Legion Wiki talk:Community Portal

Archived threads

Discussion topics that have been dormant for several weeks may be moved to topically categorized archive pages. Current archive topics:

• Legion Wiki functionality
• Legion Wiki look and feel
• Policies, practices and admin

Operational questions

I tried moving the Yildiray Cinar page to Yıldıray Çınar and received an error message. No luck trying to create a link for the correct spelling, which was what I originally tried. Looks like there is no issue with using these characters in the body of a page, but having a page containing expanded character sets is currently not allowed. We didn't have an issue doing this in the old version. A setting perhaps? Gopher 03:45, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

Looking at the error message, I suspect it may have triggered an anti-phishing* filter on the server against mixing latin & non-latin characters... - Reboot (SoM) talk page 15:07, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

[*That should be an interwiki link to [1]. Obviously, the interwiki tables need a tuneup]

Interestingly, I copied the text for his name from the title of a Wikipedia page. If they can do it, we should be able to also. Gopher 01:16, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

Other extensions

1. Speaking of extensions, something I would really like to try out is an extension that will allow random images or images to rotate through a set list. In particular, I would like for character pages to be able to display one of several images upon loading the page, so that the character could be shown with different costumes or from different periods or by different artists. I think this would also add a freshness to the pages, since you would never be quite sure which image would display when you loaded the page. Ideally you would have several images all with the same dimensions, so that each one fits within the same spot on the page. There is an extension described here that does what I'm envisioning , although there may be others that accomplish the same thing. Could we give this a shot?
2. And while I'm still on the subject, how about an extension that would allow us to embed video files, either by linking to a YouTube file or embedding an uploaded video file? A list of such extensions can be found here. It would be nice to have a few representative Legion clips, such as from the Legion animated series or Smallvile teasers with Rokk, Imra and Garth.

--Gopher 03:56, 12 June 2010 (UTC)

I'll look at adding them. My only concern about YouTube or Warner Bros property is that they may constitute a violation if we add any full works. I've added videos at Legion World, but they aren't whole episodes or even parts that add up to whole episodes to keep DC and it's parent company happy. So, teasers may be fine. --Nightcrawler 04:33, 12 June 2010 (UTC)

RandomSelection and this video embedder have been added. You'll have to upload the video for it to show. --Nightcrawler 05:51, 12 June 2010 (UTC)

Test - <wikiflv logo="true" position="right">Seasontwoopener.flv|Seasontwoopener.gif‎</wikiflv>

Very cool! Thanks! We can definitely keep the clips to just pieces of episodes. The series openers are definitely something I had in mind, but I was thinking it might be nice to have a short piece for each entry in the Legion Broadcast History. We will need to add some guidelines for what is appropriate for upload and monitor what gets uploaded to make sure everyone complies with those rules. Trying to remember where we have guidelines like that for images.... Can't wait to try out RandomSelection too! -- Gopher 11:55, 12 June 2010 (UTC)

Extensions I'd request (other than checkuser) would be:

• Cite (allows Wikipedia-style references)
• ParserFunctions (would let me hide blank lines in infoboxes, amongst other things)
• MultiUpload (upload multiple files at once - CG should like this one ;))
• Nuke (mass-delete pages. In event of a spammer getting through)

There may be others, but that's all I can see for now :) - Reboot (SoM) talk page 17:13, 12 June 2010 (UTC)

Added all of the above including the CheckUser again...er...and now I need to remove it again...I followed every step...I don't understand why it won't work. Reboot, is there an alternative to this one? Cause it's not working well with our wiki. Please let me know of any issues with the other addons. --Nightcrawler 04:37, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

I don't know of any alternatives, no, shy of asking you to manually find an IP address in the database if we have trouble in future. Something to revisit if/when we do, I suppose. - Reboot (SoM) talk page 15:55, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

Could you set "$wgPFEnableStringFunctions = true;" in LocalSettings.php, please. [I thought ParserFunctions had the StringFunctions features enabled by default now, but apparently not...] - Reboot (SoM) talk page 15:14, 16 June 2010 (UTC)

I was able to install the CheckUser files into the db just now. Hopefully, it's working? This time I imported the files that came with the CheckUser I installed and not the copies I made from the install instructions. I guess those were corrupted. --Nightcrawler 16:41, 20 June 2010 (UTC)

Appears to be working for me. Ta. - Reboot (SoM) talk page 20:29, 20 June 2010 (UTC)

I have been able to upload files and edit pages since you made the change, so I assume that means its working for me too. Gopher 20:44, 20 June 2010 (UTC)

New category for Supergirl/Green Lantern/Booster Gold covers

We hashed through this a while ago, but I can't remember how we handled it. There are enough Supergirl covers now that they should really have their own category. However, if we use the typical method, "Supergirl v5 covers", "Supergirl v3 covers", etc., there are not really enough of the earlier volumes to justify their own category.

