Forum:More links for the page footer

I notice the Special:WhatLinksHere/PAGENAME link has moved to the page footer. Along the same lines I wonder if there might be consensus to include following useful links in that page footer block.


 * Print friendly view : EPAGENAME?printable=yes or EPAGENAME&printable=yes (I always forget which it is.) This was something we new and loved in the Monobook skin and something that is long overdue for Monaco.


 * Facts about this page : The Special:Browse/PAGENAME link which is the header of the semantic factbox might also appear in the footer. I plan to use the __ NOFACTBOX __ magicword on almost every page containing semantic data and so having that special browse link available in the page footer would be convenient.


 * Edit with alternate form : This might be a stretch request since SMW/SF is not yet widespread but for those pages that have default forms the "Edit with form" tab is already visible at the page header however, what about those pages that have an alternate form defined? It would be convenient for a Special:EditData/ALTERNATE-FORM-NAME/PAGENAME link be available in the page footer for such pages.

Maybe there are other ideas that users can suggest. najevi 09:17, 17 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Factbox can be disabled site wide by a config option, you don't need the magic word. But alternate form? What alternate form? IIRC There was no such thing in SF, you don't go around using multiple forms on the same page cause editing with one breaks the others. ~ NOTASTAFF Daniel Friesen (DanTMan, Nadir Seen Fire) (talk) (tricks) (current topic) Jul 19, 2009 @ 21:07 (UTC)


 * Is the config option mentioned above accessible to site admins/sysops or does it require a Wikia staff to intervene and edit a .php file somehwere? najevi 06:56, 22 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Print friendly view is really necessary? Try to use the "print preview" of your browser: it loads the print.css styles so it's now "Print friendly", but only for printing, not for browsing. --Ciencia Al Poder (talk) -WikiDex 09:23, 20 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Yes the printer friendly view is used for more than just preparation for printing. The page view created by the browsers built in print preview is more compact than that which displays on screen with "&printable=yes" appended. najevi 06:56, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

I can't speak for the SMW related stuff, but adding the printable version link is a possibility. We don't want to overload the footer, but we're planning more improvements which it might be able to fit into. Are there particular situations you've come across you can point to to convince me further? 14:27, 28 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Now that you mention that, When I'm editing, often I want to check the WhatLinksHere, but those footer links don't appear in the page footer when editing. I really would keep the link in the sidebar, but now that link is missing in special pages, leaving a ugly empty space in the toolbox links. If at least the toolbox links were reallocated without leaving empty spaces, manually adding WhatLinksHere in the toolbox would be an option. --Ciencia Al Poder (talk) -WikiDex 18:23, 28 July 2009 (UTC)
 * I strongly vote against this. IMO, it's a big improvement to have the toolbox links on static spots. Now you can better memorize their placement. If the empty spots break with your taste, put WhatLinksHere on the bottom, as proposed on some occasions.--AB 21:31, 28 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Aside from the obvious/intended application, the print friendly view is useful when either 1) the advertising within the content area is interfering with page layout; or 2) when a very wide table or image is used and so recovering the space consumed by the navigation sidebar makes the page easier to view. This is frequently needed when using an older monitor having a smaller desktop resolution than that which the page author(s) had assumed when creating a wiki article.


 * The idea for the Facts about this page link is a compromise idea. Ideally the default view for a page with semantic annotations would be to have the so-called Factbox banner visible but with a Show/Hide (or more/less) style toggle link or button. Then a user can specify via their Preferences whether these FactBox tables default to collapsed or expanded. I suspect that most users don't need/wish to view the Factbox information because in many (but not all) cases those facts are only repeating data that is already displayed within the page content area. However, for those users who do need/wish to view the semantic data on a page it is handy to have ready access to the FactBox somewhere near the page footer.
 * I have tried adding a link such as  to the Monaco-toolbox but it's one of those special links that probably demands a magic word in the same way that   does.


 * The Edit with alternate form idea can be illustrated at smwtest/skin21 and other pages like it. Pages belonging to the Skins category can have a default form Form:Skin that is used when the Edit with form tab is selected. However a subset of data on that page can also be edited if the user clicks the Manage your favorites hyperlink. That opens the same page for edit using the alternate form, Form:Favorites. Currently the only way a user would know that an alternate form is defined for the current page is if the creator of that form has made a link or button available on the page. The example of a Manage your favorites link is an especially good example because I imagine that this will become a popular use of SMW for communities that care about what's popular or in fashion and what's not. Having the alternate Form:Favorites for a page is likely to be a common occurrence. (Of course there may be other applications for alternate forms - this one is just the first one I have realized.)
 * -najevi 20:47, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Workaround
Editing MediaWiki:Widgetwikipage to include the following page-focus links satisfies the needs listed above without waiting on Wikia to enhance the articleFooter area. Manage Favorites [ Update this Page] [ Printer Friendly]  Drilldown Data

This workaround requires each visitor to a wiki to be --najevi 18:21, 18 August 2009 (UTC)
 * 1) notified that the this handy Wiki page in widget feature exists and
 * 2) instructed as to how it can be made to appear in the Monaco sidebar i.e. Special:Widgets


 * Does some of thoses links could work in the toolbox ? — TulipVorlax 01:32, 19 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Short answer to myself : no.
 * It's currently in place on the french toolbox on http://fr.guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Guild_Wars_Wikia?uselang=fr
 * It send people to purge the toolbox page. — TulipVorlax 01:52, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

As you've already figured out the Monaco-toolbox only allows a page-focus action if a "special string" has been created for the task. (e.g. whatlinkshere, permalink, etc.) Those so-called special strings are special because they get parsed to incorporate the name of the current page. Using the "Wiki Page in Widget" technique you are free to use  and have that correctly lend focus to the currently displayed page. So this parsing is automatic inside the Wiki Page widget - very handy!
 * The widget with default title/label "Wiki Page" can be located directly below the Monaco-toolbox in your sidebar and serve as a form of extended toolbox. i.e. our workaround toolbox to use until Wikia respond to customer demand for additional toolbox (or article footer) links.
 * Downside: I can find no easy way to force the Wiki Page widget to appear in the sidebar for new users at a wiki. The best we can manage is for it to appear in Special:WidgetDashboard and Special:Widgets. So if somebody figures out how to workaround this (e.g. with JS or similar) then please advise.

--najevi 22:52, 19 August 2009 (UTC)


 * In some Mediawiki message, they make a whatlinkhere link using the following formula :
 *  some text
 * The "$1" part is automatically replaced with the name of the page by the software.
 * But, that string is not used the same in all Mediawiki messages.
 * I dont know if Wikia techs could made it work in the sidebar and toolbox to give us the page name.
 * That could solve our problems. — TulipVorlax 05:26, 20 August 2009 (UTC)