Talk:Smallville Wiki

From Smallville Wiki

Contents 1 Upcoming months 2 Archive 3 Featured Article discussion 4 About Allison being on the cover of TV Guide 5 Quote of the day archive 6 Encouraging new editors 7 Quote of the Day 8 Lists 9 Smallville spotlight 10 New Section on Episode pages 11 Characters who Haven't Appeared on Smallville 12 Main Page Cleanup 12.1 New colors 12.2 Content Cleanup 13 Quote of the Day 14 custom edit buttons 15 Templates

[edit] Archive

• Older discussions and resolved topics were removed from this page on March 7, 2008. Visitors can view this version of the page if they wish to read these topics.

[edit] Featured Article discussion

• Pilot could make a good featured article.--TrumpetManLA 05:44, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
• December 07 - I think Project Ares would make a good featured article. Other suggestions: Cure Flash0816 20:20, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
• November 07- If no one suggests otherwise, I'm going to change the featured article to Oliver Queen sometime in the next week. Marikology
• October 07- We need a new featured article again. I'm liking Clark and Chloe but since I'm a diehard Chlarker I don't want anyone thinking I'm pushing my 'ship onto the whole wiki. Either that or Oliver Queen. The first next suggestion is fine with me, otherwise I'll go with Chlark. Marikology 04:57, 7 October 2007 (UTC)

OK it's been a week. Chlark it is.

[edit] About Allison being on the cover of TV Guide

I think Allison mack isn't just representing Smallville but the whole channel of The CW. She is the only CW star in the feature.Boberthavok 03:09, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

Good point. It was added, but feel free to make any edits you think are useful. Marikology 17:41, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

I wasn't sure if I was aloud to or not on a main topic.Boberthavok 00:18, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Quote of the day archive

What do you guys think of creating a page where we list all the previous quotes of the day? Not only will it be an easy way to see which quotes have already been featured, but it will be a collection of some of the best quotes from Smallville. I also think it will be beneficial to move the old quotes off of the template page because that page will eventually get very long and confusing. Flash0816 02:09, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

I like the idea. It could be put on a subpage of the template. - Adam (talk) 04:32, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

Me too. I think it would be useful. A subpage is a good idea.

Then a subpage it is. I'll get to work on it. Flash0816 17:26, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Encouraging new editors

Hi. I've been looking into the stats for various wikis and this one has one of the lowest percentages of page views from logged in users. 97.4% of the page views are from unregistered (or at least non-logged-in) people. I've added a "Get involved" section on the main page to make it easier for visitors to add new pages, and also to make them aware it's possible. Do you think there are other ways you could try to encourage more participation in this wiki? Having a prominent requested articles link might help too - maybe in the Sidebar or Sitenotice? I think a lot of potentially active users are visiting but not sticking around and it would be great to see that turn around. Angela ^talk 16:05, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

The main problem with the wikia is that there are a lot of articles, but many of them need a lot of work. The series has over 120 episodes, but dozens of them need full pages, not to mention the countless stubs that need editing, and main articles that need full revisions. We are definitely a work in progress. I listed some of them in the Community portal, I hope it helps.Marikology 16:41, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Quote of the Day

I really think we should have a section called Quote of the Day. Each day another quote gets nominated and we put it in the Main Page... Rezendi 11:36, June 11 2007 (UTC)

I think this is a good idea, but I'm not skilled enough in HTML to create a new box that would fit with the layout. If someone wants to volunteer for this task, I think we could come up with a new quote every day.Marikology 17:09, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

Almost an entire year later, a self-updating quote of the day box prototype has arrived. - Adam (talk) 05:47, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Looks awesome! How do they get loaded in there... can we preload a bunch and have them automatically rotate or something? --Kanamekun 07:16, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

It works a lot like Template:Episodename. On the template page Users can put in a quote by a free date and on that day, the box will automatically change to that quote. - Adam (talk) 07:25, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Cool stuff man. What if there's no quote on that date? --Kanamekun 07:46, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

That? is really f*ckin' cool. Marikology 15:41, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

If there is no quote on that day, it goes to the default quote "So what are you: man or Superman?" - Lana Lang to Clark Kent, Pilot - Adam (talk) 16:47, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm going to go ahead and make the templates, since there is support and I have worked out all the kinks. - Adam (talk) 17:25, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Hopefully we can keep it filled with daily quotes! It's gonna take someone really taking ownership over the feature :-). If not, maybe we can turn it into a Quote of the Week... --Kanamekun 21:02, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Okay so I put it on the main page. I really wanted it above the featured article, but I'm hopeless with HTML and couldn't get it to work! Durrr... I put the name and the date on one line too, so it would look like the other boxes. It'll also result in shorter FA blurbs, which won't hurt my feelings any. I'm pretty indifferent to where it is, but I do think it should be at the top somewhere, front and center, since, man alive, it's fan-freakin-tastic. Any other suggestions? Marikology 00:07, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

