User talk:GreenReaper/Technical5

This is an archive page, covering technical/howto issues discussed on my user talk page from 6 April to 22 July 2006. Please do not edit this page - if you wish to bring up a topic, copy the relevant portion into a new section on the current page. Thanks! --GreenReaper^(talk)

---

View counts

I've noticed that the view counts in Special:Popularpages have not updated at least since last Thursday on several articles I've been following, even though I've viewed some of those articles myself during that time. I've verified this from two different computers and used a couple of other tricks to make reasonably certain it's not a browser cache issue. What gives?

Edit: There are also several hundred articles that currently show 0 views. --mwalimu 14:23, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

Yes. I had a chat with the admins and apparently they had to discontinue popular pages updating due to server loads. We can get the same sort of information from the google analytics stats, so it's no great loss, although it is a pity that people can't access that without talking to me first.

As this makes the page rather useless, I've removed the link in the main page header and added in links to the article and user talk pages instead. --GreenReaper^(talk) 16:29, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

Edit patrols

It's about this time that I think bringing back the "patrol this edit" marker may be a good idea. It just has to be explained clearly: "These markers are for admin to make rounds of patrols through the various edits," and so forth. I'd also like to suggest a proxy banlist which is shared across Wikia. That way, once a proxy is confirmed, all wikis have the option of automatically banning it. -- Siege^(talk) 06:24, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

I would support the creation of a shared proxy banlist with all of Wikia. Is there a feature for this currently in mediawiki or would it have to be added through some sort of module? -- DeVandalizer 06:33, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

This might be a good idea. We are getting a lot of edits - certainly more than I manage to have the time to look at, let alone edit. We can probably try enabling it for a time.

I think there is actually a proxy blacklist. We may be using a service, in which case it probably doesn't get everything. JasonR on the live chat would be the perosn to talk to about that (or he's available via technical at wikia dot com, or the wikia-l mailing list, or the wikia LiveJournal). --GreenReaper^(talk) 08:12, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Howloween Template

Are there any plans to create a Howloween convention template? Howloween is a convention held in British Columbia, during Late October : Howloween 2006 Website

If you want one, just copy the contents of any existing convention templates to Template:User Howloween and change accordingly, then create the appropriate category and make it a subcategory of Category:Wikifurries. --GreenReaper^(talk) 00:36, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Thank you so much. I shall try that. ^_^ --Seamora^(talk)

Terms with Multiple Definitions

What is commonly done with terms that have more than one definition? Do they have separate pages, and if so , how does one do this?--Seamora^(talk)

Short answer - it depends! Long answer follows . . .

If the terms are related, but with differing nuances, then you might discuss them on the same page. For example, yiff has many meanings, but they are all related to a reasonably close degree, so they are all described on the same page. In general, you can tell "reasonably close" by the categories - if separate meanings would all fall under the same category then you would probably discuss them together (except people, who always have different articles).

Some terms have numerous unrelated meanings. In this case we divide it into separate pages with a qualifier in lowercase [unless a proper name] and inside parenthesis, and then create what is called a disambiguation page for people who link to the term without parentheses. The page should have the {{disambig}} tag at the bottom. If another topic has the name within it, and a shorterned form might conflict, it is given the full title but also included in the disambiguation page.

You can see this at The Bestiary, which links to The Bestiary (playing cards) and The Bestiary (comic) (which we know exists, just hasn't yet been written about) but also to The Bestiary's Terrie Smith Does Art Special.

We may also make an indented, italic link at the top of the pages if there is possible confusion or the other article is somehow relevant, something like this (for a person called "Delight"):

":''This article is about the [[:Category:People|person]]. For the chocolate bar, see <nowiki>[[Delight (chocolate bar)]].'' (or: "There is also a [[Delight (chocolate)|chocolate bar called Delight]].")

In the case where one thing is clearly the more usual or "official" term, but there is another term that should have a different article, like skunk or Eurofurence, then the general term is used without parentheses and the other term(s) have parentheses or are otherwise made different. We use the above method to link between them.

In rare cases, it may also be appropriate to add a parentheses even if there is currently no article at the non-parentheses term. This is done where there might be confusion about what the article should be about. For example, Furre! has links to Persona Play (Furre!) and Roleplay (Furre!). This is because the term Roleplay has a special meaning in the context of Furre!, and so it should not link to the main role-playing article, which has a redirect from Roleplay. For consistency, Persona Play has the same qualifier, even though there is not likely to be another article called Persona Play as it is at term that is specific to Furcadia/Furre!.