I think I had proposed a general Supergirl covers category, and I know we discussed several possibilities. Do you remember what we ended up doing? The same issue exists for Green Lantern and Booster Gold. I listed a category "Booster Gold covers" on one cover image, but have not created the category yet. Gopher 11:36, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

I don't remember exactly what we did, but I think that was bound up in the structure of the wiki by era, which you said to me in an e-mail that you weren't happy with now (I've posted some thoughts below on that. Right now, I'd just bung any volume with fewer than five wiki-relevant covers in "Category:Supergirl covers" (etc), and break out any with five or more to "Category:Supergirl v# covers" (etc).

There's also the Adventure Comics thing. I see from the LPH that they ARE dropping the v2 numbering, which I didn't think they'd do so soon, but which changes my thoughts on the subject. NOW, I'd be fine with moving all the covers to the v1 numbering as long as there's a redirect (in this version of MediaWiki, you can move and redirect files just as you would with any other page) from "Adventure-v2-XX.jpg", avoiding the need to move all the earlier covers to "Adventure-v1-XXX.jpg". - Reboot (SoM) talk page 15:11, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

Yes, reverting to the v1 numbering for Adventure does simplify things and avoid a lot of work. So just to be sure I'm on the same page, here's how I understand how it will pan out:

• Images for Adventure will be named as AdventureXXX.jpg, retaining the continued numbering with 504 and up
• Images for the first twelve issues of the new series will also be named this way, but I will first create them as Adventure-v2-XX.jpg and then move to AdventureXXX.jpg (I'm loving the move functionality for files!)
• Individual issue pages will follow this same pattern, with a v2 page redirecting to a page with the original numbering
• Other than the redirected images and pages for the twelve v2 issues, there will be no v1/v2 labeling for either Adventure images or pages
• The indicia listing inside the comics is "Adventure Comics #1/Adventure Comics #504 (Variant Cover)". I'm planning to keep this same description as it displays in the LPH, but the page link itself will be to Adventure Comics 504.

Let me know if you'd like to see a different execution for any of the points above. I've already uploaded a few of the v2 images, so I'll be redirecting those in the next day or two. Gopher 11:55, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

You got what I meant :) - Reboot (SoM) talk page 19:23, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

Structure

I've been giving some thought to the structural thoughts you [CG] e-mailed me during the downtime, and doing some searching around. What if we adopted a "continuity family" model like the Transformers Wiki, which seems to be the sort of thing you were aiming at.

In that model, we'd have four major continuity families (the exact names are up for debate, of course, but this gives the gist):

• Preboot (=Pre-Crisis, Post-Crisis, Glorithverse, Lightning Saga (aka Post-IC/Earth-0), Adult Legion and some small "imaginary story"-type "microcontinuities")
• Postboot (=Post-Zero Hour, Post-IC/Earth-247, Universe Ablaze-verse, Dead Earth futures, One Million, the future Thom goes to and becomes Danny Blaine, and probably a few other shards)
• Threeboot (=Post-IC/Earth-Prime and possibly some microcontinuities)
• Cartoons (LSH cartoon and DCAU)

There'd also be a few other leftover Elseworlds that don't fit into any of those - Superboy's Legion springs to mind, as does the Arthurian Legionnaires Annual - but they can be dealt with on a case-by-case basis; and a few anomalies (mostly from the present day) that don't quite work as any of these, but that would be the major structure.

If we went this road, there'd be one Preboot page for all the relevant characters, and an infobox for each of the major sections (covering their status in that version of continuity). Something along these lines (which is intended as a basic template, not a definitive page-structure).

There would be a need to maintain a separate structure to some extent, but a page like Timeline/Glorithverse, which deals with the revised continuity, could move to Timeline/Preboot/Glorithverse. Categories-by-era could mostly move to [[Category: * (Preboot)]] and the like. Also, there would be anomalies as I mentioned earlier, like Mon-El/Valor (Glorithverse Valor would actually sit far more comfortably in some ways on a page with Reboot M'Onel than with Preboot Mon-El).

Still, thoughts? - Reboot (SoM) talk page 15:11, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

This is very much in line with what I have been thinking, and your example page even moreso. Particularly with the Preboot family, while changes occurred because of a Crisis (or whatever), 90% of a given character's timeline remains the same. It makes sense that these be seen as a continuity, with changes noted as you describe in your example page. I also think that DC agrees with your basic groupings, as Legion of Three Worlds attests. Admittedly, there are a range of one-off stories that don't fit in anywhere, but I'm sure we can find somewhere to group those together. Smallvile comes to mind as another one that doesn't fit anywhere else.

One great advantage of this structure is that we are less likely to need to keep adding more and more differentiations as time goes only. New twists will probably fit into an existing time-line somewhere. I also think it will be more easily grasped by newbies. Assuming we follow this path, might I suggest we map this out a bit more fully to try to shake out any potential issues before we start building pages? It sounds as though you have already thought about a lot of the necessary angles, but it might be useful to list as many of the pieces as we can up-front to help anticipate and avoid issues. Also, we don't need to make this transition immediately. We can take a little time to figure out how we want to name the families, etc.

