Wiki 24:The Situation Room/July 2006 Archives

This is the Archives of The Situation Room discussions from July 2006. See also the Archives Directory. Unlike the main Situation Room page and its main archive, this page sorts threads chronologically, as opposed to reverse chronologically.

New Wikia Statistics
Check this out! Wikia is tabulating the statistics for all its little wikis in new and exciting ways. We're doing pretty well for ourselves against the big boys (Wikipedia, Memory Alpha, Wookiepedia). Let's keep up the good work! --StBacchus 14:30, 4 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Sweet Jesus, it's about time they updated that! It used to be updated all the time, then they mysteriously stopped last November.  I'm glad it's all back again!  Thanks for the heads up, StBaccus. --Proudhug 19:41, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Emails
I have no idea what this means, but some lady from the Wall Street Journal contacted me wondering if she could talk to me about vandalism on the wika. I guess my question is, why me, and should I pursue this? I must say I am kind of freaked out by the concept of talking to someone and my personal information being put in a newspaper, so I have removed the picture of myself and just put my school down along with all of my jokes. If someone else wanted to handle it, I'll refer her to another user. Her email is from the wsj, but I don't want to be talking on the phone to some unlegit person. - Xtreme680 05:03, 14 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Interesting! I'm not a lawyer or a journalist, so take my advice for what it's worth. Probably she wants to talk to you because you're one of the most diligent anti-vandals here, and also one of only a handful of users who can ban others. A real journalist would probably not put any more personal information in a newspaper than you authorize her to, but you shouldn't release your information to anyone if you aren't comfortable doing it. If you aren't sure about her credentials, she should be able to supply you with proof that she's really a journalist with the WSJ, or you could Google her name to see what else she's written. If you'd like to do the interview but don't want to give her your phone number, you can always ask if you can do it over e-mail. Personally, I would do it if I could be sure she was who she claimed to be, but that's just me. You certainly aren't obligated to do anything if you don't want to. --StBacchus 10:24, 14 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Welcome to the internet, Xtreme680! It's creepy the first time you realize how easy it is for someone to track you down.  I once had someone phone me up at home, interested in an object I'd bought on eBay a couple years before.  I still have no idea how he did it.  I'm not sure what exactly you're worried about, though.  You sound like your worried the person is ligit and your information will be revealed in the paper, and the same time your worried the person isn't ligit.  Let us know how it turns out, either way.  --Proudhug 14:44, 14 July 2006 (UTC)


 * It's definetely both. I've definetely been contacted by unlegit people in the past because of student organizations. And yea, she seems to be legit, when I googled her name it came up as WSJ type of stuff, and her email was from there. I guess I don't mind her using my legal name or anything, I suppose I can just tell her that I don't want her being like "Oh yeah, if you want to call xtreme680, use this, also, the addresses of his family and friends!" He works here! But I'm sure that's silly. But hey, just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get me. I plan on calling her tomorrow.


 * Also, my guess is that 1, I'm an admin, and 2, I've put email up, which a lot of you haven't, which I guess makes me easiest to contact in a private way. - Xtreme680 06:20, 15 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Honestly, what is the problem with talking to her? I mean, if she is some stalker lady, is she going to figure out all of your personal information by interviewing you about vandalism? I don't think that it would be a big deal. Just set up an extra e-mail on Yahoo and with fake info, that way she can't trace you. If you're paranoid, go to the library and start a new account there, so she REALLY can't trace you, even if she is Chloe O'Brien. Unless she pulls the library security footage and uploads to Jack's PDA and you're put through face recognition software... But seriously, just do it and enjoy the publicity. It's funny how the Wall Street Journal can't print anything better than vandalism on a 24 fan site.

They played the wrong episode
Instead of playing Day 5 3:00pm-4:00pm, they played 3:00 AM - 4:00 AM! I feel bad for everyone who has been spoiled :-) Squall Deckiller 00:14, 15 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Ha ha! I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets confused about the episode titles. --StBacchus 06:19, 15 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Yeah, it appears Fox is pulling the Friday night repeats due to low ratings, so they're fast forwarding a bit. And let's try to keep off-topic discussion off-site, please. --Proudhug 08:28, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Wiki 24 NL
The Dutch version of Wiki 24 is a fact! Its name: Wiki 24 NL! I ask everyone who speaks (a little bit) Dutch, to visit it and help me with translate English articles. Adnergje 19:29, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Lockdown?
I've been recently updating the episode guides for Season 2, but I've gotten to some of the pages that look to be a little more incomplete than usual. When I wrote the page for Day_2_2:00pm-3:00pm, I took down the lockdown notice, only to notice it was back up. I assumed this was because I forgot to write a summary, so I included that and took down the lockdown notice again. As of today, the lockdown notice is back up.

I don't mean to argue, but I just want to know-what elements need to be present for an episode page to be considered in compliance with Wiki 24 standards? Hypnometal 07:29 16 July 2006 (EDT)


 * You're the only person who has edited that page in the past month. I don't see any revision from you where that notice was gone. I suggest using the "Show Preview" button to make sure everything's the way you want it before you save (and also make sure, if you are previewing, that you do hit "Save changes" afterwards). I went ahead and took the notice off, because the page looks done to me.


