Talk:Main Page

Acronyms

What's the general consensus for using acronyms within the Wiki pages themselves? Personally, it looks more professional to give the full title of the game (i.e. Phantom Hourglass rather than PH, etc.), but that's just my thoughts. Anyone else? Ando 15:13, 10 January 2008 (EST)

That's basically the general consensus :) The accepted "standard" is to italicise titles, and use a piped link to the full title like so:

''[[The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass|Phantom Hourglass]]''

This looks the most professional, links to the correct game article avoiding use of redirects or disambiguations, and is the clearest to read. --Adam 15:49, 10 January 2008 (EST)

Illegal content

Another question about the wiki's standards: what are the wiki's restrictions on illegal content (ROM's, scanslations, etc.). I, for one, would like to see any and all links to such content removed, but you know. This can be a very... divided issue, so what do you think? Ando 15:49, 16 January 2008 (EST)

Rom's aren't illegal if you have the game, correct? --Seablue254 16:55, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

But the distribution (and technically the download) of ROM's, scanslations, etc. IS illegal. --Ando 17:11, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes. And all the ROM sites conveniently neglect to mention this "minor detail." But it is an unenforceable law. It just one more restriction placed on the internet that just isn't possible. Making computer viruses or email spam is illegal (or at least is so by common law) , but people still do it. The common law on ROMs is that a copy can be downloaded only if the person downloading owns a physical copy of the game. Remember that common law is what is generally considered to be acceptable by society.
Speeding is illegal. But, you would be hard-pressed to find a city in America where speed limits are thoroughly enforced. On some highways, going the speed limit will likely get you killed -ever been to Indianapolis, Indiana? - as nearly every car is speeding by about about 20 miles per hour (32.2 kilometers per hour). Even the police cars - without sirens on!
So the ban on the distribution, and download, of ROMs is a "dummy law". It only makes the gaming companies happy with the government, but in reality does absolutely nothing.--Mjr162006 05:45, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

This is true; the downloading is more-or-less unenforceable, but the distribution is enforceable. I've heard of several ROM-dealing sites being shut down and owners fined and / or jailed severely for having the sites; ditto for scanslation / fansubbers, etc. Regardless of whether or not it's enforceable, though, do we really want to encourage illegal activity? --Ando 02:17, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

I like how you followed that sentence up with "'Common law' is what's considered acceptable by society." I was about to say "um NO it's illegal" but then I read that. :P

We definitely don't want to encourage illegal activity. In fact we should clearly state that we do not.--Mjr162006 04:18, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

Just to follow up. Manga translated without the author's consent is illegal. Check out this for more info.--Mjr162006 17:46, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

How do you add a page?

I've been needing to add a page for the mini-boss of the Ancient Tomb of Oracle of Ages. Its name is Blue Stalfos but I've never seen a link or a page about him. If any one know how to add a page please let me know. Oh and no he is not a regular Blue Stalfos if thats what your thinking.

Search and make sure that the page you want to create does NOT exist in any form (search misspelled titles, etc.). If nothing, search for the correct title. If no results are found, then at the top of the screen you'll see something along the lines of "No results were found. You can create this page." Click on "create this page" to, well, create the page. :P Then just edit it as normal and save it. Ando 09:54, 18 January 2008 (EST)

I'm sure there's another way, but the way I do it is I type up something like, Grand Fairy. Then it will say that there is no page under that name and it asks me if I would like to "create it". I click on "create it" and it takes me to a blank editing page and I can start typing. But because there is already a page called "Blue Stalfos" create the page with this name "Blue Stalfos (Mini-boss). Make sure you create a disambiguation page, to do this search for "Blue Stalfos" and you'll be redirected to "Stalfos". At the top of the page you'll see this: Redirected from Blue stalfos, click on it and change the page it takes you to into a disambiguation page.--Link hero of light 10:07, 18 January 2008 (EST)

"Have you voted for -----?"