I like it where it is, but if you're looking for an alternative, it could be placed underneath the previous and next episode boxes, centered. However, spacing between the episode boxes and the quote box could become a problem...I would suggest using a half-length horizontal line (<hr width=50%/>) between the two. - Adam (talk) 06:34, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

Then I'll just leave it where it is. I think it looks great. Once again, awesome job. Marikology 17:23, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

I just wanted to say how awesome this template is. It looks great on the main page, and it is a fantastic addition to the wiki. Great job, Adam! Flash0816 01:58, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks guys. Always glad to help. - Adam (talk) 03:40, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Lists

Hi, I'm relatively new to this wiki. Are there any lists here? For example:

• List of DC Comics characters appearing on Smallville - this used to be on Wikipedia but it got deleted. Would have all comics characters and their episode of first appearance, including main characters (Clark, Jonathan, Lex, Lana etc) and secondary/minor characters (Braniac, Zod, Maggie Sawyer etc).
• List of people who know Clark's Secret - e.g. Clark, Lana, Chloe, Lionel...and people like Ryan etc

Are things like this already available, and if not, is there a place on the wiki for things like this? Kidburla 20:17, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

There are some lists, but they tend to be replaced by categories. For example, the List of Newspapers was replaced by Category:Newspapers. Or Category:Secret keepers. In general, I think that lists are usually done on this wiki with Categories, if possible. That said, there are a few lists that have survived on the wiki:

• Lana Lang's near-death experiences
• Body Count
• Cars

Hope that helps! --Kanamekun 20:53, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

The problem with lists pages is that they are often redundant to categories, and contain the same information as the articles they list. Also, unless someone makes a conscious effort to add to them, they are often incomplete or incongruent with the categories of the same thing. The only lists on the wiki like Kana listed are of things that do not have their own pages. There is a list of comics characters, like you are talking about on the Allusions to the Superman Universe page. Marikology 01:29, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Smallville spotlight

Hi all. I'm Scott, an admin on this wiki, although I haven't been active here for a while. Wikia's going to be spotlighting this wiki starting today, just in time for the return of new episodes this week. (Spotlights are the square graphics you see on side of the webpage that promote other wikis on Wikia). With that activity, new people are going to be coming in here and I'd like for us to be really shiny.

If no one opposes, I'd like to consolidate some links on the left navigation bar. The seasons and characters can easily be crunched down into two links and will help bring the search buttons and toolbox back up into the frame for smaller screens. Take a look over there to see what I mean.

I'd also like to move the Main Page to Smallville Wiki. All new Wikia wikis are going to be doing this soon anyway, and the Main Page designation doesn't really mean anything. The main reason is that naming a front page after the wiki helps tremendously with Google results when people are searching for the topic. And the more people who find us, the better our community here can grow.

Lastly, I missed out on the discussion above about changing the color layout on the main page some months ago. Would it be possible to go back to the old colors or come up with a different scheme? The bright yellow isn't very easy on the eyes and the black text on dark blue makes the headers unreadable. I think I get the idea behind wanting to key in on the Superman colors, but I think we can work toward a friendly palette. I'm worried that the high contrast colors and difficulty in reading the front page may be scaring people away. Thoughts? —Scott (talk) 22:11, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Oh, one other thing I forgot to mention. I noticed we didn't have any welcome templates yet, so I went ahead and created one for new contributors who are logged in with a user name (Template:Welcome), and one for new contributors whose IP gets logged who don't have a username (Template:Welcomeanon). Both of them include usage instructions, but let me know if this is confusing. Welcoming new folks who show up in Special:Recentchanges is a great way to get people involved in the community, so I hope these templates help out. —Scott (talk) 22:20, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Hello Scott! Ah I'm not a big fan of consolidating the ilnks in the left nav bar. I use those links all the time doh. Is there another way to move the search area up - maybe by not having it in the sidebar, and having it more in the header area? --Kanamekun 23:53, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Hi Kanamekun! I know what you mean about using links a lot. Unfortunately, anything placed in Mediawiki:Sidebar goes above the area where the search box starts. I'll let you in on a bit of insider information: Wikia is soon going to be launching a new skin on all wikis which will enable us to use cascading roll-out link menus where the navigation sidebar is now. More simply put, we can have a SEASONS link that rolls out to a new sub-menu when you hover the mouse over it to reveal direct links to each season. Ditto for characters. Individual users are also going to be able to create widgets for their favorite links which will always appear in the navigation bar, so that's another bonus. I don't know exactly when that's coming, but I've been following its development for awhile and I know they have plans for it really soon. What do others think? —Scott (talk) 00:07, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

Yah definitely understand about the interaction between the Sidebar and the Search Box... I just meant that I've seen some other wikis that have search at the top of the page [1]. Not a huge deal...

