Wiki 24:The Situation Room

Background
Here's an idea on how to deal with the Background/Before Day X fiasco:

The only characters to get Background sections (bulleted) are:
 * All series regulars (Jack Bauer, Chloe O'Brian)
 * Recurring characters with FOX.com profiles (Paula Schaeffer)
 * Recurring characters with profiles/in-depth bios in Findings at CTU (Richard Walsh, Ryan Chappelle)
 * Characters whose dossiers are shown on screen (Anton Beresch, Dmitri Gredenko)

In addition, these characters will have "Before Day X" (paragraphs) to mention everything about their past lives that doesn't come up in their profile, and possibly their immediate family members, if they're important enough. Tony Almeida's page is a good example of this.

All other characters, regardless of how major, receive only a "Before Day X" that covers their lives before the first season they showed up in.

What does everyone think? --Pyramidhead 23:32, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Administrators...
Hey! I am fairly new here, I've visited this cite multiple times, but just got an account. Is there any way to distinguish adminstrators/webmasters from normal people?


 * Proudhug, 24 Administration, Deege515 and myself are active admins. ---CWY2190talkcontribs 23:45, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Timeline Dates
User 69.69.84.43 places info relating to an actual year that Day 6 takes place in the Timeline section, and I was just wondering what the official policy on that is, since 24 does make a note not to place a particular season in any given year.--JoeyBags79 20:07, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

Kim Bauer's boyfriends
Anonymous user 128.138.15.84 created a "Kim Bauer's boyfriends" browser table. I'm voting to remove them. Does anyone else see it as silly? We don't know that the boyfriends we've seen were sequential, since it's likely there have been others in between them. --Proudhug 03:54, 23 April 2007 (UTC)


 * It just doesn't seem, well, in style. I don't really care for them either. --Deege515 04:03, 23 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I don't know, I actually had the same idea myself. She really does run through them, doesn't she? --Pyramidhead 23:38, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Previously on 24
Some episode pages on the 24 Wiki have these "Previously" segment summaries on them. Is it all right to copy from them and add to the respective "Previously on 24" subpages? Because that page is lacking. OneWeirdDude 03:37, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

The "Day _ terrorist cell" pages
I have a proposal to change the wording of the "Day _ terrorist cell" pages. My idea is this: The current wording of those page titles is like a teenager: there's still room for growth. There are a handful of malicious, unmistakable antagonists who cannot be on the pages (like Conlon) because they technically are not terrorists. Leaving it alone, therefore, is insufficient, and the alternatives are stupid: "Day 1 Villains" is too comic-bookish, and "Day 1 Bad Guys", even more immature, reminds me of preschool. I'm asking for any opinions. Proudhug, you've mentioned before that you don't care much about character lists like this (so long as they aren't sloppy, of course) but, you personally did go through the effort to change the capitalizations (Day 2 Terrorist Cell —> Day 2 terrorist cell) so I wouldn't want to go change all that work you did without as many others (who are interested) and you and those like you (who aren't interested but still put effort into those pages) weighing in. – Blue Rook 08:01, 20 April 2007 (UTC)talkcontribs
 * 1) Day 1 terrorist cell —> Day 1 antagonists
 * 2) Day 2 terrorist cell —> Day 2 antagonists
 * 3) Et cetera...


 * Well, there are terrorist cells each season. Do we want lists that just show who specifically were terrorists each day, or is it a better idea to have an all encompassing list of antagonists for the season?  Like yourself, I'm leaning towards the latter.  As long as they're properly organized, anyone looking for a list of terrorists should still find the pages useful, I'd think. --Proudhug 08:31, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

Proceed. --Deege515 15:40, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

Thank you gents, the deed is done! – Blue Rook 20:35, 20 April 2007 (UTC)talkcontribs

Who's the President Now?
Just wondering, does Noah Daniels' title change to President of the United States now that he's used the 25th Amendment to take power after Palmer's hemorrage? If so, the President page should be updated to reflect that since Jim Prescott and Charles Logan were acting presidents too. --JoeyBags79 03:50, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


 * In your question you mentioned both "President" and "acting president", but I think you didn't realize that there is an actual, technical distinction between the two. I'll try not to be boring here: the President (the person holding the Office of the Presidency) is elected so by the Electoral College. If the Pres can't discharge his duties, other individuals in that well-known line of succession get his powers, and take the position that is called Acting President, but they are still not the President because of the critical distinction I noted earlier, and probably a few others. – Blue Rook 17:20, 19 April 2007 (UTC)talkcontribs