Hey. The "Have you voted for -----?" boxes are showing up above the picture and text in their respective boxes, at least on my monitor. I looked at the code and I'm not exactly sure what causes it. Perhaps adding <br clear="all" /> right before that "have you" box? Ando 20:02, 21 January 2008 (EST)

I hadn't noticed amy problem with the positioning, but to be fair it was just something quick that I botched together :S Anyone else seeing this? You could try copying the mainpage source code and tinkering with it in the sandbox to see if there's a fix - I doubt I can do much since I can't "see" the problem! --Adam ^(talk) 03:17, 23 January 2008 (EST)

pic

How come it dosent say thanks to Whoever for controbuting this picture--Zanramon 16:52, 22 January 2008 (EST)

I was wondering the same thing. I don't blame you for asking, you're the one who uploaded the image and you should be credited for that. --Link hero of light 18:43, 22 January 2008 (EST)

The simple answer is, I took it off a while back, because I was sick of writing my own name there! I didn't particularly like the wording, and since most of the images featured previously had been uploaded by me (or I'd re-uploaded a "better quality" version) I felt forced to put my name against it, which I didn't like. Even this picture was originally quite a low-res version, so I had to get the full size and re-upload (I notice you then re-re-uploaded the same version), so technically I'd have to put both our names (which again I've had to do in the past and didn't like).

However, all my (self obsessed?) griping aside, if the general consensus is that you'd all like to see the images credited again, let me know and I'll put it back up :) --Adam ^(talk) 03:17, 23 January 2008 (EST)

I would like to see users credited for uploading the picture.--Link hero of light 20:12, 23 January 2008 (EST)

The truth is, you are not allowed to be given credit for the picture. You gave the picture up to an open website. The picture is now attributed to nobody (except its true copyright holder, Nintendo) under the GNU Free Document License. Even if we gave you credit, you wouldn't be entitled to it, because it would inherently contradict the founding principles of the wiki system - free, open content that belongs to everyone. And that is the better reason why uploaders won't be credited. --Jase 21:29, 23 January 2008 (EST)

Strategies for bosses

Sparda vs. Nevan

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with permission from author for use on wiki

Instead of having a confusing text discussion just replicating a gamefaqs guide, and as a compromise with the visual guides earlier here, how about we have embedded youtube videos? We'd have to get permission from the author's first, of course, but it would work something like this:

—Preceding unsigned comment added by KrytenKoro (talk) 21:15, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

Good idea. I fixed up the video link you inserted so that it works. Don't think there's really any need to seek permission to embed a youtube video though? They're public domain, and the links given with each video on youtube.com, and after it finishes playing, actively encourage the videos to be freely distributed? Tell me if i'm wrong. —Adam ^(talk) 02:15, 12 February 2008 (EST)

I was pretty sure videos on youtube were still copyrighted, since they had that big huff about not ripping videos from youtube, and any videos we were looking for would definitely reside in that gray area, since they might legally belong to Nintendo. Though, since we would be using them as the subject of discussion, it should count as fair use.

However, whether it was public domain or not, its always polite to ask for permission, and it would only cost us at most an hour of our time to ask somebody with many boss videos for permission to use them all. If we can't get in contact with the person, I guess, like if they had stopped going to youtube, I guess it would be okay to just link the video, but it never hurts to ask.KrytenKoro 16:14, 12 February 2008 (EST)

I see what you mean, and I guess you're right. It's my personal view that, once an individual (not organisation) chooses to place material on the internet, it becomes entirely public domain. But even this wiki's disclaimer claims copyright on all information to it's respective writers, so I guess I'm wrong :) And yes, it is polite to ask/be asked (as I was here, or didn't do here...). I guess we can leave the legal/copyright issues aside, as those would be between Nintendo and Youtube and it's users. But anyway, back to the actual suggestion, yes I like the idea of including video guides, and if others agree I'll create a template version of the format above. —Adam ^(talk) 02:17, 13 February 2008 (EST)

Template:Vid-header OK, I've templated the above code so it should be easier to use in articles. —Adam ^(talk) 03:16, 28 February 2008 (EST)

How do I view the source for the #ev template? I'd like to use it on the DMC wiki.KrytenKoro 02:51, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Actually, it's not a template. It's a parser hook function, added by the EmbedVideo MediaWiki extension. More info can be had here, let me know if you need any help or clarification. —Adam ^(talk) 21:06, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

featured picture?

How come a picture that has already been featured is being featured again?--Link hero of light 11:49, 8 March 2008 (EST)

Check here & here —Adam ^(talk) 11:55, 8 March 2008 (EST)

Userboxes

Are we allowed to make userboxes? If we are, how do we go about "legalizing" them, and make them suitable for the wiki? Saibh 17:13, 21 March 2008 (EDT)

"Legalizing" them? :P Yeah, userboxes are made all the time. Just make them. No special treatment needs to be done to have it "accepted" into the Wiki proper. Just make and use. --Ando (Talk) 17:34, 21 March 2008 (EDT)

Can you make Non-related Zelda userboxes-like ones on other games...etc.? ZeldaGirl96 12:53, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

