Forum:Help with New Monaco changes

Safari
Maybe with the new change you can figure out why Wikia pages no longer work on Safari? 23skidoo 17:55, 11 June 2008 (UTC)


 * What kind of trouble are you having on Safari? I just looked at some wikis using Safari, and I don't see anything different. -- Danny (talk ) 17:59, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

GAH!
Why can't I set the Club Penguin Wiki's standard to Monobook! MONOBOOK!!!!! When the Monaco becomes standard, will it kill the Monobook?! The Club Penguin Wiki has been in Monobook for years, and any other skin looks really bad (trust me, I've seen it). Monaco may be "the wave of the future", but is it possible for Club Penguin Wiki to stay in the past? -- User:TurtleShroom


 * Users will still be able to use Monobook as their own personal skin, but the default skin for all wikis will be Monaco. It's definitely hard -- a lot of people are really attached to Monobook, and don't want it to change. -- Danny (talk ) 18:16, 11 June 2008 (UTC)


 * So, is there some way to change it for an individual wiki? Also, the Monaco is going to be very annoying for the Club Penguin Wiki's users, some who have edited on Monobook for years, and since practically everything will be thrown this way or that, it will be tough for the old users to keep up. Also, you said it yourself that the advertisements will be on the right side of the page. Are you aware that on the CPW, almost every ding-dong image is on the right side?! The advertisements would push images far below their intended level.


 * Our wiki has taken years to reach its level of quality, and if Monaco is installed as default, we would have to literally rearrange the entire site just to go along with it! That would look AWFUL on Monobook! Are you also aware that Monaco does not even use the standard MediaWiki Sidebar?! IT HAS ITS OWN, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! There is a reason that Wikipedia uses Monobook, you know. They know that it is the easiest to use, and just look that their success! It's the largest encyclopedia on the earth! You claim that nobody knows an edit button exists... how can they not?! IT'S RIGHT NEXT TO THE WIKI LOGO!


 * Furthermore, I feel that the "New Look" is more directed to the advertisers and not the users. See this page for tons of reasons why the community is against this mandatory overide. I myself am an administrator and beaurocrat, and I can understand how you want to help all of the wikis, but there are so many now that you can't just make a "one size fits all" edit and make each community adjust to the new upgrade. Almost every wiki staff member I have seen has been a great help to both experts and beginners, making Wikia a better place to host an editable database. The staff are great, and I do not want to leave the community just because of some advertisemnt. Many wikis agree with this statement.


 * After all, in today's society, if they don't like it, they will leave. I'm not going to leave, but I have a feeling that less persistent users will.


 * Your upgrade seems to benifit the big wikis over the small ones. The screenshots show huge wikis like the Mupphets, and does not even mention what the advertisements will do ot the little wikis. All of your screenshots show the Mupphet Wiki.


 * Finally, could you possibly but that huge advertisement under an article? People will stil see it if they want to see the whole page... or better yet, but a skinny banner like the "Ads by Google" shown here!


 * Please consider these and other changes shown here and on this page before overiding the Monobook. It ahs stood the test of time!


 * Sincerely,
 * [[Image:TurtleShroom.PNG|left|thumb|[[User:TurtleShroom|TurtleShroom]] Was Here!]] Jesus Loves You and Died for You!! :) :) 18:53, 11 June 2008 (UTC)


 * @ Danny: "Also, Monobook will have the same ads as Monaco will. The right sidebar on Monobook will go away, and Monobook will have the in-article ads. Monobook and Monaco will be the same ad-wise." Good job annoying your communities for no reason!--[[Image:AlariSig.png]] 18:58, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
 * You were not talking to me when you said that, were you? I was just stating my opinion.
 * [[Image:TurtleShroom.PNG|left|thumb|[[User:TurtleShroom|TurtleShroom]] Was Here!]] Jesus Loves You and Died for You!! :) :) 19:05, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
 * No, you ECed me when I was originally posted after the hypocritical staff member above. Also, you need to fix your siggy--[[Image:AlariSig.png]] 19:13, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
 * What does it mean to "EC" someone? I don't speak slang, chatroom speak, or Leet Speak, either. Also, I have known for quite a long time that my image is broken; I uploaded TurtleShroom.png on the Club Penguin Wiki, but I have no clue on how to make it work on all Wikia wikis.
 * [[Image:TurtleShroom.PNG|left|thumb|[[User:TurtleShroom|TurtleShroom]] Was Here!]] Jesus Loves You and Died for You!! :) :) 19:18, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
 * EC=Edit Conflict, when someone else edits the page before you have a chance to save your changes. You would have to upload the image on this wiki and every other one... Whats with the frame?--[[Image:AlariSig.png]] 19:20, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

TurtleShroom: You're right, there's going to be a period of adjustment as people get used to the change. That's especially true for wikis that have been on Monobook up to now. Monobook is a very good and useful skin for a lot of people.

There are a few reasons why we think Monaco is better for Wikia than Monobook. As you know, right now we're working on ways to increase our ad revenue, and Monaco allows us more flexibility with ad placement than Monobook does. Monaco also gives us the ability to add new features and make improvements that wiki communities ask for.

Another big factor is that Monobook is not easy for everyone to understand. You're absolutely right, Wikipedia uses Monobook and is very successful. Many of the wikis on Wikia have also become successful using Monobook. But if you think about the entire population of people who use the internet, there's a very small fraction who know how to edit a wiki. I talk to people all the time who use Wikipedia as an information source, but when you ask if they've ever made an edit, they say no. Contributing to a wiki can be very intimidating at first.