Gopher 02:42, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

The problem I keep coming up against with this is the 20th/21st century stuff, and how to classify that. Mon-El/Valor/M'Onel/Mon-El is probably the most obvious one, but Superman family stuff in general (which has been rebooted to some degree at least five times in the past ten years, Kon-El getting a new & irreconcilable origin, etc) is itchy, and I'm not sure how to break that down alongside the 30th/31st century. Any specific thoughts on that? - Reboot (SoM) talk page 14:54, 19 June 2010 (UTC)

For those instances, we may need to write the page from a real world point of view and discuss the conflicts and overlaps on the page. Its possible that some pages may not be able to be classified neatly into one or the other family - one option would be to categorize in both/all and then simply point out which pieces fit where. Not the greatest solution, but would only apply to a few pages out of hundreds.

I think we should set up a working page/set of pages to start listing out what will go where, discuss names of the eras/families, determine a new coloring scheme, and the like. As issues like Mon-El come up, we can dissect the pieces and see exactly how big the issue is, what parts obviously go in one category or another, etc. Gopher 20:56, 20 June 2010 (UTC)

Original art from interior pages

In the past we have not uploaded many images of black and white artwork from interior comic pages, although we do have a fair smattering of cover artwork. This is probably because not many people have access to originals, so the available images ate few. However, I just bought a page of Cinar art from LSHv6 #1, and it has increased my interest in that area. I met a collector online who owns more than 100 pages of Legion interior art, representing a wide variety of artists. He says he knows four other collectors who each own over 1,000. It would be very cool to start a comprehensive gallery of interior art pages, and if even one of this guys friends participated, we could have a pretty decent gallery.

Here are my questions, if anyone knows the answers. Are there any legal issues with posting so many interior pages? Is it any different from posting B&W cover art? Does the fact that the owners of the originals donated the images make any difference? Do you think it is likely that DC would take notice and disapprove? Assuming no legal issues, is it something you would be interested in adding to the wiki? At present, I don't know if anyone other than the initial guy I talked to are willing to participate, but what are your thoughts on this topic in general? Over time, we could assemble quite a bit of the Legion's interior art in one place, something that does not exist anywhere for any series, as far as I know.

Gopher 08:43, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

I've got quite a lot of scans (somewhere around a hundred, although of variable quality) from the LegionPics "rescue" effort.

The owners of the original pages are, except insofar as they'd be willing to donate time & effort to scan, irrelevant from the "legally is it okay" perspective - when they buy the pages, they explicitly buy ONLY the physical art and no other rights. DC are the only Important party in that sense, and I honestly don't know on that score. I suspect it may depend on what percentage of an issue is scanned, how many issues, that sort of thing. - Reboot (SoM) talk page 15:12, 13 June 2010 (UTC)

Do you think we could get away with posting all 39 pages from LSHv6 #1? Cinar is selling them the day the issues are released, and the art vendor posts very nice scans of every page. Even if we can't get away with full issues, I think I'm going to upload quite a few more pages. I think I have downloaded about 100, which hopefully aren't the same 100 you rescued. Most of these are one or two pages to a given issue, so hopefully that won't draw any unwanted attention. If it becomes a problem, we can always take them down. --Gopher 22:16, 13 June 2010 (UTC)

I think that, shy of DC never noticing, there's no way in the world we'd get away with posting the whole of an issue (let alone a current one) and I expect that the artist's dealer will have to take them down either as they're sold or within a reasonable time thereafter. - Reboot (SoM) talk page 00:32, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

Images to reupload

I've started a list of images which are on the server, but aren't in the database, here: /Images to reupload - Reboot (SoM) talk page 22:12, 12 June 2010 (UTC)

This is auto-generated? I'm working my way backwards through the LPH, which will eliminate a good percentage, but it will be good to know where the other holes lie. --Gopher 23:25, 12 June 2010 (UTC)

Most assuredly not auto-generated (if only I had a bot...). Me going through all the folders (under /0/ so far), checking which filenames generate a redlink and pasting those into that list.

Once you have the link, you can paste them into the URL field on Special:Upload - I checked by doing it on File:Action860A.jpg, and it worked. That's about the limit of the labour-saving. - Reboot (SoM) talk page 23:53, 12 June 2010 (UTC)

"Retiring" community portal topics

It's been pretty useful being able to quickly access current conversations through the Community Portal. However, as the current topics move further down the page, it's been becoming more cumbersome. I'd like to discuss setting a time limit, after which we could move topics to sub-pages categorized by category. I'm thinking that if a topic has no activity after two weeks, it's fair game to be moved. We could also included links on the top page to the sub-page categories. I'd prefer if items on the new pages had the most recently added topics at the top. How does this idea strike you? In general it would be nice if the community portal could be used as a tool to foster a greater sense of community and interest in the wiki. Gopher 22:47, 18 June 2010 (UTC)