Deciding what to do in a particular case is sometimes tricky, but it is usually simple once you have done it a few times. Hope the above helps! --GreenReaper^(talk) 08:41, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Maned wolf page up!

Heya, just wanted to let you know that I created a page about maned wolves since there wasn't one. It could use some editing, such as a contents box and the pictures off to the side. Thanks! --Inali

Well, it looks like you figured all that out! I moved it to Maned Wolf because it is a proper name of a species. The contents box will automatically appear if you have four headers in the article. If you do not (or to move it), you can make it appear by adding __TOC__ wherever you want. I sometimes put this inside a div tag that is set to float to the right. You can also hide it with __NOTOC__.

One question I have, though - do you have permission from the people who made those pictures to put them on this site? While I appreciate that you wish to improve the articles, it is not enough to just state who owns the copyright of an image - if you do not have explicit permission (either by having asked them or through a blanket license or copyright wavier), we cannot display the images. That's what copyright means, after all . . . the right to make copies. Both the Ark Gallery and Kenneth W. Fink/Root Resources sources appear to be non-free in this respect (indeed, the Ark Gallery seems to have a specific note at the bottom saying that images are not for reproduction elsewhere).

Oh, and one last thing - on talk pages, it's easier to know who's talking if you sign your name at the end. You can do this by typing ~~~~, or just ~~~ to do so without adding the date and time. --GreenReaper^(talk) 03:13, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

I will email them and ask permission. If I can't get it from them, I'll ask some others until I get written permission. Where do I post that I have written permission when I get it? Thanks!

InaliKealoha 05:22, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

You should put the permission on the image information page, the one that comes up when you click on the image. You can edit it just like any other page. If you fail to gain permission for those images, let myself or another administrator know, and we will delete it from the WikiFur image store. --GreenReaper^(talk) 14:04, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

I very strongly feel that we should delete the images; they can be uploaded again if permission is given. -- Sine 16:16, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Then do so. --GreenReaper^(talk) 19:08, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Done. Thanks for the confirmation. -- Sine 23:24, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Edit buttons

How do you set up an edit button like Wikifur and the Creatures wiki have? I'm also a member at the Sporewiki and want to contribute a button like that for them —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Listeel (talk • contribs) .

Check out the MediaWiki:Monobook.css page, in particular the section starting:

/* Create more space to top and left of the section Edit links and put norn in it */

If you copy this and adjust it for your wiki (you will need to change the URL to match the URL of an image uploaded at your wiki or somewhere else) then it should work. --GreenReaper^(talk) 20:14, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

Infobox question

I've been trying to make an Infobox for A Fox in the Works page with little luck, something like what Wikipedia has for TV series (ie Wikipedia:Babylon_5. I'm really don't know what I'm doing, and it's something that would probably work better as a template so it can be used for comics and other furry story series.

I can't find any help on making an infobox like this, and what I try to do comes up more then a bit fragged. Any help would be greatly appreciated. --Fox Cutter 05:13, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Probably the best place to start is Wikipedia's sample infobox template, which is relatively simple as they go. The one you mentioned, Template:Infobox Television is indeed hideously complex, in part because it relies on expressions (which are not yet available at Wikia, so it will give hideously mangled results).

Start simple. Just copy the template to a blank Template: page here (perhaps Template:Infobox!), and then try it out on a page. Try modifying various things, trying it out in the preview. Have a look at Wikipedia's template help. It is not, unfortunately, very clear, but it starts off with some useful information. Our templates section has various ones that definitely work here, which you could copy from as well. If you get stuck, ask for help on a discussion page, saying what you want it to do, and someone will probably lend a hand (and if not, prod me :-). --GreenReaper^(talk) 06:00, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Recent Changes Error?

Recent changes has the following line in it: "Below are the last 50 changes in the last 7 days, as of $3." I don't think the $3 is intentional, is it? Spaz Kitty

No, you're right - there's been something up with recent changes since the most recent upgrade. There's a bug filed for it on Wikia, it's just rather low-priority right now, especially since it's probably something that will have to be fixed in the main MediaWiki source code tree anyway. --GreenReaper^(talk) 05:28, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Minor Bug on Recent Changes page

Howdy! I just noticed a small bug on the Recent Changes page. At the top of the page (at least according my my preferences), it reads:

Below are the last 200 changes in the last 7 days, as of $3.