 * To address your other question, I think having the Summary, Episode Guide, and Dramatis Personae should be enough. There may not be Trivia/Notes/Background Information or Memorable Quotes, but there will always be a plot and a cast. I mean, I hope so. O_o --StBacchus 21:31, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

Main Page
I've been fiddling around on the sandbox with a possible new style for the top of the main page. It's based on Wikipedia's version but changed to suit our needs. I think that our main page kinda puts people off because it is really two paragraphs of writing at the top. The new version summaries everything into a neat box. Take a look and tell me what you think! Have a look --24 Administration 21:52, 17 July 2006 (UTC)


 * What exactly is off-putting about the main page? Are you saying it's too long?  I was always worried that there wasn't enough of an introduction on the front.  For the longest time, I found wiki main pages for things like Wikipedia off-putting because you're just kinda thrust into the action, so to speak.  I always found Memory Alpha a lot more friendly because it has a nice little introductory paragraph at the top.  Maybe I'm alone on this. --Proudhug 02:37, 18 July 2006 (UTC)


 * No, I agree with you. But there's plenty of room in 24 Administration's design for an intro paragraph. --StBacchus 07:19, 18 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Well the question is then, what essentially needs to be in the opening paragraph? --24 Administration 13:54, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

New way to do appearances
Hi, everybody. We all love Proudhug's Appearance tables, but have you ever wondered if there might be an easier way to reproduce them? Well, wonder no more! Team Bacchus has brought you A Better Way. Let's say I wanted to do the appearances for Jenny McGill. Here's what I type:



And here's what shows up:

That's it. Make sure you have the right season number after Appearances. Spaces are optional. You don't even have to put the episodes in the right order. See Jack Bauer's appearances for another example. --StBacchus 17:39, 15 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Wow! That's really cool! Go Team bacchus! --24 Administration 22:04, 17 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Thanks, StBacchus. I knew there was a way to do this when I created the table, but was too lazy to spend the time working out.  I knew you'd come up with something!  ;) --Proudhug 02:08, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, guys! Heh, I always work hard when it gives me an opportunity to be lazy later...or is it the other way around? Anyway, it was a pain to do appearances even when it was just a bulleted list. Now it's so easy I'm actually looking for pages without appearances so I can add them in. If only everything could be this simple. ...Oh, I almost forgot!


 * Uh oh, just hit a snag. Are you able to adjust the templates to include the footnotes?  As it stands they won't work, near as I can tell. --Proudhug 03:05, 24 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Yes, and there's another issue with the width. About the footnotes, I've just been putting the starred note under the table without a corresponding star in the table. Didn't seem terribly urgent. But I will give it some thought. --StBacchus 11:53, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

One more thing
The appearance tables will float really ugly on top of the character sidebar if there isn't enough text on the page to separate them. To avoid this problem, add   after the last bit of text before the Appearance header. I recommend adding that tag even on pages that look fine on your monitor, just to be safe. --StBacchus 07:40, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Problems Viewing Page
When I open any page the google ads cover part of the article where u can't see the words. Is anyone else having this problem? I can only scroll over to see the rest of the article wne I'm not in a edit page.--CWY2190 04:01, 21 July 2006 (UTC)


 * I'm having the same problems. The article and edit box are both hidden underneath the Google ads.  I don't know what to do about it. -Kapoli 04:42, 21 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Don't worry everyone, I fixed everything using hacking skills. I just had to chloe mediawiki and it was cleaned up in a jiffy.


 * Actually, Angela posted something about it on the main page talk page, apparentally it was a problem with the central wikia, but it looks like It's all been cleared up. - Xtreme680 06:50, 21 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Also, what I meant to say was, it's mostly cleaned up. She said it would be taken care of tomorrow. Most of the editing pages look pretty good though. - Xtreme680 06:53, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Vandals
Looks like I missed another party. Good job Kapoli for getting everything fixed, but whats up with the Pelican Shit stuff. GET NEW MATERIAL!!!--CWY2190 09:40, 23 July 2006 (UTC)


 * It's a historical vandal motif. So you see, they aren't unoriginal or lacking brains as you might expect, they're paying homage. --StBacchus 15:10, 23 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Looking through Wikipedia's archives, it seems we had the Communism Vandal a while ago as well. --24 Administration 16:54, 23 July 2006 (UTC)


 * That was the first time I had to deal with a vandal! How exciting!  Really though, I tried to go through all his edits and revert them, and about halfway through I remembered the "rollback" function.  Duh.  I also had to protect that IP's user talk page, because he wouldn't stop posting those penguin photos.  I hope I did everything right! -Kapoli 18:14, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

Nice work, Proudhug! -Kapoli 20:14, 23 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Fuck! I make a quick edit, go back to working on a paper, check back here, and a vandal had struck and been vanquished all in a few minutes. I hate missing vandal battles. - Xtreme680 20:32, 23 July 2006 (UTC)