Interesting about the roll-out links. I don't tend to be a huge fan of those, but maybe people will dig it. I'm willing to put my preferences aside for the greater good... --Kanamekun 00:26, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

I don't mind the Main Page move, but I oppose the consolidation of the links as well, at least until the Roll-out links are completely working. I've noticed that many of the changes that Wikia makes take a few months to have the kinks worked out, so I doubt very seriously that the roll-out links will work perfectly right off the bat. As heavy editors can agree, I use those character and season links A LOT, too. And my search field is at the very top, anyway, so I'm confused about the point of this. I also oppose the changing of the colors on the main page. The old colors were pink and purple and just plain ugly. I have terrible eyes and I don't have a problem with it. Marikology 00:54, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

I went ahead and restored the previous version of MediaWiki:Sidebar. Sorry if that caused too much of a disruption. I'm confused about how Marikology has the search on the top though. If you're using the monobook skin, then maybe you don't see the left navbar. Here's a screenshot of what I see. Do you see the same? —Scott (talk) 02:03, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, I'm using the new skin, how quickly I forgot about the old one. Also, I edit anonymously sometimes, and the new skin comes up, so I think it's there by default if you're not logged in. Marikology 02:30, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

Right, I forgot that the Quartz skin uses the same MediaWiki file. Just so you know, the Smallville spotlight is circulating now, so folks all over Wikia are seeing a nifty Superman/Smallville logo pointing to us. If you're interested, I can post the difference in pageviews here as soon as those numbers start coming in. It's always interesting to see who's coming to the wiki, and fun when cool people stick around :·) —Scott (talk) 02:41, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

In the past ten minutes I've already hit "Current Events" instead of "Recent Changes" about five times, so I restored those links on the sidebar to their original order, since I saw no reason to have changed them in the first place. I know your intentions were good, Scott, and I'm honestly excited about being a spotlight, but I'll be honest and admit that I'm a little miffed that you made these major changes, then asked our opinion after the fact, after not editing for months. I can live with the color changes, but I'll say again that I didn't see a problem with the old ones. Marikology 02:48, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] New Section on Episode pages

What do you guys think about having a new section on Episode pages, that explains the possible significance of episode titles?

A few examples:

• "Gemini" was a reference to Project Gemini, which was named after the constellation Gemini and the Latin word for "twins". Adrian Cross and Grant Gabriel are essentially twins of each other, as well as being twins of Julian Luthor. And ironically, the entire episode is about Bizarro actually taking over Clark's life - in a very real way, they are also twins of each other.
• "Persona" means "the mask or façade presented to satisfy the demands of the situation or the environment and not representing the inner personality of the individual; the public personality". It is often used in plays and novels. Bizarro is basically playing the role of Clark Kent. Brainiac also plays a role in the episode, pretending to be Lionel Luthor.
• "Action" is a two fold reference: first, it's a reference to the "Lights... Camera... Action" call at the beginning of movies (the episode features a movie being made on the Kent Farm). And it's also a reference to the many action scenes in the episode (the car crash, the gun shot, and Lana falling off of Queens Tower).

What do you think - is this interesting as a section to add to episode pages? I was thinking about calling it, "Episode Name" and putting it above the "Notes" section. Where appropriate, we could also include the dictionary definition of the title (I've seen that in a few episode Notes).

Whatcha think? --Kanamekun 17:02, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Support- I think it would be a great addition, and fun to add them all. However, I wonder if an entire section is necessary. Sometimes the name is pretty obvious and might just need one line. Will that look clunky in its own section? How about if we just make it the standard first bullet in the Notes section on each ep page? Marikology 01:37, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

I was gonna try and keep them as the first Notes bullet, but I found that most of the time even the simple names had interesting observations to add? I added "Episode Title" sections to all the Season Seven episodes as an example - check em out, and let me know what you think? --Kanamekun 19:38, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

I like the Episode Title sections. - Adam (talk) 01:18, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Characters who Haven't Appeared on Smallville

There are a few of these in the wiki: Batman and Wonder Woman are the main ones that come to mind. I would greatly prefer that we delete these, or at least re-focus them on the sections relevant to Smallville (e..g. the explanations of why Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince haven't been cleared to appear on the show, and how Adam Knight is similar to Bruce Wayne).