I'm thinking that that "$3" is a variable that isn't being called correctly. It's obviously a minor thing, but something I thought might be a quick fix if you've got the permissions.----DuncanDaHusky^(talk) 16:11, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

Yeah. It's been like that since we upgraded to 1.7 alpha. It's a known bug, but it was low priority for the Wikia guys. I'll have a chat with them and see if it's a quick fix. If not, it can be removed by editing MediaWiki:Rcnote. --GreenReaper^(talk) 16:27, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

*Waves.* (creating articles)

Thanks for leaving me a note. I've meant to put the link to the Eurofurence LJ instead of the website, I guess I was distracted when I added "Eurofurence" to the list. :B Sorry.

No problem!

I tried to reply to you using the "send mail" option, but apparently I have to get a confirmation code, and while I tried a couples of times, it never seems to reach me. It's not in my "spam" box either, so I was wondering if something was broken on Wikifur's side, or what should I do.

Not sure about that. It should come from jasonr@wikia.com, if that helps.

Okay, I made a research in my mailbox AND spambox, and I've never received any e-mail from this addy. I don't know what's wrong, it just doesn't seem to send me anything when I ask for a confirmation code.

Also, and this may sound like a very stupid question, but.. I was wondering how to create articles here? I've only found help to edit existing articles; reading the artists pages I noticed some less-well known artists as well, as if they or someone had created a page about them, but I'm not sure the admins themselves did, and I can't find how to start a page from scratch in the help pages. Is it a privilege-thing or did I miss the option or an help page somewhere? Is it related to the fact I haven't entered any confirmation code yet (see first issue in paragraph above)?

There are several ways that (I think they're on Help:Editing) - try to go to a page with the search box and click the red link when you don't find it, make a link in an existing page (or in a preview) and click on it, or just change the URL to the appropriate one and click edit this page. It is something anyone can do (even anonymous users) and is not related to email confirmation. --GreenReaper^(talk) 17:12, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

Ooh okay, thanks for our help! by the way, do you see my signature when I reply (as in, my username and link to "talk" and such) or do I have to add it manually?

No, you need to add it with ~~~~ (or ~~~ to just add the name). --GreenReaper^(talk) 16:21, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

Code error, etc.

Couple of things...One, on both the WikiFur homepage and your talk page, <div style="clear:both"/> appears. Two, Talk:SCHLITZER is a leftover from the Crabs crabs crabs! x 50 vandal that previously redirected to my talk page - not sure if you saw that all the way back in recent changes (I've been boredly busy today XD). Spaz Kitty 02:47, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

I've had a chat with the Wikia admins and this is a temporary error in the MediaWiki version that they are testing. I've replaced it with the equivalent (but working) <div style"clear:both"></div> in those two places. If there are other pages affected, they should be fixed after the testing concludes. It looks like Sine got the other problem. --GreenReaper^(talk) 03:38, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Google Analytics Stats

Any chance you could sign me up to access wikifur's stats on google analytics? -- DeVandalizer 00:00, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Sure, if you tell me your GMail or Google Account address, either here or privately. --GreenReaper^(talk) 00:02, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

No problem, my gmail account is devandalizer@gmail.com -- DeVandalizer 00:06, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Done. You may access the statistics here. --GreenReaper^(talk) 00:10, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

I am in. Thank you. -- DeVandalizer 00:14, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

High resolution version of wikifur pawprint

Is there a high resolution version of the wikifur pawprint (used in the wikifur logo in the upper left corner of all wiki pages) available? If so could you point me to the location of the file? -- DeVandalizer 16:02, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

Is this sufficient? I have the vector art as well, if needed (.ai format). --GreenReaper^(talk) 16:16, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

Yes that's excellent. Thank you -- DeVandalizer 17:55, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

Image:PlushToyRaccoonAC2006.jpg

That's a Red Panda, not a Raccoon. Is there a way of renaming / moving an image, or is it a matter of re-uploading? -- Sine 03:08, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

Oh, whoops. Firefox! I've fixed it, thanks. Alas, a reupload is necessary in such cases. --GreenReaper^(talk) 03:19, 22 July 2006 (UTC)