Forum:Sidebar links

The Yu-Gi-Oh! Wikia is one of the largest on Wikia, and yet we still have an essentially vanilla sidebar, after more than five years and 40,000 pages. Other wikis use the sidebar to allow quick navigation between core articles - see for instance RuneScape Wiki or Family Guy Wiki. I think it's high time this was fixed, and am interested in hearing suggested sidebar layouts - thoughts? 「 ダイノ ガイ 千？！ 」? · Talk⇒Dinoguy1000 18:07, June 14, 2010 (UTC)


 * I agree that the sidebar of this wikia needs a make-over. I suggest we can put up the link to the current banlist. Deck Types can be added which branch out into A-C, D-F, so on. Is it possible to have the Forum link branch out into the different sections of the Forum?-- HHTurtle (Talk) 18:35, June 14, 2010 (UTC)


 * Yeah, this is something long overdue. The message you've linked to is for the Monobook sidebar. I think we want to attack the Monaco one, which is done separately.
 * I think we should consider including:
 * Sets, as the most recent sets are always our most visited articles
 * Archetypes and Deck types: These seem to be popular too.
 * As suggested above, forums should be branched.
 * I think we should have something for anime and manga, which branches to series, characters and episodes/chapters.
 * And consider removing the following:
 * Featured users. This is more of the techs infatuation with edit counts. And I think it's why TwoTailedFox keeps getting hundreds of messages from new users despite not being active in over a year.
 * Highest voted: Is it just me or are these nearly always very random unusual choices?
 * -- Deltaneos (talk) 20:40, June 14, 2010 (UTC)


 * Thanks for pointing out the correct message; I've updated the link in my original post accordingly. I've also created a sitenotice pointing to this discussion due to its importance.
 * I think it should also include at least one "Topics" dropdown, which would include links to general topics like gameplay terminology or the rarity overview.
 * I also have to ask if the community portal is really used any more, and if not, we should probably simply remove the link to it. The recent changes link should also be removed, since that is also linked in the toolbox below the sidebar. 「 ダイノ ガイ 千？！ 」? · Talk⇒Dinoguy1000 22:23, June 14, 2010 (UTC)


 * The community portal and current events aren't not really used, since we started using Forum:Yu-Gi-Oh! Wiki Discussion. Although it would be nice if we kept general Yu-Gi-Oh! discussion and actual wiki discussion separate.
 * Why rarities specifically? Gameplay terminology seems to be important, though.
 * Two recent changes links. Makes sense to remove the one that's unlikely to be used. The Alt + (Shift) + R shortcut should still work as long as one of them uses.
 * It's probably worth mentioning that people can customise the toolbox section to suit their own preference at Special:MyPage/Monaco-toolbox. -- Deltaneos (talk) 22:44, June 14, 2010 (UTC)


 * "[A]ren't not" or "are not"? ;) And while more separation would be nice, most of the topics in the wiki discussion forum have nothing to do with the wiki specifically - many consist of random card/rulings/fanon duel questions/etc.
 * No reason in particular, they're just one of the first things that popped into my mind since I was discussing them recently elsewhere.
 * I thought keyboard shortcuts worked regardless of the sidebar/toolbox contents?
 * Yeah, although I can't think of any neat way to do it from the sidebar or toolbox itself. It could be included in the welcome messages, though. 「 ダイノ ガイ 千？！ 」? · Talk⇒Dinoguy1000 23:46, June 14, 2010 (UTC)


 * Sorry, meant "aren't"/"are not". -- Deltaneos (talk) 00:03, June 15, 2010 (UTC)

I know that the Wiki Discussion section is for discussions about changes to the wikia and Community consensus about it. However, there is no suitable section in the Forum for random topics like "what's your favourite card", "Who you'd think would win", etc... Maybe we could open a separate section for them and call it "Casual Discussion". That way it would be easier to categorize the topics. I agree with removing the Featured users section. I think that is how most of the Admins are targeted by vandals.-- HHTurtle (Talk) 03:44, June 15, 2010 (UTC)

I definitely agree with removing "Featured Users", I myself sent TTF a message when I first joined, not thinking to check the date of his last edit. Unless there's a way to set up that section so that it's not based on edit count. Anything that cleans up the forums would be great, and I quite like HideHeadTurtle's suggestion. Links to the most important anime characters would be nice, but nothing too excessive, since the portal links on the main page cover that pretty well. Perhaps links to the arc pages of each of the series would be beneficial? My only other suggestion is links to pages in, though I think some consensus on what constitutes a sufficient number of Decks for a separate article is needed. Cheesedude 03:52, June 15, 2010 (UTC)

I kind of agree with Cheesedude and got nothing more to say. Fallensilence 08:58, June 15, 2010 (UTC)Fallensilence

Proposal
Okay how about something like the following? The syntax on MediaWiki:Monaco-sidebar will be different, but this should be easier to read.
 * Card Game
 * Forbidden & Limited
 * Sets
 * Booster Packs
 * Other Packs
 * Starter Decks
 * Structure Decks
 * Promotional Cards
 * Structure Decks
 * Promotional Cards


 * Characters
 * Anime
 * Yu-Gi-Oh! (2nd series)
 * Yu-Gi-Oh! (1st series)
 * Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
 * Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
 * Manga
 * Yu-Gi-Oh!
 * Yu-Gi-Oh! R
 * Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
 * Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's


 * Series
 * Yu-Gi-Oh!
 * 2nd anime episodes
 * 1st anime episodes
 * Chapters
 * Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
 * Episodes
 * Chapters
 * Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
 * Episodes
 * Chapters


 * Forums
 * General Yu-Gi-Oh! discussion
 * Yu-Gi-Oh! Wiki discussion
 * Ruling queries
 * Deck help
 * More...


