format should be the one that I continue on with? --Archknave (talk) 00:22, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

I made the changes to the first couple pages when that's all there was on there. Since there wasn't much info, I thought it looked better consolidated. The problem with having an image, even a thumbnail, in a section with only one line of content is all the white space it creates. It just looks weird. Also all the sections like Theme, Description, Environmental Hazards, etc. with only one sentence don't really need to be entire sections unto themselves. Another thing is none of the pages had introductory sections at the top, they just jumped right to a section heading. Readers know they're going to a page about the level, so it's okay to just start out talking about what the level looks like. And lastly, I think a table, all alone in a section, just looks odd.

I think the Walkthrough pages on Castlevania: Circle of the Moon are a good example. You see a little blurb in the beginning and then a table running down the side of the page. That seems to be more the norm as far as guides on here go. Of course you're doing all the work, so just take into consideration how different people thought to make the pages look better and do whatever looks best to you. If someone has an issue with the layout, they'll come through and change it. - najzere 00:38, 13 December 2008 (UTC)