Archive talk:Wikia's new look - FAQ

missing subject
Letting people keep Monaco as a personal choice?! For a LIMITED time?! Wikia, don't force this skin on us. Listen to the Masses, the majority hate it, and a lot of people will have to rewrite their wiki's monaco-oriented code.==

Even now, there are already threats to walk.

Do you want this to happen? Google has been shoving new "upgrades" down the YouTube users' throats for months. We'd walk there, too, but there's nowhere to walk, thanks to their monopoly.

Don't be a Google. Care for your customers, listen to them, and never force them to change unless they all want it. Don't be stupid, Wikia, don't let money and staying with the times blind you to the demands of your customers.

MAKE IT OPTIONAL OR YOU WILL REGRET IT.

-- † TurtleShroom™! Jesus Loves You and Died for You!! † :) :) HEAR OUR VOICE, WE WANT CHOICE!! 22:06, August 19, 2010 (UTC)

Yeah. Just leave monaco as an option.--MugaSofer 13:11, August 20, 2010 (UTC)

+1.  --Havoc  Reaper '48  13:50, August 20, 2010 (UTC)

Help:Smelly Users (talk) was last edited at 05:49, September 2, 2010 (UTC)
 * Vimeo might be an alternative.

we can do wat we want to do

Have you seen the comments on the blog? This one. Everyone wants it to be optional. Just leave monaco as an option! Otherwise there will be a massive negative reaction. Myself, I don't think it looks that bad (although I want to keep the IRC widget) but concensus says it should be optional. LISTEN TO THE CONCENSUS.--MugaSofer 13:17, August 20, 2010 (UTC)

+1.  --Havoc  Reaper '48  13:50, August 20, 2010 (UTC)

While I don't care if the skin comes or goes, it pisses me off that there wasn't a consensus before. They just said "it will be mandatory" and we have to accept it. Dancing Penguin  14:10, August 21, 2010 (UTC)
 * Yep. BS like this doesn't settle well with a community who has been used to consensus for the entire time they've used the site. We simply are not used to forced changes. We have always been able to give a say on what's happening. But now the biggest change on the site is happening, and we just have to sit and watch. Dave Lopo 15:30, August 31, 2010 (UTC)

Per Dancing Penguin. I also wish Monobook would stay.


 * Guaranteed, you are gonna regret it if you change this. Its Time For An Upgrade you say, but do the masses want that upgrade? Its like curing a fever with cancer. I hope u know what u'r doing, cause i'm pretty sure a lot of users are sick of these forced changes..AlienGamer (Userpage ⁝ Talk) 19:50, August 31, 2010 (UTC)

Widgets
Why are you removing the widgets? Some people actually use them. --Cpl. Dunn(Talk) 17:24, August 28, 2010 (UTC)

Finally!
We're finally getting rid of the shoutbox. Now we no longer have to worry about people using Wikia as a social site, they can use IRC or MSN.Technobliterator Techno's Talk 15:20, September 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * I disagree. There are people that use wikia as a social site but have no shoutbox, and a vast majority of the users with the shoutbox that I've seen are active contributors. - Is drak  thül  15:27, September 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * You're kidding. The shoutbox is fun. Plus, alotta contributors use the shout box. -User:Austin8310
 * Well,most wikis use it fine, but I come from a wiki where they literally have long detailed conversations and socialise. thats not what it was made for, besides, theres IRC for this stuff, no? I just dont want it to turn Wikia into Facebookia--Technobliterator Techno's Talk 15:30, September 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * I agree with your point of view, but I still feel that the shoutbox is useful. If you want to stop wikia from becoming facebook, get rid of the blogs (and implement this). - Is drak  thül  15:33, September 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * I have used the shoutbox for useful stuff but people keep getting tempted to use it for chat and as long as its there it does get used for chat, I mean most wikis you could wait a day and only a few new posts could appear, the wikisi go to you wait 5 minutes and 10 new posts have appeared. i just dont want it to be used for socialising. But I will check out that stuff though.--Technobliterator Techno's Talk 15:40, September 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * The shoutbox kills the shit out of off-topic blogs, which, by the way, cannot be disabled because of the shitty new terms of use. -- CoD addict  //  talk  // 21:40, October 23, 2010 (UTC)