 * I know! I was in here minutes before, then I left to email someone, came back and didn't notice any differences.  It was only when I checked the recent changes that I saw that a vandal came through and Proudhug had already put out the fire.  -Kapoli 20:36, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

A wikia version of Poodude. Nice. T_____T Why exactly is it hard to IP ban this guy? He have access to a computer lab or something? And I'm no computer expert but couldn't we just block anything containing the word "pelican" to the main pages? -WarthogDemon 20:40, 23 July 2006 (UTC)


 * I have no idea. I say we protect a couple of these pages from moving at the very least. There's no reason anyone should have to move the main page, and moving pages is some of the most common vandalism. Also, I wanted to point out this other user who has vandalized before. They're either looking for easier targets than Wikipedia, or they are imposters. Who knows? - Xtreme680 20:46, 23 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Ooh, yeah. I hate to protect the main page from edits, because I don't want to turn people off when they first come to the Wiki, but I would support a decision to protect it from moving.  Like Xtreme said, there's no reason that anyone should have to move the Main Page, the help page, or some of those other pages.  Even if an editor wanted to move one of those pages, there should be some discussion about it on the talk page first, right?  -Kapoli 20:49, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

And the beat goes on..... WarthogDemon fought another vandal tonight and did a fantastic job. I came in and blocked him, then proceeded to help revert and delete the redirects, etc. I accidentally deleted a couple of the wrong pages! But all is well now, I've restored them. I'd just woken up from a nap when that happened! Sorry! Anyway, excellent work WD! Thanks very much for the help! If any of the other administrators want to go back and make sure I didn't miss anything, please do. Thanks again, WD! -Kapoli 01:16, 25 July 2006 (UTC)


 * I'm at work right now, but when I get home I can check it all over if I'm bored. It's so funny how these people amuse themselves.  Cut'n'pasted or not, it still takes him a lot more time to change everything than it does for us to change it back, haha. --Proudhug 01:38, 25 July 2006 (UTC)


 * That's why WD's comments were so funny to read.... "I can do this all day." Ha!  Rollback, rollback, rollback.  -Kapoli 01:43, 25 July 2006 (UTC)


 * I'm digging the new administrator thing, we usually shut these things down pretty quickly. - Xtreme680 02:02, 25 July 2006 (UTC)


 * good work, guys. "...as peace and justice returns."

Cymra37 03:03, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Main Page Layout Vote
Myself and StBacchus have designed a new main page layout for the wiki. The main differences are the opening paragraph and links at the top and the organisation of the contents section at the bottom. Take a look here. We now need a vote on it so can you please vote either SUPPORT, AGAINST or NEUTRAL giving your reasons for your choice. --24 Administration 17:02, 23 July 2006 (UTC)


 * SUPPORT: I think it looks really great! Let's use it. :D --24 Administration 17:02, 23 July 2006 (UTC)


 * SUPPORT: That is fantastic! You two did a wonderful job! -Kapoli 18:15, 23 July 2006 (UTC)


 * SUPPORT: That page drops it like it's hot. - Xtreme680 20:00, 23 July 2006 (UTC)


 * SUPPORT: That looks good. Always good to get a new look--CWY2190 03:18, 24 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Well we've gone almost 5 days without any rejects. We haven't even had a new vote for the past 2 and a half days so I think we can count this as a successful thing. --24 Administration 20:47, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

White out
Hmm, now it seems we've got the same white block issue with the top tabs that Wiki 24 NL has. I don't see the problem on any other sites, so perhaps it's something in our Monobook.css. The site also has a Navigation Bar spacing problem when viewed in IE. --Proudhug 02:08, 26 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Well, here's what I can tell you. If you look at  http://24.wikia.com/skins3/monobook/main.css  and search for #p-cactions li.selected you'll find that the color is set to white. Meaning that unless our Monobook.css specifically says otherwise, the tabs will be white. Theoretically, you can fix the tabs by adding the following to MediaWiki:Monobook.css:
 * #p-cactions li.selected a {
 * z-index: 3;
 * background-color: #333333;
 * color: #FFFFFF;
 * border-color: #CCCCCC;
 * padding: 0 1em .2em!important;
 * }


 * #p-cactions li a:hover {
 * z-index: 3;
 * text-decoration: none;
 * background-color: #333333;
 * color: #FFFFFF;
 * border-color: #CCCCCC;
 * }


 * If you and the other admins weren't screwing around with the main.css file, possibly someone from the Central Wikia was. That would also explain why the NavBar is screwed up in IE6 and not IE7 or FireFox (there is a layer of bug fixes that loads depending on the browser). Here is the fix for the NavBar:


 * #p-navigation a {
 * display: inline;
 * }


 * I notice that Special:Preferences is also fuxx0red. I could fix it, but it might be worth your time to ask Central Bureaucracy Wikia what's going on.


 * Oh, yeah. I'm also pretty sure I know how to fix the external links. I tested all this stuff in my own monobook.css and everything works; however, I can only speculate that it will still work if applied to the main Monobook.css. --StBacchus 08:08, 26 July 2006 (UTC)