Talk:Main Page/Development

Well, I've got some suggestions and comments for the questions given:

• Incorporate another search box? What exactly do you mean?

Well, I've always liked the idea of a simplistic Google-like index, maybe the main page should focus around a search box so people can just look front and center and see where to type what they need. Though the more 'introduction' text also has its benefits. Maybe in the future when TG needs no introduction we can relocate the text to an About page and stick with the simplistic look. --Hyarion 14:53, 23 July 2006 (EDT)

I think the search box we've got works just fine. If it works for Wikipedia, why wouldn't it work here? --Earendilyon 16:24, 23 July 2006 (EDT)

• Which color scheme is most Tolkien-ish? I would say most definitely green.

Green it is, Tolkien is all about earth, trees, plants, etc. and I think the color would do justly, maybe a green/red style to complement our logo? Or maybe blue to go with the blue links. --Hyarion 14:53, 23 July 2006 (EDT)

I don't think there is such a thing as a Tolkienish colour scheme. Tolkien used a lot of different colours in his discriptions of, say, Valinor, or Gondolin. --Earendilyon 16:24, 23 July 2006 (EDT)

• Is the old introduction text necessary or does it take up too much room? I would say it would be nicer if it were a bit shorter, but I do believe it to be necessary. Perhaps if it were in a box on the right rather than directly under the title?

I'll see if we can't move it to a better spot, and maybe we can rewrite it so the same ideas come across in less text. --Hyarion 14:53, 23 July 2006 (EDT)

I'd say: get rid of the second paragraph of the intro, and replace Current Events in the left bar by All Pages (as the Current Events are on the Main Page anyway, although named Latest News; you could add a More link to that Main Page section to link to what's now the Current Events page). --Earendilyon 16:24, 23 July 2006 (EDT)

• Should Tolkien Gateway be more prominent? Definitely. The trouble is getting it there. Forums such as the Barrow-downs don't allow "advertising" but even one editor here that would be prominent there could say much for it and perhaps get a little more involvement. Due to complications unfortunate to say the least I was unable to register there. I don't know about other forums or other Tolkien sites. It is sort of nice to have a small circle of editors where everyone-knows-everyone, but a lot of our projects require either a lot of work, or a lot more people.

Heh, actually I meant the literal "Tolkien Gateway" text in the layout ;) But I entirely agree, I think at this point in time TG has a lot to offer and we really need to just get the word out. I forgot to thank you for your Screenplays thread at BD's Fan Fiction forums. You were unable to register at the main forums though? Strange, if I can be of any assistance do let me know. --Hyarion 14:53, 23 July 2006 (EDT)

See comment on the search box ;-) --Earendilyon 16:24, 23 July 2006 (EDT)

• In the live version we will format the content in such a way that it utilizes subpages to separate the content. Could you elaborate on that a little? Will there be a "main page" for each type or article that has links to all its subpages or something like that?

I should have elaborated first, I tend to think everyone can read my mind :). What we can do is separate the Main Page into subpages such as: Main_Page/Featured_article and Main_Page/News and Main_Page/Featured_Gatekeeper. I would be much more willing to allow say the "Featured article" sub page to be editable by anyone, that way anyone can change it if I'm not around. Due to caching less people would see spam if someone attempted it. Maybe we can even 'semi-protect' the page so that maybe the person has to be registered, or registered for X amount of days before they can edit it. --Hyarion 14:53, 23 July 2006 (EDT)

Nobody understand what you write, let alone what you think! Anyway, I think it's a good idea, if protected. --Earendilyon 16:24, 23 July 2006 (EDT)

• Top contributors might become prone for abuse with lots of useless edits (such as myself), maybe we should change it to a Featured editor? Featured editor is a good idea (especially if we could have more people voting on it). I'm not sure what you consider "useless" edits. I can see people changing the wording of stuff just to get more edits. I see what you mean, though. Some editors will spend a tremendous amount of work writing, revising, and expanding articles, and will only get a small number of "edits". Others would spend a large amount of time correcting spelling mistakes. This would also take a lot of work, though of a different kind, but still get more "edits" for it. Others might just make minor edits here and there, and not spend a whole lot of time on it but still get edits. I find that I am quickly convincing myself against awards for the number of edits. "Featured editor" would be nice, but I think awards for specific work would be better. For instance, suppose someone wrote a great article of high size and quality, or on a particular article spent a lot of work, there would be voting open for two weeks as to whether or not that editor deserved the award. Or there would be another for an editor who spent great time undoing the work of vandals. You get the picture. But I should really be discussing this on the "User awards" thread in the forums. . .

Exactly. One thing I don't want to do however is have user created awards that they can give away whenever they want. I've seen some wikis do this but what good is an award that anyone can give someone? I like the idea of a formal voting for official awards at least to recognize dedicated individuals. --Hyarion 14:53, 23 July 2006 (EDT)

Personally, I'm not that competitive, so I wouldn't mind if there wouldn't be a Featured Editor or something the like. But don't let my opinion stop you if you realy, realy, realy want this. --Earendilyon 16:24, 23 July 2006 (EDT)

• Speaking of editors, what are we called? There's Wikipedians, Wookieepedians, Tolkien Gatewayers? Tolkien Gatewayians? TGers? TGites? I favor Tolkien Gatekeepers, or for short, Gatekeepers. Say "Gatekeepers" outloud. Sounds nice, doesn't it?

...Gatekeepers...I love it! --Hyarion 14:53, 23 July 2006 (EDT)

What's wrong with "Editors"? --Earendilyon 16:24, 23 July 2006 (EDT)

Anyway, those are my thoughts. --Narfil Palùrfalas 14:03, 23 July 2006 (EDT)

Awesome ideas Narfil! It helps so much to bounce these ideas off of people, we can get some really innovative plans. I've added my comments below your comments for ease of reference. --Hyarion 14:53, 23 July 2006 (EDT)