Forum:New skin for Central

Hi, I've just put up a draft of a new skin for Community Central. It still needs some tweaking, the logo needs a tidy and I think the background could be more subtle, but hopefully it shows the general idea. Thanks to those who got it working :)

The goal is for the wiki to have the same general color scheme as www.wikia.com, but with a softer feel. Please let me know what you think! -- sannse (talk) 04:41, April 26, 2010 (UTC)


 * Love the vibe and atmosphere of the background image. :D -  5 əb'7 aŋk (7alk ) 12:03, April 26, 2010 (UTC)
 * Aarg, the links are too dark. Ajraddatz Talk 13:55, April 26, 2010 (UTC)
 * It is looking awesome. I disagree with Ajraddatz here. The logo does need some tweeking, as I see some white spec's around the edge of some of the letters.. --Lcawte 14:59, April 26, 2010 (UTC)
 * I agree with Ajraddatz that default links are too dark. -- Fandyllic  (talk &middot; contr) 5:24 AM PST 27 Apr 2010

So the logo is now tidier and the background is a bit more subtle - it matches the colours of the stripes on www.wikia.com now. Uber also did some other fixes. Let me know if there are more tweaks you think needed... and then maybe it's time to think about a new main page :) -- sannse (talk)

Yeah I got something. The image right now is of a forced size. My screen is wide enough to force me the light blue bar at the right and when I scroll downward I can see another huge strip (in fact I can see it partly without even scrolling, lol). Would be nice if it would automatically expand to the entire background, filling it. And the black dropdown buttons a pretty ugly (maybe give them the same light blue?). Finally the green wikia buttons seem out of place, maybe they should get a light blue color as well? -- Light Daxter |  Talk  19:07, April 26, 2010 (UTC)


 * Perhaps the page bar and the and header buttons could be dark grey rather than black, because that would be a better match to the home page's menu bar. I would prefer having the green buttons; the point is match the feel of the wiki to the corporate wiki, and the corporate wiki has the green buttons. The 888th Avatar   (talk)  23:19, April 26, 2010 (UTC)


 * Background is fixed now, however, I don't like the full black page bar and headers either. And I noticed the links are a little too dark for my liking, dakr blue and black are pretty close. Why not keep the old one? -- Light Daxter |  Talk  23:55, April 26, 2010 (UTC)


 * This off coloured grey-blue text is horrible in my opinion it looks like its 'smudged' or bad news print. The dark background to the bottom of the side bar (below contact wikia staff) is too dark. The agree the black page header looks too solid/heavy.


 * (edit) - Also new scheme does not work with my std (plane) signature (it does not show up as a link) - BulldozerD11 00:02, April 27, 2010 (UTC)


 * The sidebar is a bit lifeless but it's a pretty good skin overall. Nice work! - Brandon Rhea (talk) 02:08, April 27, 2010 (UTC)


 * I think that using a light grey on the menu item borders would be better than the dark blue, as it provides a subtler effect. It wouldn't hurt to hide the entire community widget either; obviously, there are not supposed to be "articles" on Community Central so it is virtually useless. The 888th Avatar   (talk)  23:54, April 27, 2010 (UTC)

So here's the next version... The links and buttons are all back to the default colour, except for the footer and tabs (both a dark background). The black is now grey, which matches the Wikia homepage more closely, and I also but the light top bar back, with shading the same as the homepage. I think the main thing I'd still like to improve is the background image - a small tiled one with a similar effect would be better than the big one... I'll need to work on that.

888th Avatar: I think the question of what goes in the main namespace of this wiki is next :) I really want us to build this wiki to be the place to come to find help and information (although help.wikia needs to stay as it is for the shared help system to work), but I'm not sure yet what else is needed to make that happen. -- sannse (talk) 00:31, April 28, 2010 (UTC)


 * Much better now Sannse - I can read the text better with the adjustment of the colour & the signature and other links are now visible. - BulldozerD11 01:48, April 28, 2010 (UTC)

The sidebar looks much better. - Brandon Rhea (talk) 03:25, April 28, 2010 (UTC)


 * A nice improvement - and the question of what goes in the mainspace of this wiki is very good one; definitely one to think about. The 888th Avatar   (talk)  07:08, April 28, 2010 (UTC)


 * re; Avatars comment about 'mainspace' Can I suggest some sort of FAQ list, with links to the more detailed help pages and to Mediawiki pages for more detail as there appears to be issues accessing/ understanding Help for 'newer' users, (possibly made harder to find info since the search was 'revamped') ?


 * Also add sidebar links to the Templates, Starter, Dev & Help Wiki as well possibly any similar wikis for technical issues from the side bar (not sure what heading could be used). Some FAQ pages could be created from the forum answers to common 'problems' - BulldozerD11 14:59, April 28, 2010 (UTC)
 * Wouldn't that be better in Help? Perhaps the problem is better links to those areas -- sannse (talk) 01:50, May 11, 2010 (UTC)


 * Yes better links are required, as 'newby' users appear to be unable to find / navigate the help pages to find answers to basic editing. So i'm suggesting a FAQ link (in the sidebar menus) to a FAQ summary list that links to the Wikia Help pages may be a way to (re)direct them to the info they seek in the Help wiki or to pages with more detail than a basic summary. - BulldozerD11 16:02, May 16, 2010 (UTC)