 * No, I'm aware of the distinction. I'm just wondering in terms of the wiki. Go to the President page and you'll see what I mean. I guess once we see Daniels take the oath, it'll remain unclear. --JoeyBags79 17:28, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Logan and Prescott were officially sworn in as President, they weren't just Acting President. I don't remember if Prescott was sworn again after Palmer's assassination attempt, as I haven't played The Game in a while, but presumably.  So far, Daniels has only served as Acting President, not President. --Proudhug 18:42, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Image categories
Are there currently any categories for images? If not, perhaps things like "Images of characters" would be useful, with subcategories being "Images of Jack Bauer", "Images of Wayne Palmer", etc. It would be easier for people to find a certain image if they were categorized. Thoughts?--Jonpro 01:00, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Yes, there's Category:Images with a number of subcategories. Lots of images aren't categorized and it'd be cool if someone undertook the task of organizing them all.  There are also tons of unused images that need to either be applied or deleted. --Proudhug 01:49, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Cool, thanks for your response. Do you think it's worth having a category for each character, like Category:Images (Jack Bauer), etc? I think it would make things easier personally but I don't want to go do something that no one really wants done.--Jonpro 01:52, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Maybe not every character, but I don't see how it would hurt anything. I personally rarely ever use the categories, but if you find it'd be useful, go ahead.  If it bothers anyone, they can bring it up and we'll find a compromise. :) --Proudhug 02:14, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Okay, yeah, I was just thinking of the major characters. I'll see what I can get done.--Jonpro 02:48, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Character guides
Quick question re: character pages--when editing, how much information should we include about specific events? For example, the page for Milo Pressman finishes with information about the end of last night's episode but doesn't actually mention Milo. Which is the standard format that I should follow? My worry is that we might end up with an entire episode guide on each character's page, including scenes and events the character wasn't even involved in, so someone put my mind at ease? XD--Vikitty 02:12, 18 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Yeah, the character guides should ONLY contain information that specifically pertains. I think some people are just getting carried away with their summaries. --Proudhug 04:48, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

Protected character sidebars
Okay, this has gotten out of hand. "Unknown" characters should not have locked sidebars. The only things on Wiki 24 that should ever be protected are certain important pages, and articles which are either currently in an edit war or experiencing repeated vandalism. And both the latter cases are only ever temporary. Wiki 24 is here for everyone to edit, so it makes no sense to prevent people from doing just that. --Proudhug 20:07, 29 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I totally agree. I'm not up to date with this latest sidebar issue but as far I am concerned a sidebar should only be locked if there is some sort of edit war going on, not just because the status is "unknown". The whole point that this project is a wiki is because it should be free for everyone to edit. --24 Administration 16:20, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Help Page
I took the liberty of making a new layout for the Help page. At the moment it is untidy, has several incorrect pages and also is constructed in a way which is hard for new users to use.

I "borrowed" Wikipedia's template and changed it around a bit. Check it out here and tell me what you think. If people approve, I'll make it a template and place it on the Help page. --24 Administration 16:18, 29 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I moved it over for you. Hopefully we can get some of our other meta-pages cleaned up soon.  I rarely ever read them, but when I do, I usually cringe at how much work they need. --Proudhug 14:59, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

Locations
Question about the location page. Just for my own edification, why were the "number" headings removed? I found the addresses (which I love to add) very easy to find by number, but now that they are alphabetical, I find it more difficult. Thanks guys 146.151.21.2 18:18, 27 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure how you're finding it more difficult. It makes more sense to order them alphabetically, with the street name first, followed by the number, much like it makes more sense to alphabetize characters by their last name first.  It groups all "related" articles together.  So hypothetically, if two addresses on the same street are ever given, they'll appear together on the list, rather than split up.  I'd be very surprised if you were in the majority in remembering the number over the name, but either way, all of Wiki 24's articles are still listed by first letter/number under Special:Allpages if you prefer to search by number first.  I apologize for any inconvenience, but I'm under the assumption that it's more convenient for a larger number of people this way. --Proudhug 01:12, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

First/last seen
By the way, something else I was wondering: do the "first seen" and "last seen" bits apply to the game or the books? Chronologically, a lot of the characters first show up in Nightfall or the comics. --Pyramidhead 23:45, 25 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I'd actually planned on bringing this up myself. I didn't create the sidebar, so I don't know what its original intention was.  Does "first seen" mean first chronologically from our perspective, or from the character's perspective?  I'd assumed it was the former, but I could go with the latter, too.  However, that creates a problem, as some of us believe One Shot comes before Nightfall, and others believe they're reversed. --Proudhug 12:25, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Character Article Standards: Background Information
When I added the three new characters in Day 6 (Sandra, Thomas, and Nadia), I enterred background information (experience, education, etc.) in paragraph format instead of in a resume style. Other characters have background information in a resume format (bullets, etc.). Is there a standard for how this information should be displayed on character pages? If we don't have one yet, what is the general consensus? I see merits in both styles, and I currently don't have a favorite. --Wydok 00:22, 16 January 2007 (UTC)


 * I personally like paragraph format, as it's usually more interesting to read. However, I understand sometimes it can be a tedious and boring read when converted from bullet form.  But 99% of the time I think I prefer paragraph. --Proudhug 00:38, 16 January 2007 (UTC)


 * I'm on your side, guys. Paragraph is best. --Conspiracy Unit 00:54, 16 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Moved from User talk:Pyramidhead:

