Talk:Main Page

Discussions about the old layout of the Main Page have been archived.

Contents 1 New Version of Main Page 2 NSEconomy 3 Inability to access from home 4 Featured Articles update 5 FA Queue skipped 6 "Getting Started" Page 7 SVG Images 8 Spelling mistake 9 Wikipedia templates in NSWiki 10 Citation Issues 11 OMAC 12 Additional Filetype 13 No Featured Article? 14 Design updates, December 2009 14.1 Reintroduced changes 15 WA link 16 Sysops/bureaucrats 17 NSwiki 18 Featured Article 19 The missing link? 20 Server Problems

New Version of Main Page

What exactly is being redone? My suggestion would be, as Swilatia mentioned on Template talk:Currencies, to change the featured article more often. In order to promote better articles and recognition of article quality, I believe there should be some more "meta-" work going on behind the scenes: there's a hazy netherworld of backup in the featured-article area (and pages for deletion, as well, which is why a fifth sysop would be a good idea as mentioned).--Ember Nickel 16:37, 4 March 2007 (GMT)

The two ideas for a new main page are linked above, but I'll put them here as well. Main Page/Jey and User:Swilatia/Main Page Idea. (( Pacitalkia )) Time sent: 17:21, 4 March 2007 (GMT)

Ah, thanks. I like Swilatia's navigation system in the top right: however, Swilatia's bold "not affiliated with Nationstates or Jolt" and Jey's white space are both jarring. (I know we have a disclaimer like Swilatia's now and it's important-maybe the right alignment is odd?)--Ember Nickel 18:06, 4 March 2007 (GMT)

I have a slight preference for Jey's, but they're both good. And yes, changing the featured article fairly often would be a good idea. Aridd 17:40, 4 March 2007 (GMT)

I'm glad to see nitpicking on these layouts: that's exactly what we should be doing. I think the best thing to do would be to implement one of the two suggested new looks and then proceed on making the minor cosmetic and formatting changes based on user suggestions, plus start adding in metacode and fancy whatchamacallits after where applicable. So, let's save votes for the actual ballot. And, for the record, we should be rotating the featured articles every 60 days, to cite convention. (( Pacitalkia )) Time sent: 18:40, 4 March 2007 (GMT)

Where is the convention?--Ember Nickel 23:42, 4 March 2007 (GMT)

Well, considering that convention is defined as something that is followed but not written down, I'd say you'd have a hard time finding it. =p We've just always seemed to change it every 60 days or so, unless we're lazy. But that's not to say we can't rotate the front page content more or less often. (( Pacitalkia )) Time sent: 03:37, 5 March 2007 (GMT)

30 days would seem more logical to me. For the record, I see the sense in Swilatia's choice; it does look neater, and the link is hard to miss. But... I personally feel the Main Page itself should contain "getting started" information, so that the Main Page is particularly helpful to new users. To me, it's one of the most important aspects. That's just my highly subjective view, of course. Aridd 18:56, 4 March 2007 (GMT)

The current layout of the Main Page is something I worked out a couple years ago. It's WAAY overdue for replacement. Somebody just do it - it's time. If people don't like it, try something different.

I used to change the featured article every week or two, and the tip of the day ... well, daily. Honestly, it was too much work, and I gave it up. I did write up some instructions on how to replace both featured articles and TotD, but I don't remember where I put them. Oh well. - Fris 02:24, 8 March 2007 (GMT)

This FA has been up since October 22.--Ember Nickel 00:59, 11 March 2007 (GMT)

I'm leaning more so towards Swil's main page. It has a very user-friendly nav bar at the top. Asgarnieu 01:55, 21 March 2007 (GMT)

So, since the discussion here is about which of the two (if either) i'm thinking that unless some-one else has their new main page idea, we should put up a poll for which one we will be using, with these two main page ideas, and the one currently used, being options. --swilatia 11:02, 21 March 2007 (GMT)

Yeah, that'd be a great idea. I'm all for it. VOTE!!! Asgarnieu 01:55, 21 March 2007 (GMT)

So, it's been a month now. Should we make a poll or not? --swilatia 20:58, 26 April 2007 (GMT)

I'm not so much in favor of making a poll--I think we should just implement the positives of both Swilatia's and my test main pages. I edited my suggested main page to include Swilatia's top boxes and portal layout because I think they are more helpful for new users and informative. I've also made some updated changes to my page, which can be seen here. _°Je_y^° 01:40, 16 May 2007 (GMT)

Ok, I think there has been sufficient time to submit new main page layout ideas. I'm going to go ahead and create a poll for the new main page layout with three options: my version, Swilatia's version, and the version I referenced in my previous post which combined the two. _°Je_y^° 01:20, 21 June 2007 (GMT)