Monaco has been designed to help brand-new users understand how the wiki works. The design puts the most important features together in one area -- the edit button, the search box, the toolbox, and links to the best content. The community box gives new readers a glimpse at Recent changes, so they understand that there's an active community on the site, and it also provides a prominent Log in button.

We've found that wikis who have switched from Monobook to Monaco see an increase in activity -- more people reading pages, more people logging in, more people using the search box to find the content they're interested in. It may look strange to established users, but new readers find Monaco easier to use.

The community and content teams are available to help wikis make whatever changes they need to make -- the sidebar, templates, whatever you think you'll need. Next week, the change will only impact wikis that are currently using Monaco. Staff members will be coming around to wikis using Monobook over the next couple of weeks to help them switch over to Monaco. It's definitely going to be a big change, but we're committed to helping every wiki make that transition successfully. -- Danny (talk ) 20:37, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Big brother knows best huh? Why I have no intent of dealing with this wikia shit must longer...--[[Image:AlariSig.png]] 21:21, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Please
I think I speak for a lot people when I say, can we just have Monobook back because wikis look a lot better with just Monobook. The for example the JROTC wiki looks much better in Monobook, and it looks really stupid in any other skin. kluft 22:59, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

What about the Star Trek wikis?
Will they too be forced to use Monaco? Right now the 3 main Star Trek wikis use Monobook, and if they are forced to change the entire wikis' format, the site will be completely changed; probably not for the better. kluft 23:08, 11 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Over the next few weeks, the community and content teams will be coming to all of the Monobook wikis and helping them to make the transition to Monaco. The Star Trek wikis will be included. -- Danny (talk ) 23:21, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

So what does that mean? Is memory alpha gonna be all looking like this page? White background and all? If so, that is terrible. That would really suck. Why are they doing this? How would the new one look like? User: distantlycharmed


 * It'll look pretty much the same. Monaco can be customized the same way that Monobook can, so the Star Trek wikis can use dark backgrounds if they want. For an example, check out WoWWiki. -- Danny (talk ) 03:37, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Well I really like Memory Alpha how it is. I hope they dont turn it to something generic. It really does have the feel of the Star Trek universe now. User: distantlycharmed

Monaco Skin
What's the Monaco Skin?


 * As stipulated at the top of this page, it's Wikia's New Style. (Not exactly because we already are in Monaco but you can see it there.) — TulipVorlax 01:45, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

Links Toolbox - needs the "Printable version" link
That link exists in the Monobook skin and it is sorely missed in this newly mandated Monaco skin. najevi 06:02, 16 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Also permanent link and recentchangeslinked. --Ciencia Al Poder (talk) -WikiDex 19:32, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

Main_page new tags for LH and RH columns
FYI: It appears that wikimarkup for the RH column must be placed before the LH column in order for the page layout to appear correctly. najevi 06:04, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

Site default skin set to Monobook
If you prefer to see Monobook as the default skin for a wiki:
 * edit MediaWiki:AdminSkin
 * change the text of that page to lowercase monobook

Whenever a site admin saves their skin preference page the mandated monaco-sapphire overwrites the last edit of this file.

Wikia staff have advised that this workaround is deprecated and will eventually be disabled. No time frame specified. najevi 06:19, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

Link toolbox - feature request
See w:c:Help:Help_talk:Customizing_Monaco

Can I customize these aspects of the LH navbar?
I have read the article w:c:Help:Customizing_Monaco but it does not cover sufficient aspects of skin customizing that are of interest to me. Some things it does cover are not specified with enough detail e.g.
 * 1) if an image is to be used as a background then what are the requires pixel dimensions?
 * 2) does such an image tile or stretch to fit?
 * 3) site logo image size needs to be brought into line with the NewMonaco specification

In general Monaco is much "chunkier" than Monobook. I know this is promoted as a feature but please respect the fact that it is a thorn in the side for many of us who strive to "keep the main thing the main thing." Neither the user interface nor the edit link are the main thing!

So here are a couple of things that I want to do with my Monaco skin. Which things are achievable and which are not?
 * permanently remove the Languages widget
 * specify a different font for certain widgets and the sidebar:
 * sidebar navigation menu
 * Link Toolbox
 * Shout Box chat

najevi 22:25, 16 June 2008 (UTC)


 * To respond to the "are thoses thing achievable" last part, i would say "Yes, they are". All widget share a class named widget so in Mediawiki:Monaco.css, you just put :

.widget { /* add custom CSS atributes here */ }
 * But, inside a perticular Widget, there is other sub markup with their own CSS style that might interfere with a global widget rule. What i do when i want to know what to use as a CSS selector to achieve what i want is to look at the source code of the page. Often i even paste it in an editor like Dreamweaver even tough it wil not render it properly it let me clic on bit of text and see what is inside what and what are the names of the class or the ID that is used to style them.
 * But i know we all have different level of knowledge of HTML markup and all, so i'll offert my help to everybody or so.
 * As for the 2 firsts questions :
 * Site background can be almost of any size (but try to stay reasonable).
 * The background will tile or not as specified in the CSS rule used to add it to the site.
 * The old Monaco used Wiki wide.png like Quartz was. New Monaco will use Wiki.png that is the same logo that was used with Monobook.


 * — TulipVorlax 02:27, 17 June 2008 (UTC)


 * One last thing; the language widget should not be remove in the site monaco.css. This should be done in your personnal CSS only. Others users might need that widget. — TulipVorlax 02:30, 17 June 2008 (UTC)