Talk:MouseHunt Wiki/Archive 1

Spoiler warning template

Just wanted to point out quickly that I created a Template:Spoiler|spoiler warning template that I believe should be used on pages that give away aspects of game play not available to Novice users. I'm particularly thinking about the crafting-related pages, many of the mice pages, and so on. Devs willing, eventually we'll be able to upload images to the site and it would be a shame to not warn people that they might see a picture of a mouse they'd been hoping to see for the first time when they caught it on their own. If there's not great dissent on the idea, I'd love to have help creating a list of pages needing to be tagged. If we can just get a plain-text list of such files, I can handle the rest very efficiently. Thanks! -- B.Rossow ^talk_contr 18:49, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

• If we ever get to display images, a spoiler box would be kinda pointless on mice articles (for instance) considering the mouse image would practically be right next to it. Would it be possible to re-redirect a link to a spoiler warning page first, or are there any other methods? Revengeance 12:53, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
  • Might be possible to put the image inside a collapsible dv so users can click to see the image right there on the page. But honestly, I'm not holding my breath for uploads and so this seems a good thing for the current situation. -- B.Rossow ^talk_contr 15:17, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
    • Neither... the delay may have something to do with this wiki being a part of the HitGrab site, so opening the floodgates for user uploads may create issues... spoiler boxes probably are the best option for now. Revengeance 06:03, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Main Page Redesign

Just messing about for now. How do you think it looks so far? User:Daworm/Sandbox

Obviously will need voting and approval, but until image uploads are fully enabled, it's at least giving a more functional front-page design.

If they get DPL installed, I'm thinking of having a section for displaying a random community site / tools link as well from a list. But yeah, need DPL added so can play around with it more to get that happening.

Daworm 03:03, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

Looks pretty good, though the colors seem a bit out of place compared to the rest of the page. Those links below the design are still cluttering the page too.

I made another version of the main page expanding on Eepeng's design. It cleans up most of the links. --Peter888 04:52, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

You're better than me :) Yeah, I only worked on the top part and left the bottom links as reference so i can play with them later if I wanted to, the colours are mostly temp just so there is something there to see what it looks like. I'd pick a softer variation later. Daworm 06:31, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

The design of the Main Page that I created is simply a base, feel free to take it and change it anyway you want. If you need to contact me, you can find me here: Puzzle Pirates Wikia. I am an administrator of the wikia located there. I stepped down from adminship when we moved over to the new wiki a few years ago. Eepeng 09:08, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

I think we should have something more like the main pages at WiiBrew or PNC? Navarr 04:28, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

As you probably noticed, I grew a pair and made a massive update to the Main Page based loosely on layouts from Peter888, et al. -- B.Rossow ^talk_contr 21:15, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

I find that the boxes are too big, can we try and conserve space so low-resolution screens don't have to scroll so much to see all the primary links? (And can we move the extra sections back to the main page, I am not too fond of too many extra browser windows or clicking a lot. --Huadianz

The boxes resize automatically and will fit in ANY window resolution except maybe mobile devices (i.e. cell phones). I have tested the design on two platforms (Mac and WinXP) in six different browsers (IE7, Firefox 2.x, Firefox 3.x, Safari 3.x, Flock 2.x, and Minefield 3.x) and all display consistently and resize properly. It's actually much more compact than the previous version, so I'm surprised to hear size is an issue. I'm not sure what "extra sections" you're referring to -- all of the links from the old design were included in the new one, along with a handful of additional ones. If you're talking about the third-party tools, those are on their own page now. If there are some you use regularly, I recommend bookmarking them and then you don't have to have any additional windows open, not even this site. -- B.Rossow ^talk_contr 02:37, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

Looks great, nice work. Revengeance 05:32, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the compliment! :-) -- B.Rossow ^talk_contr 05:43, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

I think the terminology could be one page for now with a ToC. none of the individual pages are more than a paragraph. If any terminology topics get big we could break them out into their own page. The "Terminology" could just be a single link in the "Gameplay" box instead of its own box... History could be moved in to gameplay or community... then we'd be down to 2 boxes for an even more compact front page --PumpkinDog

I agree with you about the terminology and I've made changes to the Terminology page in preparation for merging those articles in and then deleting them. Just a note about the History box, however -- another editor is actively working on a timeline that will (I assume) soon be included as another link in that box. I'm not in favor of decreasing the number of boxes as I would hate to see them get too crowded -- plus I think it adds some visual interest to the page. Unless and until uploads are enabled, colored boxes are about all the sysops have left us to work with. Back to crowding ... I think the first box (Gameplay) is already overcrowded and cramming yet another link in there would make it even worse. I wouldn't be at all opposed to proposals for different content headings and contents for the four boxes, but I think that's a number we want to stick with from a design perspective. IMHO, of course. -- B.Rossow ^talk_contr 15:57, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

