Post by Echani on Dec 22, 2013 23:54:23 GMT -5
Hey guys, I was talking to Jodo and he was showing me some things on the Ambush Games Wiki. I noticed that the wiki is lacking several aspects. I know a lot about editing and and maintaining wikis as I do such on the Mech Mice Wiki. I am a admin there and actively update the wiki. Here are some of the improvements I recommend:
Protecting Homepage
To the admins, protecting the homepage helps from vandal edits by unknown users, spammers, or other attackers. You can do this by clicking on the arrow next to the edit button and there should be two boxes, one is for protecting your homepage. It helps by giving you and your fellow admins access to this homepage without having any outside vandal.
Add Code and Templates
While coding may take a few lessons, it is actually more simple than you think. It is basically templates (infoboxes, gallery's, page info headers, ETC) being coded with words you put in. Templates will make the homepage look a lot better such as them being used for portals of your category's, featured material, outside websites and citations, and other useful info for your users.
Third Person
I noticed while looking, many users are inexperienced with Wiki. As with this they may forget that the articles serve as a informational text. During these, users should refrane from using "I", adding their personal opinions, and adding unnecessary notes. The user will most likely get confused reading, as they may not know who "I" is referring to. Personal opinions are also terrible in informational text, as it gives a all around point of view. Using these will make your wiki look very unprofessional.
Taking Off Comment Section At The Bottom Of Articles
Personally, I feel as if this is unprofessional as the forums can be used to discuss a certain topic within the wiki. Many wiki's also do not add this as it makes the page seem somewhat unprofessional.
High Quality Background and Brighter Colors
Having a high quality background can help make the wiki look neater. It looks alright but I noticed it could use some touches. As for the wiki color code...it seems very tacky. You may want to mix black with red, or another color like that to make it appear more bolder.
Unneeded Blank Video and Picture Templates
I noticed blank video and picture templates seem to be around a lot of articles I visited, I'm pretty sure anything blank is pretty self explanatory as it adds unneeded space. To do this simply put your cursor over the blank box and click "remove".
Add Professional Lego Shots
Yes, AG is custom made and therefore has custom screenshots. The one thing is, not everything has to be custom screen-shot itself. Custom figures off course do, but normal figures such as Assaj or Boba can be found on Google, Bing, or Yahoo images.
Long Coding/Templates in Source Mode
Once you use more templates, you'll notice source mode can generate those gallery's, infoboxes and even more simply by writing the code. You won't be alone as they do have lots of example templates. If you do add more of this, I will go into detail about how to get it done and all.
Anyways, I hope this will help you wiki out a little bit. If you have any questions feel free to ask, admins especially. For an example of a template coded homepage here is an example.
Note: I do not know the source mode of this forum board, very similar to Wiki's though. I couldn't find a header and it is getting late so I sort of just did what I could.
- Protect the homepage
- Add code and templates to the homepage
- Use THIRD PERSON ONLY.
- Take off the comment section on the bottom of articles
- High quality background and brighter colors
- Take off unneeded blank video and image templates
- Add professional Lego shots when necessary
- Edit long coding pages in source-mode for rich text and easier template adding
Protecting Homepage
To the admins, protecting the homepage helps from vandal edits by unknown users, spammers, or other attackers. You can do this by clicking on the arrow next to the edit button and there should be two boxes, one is for protecting your homepage. It helps by giving you and your fellow admins access to this homepage without having any outside vandal.
Add Code and Templates
While coding may take a few lessons, it is actually more simple than you think. It is basically templates (infoboxes, gallery's, page info headers, ETC) being coded with words you put in. Templates will make the homepage look a lot better such as them being used for portals of your category's, featured material, outside websites and citations, and other useful info for your users.
Third Person
I noticed while looking, many users are inexperienced with Wiki. As with this they may forget that the articles serve as a informational text. During these, users should refrane from using "I", adding their personal opinions, and adding unnecessary notes. The user will most likely get confused reading, as they may not know who "I" is referring to. Personal opinions are also terrible in informational text, as it gives a all around point of view. Using these will make your wiki look very unprofessional.
Taking Off Comment Section At The Bottom Of Articles
Personally, I feel as if this is unprofessional as the forums can be used to discuss a certain topic within the wiki. Many wiki's also do not add this as it makes the page seem somewhat unprofessional.
High Quality Background and Brighter Colors
Having a high quality background can help make the wiki look neater. It looks alright but I noticed it could use some touches. As for the wiki color code...it seems very tacky. You may want to mix black with red, or another color like that to make it appear more bolder.
Unneeded Blank Video and Picture Templates
I noticed blank video and picture templates seem to be around a lot of articles I visited, I'm pretty sure anything blank is pretty self explanatory as it adds unneeded space. To do this simply put your cursor over the blank box and click "remove".
Add Professional Lego Shots
Yes, AG is custom made and therefore has custom screenshots. The one thing is, not everything has to be custom screen-shot itself. Custom figures off course do, but normal figures such as Assaj or Boba can be found on Google, Bing, or Yahoo images.
Long Coding/Templates in Source Mode
Once you use more templates, you'll notice source mode can generate those gallery's, infoboxes and even more simply by writing the code. You won't be alone as they do have lots of example templates. If you do add more of this, I will go into detail about how to get it done and all.
Anyways, I hope this will help you wiki out a little bit. If you have any questions feel free to ask, admins especially. For an example of a template coded homepage here is an example.
Note: I do not know the source mode of this forum board, very similar to Wiki's though. I couldn't find a header and it is getting late so I sort of just did what I could.
it’s been quite a while. I’ve been pretty good, how about yourself? 