Oolite Bulletins

Apologies.

I started with a Wiki page for the [wiki]Coluber Blue Racer[/wiki], supposed to follow the design of the Wiki pages for the standard Oolite ships, which had this auto-generated(?), separate equipment page which looked like they were made for programmers, not for users. So I thought about a way of presenting the information in a nicer format and went through all the standard ships pages to make sure they all follow the same design.

Then I started going through the OXP ship pages and found many different page layouts, some nicer, some with room for improvement, and started harmonizing them as far as possible.

On my way I encountered what seemed like a bazillion of different templates for giving some "quick facts" about an OXP or other, many of them overlapping with each other, some having some good ideas that others didn't, etc. So I started modifying the OXPb template as well.

I realize I should have stopped myself and prompted for input from you. Thanks, Selezen, for reminding me and giving my growing bad conscience a voice. I hope I did not step on anybody's toes with my changes yet. If so, let me know and I will roll back what is necessary.

If nobody objects too badly I would like to continue by harmonizing said templates into having one frame master template for all OXPs (including data like author, license, latest version, link to BB thread) and specialized sub-templates that need to be included into the master template, e.g. for ships with meta data like cargo space, speed, etc.

While doing that I would also change the OXPLevel and OXP-config templates that create the respective icon on the far right to not set the position, such that I can include them in the master template.

Let me know what you think.

maik,

If you are willing to put in this much effort - we should all bow down and approve.
By the way I like the blue racer page.

Ironfist

I noticed, and liked it - really looks "cleaner", or "calmer" to my eyes.

One thing I wonder if it will be generally liked though is the Quick Facts being moved towards the end of the page - probably only takes getting used to.

edit :
For easier access to see the differences, here are the links to Snoopers' wiki page :
before Maik's makeover
after Maik's makeover

snork wrote:

For easier access to see the differences, here are the links to Snoopers' wiki page :
before Maik's makeover
after Maik's makeover

Thanks, snork. However, the first link only shows half the truth as the original template was vertical in shape and on the right hand side.

That's a big job, maik! Looks good so best of luck with it.

I am involved with enough voluntary work to know that when someone takes it upon themselves to make sweeping improvements, then they have the sense and consideration to pause for confirmation part-way through, the correct reaction is:


Well done! Keep going! You hero!

One thing I noticed is that some of the pictures in my oxp info are no longer displayed. e.g. in ups-Courier I had a picture in the right upper corner as part of the 'Info OXPb' template. But that template no longer uses the pict info. And I know I used that template for more pages, so probably they also lost the pictures.

Eric Walch wrote:

One thing I noticed is that some of the pictures in my oxp info are no longer displayed. e.g. in ups-Courier I had a picture in the right upper corner as part of the 'Info OXPb' template. But that template no longer uses the pict info. And I know I used that template for more pages, so probably they also lost the pictures.

I did indeed remove the image variable from the template as it was used in union with other templates that also had an image on top. However, no image should be lost, as I went through all the pages that linked to the OXPb template to make sure that there will be no less information than before. That said, if there is such case then it is my mistake.

Edit: I just checked: Indeed I forgot to move the image into the text. Rectified now.

Go for it I say.
I lost a picture on my darkspace.oxp page, but I'll fix that later. You go ahead. Great job.

Gimi wrote:

Go for it I say.
I lost a picture on my darkspace.oxp page, but I'll fix that later. You go ahead. Great job.

Thanks, Gimi. I re-added the image. In fact, while the template itself does not show the picture anymore, the values that are sent to it from the wiki page are all still there, so it was a simple copy and paste to the top of the article.

maik wrote:

snork wrote:

Thanks, snork. However, the first link only shows half the truth as the original template was vertical in shape and on the right hand side.

lol, perfect.
shows my motivation to post them links.
I do not find wikimedia software to be ,err, very intuitive to use beyond plain reading of pages, so it may be the same for others .

Gets my vote you brave man!

Eric Walch wrote:

One thing I noticed is that some of the pictures in my oxp info are no longer displayed.

Yep, the images are missing on more pages now. Additionally a quick link to the download section was used on a few pages too that could be used as direct download link as well in case the user has disabled the TOC in his preferences.

Thargoid wrote:

I think the quick facts box needs a bit of a design tweak - it just doesn't look right (at least to me).

The look and feel is indeed cleaner now for some pages, but, like Thargoid, I think the horizontal arrangement has its flaws too and quick facts should be on top of a page. For the OXPs I'm working on the positions of elements on a page was choosen to work with the unchanged template (and with the TOC), so it causes additional work now. I've seen that the TOC on the OXPConfig page is disabled now...?

maik wrote:

If nobody objects too badly ;-) I would like to continue by harmonizing said templates into having one frame master template for all OXPs (including data like author, license, latest version, link to BB thread) and specialized sub-templates that need to be included into the master template, e.g. for ships with meta data like cargo space, speed, etc.

A unified Infobox would be cool, but I doubt that it's usable without extensions installed. I'd guess you have autocreated lists in mind. If so you'll have to talk with Winston as it's his Wiki and he's the only Sysop.

maik wrote:

While doing that I would also change the OXPLevel and OXP-config templates that create the respective icon on the far right to not set the position, such that I can include them in the master template.

Not sure about this one. The icons are another layout element and it would restrict their use.

I'd suggest to add the master template with its sub-templates plus additional templates for icons instead of changing existing ones. Then showing off its use. Other editors will pick it up then and you don't have to do the changes alone .-)

Sure, it means that some editors won't use it, ignore it or are simply not aware of it. But all we can do is to offer options.

Svengali wrote:

Additionally a quick link to the download section was used on a few pages too that could be used as direct download link as well in case the user has disabled the TOC in his preferences.

With the Quick Facts at the bottom, the user will have scrolled past the download section when he arrives there. In case it goes back to the top it makes sense to include it again as a local link to the download section.

Svengali wrote:

The look and feel is indeed cleaner now for some pages, but, like Thargoid, I think the horizontal arrangement has its flaws too and quick facts should be on top of a page.

I'll give it a try.

Svengali wrote:

I've seen that the TOC on the OXPConfig page is disabled now...?

I disabled TOCs on short pages. When they grow it's easy to un-disable it again.

Svengali wrote:

A unified Infobox would be cool, but I doubt that it's usable without extensions installed. I'd guess you have autocreated lists in mind. If so you'll have to talk with Winston as it's his Wiki and he's the only Sysop.

I was not thinking about extensions for that and hope to be able to do it without. I already PMed Winston some weeks ago about extensions that I would like to use but he hasn't opened the message yet. Just like another one that has been unopened for months now...

Svengali wrote:

maik wrote:

While doing that I would also change the OXPLevel and OXP-config templates that create the respective icon on the far right to not set the position, such that I can include them in the master template.

Not sure about this one. The icons are another layout element and it would restrict their use.

What makes them hard to use when cleaning up layouts is that they have their horizontal position hard-coded in them. This limits their use quite a bit from an aesthetics perspective.

Svengali wrote:

Other editors will pick it up then and you don't have to do the changes alone .-)

Sure, it means that some editors won't use it, ignore it or are simply not aware of it. But all we can do is to offer options.

Honestly, I prefer more layout consistency across Wiki pages now over waiting for all authors to pick up new templates...