• Should we have a separate box for breeds of mice, considering they're the main elements of the game? I put an example together to check out, here. The "The Mice" page is more of a reference list than an article, so it'd be nice to have an alternative... if not this, how about a navbox for mice articles? Revengeance 12:15, 20 December 2008 (UTC)
  • The point of the main page of any good website is not to be everything to everybody but rather to be a compact "launchpad" to other areas of the site. The separate box for mice breeds is not just HUGE but contrary to every other box and link on the page. Why not have a box for every location? Every item at the General Stores? And so on. An infobox could be created, but I don't personally see it as a top priority. However, I did just take the opportunity to alphabetize the lists of mice as that page was a mess. It still could use come serious redesign work to make it more presentable, but in terms of finding a particular mouse I think it's quite good. Hard to beat an alphabetical list. IMHO, of course. Hate having to keep throwing in that disclaimer, but.... -- B.Rossow ^talk_contr 15:41, 20 December 2008 (UTC)
    • Why would you alphabetize it when it wasn't a mess? It was exactly how MH orders the mice. Surely you'd have realized... Revengeance 09:48, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
      • Uhhh ... maybe to make it easier for people to find the mouse they're looking for? Yeah, I know it was in the order from MH, but that's hardly intuitive when someone is trying to find a particular mouse in a list, is it? If a reader is so familiar with the MH list order that an alphabetical list throws them for a loop, then (1) s/he needs to get a life and (2) s/he probably has no need to look at the page in the first place. This is a reference site and, generally speaking, reference materials are alphabetized. LIbrary shelves, encyclopedias, dictionaries ... you name it. -- B.Rossow ^talk_contr 15:20, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
        • If we're alphabetizing this, why not the traps tables? Or crafting items? Or even locations? Revengeance 06:14, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
          • Go for it! I wouldn't be at all opposed.  :-) -- B.Rossow ^talk_contr 13:49, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
            • Oh. Well... I may just do that. D; Revengeance 18:59, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
            • Question: For the locations page, should we alphabetize the regions as well or just the individual locations within each section? Revengeance 19:01, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
              • No need to bother with the Traps page; I added the ability to sort those tables this morning. As for Locations ... after looking at the page, I'm not really sure it needs to be alphabetized, though you can if you want to. There's only four locations for each region, unlike the mouse list with a couple dozen or whatever it's at. I'd keep the regions in order of accessibility by rank (i.e. leave them in the current order). Honestly, I don't see a need to re-order them at all. But that's just my opinion. -- B.Rossow ^talk_contr 19:12, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Do navboxes not work?

I was trying to make a navbox for this so users can go from page to page and find similar topics more easily, but I couldn't make the code work even though it worked fine on the regular wikipedia page. I used [content removed - see history logs for details] and in front of the Navbox and behind the last line of |list4 are the { { and } } without the space between each { to open and close the code. --Frostlight 04:29, 17 December 2008

• It's because (1) the Navbox template is completely wrong and (2) there are problems with your implementation above. Too many details to list here. -- B.Rossow ^talk_contr 13:19, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
  • Thanks to this prompt, I went ahead and designed a Locations navbox template. It has been added to all currently known locations. PLEASE take great care if editing this template as I coded it by hand from scratch and spent way too much time tweaking it. (Oh, poor me, I know. LOL!) -- B.Rossow ^talk_contr 16:28, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
    • Note: I cleaned up the example above to eliminate some broken links that were causing a nonexistent tempalte to show up in the listed of wanted pages. Details can easily be found in the page history. -- B.Rossow ^talk_contr 20:07, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Is there a general Navbox format that regular users can use, like the ones they have available on Wikipedia? There are a lot of pages that would benefit from having links to similar pages attached at the bottom of the page, such as the crafting items and what they can be used for. --Frostlight 05:39, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

• Nope, gotta make it yourself like I did.  :-p ...... Drop me a note on my Talk page with some details on what you'd like and I can build it if you want. Otherwise, look at the existing templates and adapt one to fit your vision. -- B.Rossow ^talk_contr 05:43, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Info on Common Scams

Just wondering if anyone else feels this should be put in somewhere. I understand that the new trading system is meant to prevent this altogether, but we all know that's not going to happen. Its better to have a fixed source that players can refer to, rather than waiting for someone to get scammed before an alert goes out on the forums. And after a while the cycle repeats itself :P

