Forum:New Wiki Template Package

Suggestion: when a new wiki is set up, automatically include core templates from Wikipedia (i.e. Cite web, quote, nihongo, infobox, templates necessary to get those to work, etc.). Setting up these things is a hassle when trying to be an administrator for multiple new wikis or if you're a contributor looking to copy info from Wikipedia. --Notmyhandle 17:52, 10 August 2009 (UTC)


 * We do include a fair few such templates in the starter kit, though not exactly in the same form Wikipedia uses (because they are designed to be more accessible). We also have w:c:templates for a wider selection of templates you can use. Are there any specific templates which you find especially useful? 18:12, 10 August 2009 (UTC)


 * The reason this would be great is for transitioning purposes (i.e. a wikidump where the content is transferred without broken or lack of templates). I have no issues with templates themselves, only the amount of time required to set up the wiki. If these templates were already present, time spent migrating templates to better clean up the content would be significantly reduced. For example, lets say I copy a page that uses cite web, I end up with a ton of red links. I can deal with that, but normal viewers and contributors can't (which is why I set it up for them). The point isn't to make a wikipedia clone, but to make the content accessible so that it can be easily revised for the more specific wiki. In many cases, a broken template makes the content invisible, displays an error message, or breaks the page in some way (this is also a turnoff for new contributors). --Notmyhandle 18:40, 10 August 2009 (UTC)


 * The majority of early users on a wiki will not want, or need templates that are as complicated to use as Wikipedia's. Wikipedia's templates have templates inside templates inside templates etc. etc. They also rely on a good deal of stuff from Common.css, which confounds many founders. It's best, therefore, to keep template systems simple for a new wiki. Not that many new users at Wikia come from Wikipedia, so the benefits of simply copying a whole lot of Wikipedia templates unnecessarily are very few in number. My advice would be to make nice, simple, workable templates that everyone can get used to. Don't get too complicated unless you're Wikipedia's size. Copying Wikipedia doesn't work until you get a fair amount of users. :) Wjxhuang,  the 888th Avatar  {Talk} 13:01, 11 August 2009 (UTC)