NSEconomy

NSeconomy is broken. Has been broken for a long time. Will it be removed from the regional template? Yeah i know it's a pity, it was nice, but since it doesn't work anymore... --Lo'oris - ロホリス 00:48, 27 March 2007 (GMT)

• http://spaam.info/nseconomy works Spaam 05:24, 28 August 2007 (GMT)

Inability to access from home

For about a month or so I have been unable to access this wiki from home. I contacted my ISP, who says that the problem is a routing issue in Germany. The tech support guy said he would contact the site, but I have not heard back from him yet, so I wanted to be sure that this was brought to the attention of the NSWiki staff.

Sorry, forgot to log in.

--Kedalfax 15:25, 25 April 2007 (GMT)

It seems to be working now. I hope it stays working this time. :p

--Kedalfax 17:28, 29 April 2007 (GMT)

Featured Articles update

When will the next Featured Article in the queue be posted? That Great Southern War article seems to have been featured for quite a few months now... not that there's anything wrong with the article itself, it'd just be nice to have something new to look at on the main page, that's all... Bettia 13:56, 28 June 2007 (GMT)

The feature's going to change soon. i'm in the process of selecting which sections to put on the main page. --swilatia 00:38, 29 June 2007 (GMT)

I've changed the featured article now to Pantocratoria, and plan to keep this a monthly process. _°Je_y^° 01:30, 20 July 2007 (GMT)

FA Queue skipped

Are we to conclude that the FA Queue is not to be respected and everybody is welcome to update the Main Page as is deemed fit? Jester 04:19, 22 September 2007 (GMT)

• Ah, I didn't notice that the FAC has been put up in 2005 for the article, despite it having only 10 votes. As such, above comment withdrawn. Sorry for the bother. Jester 04:23, 22 September 2007 (GMT)

"Getting Started" Page

The last thing that needs to be finished for the new Main Page is the creation of the Getting Started page. _°Je_y^° 02:28, 29 June 2007 (GMT)

This page is no longer needed. _°Je_y^° 19:05, 29 June 2007 (GMT)

SVG Images

I would like to see support for SVG images and vector maps please.

Thanks, --Marian 10:12, 31 October 2007 (GMT)

Spelling mistake

I have spotted a spelling mistake at the slogan, 'the NationStates encyclopdia'. It should read 'the NationStates encyclopedia'.

Thanks

--Marian 19:49, 5 November 2007 (GMT)

Turned out to be solved during webhosting move. --195.194.142.135 13:21, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia templates in NSWiki

Would it be possible, if it is technically possible, to add support for Wikipedia templates so that it can be correctly rendered here? Some Wikipedia Templates are very intricate, and trying to replicate them here would cause errors in the code, including but not limited to incorrect appearance or garbled text. The Templates at Wikipedia are among the best and should be supported for use here. --195.194.142.135 13:16, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

You'd be better off posing this question directly to a site admin. But, in the interim, can I suggest you have a go at making whatever template it is you want, and see if we as a community can't help you make the template over here? It may be that the markup can be rendered by alternate means. ~Gruen2alk 14:06, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

Until newer ParserFunctions are enabled, it's going to be almost impossible (found this out the hard way). What I would suggest is to use Wikipedia's sandbox to preview whatever template edit you want, and check the page source and use the HTML from there. Much easier. Ad’ihan 16:57, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

Citation Issues

I am currently developing a custom info box for a NationStates nation but the citation references are not being supported on this page. Would it be possible, to enable citation and references facilities for this wiki? Thank you. --Marian 22:05, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

Why would you need to cite sources here?

BTW, this page is meant as a discussion about the main page. To toss around suggestions, go to the Village Pump. --swilatia 22:19, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

OMAC

First off, ditto to the above re: changing "UN" category link to "WA," but also, this:

NSwiki is an unofficial resource, and is not endorsed by either Jennifer Government: NationStates or OMAC Industries.

As OMAC no longer hosts NationStates, it should be changed to something more relevant, like "...or Max Barry." Omigodtheykilledkenny 02:46, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Additional Filetype

Would it be possible for the SVG filetype to be one of the permitted filetypes? (Sorry if this isn't the place to ask.) --Glen-Rhodes 14:19, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

Try Village_pump. Omigodtheykilledkenny 14:53, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

No Featured Article?

I thought I would stick this here as the featured article is shown on the main page... if any-one's taken a look at the Featured Article Queue (anyone?) there's only one "strongly supported" article left... and I don't really think we should continue down the queue into the "moderate support" section, as this will eventually lead to featuring strongly opposed articles that are probably self-nominated and clearly do not meet FAC. so, where do we go from there?