Could call it something like "MouseHunt safety tips" etc. -- Grexx 15:33, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Events Addon

Here's an idea for stream-lining finding out about up-coming events, perhaps put this addon in? Calendar Daworm 00:10, 3 November 2008 (UTC)

Merry Christmas

I've added a little "Merry Christmas" message near the top of the page. 'Tis the season, afterall. I'm thinking we could change it to "Happy New Year" after today. Revengeance 15:59, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

• Nice thought, but I reverted it. What about every other holiday? This is a global game and Christians are in the minority on a global basis. You're ignoring Hanukkah and Kwanzaa in the short term. Then are you going to change it for every other holiday? New Year vs. Chinese New Year? If you're going to recognize one group with a holiday greeting, then you're obligated to recognize all other groups or in effect you're saying they don't matter or don't deserve recognition. -- B.Rossow ^talk_contr 16:16, 25 December 2008 (UTC)
  • Wow, the only thing your post is missing is "bah humbug". Considering the game itself celebrated Christmas with themed mice and gifts, why wouldn't the wiki follow suit by acknowledging the holiday? Are you going to flame the developers next for disregarding (and apparently disrespecting) all religions? Revengeance 16:39, 25 December 2008 (UTC)
    • Thought about it; decided to let it pass. Did think it was pretty darn ethnocentric, however. Seriously, though, if you're willing to put in the effort to recognize every other holiday celebrated by every other religion, by all means go ahead and post the notice. Otherwise, not everyone appreciates having other people's religion shoved down their throats, either actively or passively. Bah, humbug. Happy now?  ;-) -- B.Rossow ^talk_contr 17:03, 25 December 2008 (UTC)
      • Happier than Tiny Tim! I was going to do a Google search for a preexisting example of appropriate holidays to recognize, but didn't have to go further than Google itself... Here is a list of holidays deemed Google-worthy. I narrowed things down to three New Year occasions and three other holidays. I feel Halloween and Christmas deserve a mention, considering MH hosts events around them. The boxes below are just visual ideas. Revengeance 19:38, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

• Well, nice of you to decide what's worthy of celebrating and what's not. African-Americans will, I'm sure, be happy to see that you don't think MLK's birthday is noteworthy. How about you just leave it alone? This is a reference site, not a feel-good-let's-all-smile-well-some-of-us-anyway site. -- B.Rossow ^talk_contr 01:24, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

• I suppose if you seriously think skipping a few holidays will somehow incite World War III, we probably should skip the messages. I removed the boxes in case any further offense is caused. Revengeance 06:15, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

• It's not about avoiding bloodshed; it's about being considerate of EVERYONE'S feelings, beliefs and values. Consideration can be given even when it won't avert a crisis. :-) -- B.Rossow ^talk_contr 06:19, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

• How about Happy Holidays?

• That would have been fine, but I think it's probably best just to let this rest for now. IMHO. -- B.Rossow ^talk_contr 06:20, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

• I know this issue is now dead but I just wanted to point out that Google don't just acknowledge the events pointed out. They also celebrate many more country specific events. This page lists those acknowledged in the UK, which has three more saint days listed. Personally, maintaining such a list is more trouble than its worth and not really a benefit to the wiki. -- Le6o 23:26, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

• Yeah, I'd mentioned "narrowing things down" to three New Year's events and three regular holidays from the Google list because there are so many. But, as you've stated and previously agreed upon, acknowledging all of them would be too tedious. Let's try and make this the last reply and refocus on other issues. :) Revengeance 18:24, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Wow, this discussion is frankly depressing. Wensleydale 23:47, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

• Cheer up, the New Year's just started. :P Revengeance 14:38, 15 January 2009 (UTC)

Beginner Friendly

This site is not very beginner friendly. We MouseHunt Legends Heroes and Knights are already familiar with the basics and often take it for granted. Even the "Starting Out" page, at least two of the links are just charts, not explanations. I think we should somehow make it more friendly to beginners, having some pages explain the basics rather than be geared almost exclusively to higher titled hunters.-- Justin.craig09 ^talk_contr

• In the immortal words of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, "Don't dream it. Be it." Get to work, young man! Decide what needs doing and do it.  :-) -- B.Rossow ^talk_contr 00:02, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

• Okay, thank you. I will work on it in my "sandbox" and submit my ideas for approval when I get something. I hope it will be helpful. Thanks!--Justin.craig09 06:50, 30 December 2008 (UTC)