Shoutbox
I won't allow you to get rid of Shoutbox. That is an essential on loads of wikis, like Spore Wiki, Halopedia, Wookiepedia, Call of Duty Wiki, etc, etc. Please keep this one tool. Lucario of the Gods (talk 15:29, September 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * No you mean its essential for your socialising. We would do better off without it, use IRC--Technobliterator Techno's Talk 15:31, September 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * Well it's still important in some wikis. And how is a wiki better with no socializing? DP 15:42, September 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * Socializing exclusively is bad, but it's fine in moderation. Also, the shoutbox is used for useful conversations. - Is drak  thül  15:44, September 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * Most large Wikis are completely quiet and activity is down to 1-5 edits for several hours, the ShoutBox keep's people around, without making them bored cause they can discuss offtopic, and ontopic subjects. Keep this widget is a great thing. (—Sporesauce) 16:55, September 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm fine using it once in a while but socialising sucks. It completely takes your mind off editting and arguing is the worst thing that could happen to a wiki. Is Isdrathul said, in moderation its great, socialising to an extreme state just wrecks wikis. Oh, and come on, someone tell me shoutbox spams arent horribly annoying.--Technobliterator Techno's Talk 18:18, September 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * My point is that you can socialize on the shoutbox as long as you edit too. Having a social aspect keeps users interested and encourages them to edit. Also, spam is annoying, but the fault lies with the spammers, not the shoutbox. - Is drak  thül  18:21, September 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * Exactly. If spammers don't spam in the Shoutbox they'll do it in the articles which is worse. DP 22:25, September 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * The problem is on our wiki they only edit the shoutbox and spend no time doing anything, I mean on moist good shoutboxes where they socialize you would wait like half a day or so for a reply cos theyre all editing whereas they literally converse in a way that is the same as f you would get on IRC, except its a small box and I prefer to use it to tell people about spam or whast going on but some drama comes up on the box instead, its disruptive. And spammers wo spamn in articles well thats not really worse cos at least then youcan undo those edits. I think that it shoud be an option for the admins to disable or enable, in both my wiki's case they disable it, one we have MSN to socialize with each other and the second well it will teach them not to use a small box to chat about who is disabled and how they were bullied today and how they shouldnt use something for social arguments.--Technobliterator Techno's Talk 13:11, September 2, 2010 (UTC)

I need to side with Drakky here. And Technobliterator, you seem to be deluded. You're completely ignoring his points.--Shade  15:58, September 6, 2010 (UTC)


 * I am not ignoring anyones points at all? I just hate it when its used in a way you have to refresh every 10 seconds for one message and that message is usually spam or ridiculous flaming, if you want me to explain i will. but I'm fed up of people abusing the shoutbox, so if it is gone then they cant abuse it cos they have nothing to tempt them to go in and spam or shout WHAT THE F*** YOU D*** STOP MAKING UP STUFF or BAAAW MY LIFE SUCKS I AM A LONER and 10 seconds later another aggressive comment of some sort. Is that what your shoutbox is like? is that what any wiki's shoutbox is like? I think not. IRC beats that any day, at least there you can kick off the people arguing or the people can just /msg each other and chat that way--Technobliterator Techno's Talk 12:02, September 12, 2010 (UTC)

Although I could make many points as to why you are slightly wrong, I don't have time for this. However, some users can't use the IRC. Besides, there seems to be a glitch on it that disconnects users when they try to join. Although the IRC is good, users have different time zones. As such, the shoutbox lets the message stay longer, and eventually, the person you're talking to should finally get the message. Both the Shoutbox and IRC have pros and cons, but they both should stay. Besides spammers on shoutboxes can just simply get blocked when they start spamming, thus ending the threat.--Shade  14:22, September 18, 2010 (UTC)

This is a really bad idea...
If you do this, many of our wikis will be unreadable. Also, the shout box? why did you own our shout box? We love it. I think you should consider the words of your MILLIONS of users before messing everything up for good. My friend told me that our wiki is effectively ruined when this update comes out. I don't want it ruined, so at least consider our plea's before this update. User:Scimitar77
 * Its not millions when only around 200 of the millions of wikians signed the petition lol, I think they should make some alternate to the shoutbox but one that cant be used for social arguments and chat that should be done on IRC or MSN cos it wrecked our wiki. Oh, that, and it should be open by default so people actually know about it. Oh wait thats bad cos if peoplle know about it even more users can turn it into a social argument box and something wheere you need to refresh the page every 5 seconds just to see a new shoutbox message. I do apologize to wikis like final fantasy and j&d which use the shoutbox brilliantly but it just ruined sporewiki.--Technobliterator Techno's Talk 10:44, September 3, 2010 (UTC)