To an extent. Obviously we don't want you making 20 userboxes having nothing to do with Zelda, but a few should be fine -- after all, we do already have a couple of them! User:Ando/sig 13:02, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Featured picture

Sometimes on the featured picture page, the bar for "have you voted yet" goes through the picture, obscuring the image. Does this happen on other peoples computers, or just mine because it has a wider screen? And is there anything that can be done to fix it? Thanks--Magnus orion 17:34, 2 April 2008 (EDT)

It's not just you, I've brought this up before. Unfortunately, I have no idea what causes it or how to fix it. Right now it's not doing it for me, on several widescreen monitors; I'm assuming it is for you? Once this happens to me again I'll try messing with the code to see what's up, but until then... You'll have to do it yourself (viewing the source for the Main Page and messing with the code for it in the Sandbox would be the best way to go about it). --Ando (T : C) 17:55, 2 April 2008 (EDT)

Yeah, that was mentioned a while ago by Ando (above), but nothing ever got done because he was apparently the only one who experienced it. If you could take a screenshot and post it here to show the issue, perhaps we can devise a solution? The code's just something I bodged together, and I'm far from an expert, so I'm sure it could stand to be improved :) —Adam ^(talk) 18:05, 2 April 2008 (EDT)

thanks for your help (So thats what sandbox is for!). Is what I have in there now work? I found it on your talk page, Ando :D. But I don't know how it will affect it in the scrunched up space of the main page... Yeah I'll Take a screen shot and post it here--Magnus orion 18:08, 2 April 2008 (EDT)

Here it is--Magnus orion 18:23, 2 April 2008 (EDT)

File:FP bar thing.jpg

Alright, man, I need details. For instance! What are your operating system, resolution, and browser? The differences here could be causing this (some kind of browser incompatibility or something). For the record, I'm running Firefox on Vista, on a 1440 x 900 resolution. --Ando (T : C) 18:28, 2 April 2008 (EDT)

Uh-oh... I'm no good with computers at all (esp. with "lingo"). I'm running vista, too and basic Inernet explorer, But I don't know what resolution is... ARRGH! This is probably something I should know too, now I feel stupid.Is it screen size perhaps? --Magnus orion 18:34, 2 April 2008 (EDT)

Hey, it's okay, man. :P Yes, "resolution" is "screen size". In Vista, just pull up the Start Menu in the bottom left, click "Control Panel", then select "Personalize", then finally "Display Settings". The resolution is displayed there. --Ando (T : C) 18:39, 2 April 2008 (EDT)

Sorry 'bout that... It says 1280 X 800... --Magnus orion 18:50, 2 April 2008 (EDT)

Um, guys, I fixed the problem... My solution is in the sandbox right now--Magnus orion 21:11, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

File:Bar Thing.png

This is still a problem, as you can see in this image. Solutions?User:Mjr162006/sig 01:16, July 6, 2008 (UTC)

Two solutions: Lengthen the FA template and also apply the fix used for the Featured Picture (I had added it before but I guess Adam thought it unnecessary). I've applied the same fix, but I don't think that I'll be lengthening the template given the way its nomination on the Featured Content Disqualification page is going. User:Ando/sig 01:22, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

I'm going to poke around and try a solution that would make this problem an impossibility. I'm going to try it on the template FA.User:Mjr162006/sig 01:45, July 6, 2008 (UTC)

Um, it's already impossible? Did it fix the problem for you, as it did so for me? If so, then I'd say that we have a fix -- the same problem hasn't been reported regarding the Featured Picture box overlapping since that fix was implemented. User:Ando/sig 01:47, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Ahh crap. That was easy. See how the minor change I made affected this. The change is better to have in the template. So you might want to undo the revision to the Main Page. It isn't necessary. Also, you need to put the template FP up on there. We need to cycle our featured pictures. I'll go make the same fix to that template.User:Mjr162006/sig 01:57, July 6, 2008 (UTC)

I'm honestly not sure what the different between having it on the main page and having it in the template is, but whatever.

Ah, I wasn't aware that you had completed the FP template. I'll go stick that sucker up there now. User:Ando/sig 02:11, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

I finished the FP template at the same time as the FA template. It is better to have the fixes in the templates so that they they can't be accidentally be deleted when an admin goes to set the template to new featured content.User:Mjr162006/sig 02:19, July 6, 2008 (UTC)

Extensions

There are some extensions I think this wiki should get. I don't know when Jason will be able to put them in but here we go.