I'm not about to revert all of your recent edits, as they add some good information to the site, but I think it's been generally agreed upon that paragraph form is preferred to lists when it comes to background information. Also, this information should be under "Before Day #" rather than "Background." --Proudhug 08:28, 25 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Well, I always thought Background was for characters who had an official profile - the kind of stuff that doesn't come up in the show. I figured Before Day X could be a section for everything else, like Buchanan releasing Fayed, that we learned while watching each season. I thought we might change it to the list form since lots of the summaries got kinda repetitive (plus I was pretty bored yesterday :P) --Pyramidhead 17:35, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Well, there are lots of sources of background information besides the profiles and the TV show. It could easily become a headache keeping what goes where straight. Besides, it creates inconsistency across the site for the characters who don't have profiles. Incorporating it all into paragraph form creates consistency for the whole article, as well as all of Wiki 24. --Proudhug 22:10, 25 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Why not give the series regulars the Background section and have everyone else just get Before Day X? For the most part, the regulars are the only ones who get enough specific backstory to make it worthwhile anyway. Just a thought.

Like I said, it comes down to a matter of consistency for me. Lots of non-series regulars got profiles in "Findings at CTU," not to mention all of the minor characters whose profiles we've seen on CTU screens on the TV show. I personally think it reads a lot better in paragraph form than resume form. It also takes up a lot less space on the page. --Proudhug 12:20, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Bytes update
Is that +/- bytes change on the Latest Intel page a new thing, or did I accidentally change my settings? I'd say it's pretty cool, as it provides more information than checking or unchecking the "minor edit" box. --Deege515 14:49, 22 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Wikia was down a couple nights ago for a few hours (pissed me off) for upgrades, and when it came back, that was one of the new features. I kinda like it, too.  --Proudhug 17:54, 22 March 2007 (UTC)


 * It's very helpful on Wikipedia. If a page loses alot of data, theres a good chance a vandal blanked it. ---CWY2190talkcontribs 20:26, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

I just noticed over on my Wikia that you can grant non-sysops rollback privlages with the newest update. Can you do it here too? (Look under special pages, then restricted special pages). ---CWY2190talkcontribs 01:50, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Yup. All of the changes are across the board for Wikia. --Proudhug 02:04, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Unused images
Should we just start to delete them, or just leave them alone? ---CWY2190talkcontribs 00:09, 17 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Most of them can probably be deleted. It might be a good idea, if someone has the time, to go through and determine which ones could be of use and put them into articles, but for the most part, I'd say delete them.  They can always be uploaded again if someone needs them. --Proudhug 15:23, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Subdivide the sections?
The character articles are getting rather long, and with every episode a character appears in, its respective article increases three or four paragraphs. What would you guys say about subdividing the character guides? Not necessarily by hour, since regular characters' contents directory would be overrun, but by some point in the story arc. It'd be helpful to Firefox users, who can't text search through input textboxes; and an edit button every few paragraphs would make doing so easier. --Deege515 21:50, 16 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I'd actually been meaning to bring this up at some point. I came up with a solution, but only started getting around to implementing it.  Major characters with long synopses need to be edited down.  The current problem is that people are merely tacking on events as they unfold each week, while older characters had the advantage of getting more of an "overview" done for each "Day."  What I did for Jack Bauer was use a brief description of Day 1 for his article page and include link to a "Jack Bauer on Day 1" article for the fully detailed synopsis of his actions that day.  The idea is that there'll be an article for "Jack Bauer on Day 2," etc.  Characters who appear extensively in several seasons should each have their own "So-and-so on Day whatever" pages.  Kinda like the "Memorable quotes by So-and-so" pages.  Hopefully I'm explaining myself right.  I'm not sure if it solves all of the problems you brought up, but that's what I'd figured on doing a few months back, but hadn't really gotten around to. --Proudhug 14:50, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

While the length is not the issue, if you look at Chloe O'Brian's page, you can see that the length of her Day 3 file is about ten times shorter than the Day 6 file, even though Day 6 is only halfway through. We need to go in depth in each area, as much as possible, or decide to summarize their position in the season in a few paragraphs. --BauerJ24 20:41, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Fan-made video
Hello, I am new here as well and I love this site, great job! Is there a page for Fan-Made videos. I have a few mash-ups on YouTube which contain no spoilers at this point. Can I post them here? Thanks, Mark Sharpe


 * As far as I know, wiki 24 only takes information from the show. No fan-made information at all. --Vinny2 00:37, 15 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Vinny2's correct. Wiki 24 is a resource for all official information about 24.  Posting a link on your profile page is fine, as I see you've already done. --Proudhug 04:46, 15 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Thanks Vinny2 and Proudhug, I enjoy and respect this forum. Mark Sharpe 15 March 2007

Crew Pages
I feel bad that the crew doesn't get the same type of sidebar and format as actors on the show, so I experimented with the Anne Cofell page, adding a bit more info on her, as well as a sidebar. Let me know what you think.--JoeyBags79 20:06, 15 April 2007 (UTC)