That's okay!

I should probably mention, I've been on a structural wiki-editing kick. by Neshomeh on 2023-01-03 17:01:51 UTC Reply

Just in case anyone has looked at Recent Changes lately and had their eyes pop at the truly absurd number of edits I've made in the last couple of days, here's what I've been up to:

1. I discovered how to use the {{DISPLAYTITLE}} template. This allows me to instruct an article's title to display however I want, such as with italics (for long or multi-part works) or with quotation marks (for short works). I've been applying this to all continua and fic pages—including styling long fanfiction titles according to convention for maybe the first time ever. A lot of the Legendary Badfics and other stories are multi-chapter beasts, and it makes sense to acknowledge that. Not doing so was basically a weird statement that fanfiction is lesser than other forms of fiction, and you could make a case for that, but that's not what italics vs quotation marks means, so it was never really an appropriate way to make that statement. This was probably entirely my own fault, since I've been the one beating the drum for any styling of titles all along. I don't mind redoing it myself. (But I could use some help on the Killed Badfic pages if y'all are willing, though.)

I've also recategorized all the badfic so that it doesn't appear in the Badfic supercategory, only in Killed Badfic and/or Legendary Badfic. Since we do not intend to host pages for just any badfic, it makes sense to me to treat that category strictly as an organizational one for subcategories and lists. I hope doing this will subtly discourage the addition of pages for just any fics in the future. Not that it's been a huge problem or anything—but, oh yes, I did delete a couple badfic pages that were marked for deletion and really had no objective relevance to the wiki. You're welcome, Linstar!

I also relocated a bunch of OFU pages from the Works By Boarders category to a new OFUs By Boarders subcategory. They were cluttering up the Works supercategory.

2. I discovered how to implement a template for those little quotations at the tops of pages! It is called {{Q}} and the format is:

It automatically applies a fancy angle bracket and italics to offset the quotation. Further styling (such as linkage) can be done in both fields. I've been applying this to all the top-of-page (or section) quotes I can find. This can be used at the top of a section, too. If you spot one I haven't done yet, feel free to do it!

3. I also added a little javascript module that provides a page preview when you hover your cursor over a link, which has proven very helpful for finding those quotes. I'm not sure I love it, though. The default image that displays when the script can't find an image on the page is really annoying, IMO. I could get custom JS turned on for our wiki, and then it would be possible to tweak the module, but I don't know if that's a rabbit hole I want to go down. I don't actually know javascript. Thoughts?

... I think that's about it. I've stumbled into editing some pages more extensively, such as when I've noticed broken links or just terrible writing, but I'm trying not to.

Feel free to use this thread to ask any wiki-related questions you've got.

~Neshomeh

Hey, uh. by doctorlit on 2023-01-05 14:36:36 UTC Reply

Just want to say, I'm sorry I haven't been helping out on the Wiki much any more. Between work, home chores, and maintaining family, friend, and coworker relationships, there isn't much time left for the PPC afterwards, and most of that I spend on reading and reviewing all the stories that get posted. (Speaking of which, I'm looking forward to yours, and will get to it whenever I have the time! I'm slowly catching up!)

So yeah. I'm glad you've found these nifty features, but I'm sorry I'm not taking up much of the Wiki burden. : (

—doctorlit, trying

That's okay! by Neshomeh on 2023-01-05 20:29:31 UTC Reply

If it's a burden, it's one that I've chosen for myself freely—and TBH I tend to get on editing jags like this when my brain is climbing the walls and I just need to give it something pseudo-constructive to chew on, so it's actually a bit of self-medication in a way. ^_^;

This thread was mostly for transparency. If it gets some folks interested, cool, but I definitely didn't intend to call anyone out for not participating on the wiki. Anyway, given the choice, I'd much rather have a story review, whenever it happens. {= )

~Neshomeh

I just feel bad for not contributing more. But I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, at least! (nm) by doctorlit on 2023-01-06 11:54:57 UTC Reply

I saw this! by Linstar on 2023-01-03 20:38:47 UTC Reply

I try to keep track of the Recent Changes page. I’m not sure I can help much right now, because my tablet is too old to edit Fandom, but I’m hoping to get a new computer that I can use more soon.

I did see those badfics. They definitely needed deletion, though I really wished I had approached it better. cringes

Also, thanks for the restructuring my missions on the My Immortal page. I’m not sure if they were supposed to occur exactly on the day they were published... but frankly, my missions don’t have a clear timeline. I like the way it looks now.

—Ls also likes wiki-ing
Oh, I forgot another thing: tophat templates. by Neshomeh on 2023-01-03 17:19:42 UTC Reply

4. I learned how to use CSS to make those NSFW and Spoiler banners flex to work around infoboxes and images, so they're much more versatile in terms of where they can be placed on the page. They don't have to go right at the top anymore, and I believe Fandom recommends avoiding tophats. Therefore, I've moved them below the lede when possible. I'd like to do this across the board, including on pages that discuss inherently sensitive subjects. My logic is that the page's title itself should be a clue that its content should be read judiciously, and also that the lede should make it possible for a person to glean a basic definition of the subject without going into detail.

I've been removing Spoiler banners on pages where the subject is over five years old.

I'll also remind everyone that the NSFW banner should only be applied if the article content itself includes NSFW details, not simply because it's about something else (like a fic) that is NSFW. On the matter of sensitive subjects, it IS possible to discuss any subject in a PG-13 manner (which even permits the occasional swearword, btw). As long as this is the case, no warning is needed. But if a section quotes or summarizes a lot of questionable material from badfics, then the banner is a good idea.

~Neshomeh