• WikiLogic This will let us preform conditional statements. Who knows? It might come in handy.
• Deleted Contributions This will let us see contributions on deleted articles.
• Username Blacklist Allows wiki administrators to block the creation of user accounts where the username matches one or more regular expressions.

According to the version page, none of these extensions are present. These extensions would be a nice addition. Bye the way, are we getting the nickname box on the preferences page back soon?
--Mjr162006 23:06, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

I like these. Not sure when the WikiLogic extension will come in handy, but you never know. :P I like the Deleted Contributions one, though. Doesn't seem necessary but it would be a nice addition. And the blacklist could certainly come in handy.

Also, regarding the nickname box: it's a known issue, yeah, and it's being worked on. --Ando 06:04, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

For WikiLogic, I was thinking templates. Once we get use to it we could find other applications. I've seen some people complain about deleted contributions before. So it might be nice for those that want to to able to look back and see. But I have no clue how far back it goes. Most likely only as long as it has been in place. Jason was just here. Did he notice at all? I'm not sure.--Mjr162006 15:57, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Well, we can already perform certain conditional statements in templates; such as various fields being optional (best example, the Boss template), or including categories only if certain fields are active (again, the boss template). Unless there are other applications I'm not realizing here? :P
Also, if anyone's planning on editing this page within the next couple of minutes, hold up; I'm archiving the page. --Ando 16:22, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

I knew an archive here wasn't that far off. So I made another archive template. This one is for article talk pages — and this page fits the bill.
The extension will let us preform more complex conditional statements. And they will be closed in logic tags.—Mjr162006 16:38, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Oh! I just saw that template; sorry, I haven't gotten around to patrolling all of yesterday's edits yet. :P --Ando 16:42, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

I've got a few more extensions we might want to have.

• Newuserlog
  • When a new user account is created, it is added to a log in Special:Logs.
• CharInsert
  • Adds a javascript for the insertion of non-standard characters.
• Renameuser
  • Gives a bureaucrat the ability to rename a user.
• EasyTimeline
  • Allows us to make good looking timelines.
• AntiSpoof
  • Blocks the creation of accounts with mixed-script, confusing and similar usernames.
• Inputbox
  • This can do quite a few neat things. See the page for examples.
• CentralAuth
  • Allows the merging of several user accounts(on different Wikis) into a single account.
• CheckUser
  • Grants users with the appropriate permission the ability to check user's IP addresses and other information.

Do any of those sound cool?User:Mjr162006/sig 17:04, July 4, 2008 (UTC)
PS: Why won't interwiki links to MediaWiki.org work? I tried every variation. None worked.

Newuserlog sounds cool. Not overly useful but kind of cool.

CharInsert good Lord YES. I hate having to pull up OpenOffice, find the character I need in the "Insert Special Character" box, and copy-paste.

Renameuser would be awesome if it didn't force us to rely on having a Bureaucrat around when we need it. :/

EasyTimeline... perhaps could be pretty awesome. It would at least look nice.

AntiSpoof... might need to be combined with BlockTitles to be doubly effective.

Inputbox I can't see much use for. I've always hated the "just click a button to make a page!" that just screams "yo. easy vandalization right here." The other options don't strike me as particularly useful.

MergeAccount. Another one of those options that you can't really think of any use for it. Why would anyone have more than one account anyway outside of ban-evasion?

CheckUser could be useful in certain situations (confirming sockpuppets, etc.), so I say YES PLZ.

Too bad there's no one around to implement these! Oh how I wish an FTP'er was more active. D:< User:Ando/sig 21:27, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Renameuser can be for a sysop I think. A Bureaucrat would have to give you the "renameuser" right that this extension adds. Merge account is probably more useful on Wikipedia. See Sock puppetry for legit reasons. If Mases has access to the FTP, could he do it? His site doesn't seem to take up as much time, at the moment anyway, as Jason's.User:Mjr162006/sig 21:42, July 5, 2008 (UTC)

Hm, I dunno. The page for Renameuser said that a "bureaucrat" could do it, saying nothing about a sysop also having or could-be-given the power. Regarding Mases, well, possibly. I can try contacting him and see if he's not too busy. User:Ando/sig 22:19, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

O believe me, my site takes up just as much time as probably anybody else on the Wiki. Probably more actually because of what ZD provides. I've been working on a full blown Twilight Princess Walkthrough nearly non-stop for the last month or so, putting in a good 4-5 hours a day in it. Then anything else I do at my site or posting at the forums or surfing other Zelda sites or the Wiki is just extra... Nevertheless, I think I just have more time in general on the internet than most others. I can help add the extensions but I'm just technologically retarded so somebody would have to guide me step by step in order to do it. A better solution is to simply allow Ando or Adam access so that they can do it themselves. I will bring this up at the super secretive ZW admin chat area. Mases 22:36, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