That said, I understand that this may not be possible. As a compromise, what do you think about creating a new Template alert that warns readers that the character has never appeared on the show? [2]. --Kanamekun 14:28, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Any thoughts on this one? I'm thinking about adding it to the Batman and Wonder Woman pages... --Kanamekun 17:15, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

I think a template is a good idea. I personally don't think there are enough references to either character from the show to justify them being on the wiki. Almost all of the information on both pages does not come from and has nothing to do with the show. Marikology 03:15, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Ok, I'll go ahead and add the template to those two articles...

I'll also start editing down the articles to focus on the information actually relevant to Smallville... thanks! --Kanamekun 03:51, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Main Page Cleanup

[edit] New colors

It has been suggested that the colors should be a bit darker. How does everyone like the maroon darkblue colors?

I am thinking we need a bit darker colors like smallville has, so that is why they are dark.

ChaosMaster16 13:12, 26 May 2008 (UTC)ChaosMaster16

They are impossible to read. I've reverted them. Create a box for an example and put it here and the community will vote on whether or not to keep them. Marikology 13:15, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Okay... uhm... Why did you add everything else back on there? ChaosMaster16 13:18, 26 May 2008 (UTC) ChaosMaster16

I've started a discussion about the other content

[edit] Content Cleanup

It has also been suggested that the main page could be cleaned up to make it less busy. [[UserChaosMaster16}] suggested removing the "You can help box", the "Superman news" box and the "Main categories" box.

Support- I don't mind losing these boxes. Since I edit the news, I hardly ever find things for the Superman News box anyway. The "you can help" box was added when the wiki had only 400 or so articles anyway, so I think we can lose it. I'm trying to figure out how to add a link to categories onto the sidebar menu, so we can stand to lose the "Main Categories" box too. Marikology 13:35, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I support also. I think it will make many things less confusing. If we remove these pages, I think we should add in a help page how to navagate without these for older members who are used to these box. ChaosMaster16 14:25, 26 May 2008 (UTC) ChaosMaster16

[edit] Quote of the Day

Whats happening with that?!?!

Looks like someone left out a close tag for the template... I just fixed it. Thanks for the heads up! --Kanamekun 13:46, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] custom edit buttons

I noticed that this wiki doesn't have any custom edit buttons, not ever one for things like a redirect, if there is anything that anybody would like a new edit button for I'd be interested in writing the javascript for it, I would just need an admin to copy and past it into the MediaWiki:Common.js page. Reddo 01:47, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

I got your message about that-- I'm sorry I haven't replied. I'm hopeless with this customizing wiki software, even if you just tell me where to copy-paste, I'll probably mess it up. I'll ask User:Kanamekun to contact you if I don't first. Marikology 01:59, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

Sure, give me the code and I'll try adding it to the common JavaScript. If it doesn't work, we can always revert :-). --Kanamekun 02:11, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

Here's the code for a redirect button I also wrote one for a quote break from your episode guide pages, just copy and paste it into the MediaWiki:Common.js page

/* START OF CUSTOM EDIT BUTTONS */
 if (mwCustomEditButtons) {
   mwCustomEditButtons[mwCustomEditButtons.length] = {
     "imageFile": "http://images.wikia.com/central/images/c/c8/Button_redirect.png",
     "speedTip": "Redirect",
     "tagOpen": "#REDIRECT [[",
     "tagClose": "]]",
     "sampleText": "Insert text"};

   mwCustomEditButtons[mwCustomEditButtons.length] = {
     "imageFile": "http://images.wikia.com/smallville/images/c/cd/Quote_button.PNG",
     "speedTip": "Quote Break",
     "tagOpen": "<hr width=50%/>",
     "tagClose": "",
     "sampleText": ""};
}
/*END OF CUSTOM EDIT BUTTONS*/

If there's anymore buttons you want let me know, I could also create preload template buttons for you, so when you start a new page you can preload it with a blank episode page or something with just a click, an example of this can be found here. I did all of the customizing on that entire wiki so if there's anything that you like let me know and I'll adapt if for this one. Reddo 03:07, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Templates

How do I make a template? ChaosMaster16 22:16, 10 July 2008 (UTC)ChaosMaster16

What I do is go to the page of one that already exists. Then I manually type in the name I want the new template to have in my browser window and press enter. It will say "oops, there is no article called that, do you want to start it?" then you're good to go. I am less inept at templates than I am at other logistical wiki things, so let me know if you can't figure it out or need any rough drafts deleted. Marikology 04:19, 11 July 2008 (UTC)