The Worst Part is that Top Bar
I think that by far the worst thing about this new skin is that massive top bar with those awful new hubs. I never understood why those were introduced to replace the perfectly functional hubs that Wikia used to have, especially because these new hubs are almost completely useless. Most of the wikis that Wikia hosts aren't even indexed by these new hubs, including mine (which is one of the biggest wikis on Wikia). Why would we ever want to put a massive bar to direct people to other wikis on top of our own? Especially when that bar doesn't even direct anyone to us? Surgo 15:14, September 3, 2010 (UTC)


 * Entertainment and Gaming are the biggest groups and Wikia must have their reasons to promote the Lifestyle hub. But it definitely ignores sports, humor, answers, imagination and fan fiction. DP 15:41, September 3, 2010 (UTC)


 * Indeed that top bar kinda wrecks stuff :O--Technobliterator Techno's Talk 11:55, September 12, 2010 (UTC)


 * The reason for that topbar is targetting ads. Wikia can put up a lot of links that every reader is going to see; everyone moves the mouse above that bar when they go from the browser navigation down to the toolbar (that's why it's forbidden to move the toolbar above that hub). They can change the links to adapt to interests that their advertisers are interested in. (They already admitted they do clicktracking.) Related reading: http://www.wsj/WTK/, User:M.mendel/Why Oasis, w:c:www:Privacy Policy. People, that thing isn't there to promote wikis - it's there to sell our and our reader's pageviews as dearly as they can. -- ◄mendel► 22:29, October 4, 2010 (UTC)

If u'r still going through with this
If u'r still going through with this, could u at least keep the page size the same. Cause if you dont, every single pic on evry single page has to be realligned. We already have to re do our skins, at least dont make us go through this...AlienGamer (Userpage ⁝ Talk) 04:22, September 15, 2010 (UTC)

What's WRONG with you, Wikia?
What's it going to take for you to stop this change??? Thesaurus Rex 23:34, September 30, 2010 (UTC)
 * ^ FAQ you, Wikia. --Auron  Kaizer !  20:50, October 1, 2010 (UTC)

Comments/Talk Pages
I just started a new wiki, but I can't seem to find any info on how to disable comments and switch to the old style talk pages. How do I do this? Coax75ohm 18:12, October 3, 2010 (UTC)


 * Go to the Community Forums for that dude. Thesaurus Rex 20:01, October 3, 2010 (UTC)

Skin
I gotta agree, the skin just doesnt sit right, im seriously thinking about leaving and shutting down my wikis. and i doubt im not the first. oh Wikia....you used to be cool. Escyos 07:07, October 10, 2010 (UTC)

No.
"...we will remove the Monaco personal preference."

NO. Remove Monaco and you close 50-100 wikis. If Wikiacloses down due to lack of money, then that's fine by me. I will NOT accept this change. I had an extremely hard time navigating the new look. Make it permament, then you can say goodbye to wikia. If this change is to go ahead wikia, then all I'll say is this. Your days are numbered. 20:42, October 15, 2010 (UTC)

Looks cool, low functionality
So, it looks nice. Ten out of ten for style, but minus several zillion for good thinking. How do I get to special pages? I use them to find jobs that need doing? How am I supposed to know what needs doing if I can't navigate behind the scenes? If it keeps up like this I'll ask for the Wiki I started to be deleted, and write the last few days off as a complete waste of time. totnesmartin 19:31, October 20, 2010 (UTC)


 * You can add special pages you like to use to your My Tools. This will give you quick access to them. You can find a list of the special pages this includes on the My Tools help page. Best, Sarah (Help Forum) (blog) 21:44, October 20, 2010 (UTC)
 * That's retarded. -- CoD addict  //  talk  // 21:44, October 23, 2010 (UTC)

Just a suggestion
Wikia staff, since you're going ahead with Oasis (regardless of whether thousands of your users think it's bad or not), could do us a favor and move the "recent wiki Activity", "more photos on this wiki", and "create a page" down to the bottom of the page? It'd make the look more aesthetically pleasing to the millionth power.That way all the wikis who have rather long articles won't have to go through their entire wikia and re-design everything, and I wouldn't end up subconsciously leaning over to the left so I that I can read it. Hell, you might actually get some of the groups who are considering giving you the bird and jumping ship to a different site to change their minds.

Just two cents from a semi-regular editor who can barely tolerate this new look.