 * Help


 * IRC channel


 * Random

Reject it or suggest changes if you want. It's just an idea to get us started.

It does have some portal pages that don't exist, but they can be made. And I'm guessing everyone is in favour of splitting the Yu-Gi-Oh! Wiki Discussion forum in general discussion and wiki discussion? -- Deltaneos (talk) 15:47, June 15, 2010 (UTC)

Like the idea of a link to the latest ban list; that'll be really helpfull when im building my (amazing) decks. A link to recent/soon to be released sets would be great too. Im not exactly great at all with the techy stuff, but what has been suggested here so far looks great. Personally though Im not a great fan of the anime so I couldnt give a towel about what you do with that. --Its the EndOfTheWorld! Mwuhahahaha! 15:54, June 15, 2010 (UTC)

Looks good to me, and I'd be happy to assist in the creation of any of the nonexistent portals. And yes, splitting the forums would be great. Cheesedude 16:36, June 15, 2010 (UTC)

I think this idea looks great. The only problem I see is the text "March 2010 Lists" Having this text here would mean updating the sidebar every six months, how about we just put "Current Forbidden/Limited Lists" or "Current Format", just something more generic.
 * The "March 2010 Lists" text is the actual page name of the current Forbidden/Limited list; the text that would actually get displayed is "Forbidden & Limited". I'd agree that updating the sidebar every six months for the new Forbidden/Limited list isn't optimal though; perhaps it would be better to link through a redirect that itself gets updated when a new list is released? This would also allow links to the current list in other areas without having to update those links on the release of new lists. 「 ダイノ ガイ 千？！ 」? · Talk⇒Dinoguy1000 17:37, June 15, 2010 (UTC)

At least it's still a sidebar. Fallensilence 17:39, June 15, 2010 (UTC)Fallensilence

Could a link to a random card that isn't illegal be added? I'd love a way to randomly browse the many cards just so I could come across a random one to put in my deck. --24.136.234.89 00:58, June 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately, that kind of specificity isn't possible via Special:Random (and thus can't be implemented in the sidebar), though it may be possible to display a random card via Semantic MediaWiki or DPL - I really don't know enough about either of those to be sure though. 「 ダイノ ガイ 千？！ 」? · Talk⇒Dinoguy1000 01:10, June 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * All the cards are usually in both the TCG cards and OCG cards groups. There are already links for random lore, galleries, etc. There must be some way of doing that. --24.136.234.89 03:42, June 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * Each of those is based on a namespace - for instance, Special:Random/User is going to give you a random user page. TCG-legal cards are not noted as such in any way in their page title, much less by a namespace, so it's just not possible. 「 ダイノ ガイ 千？！ 」? · Talk⇒Dinoguy1000 06:31, June 17, 2010 (UTC)

What about a link about all the users? Then people can learn and thank who posted them in the first place without the recent updates. Fallensilence 02:28, June 17, 2010 (UTC)Fallensilence
 * That would really end up just being a massive vanity page. The current system of user pages linked from discussions and page histories is the best solution. 「 ダイノ ガイ 千？！ 」? · Talk⇒Dinoguy1000 06:31, June 17, 2010 (UTC)

Can we allow the Deck Types to branch out into Deck Types A-C, D-F and so on much like how the My Yugioh Deck Wiki does with their sidebar? It'll make it easier for people to navigate through Deck Types. I agree 100% to splitting the Yu-Gi-Oh! Wiki Discussion forum into General Discussion and Wiki Discussion. As for the banlist, I like Dinoguy1000's suggestion to use redirects.-- HHTurtle (Talk) 03:29, June 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * That sounds good to me; depending on how the sidebar plays along with subsublists, we could have separate sublists for deck type list pages and for popular/well-used/whatever deck types. 「 ダイノ ガイ 千？！ 」? · Talk⇒Dinoguy1000 06:31, June 17, 2010 (UTC)

I would like the sidebar should be made so we all can see what pages we like would be edited and be able to have friends or something UltimateCombos 05:27, June 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * There's really no way to set up the software to show what pages should be edited, since that is a pretty abstract idea - to one person, on one wiki, a page that should be edited is just fine as-is to another person on another wiki. Secondly, the wiki software has no built-in support for friends; the closest you could come is maintaining a list of users you consider friends on your user page. 「 ダイノ ガイ 千？！ 」? · Talk⇒Dinoguy1000 06:31, June 17, 2010 (UTC)

That actually sounds pretty difficult to add friends like myspace or something like that on wiki. After all, this is wiki. This isn't a place to add friends. Fallensilence 22:08, June 17, 2010 (UTC)

Decks
I suggest that we maybe add a section that shows some of the popular decks that people use, or maybe some Staple cards. It can be a tab that has the most visited decks, such as Lightsworn, Chaos, Blackwing, Zombie, Machina, etc. Also, maybe a section that brings you to a random card, such as one from LOB or even one up to STBL J61707 01:50, June 21, 2010 (UTC)

Please put the four tildes. And I agree because people will be informed about popular decks on the sidebar rather than searching for it throughout the wikia. Fallensilence 00:57, June 21, 2010 (UTC)

Thanks you Jg1707. Fallensilence 01:53, June 21, 2010 (UTC)