Is the wiki "dead"?

rexbeng · 08:22, 18 September 12

I realised today that I pass through the wiki in order to only click my way to the forum. So I got back to the actual wiki and thought that, the reason for just passing thru may be that it's not being updated anymore. Well, not since April anyway. So, is this forum all that's left "breathing"?

rb

arnoldemu · 08:35, 18 September 12

Quote from: rexbeng on 08:22, 18 September 12
I realised today that I pass through the wiki in order to only click my way to the forum. So I got back to the actual wiki and thought that, the reason for just passing thru may be that it's not being updated anymore. Well, not since April anyway. So, is this forum all that's left "breathing"?

rb

Look in "Recent Changes".
Last update was 18th September 2012.

The main page doesn't get updated often, but the other pages do.

rexbeng · 09:11, 18 September 12

So, um, one could say that there is additinal content for many older entries (mainly magazine scan projects) but no new things...? Eitherway, I had never spotted these but even if I have had, recent changes listings aren't much of a way to browse through the wiki's (new) content, are they? On the other hand I admit that I am not much used to using wikis, so maybe it's ok for other people.

Well, next topic, then

rb

Bryce · 09:28, 18 September 12

Well I still release all of my Schematics and expansions on the Wiki. I'll be uploading all the information on the LowerROM Board soon, as I didn't manage to get around to doing it first time around. I also have lots of other information that needs to be uploaded, it's just finding the time that's difficult.

Bryce.

P.s. Have you considered making a Bookmark to bring you directly to the forum, it saves you a scroll/click every time

rexbeng · 10:40, 18 September 12

Quote from: Bryce on 09:28, 18 September 12
P.s. Have you considered making a Bookmark to bring you directly to the forum, it saves you a scroll/click every time

...and also I wouldn't mind the outdated frontpage anymore?

rb

Gryzor · 11:30, 18 September 12

There's no scrolling involved to get to the forum from the wiki's front page, there's a nice banner at the top!

Now, the wiki is far, far from dead. There are some days of silence followed by big bursts of edits, and visits are holding up too, so I wouldn't say it's even sleeping

We have a huge number of articles, what was missing is to fill many of them with additional info, and this is happening now.

Regarding following "what's new" with the wiki: any suggestions? There's the "recent changes" list you saw, but I find this most useful for administrative purposes, rather than as a way to browse things. I could install an extension that shows the recent changes right on the front page. But this would be clutter. I could install an extension that shows ONLY new pages. But the problem is that when someone undertakes to create a new page it may take several edits to complete it, so if you see a page in a "new articles!" section it won't mean it's got any actual content - and you'll miss the content because the next edits will only be revisions of the page.

...Or, we could add a section, to the front page, highlighting articles, with an emphasis on newer articles. Maybe this would be cool, but again I'd like people to help me curate the thing and add content to it...

However, and you got me there, the news section has fallen behind. For a few days I've been thinking to post about it and ask for help in its maintenance, but you beat me to it with your post. I'm going to go ahead and post anyway

Border_7 · 00:31, 20 September 12

Quote from: rexbeng on 08:22, 18 September 12
I realised today that I pass through the wiki in order to only click my way to the forum. So I got back to the actual wiki and thought that, the reason for just passing thru may be that it's not being updated anymore. Well, not since April anyway. So, is this forum all that's left "breathing"?
rb

Yeah - far from Dead. Different people contribute different things in different ways... I don't think many days go by without at least 1 change!

McKlain · 09:19, 20 September 12

The homepage of the wiki and the wiki itself could use a more modern design.

And don't freak out when reading "modern", please

ralferoo · 09:33, 20 September 12

Also, even if the wiki isn't updated all the time, it's still being read. Well, at least I refer to it at least a couple of times a week.

Gryzor · 15:39, 20 September 12

Oh yes, even though the forum has gained the focus of visitors, the wiki is still being read a lot!

@McKlain: I don't disagree on principle, but things are not that easy when you're dealing with mediawiki. With other CMS platforms you can find gazillions of themes out there; this is not the case with MW though. And imagine that what we have *is* quite more modern than the default skin. If anyone founds a nice theme they think we could use by all means do suggest it!

TFM · 20:33, 20 September 12

Please don't change the wikis appearance all the time. It sucks to relearn how to do things again and again. And IMO it will stop people from contributing, because they will get pissed off.

Never change a running system!

@McKlain: You're a good man, but here I just have another opinion, or I'm to lazy 'to learn a new wiki'.

Gryzor · 20:41, 20 September 12

I fail to see how a skin change would make a "new wiki". Really, just some graphical elements change! Also, you can choose your favorite one in your settings :p

McKlain · 22:24, 20 September 12

You can always modify the default skin. Right now there's one thing that I find quite annoying and it's the small size of the default font.

Bryce · 08:32, 21 September 12

I think the font size is fine and I'm old. Maybe you need glasses?

Bryce.

McKlain · 08:37, 21 September 12

Luckily I don't need glasses

But seriously, using that font size in 2012 is against all the non-written laws of usability.

Gryzor · 12:07, 21 September 12

I don't remember what settings I've got in the CSS, but I can look into it. Yes it's a bit on the smallish side, but content is sooo much... what resolution do you use, and what monitor size?

I think you're being a bit harsh, but I'll look into it. For what it's worth, I'm 36 and I can read it just fine without leaning towards it

McKlain · 12:14, 21 September 12

24" and 1920x1200 (16:10).

Gryzor · 12:17, 21 September 12

Well, the resolution is high but with that size it should be readable... But maybe it's borderline, on my 22" 1680x1050 resolution it's quite busy already.

ralferoo · 10:52, 24 September 12

Quote from: McKlain on 08:37, 21 September 12
But seriously, using that font size in 2012 is against all the non-written laws of usability.

Fortunately, all modern browsers let you do CTRL and + or CTRL and - to change the font size and CTRL-0 to reset it to the default. I know firefox remembers that per domain too.

Gryzor · 10:55, 24 September 12

Yes, they all do, but doesn't this also change all the elements' size? Images too? That's not too good.

Apologies, I must confess I totally forgot to check the css during the weekend. Will do tonight if I get some time...

McKlain · 15:21, 24 September 12

Yes, you are zooming the whole page when you do that. Maybe there are some sort of plugin or component for the wiki to add a selector to increase the size of the text (like in a lot of news sites).

Gryzor · 13:38, 25 September 12

Nah, unfortunately no such extension, I'll have to edit the css. Which browser do you use? There could be a chance for an extension for it instead?

McKlain · 14:08, 25 September 12

Right now I'm using Chrome as my main browswer, and firefox for development.

I just took a look at the media wiki stylesheet and you are using "x-small" for the body font size. That's a little excessive

Gryzor · 17:26, 25 September 12

CSS changed to "small". Do tell me how you like it (everyone - not just McKlain!)

McKlain · 17:29, 25 September 12

Well, now it's the same font size as the forum, so, perfect

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Is the wiki "dead"?