The Red Grandmaster 19:50, October 22, 2010 (UTC)
 * AGREED. It makes any page with an infobox pretty much unreadable. --Witoki 03:16, October 24, 2010 (UTC)

Chnage Back to Old Look
Is there a way to change it back to the old look?Aniju Aura 12:52, October 23, 2010 (UTC)


 * You can switch back to Monaco for your personal view until Nov 3rd. After Nov 3rd, that option will be removed. The option to us Monobook for your personal preference though will remain. Best, Sarah (Help Forum) (blog) 18:28, October 25, 2010 (UTC)

Uh, Sarah, the OASIS SKIN DOESN'T WORK! WE NEED TO KEEP MONACO! EVERYONE IS LEAVING BECAUSE OF THE NEW OASIS SKIN! THERE ARE PETITIONS EVERYWHERE! NOT TO MENTION THAT IT MESSES UP LOGOS, LIKE on Kingdom Hearts Wiki, TERRA, VENTUS, AND AQUA, ARE ABSENT WITH THE OASIS SKIN! IT MESSES UP A LOT OF ARTICLES! IT IS GLITCHY TOO! SeanWheeler 21:49, October 25, 2010 (UTC)

The new skin is really bad. I don't know why wikia using this skin by default at all. Did the author of Oasis skin pay wikia to have his skin been default? Is it a copyright violation to use Monobook or Monaco? Tomchen1989 17:20, November 3, 2010 (UTC)

How do I disable MyTools?
Nothing against the bar for people that want to use it or people that like it, but I personally find it annoying and distracting from the articles. How can I go about disabling it? Is there an option to? --ToyoWolf 06:40, October 28, 2010 (UTC)

Back to Monaco
Is there a way to change the default skin of my wikis back to Monaco? Not just for me, for everyone. Tomchen1989 17:20, November 3, 2010 (UTC)

Please do, the new design is terrible. I finally discovered I could change my preferences back to Monaco a few days ago, today I discovered they were gone. Seriously, what's the freaking point of narrowing the pages to an impossible widt which completely screws up the layout if it only means getting huge empty spaces on both sides of the page? Bring back the original page widt! Xerruy 19:43, November 3, 2010 (UTC)

Everyone just switch to Monobook
It's not nearly as good as Monaco, but it's better than this new crap. A massive shift of user preferences to Mononook should send Wikia a clear message. Xerruy 14:33, November 5, 2010 (UTC)

Yes, it would, but Wikia glitched the Monobook on purpose

New look
The new look is terrible! There wasn't nothing wrong with Monaco, I don't know why there's a new look, or at least why there isn't an option to revert to Monaco. Goregue (talk) 16:24, November 13, 2010 (UTC)

I find it pathetic that Wikia has lost confidence in its user's ability to navigate and manipulate complex skins. If thats really the best reason anyone can give, other than what are apparently economical problems, i have in turn lost all confidence in Wikia. If Wikia cannot support three skin types it should have never made such a radical foray into the unknown against the wishes of the majority of its users. I realize that this is a move to attract the less outgoing denizens of the internet. Command and Conquer 4 and Supreme Commander 2 tried to attract soft-core gamers without continuing to please their longtime fans. They were both massive failures. It appears Wikia is making the same sad mistake.

Flamefang 04:28, December 5, 2010 (UTC)Flamefang

Agreed. As I have repeatedly stated before, they could at least restore the original page widt. Right now, there are two huge empty spaces on the right and left. What's the freaking point of that? All it achieves is causing the page content to be crammed in the middle, which really messes up pages with large pictures that fitted without problems in Monaco. Bring back Monaco as a preference. Or, even better, just get rid of the dumbed down, annoying new design. I fear Wikia is going the same way as IMDb - fixing what isn't broking, redesigning for the hell of it and trying to appeal to the retarded MySpace generation by making things look like a flashy glossy magazine. Xerruy 17:01, December 29, 2010 (UTC)


 * Wikia needs those spaces for ad campaigns, see e.g. . --◄mendel► 14:39, December 30, 2010 (UTC)

Scrolling Background Graphic
How can I get the graphic/image used for the background to scroll with the rest of the page instead of the 'repeating image/tile' that's there when you first start customizing the theme? --RadicalEdward2 17:01, May 15, 2011 (UTC)


 * The ThemeDesigner doesn't offer that option, you have to use CSS instead. You can upload a background normally, and put  in MediaWiki:Wikia.css on your wiki.