Design updates, December 2009

Hey NSwikians!

I have made some minor updates to the visual layout of the Main Page as well as moving the disclaimer to the bottom. This minor change is meant to make the most pertinent information (community portal, contribution tips, staff list, etc.) easier to read and more visible for users. Otherwise, the overall layout of the page remains intact and no substantial changes have been made. If you have any further suggestions or questions about how to improve the Main Page, please don't hesitate to send me a message or post a reply here. (( Pacitalkia )) Time sent: 21:25, 29 December 2009 (UTC)

I vote for these minor changes, if my opinion means anything. Omigodtheykilledkenny 15:50, 30 December 2009 (UTC)

I really don't have an opinion about the order of elements, anything is fine by me. The blue dots on blue border (as for example this revision seemed a bit much, but I could probably get used to it).--Zwangzug 17:00, 30 December 2009 (UTC)

The apparent revert war that Swilatia is trying to start is very unbecoming of a sysop. Am for the changes, for the record. Ad’ihan 17:19, 30 December 2009 (UTC)

Sure, go ahead, it looked like a bit much the first time, but it is better to have a discussion. I don't really want an edit conflict, I had very little time that day, and I didn't have the time to properly fix some issues. My main complaints are that the tips section is twice as long, and that there is no link to the infoboxes page. And yeah, the dotted borders will take some getting used to. --swilatia 18:55, 30 December 2009 (UTC)

I picked a dotted border because I figured it would make that info stand out better. I don't have a problem with making that a solid border, but dotted is definitely better than dashed (also I agree perhaps it doesn't need to be as strong of a border). I can make it a 1px border instead of a 3px and then the border won't be so obnoxious. I also don't have a problem with maintaining a link to infoboxes and templates in that header. (( Pacitalkia )) Time sent: 01:11, 31 December 2009 (UTC)

Reintroduced changes

I have reverted Swilatia's last edits to mine and then updated my own edits to also include the suggestions you guys made to improve the page. Thanks for your input! (( Pacitalkia )) Time sent: 01:18, 31 December 2009 (UTC)

WA link

The United Nations quicklink at the top of the mainpage should probably be replaced with a World Assembly quicklink... or are we waiting for the World Assembly page to be finished? Snefaldia 22:19, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

I think it would be best to get the WA pages into better shape before providing a direct link...though doing so now might encourage more people to contribute. ~Gruen2alk 22:56, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

Just to resurrect this topic, is it possible the WA link at the top be changed to UN/WA? There are a lot of articles in the UN category that have important historical value and still need further contributions, or that need a simple update to reflect the change to the WA. In either case, quick-linking to both categories would seem beneficial. Omigodtheykilledkenny 15:58, 30 December 2009 (UTC)

Done. --swilatia 16:31, 30 December 2009 (UTC)

Sysops/bureaucrats

Should only the active admins be listed on the Main Page? --Birnadia 19:31, 2 January 2010 (UTC)

NSwiki

Adding item here by chance it has a greater chance of being noticed. The NSwiki article needs to be updated to reflect the version of the software it currently uses. The page is protected so only a sysop can edit it. --Omigodtheykilledkenny 23:54, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

Featured Article

Why hasn't the featured article flipped in so long? --Canadai 21:33, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

Presumably because nothing in the queue is feature-ready yet. --Omigodtheykilledkenny 19:48, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

The missing link?

Looking at the main page, there are plenty of links but there doesn't seem to be a link to NationStates itself. Is there a reason for this? I reckon a link in the Navigation box may be a nice touch - what does everyone else think? Bettia (talk) 11:31, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

I've gone ahead and done it, together with a few more game links. I think that's all that's needed. Bettia (talk) 11:50, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

Maybe move it below the search bar? Good idea, but a bit obstructive where it's at right now. --Omigodtheykilledkenny 23:08, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

Unfortunately I don't think that's possible, or if it is I haven't figured that part out yet.  Bettia  Talk  06:56, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

Server Problems

I have been noticing an extreme increase in the rate of internal server errors. A lot of the time people are losing their work when they go to preview or its just a nuisance. Can anythng be done? This is directed to Goobergunch, and anyh other admins. The Fifth Imperial Dynasty of Iievius 19:10, 5 March 2012 (PST)

Goober's the only root admin, so any server-related / programming-related changes must be made by him, and unfortunately that means tracking him down as he's usually quite busy. We're still waiting to hear back from him on a couple of other site issues. I understand that people are frustrated but there's not much we can do about it right now. Just stay tuned. (( Pacitalkia )) Time sent: 00:39, 6 March 2012 (PST)