I'm sure many of you have heard about the new skin Wikia is panning. You can view it now. Go to Special pages → Skin → then New Wikia Skin and save.
Many wikis are moving to new hosts, see w:Forum:Anti-Wikia Alliance. I plan on moving my wiki, Wikisimpsons, to ShoutWiki.
What are we planning to do here? Moving or staying put? ☆TheSolarDragon☆ 16:36, October 6, 2010 (UTC)
Well, the new skins sucks. Hard. I've been playing around with it. When they do away with Monaco, we lose our amazing sidebar. I tried replicating it in their new dropdown menus, but we're limited to 4 buttons, with 4 single column drops. ie. We can no longer link from Stargate Universe -> Specific season -> specific episode. We are literally limited to: Episodes -> Episode category pages. Category pages are three things: ugly, boring and sorted alphabetically. I've always equated category pages as looking behind the scenes of the website. They're a great way to get around if you know what you're looking for/at, but they definitely not pretty. What page would you rather see, our custom made Season 1 page or Category:Universe Season 1 episodes? Secondly, of course a standard width is great; it's how all websites should be designed and how most websites are anyways. But the width they've chosen is ridiculously narrow, especially when you have the search bar, recent activity, and new images panels taking up nearly half the limited space. And with our infoboxes and episode templates, it looks terrible on the new skin. We will have to fix every episode page we have. Moving or removing the episode templates and possibly also the infoboxes. I'm not liking this. Kal'elT | C - 20:04, October 6, 2010 (UTC)
Ignoring the colour scheme as that can be tweaked to our content, look at how condensed everything is. You can compare this image to what it looks like in Monaco until Nov. 3rd when they make the new skin mandatory. Kal'elT | C - 20:13, October 6, 2010 (UTC) File:NewLook.jpg
Wow... with that skin, it's like trying to read an article while looking through a magnifying glass. By that, I mean the text is in such a narrow space, it's hard to get a broad overview of the page at one time, and instead you're basically scrolling down just to get to a new paragraph. Also, my userpage looks just terrible as the 250px-sized images run into the text on the left side of the page. The black, empty space on the left and right sides seems like a terrible idea... like wiki is just laughing at us, telling us that there is all this space around us, but we are only capable of using a fraction of it for actual content. This layout is wayyy too wikia-in-general-centered and the emphasis on Stargate itself is lost in a sea of ads linking to other wikis. Also, we loose our logo.. and that "Wikia" bar at the of every page is a constant thorn in my side. Accidentally scrolling over is just a pain as it gets in my way.... further restricting the space of actual content. I also agree with what is stated above... —Anubis 10545(talk) (Contribs) 23:20, October 6, 2010 (UTC)
Oh, and I hate that blue bar at the bottom that says "share", "follow", and "my tools". This honestly seems like a joke... like why would someone even consider this as a viable option. I mean, naturally it is such a sudden change from what I'm use to so I am biased to a degree.... but really. —Anubis 10545(talk) (Contribs) 23:24, October 6, 2010 (UTC)
Agreed about everything you said. The bottom bar: I instantly hate anything that narrows my view of the webpage. I can add the logo to the background and make it feel more like it does now, but the background image has no interaction. Kal'elT | C - 23:34, October 6, 2010 (UTC)
After reading about the AWA (link above) I feel empowered ;) I really would hate if this change takes place... but I'd also hate to change our host as well (well, to some degree). Hm... Oh, and I guess having a non-interactive logo would be better than nothing.... but just barely... possibly... —Anubis 10545(talk) (Contribs) 23:57, October 6, 2010 (UTC)
Well as it turns out, there wasn't enough background space for our logo, so to make sure it wouldn't fall behind the page, I had to shrink it a lot and it would have looked terrible. So I just cropped it and put it the only place they'll let me... in a 250x65 box. Exactly those dimensions too...so...there it is. Kal'elT | C - 00:56, October 7, 2010 (UTC)