I thought that I might point out that anyone can at least look at the FTP. You still need access to edit anything there. I admit that I've got no clue of how that is actually done. ZW admin chat area? I've heard rumors about this. Are there any details that you can shed some light on? I suppose there isn't, but it is always better to ask.User:Mjr162006/sig 12:43, July 6, 2008 (UTC)

Sorry about that. It is CentralAuth, not MergeAccount. I'm not sure if this will be useful for us yet. But if we make another wiki, Zeldapedia just did, then we can merge the accounts by creating a global account, see Unified login. Wikimedia uses this. So does Wikia. Anyone have anything to say about that?User:Mjr162006/sig 13:18, July 6, 2008 (UTC)

I've installed a bunch of these - ones that don't require me to make new database tables or use the command line to install absurd programs. CentralAuth wants me to install it through the command line, which gets a big "eh, no" from me, even though I love the idea of a centralized account. I'd much rather implement OpenID, though, if we're gonna go in that direction. At any rate, I'm looking at Wikipedia's extensions and seeing if anything else is useful to ZW. --Jase 14:57, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Move the Search Box

I suggest that we move the search box up between "community" and "the masterminds". It would just be better if the search box was immediately visible without having to scroll down on any resolution. I'll put an image up so you guys can see what I'm talking about.

The solution

No one panic. The image is just clever photo editing. Doesn't that look so much better?--Mjr162006 06:48, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

I've always thought that it was a little low. I personally don't need to scroll down so I really don't think about it, but I agree wholeheartedly. The problem is that I haven't quite figured out where to go to edit the sidebar. :/ I believe that Adam does, though... --Ando 13:11, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

The page is MediaWiki:Sidebar. I'm not sure how that will help us move it though. I'm looking on the MediaWiki website right now.--Mjr162006 13:30, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

I found how to do it, I think. Look here. I think that the page means to edit MediaWiki:Monobook.php. There isn't even a view source button for me. I looked through the context menu. It shouldn't be too difficult.--Mjr162006 13:59, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Ahhh. I looked through the page you provided, and only the static navigation can be modified by me. "Monobook.php" is not something under the MediaWiki heading -- it's an actual .php file which only the Jason has access to be able to edit. So... sounds like someone needs to ask him. --Ando 15:44, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

That's just great. We'll never see it done. We've been waiting for him to fix the nickname box for nearly two months. That stinks.--Mjr162006 16:06, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

I have access to the ftp and can edit Monobook.php but it is not as simple as one would think. It's quite simple to edit the stuff in 'navigation', 'community', and 'the masterminds' but with 'search' and 'toolbox' it seems a hell of a lot more complicated. I tried this at one point at another Wiki that I worked on and I had no success. If anybody knows exactly how to do it, just let me know and I can take care of it. Mases 02:19, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Well, this page says exactly how to do it. I hope that will help.--Mjr162006 02:34, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Wait, what the f**k? Mases has access to ftp? That's only supposed to be Jason! User:Seablue254/sig 17:27, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Umm... don't really know how to respond to this one. Jason is the founder and it seems obvious that Zelda Universe will always be the closest in ties with the Wiki, but technically speaking, everybody that is a webmaster of the supporting sites is considered a Zelda Wiki owner. Sure we don't pay the bills, deal with the advertisements, or mess with the hosting, but everything else is fair game. The goal of this is that on the outside it is to appear that nobody should really tell the difference of who 'owns' the Wiki. We all do... sorta. Mases 05:31, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

YEAH!! Who managed to do it? Actually, it might look better under the navigation box instead.User:Mjr162006/sig 20:12, July 7, 2008 (UTC)

Jasonman found some time to make a few fixes (you may notice that the Nickname box is back and rarin' for action). Apparently the search box can only be moved either over the Navigation box or under the Masterminds box. No in-between. :/ But oh well, at least searching is easier now, right? :P User:Ando/sig 20:29, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Our signatures that we made on subpages aren't working on the nickname box. It keeps trying to substitute it. I think it have an idea. I'll try it now.User:Mjr162006/sig 20:52, July 7, 2008 (UTC)

I have solved this issue. The answer is on the page User Signatures.User:Mjr162006/sig 23:01, July 7, 2008 (UTC)