Forum:Episode pages

Forum: The Situation Room > Episode pages

I have a suggestion. On every episode page, at the bottom there is the Template:browser which indicates the previous episode and the next episode. On character pages, there is the Template:Appearances (e.g. Template:Appearances1). I think a similar template to Template:Appearances should appear on the episode pages as well. So, rather than being limited to just the previous episode and next episode, the links to all the episodes in that particular season would appear. I think it would be more convenient. Comp25 15:45, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

Can you demonstrate your idea in the Sandbox? I'd like to see what this would entail. – Blue Rook 05:03, 27 March 2008 (UTC)_talkcontribs

Okay, I posted it in the sandbox. Comp25 21:08, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

I see what you meant. This would make the next/previous episode bar that is on each of the episode pages obsolete. If we used your idea, we'd need to link all the episodes except the one that is currently being viewed. I'd say we keep it like it is. Any other thoughts? – Blue Rook 00:32, 29 April 2008 (UTC)_talkcontribs

No, if you made a template with links to all the episodes, the one it was on would just be bolded. Go look at Lostpedia's episode pages. I'd be in favor of this change, it's inconvenient to have to go to the season page and then scroll down some to get to another episode. --Pyramidhead 09:51, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Lostpedia actually does what I was describing: it links to all of the episodes except the one that is being viewed. I'm hesitant with this because the next idea might be to include this template in actor pages. It was made for characters, and I'd need some assurance it won't wind up on actor pages. Also, if this goes through, we may need to create another template altogether, one that functions oppositely of the current one. Absolutely no sane editor would want the bottom of an episode page being cluttered with a wikitext block of twenty-three "episode=yes" at the bottom. – Blue Rook 17:38, 2 May 2008 (UTC)_talkcontribs

Yeah, personally I prefer it as it is now. SignorSimon 06:29, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

I understand what Pyramidhead is saying. Wikipedia uses a billion of these little template. We have a couple, like {{CTU}}, {{United States}} and {{Wiki 24}}. It works in exactly the same way, but just looks like the Appearances template. No switches are needed, as every episode page merely links the template. Here's what I quickly whipped up for Day 1:

	Day 1				Day 2 ...
12am-1am	1am-2am	2am-3am	3am-4am	4am-5am	5am-6am
6am-7am	7am-8am	8am-9am	9am-10am	10am-11am	11am-12pm
12pm-1pm	1pm-2pm	2pm-3pm	3pm-4pm	4pm-5pm	5pm-6pm
6pm-7pm	7pm-8pm	8pm-9pm	9pm-10pm	10pm-11pm	11pm-12am
The House Special Subcommittee's Findings at CTU

It can be fancied up, I'm sure, but this is the general idea. All that needs to be typed is {{Day1}} at the bottom of each episode page and it'll automatically bold the current article's episode. I think it's a great idea and can't understand why we didn't do it years ago. --Proudhug 04:43, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

The idea is much more acceptable to me using a template like that. My primary issue was overuse of the Appearances Templates, but this solves that. I wasn't grasping what Comp and Pyramidhead were getting at. Good idea guys! Also, Lostpedia has this kind of thing at the top of their episode guides; Proudhug you mentioned the bottom for usage here, and though I prefer the bottom of the page for a thing like this as well (where the current Next/Previous banner is). But I'd still be interested to see if someone wanted this at the top and had an argument for it. – Blue Rook 15:35, 5 May 2008 (UTC)_talkcontribs

Yeah, they weren't suggesting using the Appearances template, just one similar to it, as I've done. I agree that it has no place at the top of the page. --Proudhug 15:46, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

UPDATE: I created the other necessary Day X templates, and inserted them in almost all of the episodes. The templates can be prettied up and aesthetically improved, but the important thing is that they're already in place now.
I did not insert them into the following episodes,

1. Day 1 11:00pm-12:00am
2. Day 2 8:00am-9:00am
3. Day 2 7:00am-8:00am
4. Day 3 1:00pm-2:00pm
5. Day 3 12:00pm-1:00pm
6. Season 4 Prequel
7. Day 4 6:00am-7:00am
8. Season 5 Prequel
9. Day 5 6:00am-7:00am
10. Season 6 Prequel
11. 24: Day 6 Debrief

... which means that all of the above pages still have the original browser banner on them, and not the new templates. The reason is because these are "transition" episodes, and if I put the template in there over the old banner, there would be no link to the following season. I think this is acceptable. – Blue Rook 00:54, 4 June 2008 (UTC)_talkcontribs

Oops, I just notice this now, after adding the template to the first season finale. These episodes all need the templates, too. The timeline browser needs to be added to every episode to "transition" between Days. --Proudhug 20:56, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

So, all of the above episodes get the DayX template, correct? I don't understand what you mean in the next statement about the timeline browser. You're referring to the thing I replaced with all the DayX templates, right? – Blue Rook 00:19, 18 June 2008 (UTC)_talkcontribs

Yes to the first question, no to the second. The timeline browser is the one which states which "Day" is next. It's included on the Season pages and the comic and novel pages ("lastday" and "nextday" in the {{browser}} template). It was replaced by the episode browser for the episode pages, but now that we've replaced that with the DayX templates, we still need some way to navigate from one season to the next. Simply omitting the DayX template from finales and premieres sort of defeats the purpose of the new template. Wow, did I just make things even more confusing? I think I might've. --Proudhug 01:33, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Okay now I remember the Timeline browser. In your second to last post above this, you say that the Timeline Browser "needs to be added to every episode to "transition" between Days". Do you mean every episode that's listed above, or every single episode guide on the wiki? – Blue Rook 17:29, 18 June 2008 (UTC)_talkcontribs