Looks nice... given the restrictions we have to deal with in that respect. In an unrelated topic, it seems kind of weird that it says who uploaded an image right under that image on every page it appears on. It seems so beside the point. But anyway, thanks for that :) —Anubis 10545(talk) (Contribs) 01:03, October 7, 2010 (UTC)
That looks absolutely terrible. Escyos(talk) (Contribs) 03:39, October 7, 2010 (UTC)
Names under images annoy me too. Also not a fan of the giant edit button at the top and the edit pencil icons next to every subtitle. It feels overbearing. I've lightened the buttons to almost white so they're subtler. Kal'elT | C - 15:33, October 7, 2010 (UTC)
As a casual wiki reader and a very, very minor & occasional editor, I'd like to say that I like the new theme. The narrow article design mimics a newspaper column which was designed to be easily read. As I don't do any wiki heavy-lifting, I can't say much about the functionality of the theme for the behind-the-scene stuff. I just know that you guys are doing a great job on the wiki. Just my two cents. —4339shw(talk) (Contribs) 03:26, October 14, 2010 (UTC)
Looking at other wikis, what we're going to have to do is create a portal page for everything, like we've done for our season specific episodes. We haven't needed to in the past because we have great navigation as it is, but we're going to lose that. Portal examples: Red Dead and Lostpedia. Cheers. Kal'elT | C - 15:56, October 7, 2010 (UTC)
will i still be able to use monobook? also, while this may not be related to the skin per se, i don't really like how wikia is making itself less of a reference tool and more of a social gathering place. case in point, the "share" and "log in with facebook" things. ASDF1239DISCUSSION 23:16, October 7, 2010 (UTC)
On November 3rd, everyone will be forced to use the new skin. As terrible as it is, I'm already exclusively using the skin so I can start fixing things and making it look better before it becomes everyone's default. I'm working on a background, but I'm away for Thanksgiving weekend. Will be back on Monday. And yeah, this decision is hurting wikia at the moment. Though all/most of the top wikis are remaining, a good number of them are leaving for other providers. A lot of sites are jumping on the social media bandwagon. Digg.com recently destroyed their site and cut their unique visitors down to 1/3 of what it was because they decided to "update" the site. Cheers. Kal'elT | C - 06:09, October 8, 2010 (UTC)
forced? good move on wikias part, sure everyone will love that. im already deleting some of my wikis. Escyos(talk) (Contribs) 07:10, October 9, 2010 (UTC)
Thanks for the link to the Anti-Wikia-Alliance page. Very nice! I've sent a complaint through Wikia's "contact us" page, but I'm sure I'm not the first, so I'm not expecting much from it. Has anyone here seriously looked into changing hosts? YardsGreens(talk) (Contribs) 15:27, October 9, 2010 (UTC)
You know that Wikia refused to set redirect when we abandoned her servers and moved to our own hosting with our little Russian section of Uncyclopedia? So it probably would make some troubles with moving away --Глючарина(talk) (Contribs) 15:33, October 9, 2010 (UTC)
The new skin does look better with the changes you made... given with what we have to work with. Ugh... I just can't get over how everything is crammed to the left with soooo much empty white space just sitting there, empty. It, just.... wiki's reason for doing that defies logic :/ I mean, they make editing "supposedly" easier to do... but then they make the content much harder to actually read. Yea... just voicing my perpetual dissatisfaction with this, heh. —Anubis 10545(talk) (Contribs) 18:12, October 9, 2010 (UTC)
I am Solar Dragon, forced to use this IP as Wikia blocked me for voicing my views. I have asked for Wikisimpsons to move and am waiting for a new database dump in order for the staff at ShoutWiki to move it to ShoutWiki. They can move all user pages, images and articles as well as all MediaWiki pages too. Here is the link to the new Wikisimpsons. We have had some trouble with Wikia and them allowing us to put a link to the new wiki in the sitenotice (even though we do not link directly to the new wiki, we still have been getting problems from them) although some wikis can get away with it. I really hope that you guys leave. Oh, and WoWWiki, the third biggest wiki is also thinking of leaving too by the way. Thanks, 92.29.190.185 06:55, October 10, 2010 (UTC)
As much as Wikia will certainly make problems for moving away, it sounds like other hosts would make it easier to migrate. I'm pretty new to the Stargate Wiki, but I'd be willing to help with the move in any way I could, if that's what the community decided to do. YardsGreens(talk) (Contribs) 10:37, October 14, 2010 (UTC)
I have been using it for the last few days and haven't had any problems other then what Ka'al said about the dropdown menu and having to go through categories to get to an episode. Also links no longer change colors after visiting it. That has always been very helpful to keep track of what pages I had opened before. Lowriders95s10(talk) (Contribs) 04:26, October 15, 2010 (UTC)
In my experience, link color is a browser issue. My links never change color because I have Firefox set not to record any history. — Trust not the Penguin (T | C) 06:36, October 15, 2010 (UTC)
For me, the worst change is the fixed-width for content. With the new skin, on a 13.5"-wide screen, actual content is squished into a 2.5"-wide column, after the wikia navigation column (which is counterintuitive on the right) and any infoboxes or navigation boxes (like the list of other episodes in that season on every episode page). Further down in the article, below the infobox, the text goes up to 6.5", which is barely tolerable. On Monaco, 6.5" is the narrowest width for content (11" below the infobox). It just seems ridiculous to me when I feel like I'm reading the webpage through a door crack. YardsGreens(talk) (Contribs) 06:57, October 16, 2010 (UTC)
Good luck, I've already laid claim to the Stargate.shoutwiki address and im sure as hell not giving it up Escyos(talk) (Contribs) 04:52, October 15, 2010 (UTC)
there are plenty of other names suitable for a stargate wiki. ASDF1239DISCUSSION 05:27, October 15, 2010 (UTC)
off the top of my head, "sg" or "stargate-wiki". i also don't see what your point is, other than to gloat about how you've prevented this wiki from moving to the most obvious domain name on another hosting site (assuming it intended to in the first place). ASDF1239DISCUSSION 06:27, October 15, 2010 (UTC)
Actually, "sg" might actually be better as a shorter URL. YardsGreens(talk) (Contribs) 06:57, October 16, 2010 (UTC)
yea...that sounds like something i would do. thanks for your support! Escyos(talk) (Contribs) 06:44, October 15, 2010 (UTC)
How's that working out for you, Escyos? Not sure how many users you have, but I can see you've got 53 articles compared to stargate.wikia's 7200+. I would think you'd be happy to get the extra traffic from stargate.wikia, but I guess I'm wrong. YardsGreens(talk) (Contribs) 06:57, October 16, 2010 (UTC)
as fantastic as I am, i cannot create 600 pages a day to catch up. my stargate wiki is for those who DONT want the book, rpg, magazine crap which no one except jaymach considers canon. Escyos(talk) (Contribs) 07:31, October 16, 2010 (UTC)
So.... getting slightly back to the topic here, does anyone know how to navigate to the Special pages page-thingy while using the new skin. As there is no longer a sidebar like where the the special pages link currently resides, I have yet to locate it... —Anubis 10545(talk) (Contribs) 04:37, October 17, 2010 (UTC)
I can't find the button anywhere. From what I can tell, there isn't one, or its so buried in this ridiculous format that you'll never see it in ordinary browsing. Therefore, you have to make one. At the bottom right is the My Tools popup menu. Open it, click edit, and add whatever special pages you want, including the SpecialPages page. — Trust not the Penguin (T | C) 04:48, October 17, 2010 (UTC)
Ah, thanks for pointing that out... it makes the new skin so much easier to navigate through (though it doesn't quite make up for numerous other flaws with it). Anyway... —Anubis 10545(talk) (Contribs) 05:31, October 17, 2010 (UTC)
i refuse to learn the new format, if i wanted to look at somethign like that i would look at a 19 year old girls blog on her trip to (somewhere boring) and listen to her stories about cheese or something....which i too often hear. i would have thought that when 90% of your users abandon your site and voice their disgust in the skin, that wikia would not go ahead with it.....Wikia was fun while it lasted, gone the way of the dodo and myspace. Escyos(talk) (Contribs) 05:48, October 17, 2010 (UTC)
