Forum:New System For Wiki News

Comments

 * What about one-liners without any associated blog posts? For instance, the 'Yay us! It's been three years!' and 'Yay Lancer! You're an admin!' news posts? Those were just quick little blurbs that I really can't seen being expanded into the sort of news 'stories' that this approach seems to be going for, nor do the example sites you provided address this concern. SpartHawg948 00:23, August 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * Hmm. No, they don't address any such concern. Perhaps, at least for new admins, a brief "interview" of sorts could be conducted with said new admin, detailing things such as why/when they joined the site, and what they plan to accomplish as an admin? Anniversary type news stories could contain interviews with members who've been here since the beggining/ a long time, perhaps? These are just suggestions, and sadly, I hadn't thought of this issue. Arbington 00:29, August 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * Wow... that kinda sucks. Whenever I do those blurbs they're spur of the moment things. I really don't want to do interviews and all that. That just strikes me as a little silly when the intended purpose is to just give a brief little 'atta-boy'. Additionally, for anniversary things, who would I interview? Me? SpartHawg948 00:38, August 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * Oh. So, you're the only one left who's been here from the start? That's a bit of an issue if we were to do interviews. As would the extra effort for the adminship messages. Well, that was my go at the problem, I really can't think of much else to do about it. Come to think of it, I don't think the wikis I used as an example note anniversaries or adminship. Hmm. Arbington 00:47, August 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * Yeah, near as I can tell, I'm the only currently active editor from way back in 2007. One of the other admins has been around almost as long, but she isn't active at present, and the one who pretty much started the wiki seems to have vanished. I'm fine with an update of the news system, I'd just like to keep it so that it's possible to add little one- or two-liners. And how does this proposal relate to the current new system that came about as part of the front page overhaul (i.e. two sections, one for Mass Effect News and one for Wiki News)? Would this incorporate that, or would the two-sections arrangement be scrapped in favor of this? SpartHawg948 00:58, August 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * Commdor and I agreed that the two sections system wouldn't really work for this, though I initially hoped to use it. Also, I just thought Commdor should be mentioned, as he was the last one to do anything major to the news section. I thought that that was what went in that section of the form, that it was there to mention who made the page/system you're changing. If not, I can remove it, I just tried to fill out the entire form. Arbington 01:07, August 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * Hmmm... I see. Not sure if I'm comfortable with a brand-new system that was agreed on by pretty much everybody being shelved so quickly, but we'll see how it goes. Well, I think I've asked enough questions, and know all I need to know to vote. SpartHawg948 01:13, August 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * I just had an idea. Many wikis use the header notification system (I don't know the proper term) for messages like the adminship and anniversary notices. I believe ours says something like "Mass Effect 2 has been released!", or at least it did last time I checked. We could use this method, and that way we don't lose the pleasant, community-oriented one-liners. Arbington 01:17, August 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * But what about months (such as last month) where we have two such one-liners in rapid succession? SpartHawg948 01:20, August 10, 2010 (UTC)

That's unlikely to happen again. Looking through the main page's history, we've had eight wiki-related news items since December 16, 2007 ("Mass Effect Wiki reaches 500 articles!"). There's another possible one dated July 18, 2007, but I can't tell if it refers to the launch of the wiki or the launch of the ME official site ("the site has launched!"). All others have been about the ME franchise. -- Commdor (Talk) 01:42, August 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * Unlikely, but as we saw last month, not outside the realm of the possible. What with the new Wiki News section (which would be scrapped under this proposal), I was hoping to start pointing out new features of the wiki and all that, since there have been some big changes lately. Anyways, it's something that has happened, which automatically puts it on my 'contingency plan' list, which is one of the things I check when looking at new proposals. If the proposed change wouldn't be able to handle situations that, far from being hypothetical, have actually happened in the past, I'm far less likely to support it. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, after all. SpartHawg948 01:47, August 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * Two ideas, just a sec. -- Commdor (Talk) 02:03, August 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * Never mind, neither panned out. What about just making very short blog entries? Or a page entitled "Mass Effect Wiki:Wiki News" or some variation therein. All wiki-related news would be listed there, and a link to this page would be placed directly underneath or above the blog column on the mp. Nothing pretty, but we have to bend somewhere. -- Commdor (Talk) 03:06, August 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * Hmmm... well, there we'll have to agree to disagree. I don't see the need to bend to accommodate a new system, when the old system already does everything that is asked of it, including the stuff the new system can't. SpartHawg948 03:08, August 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * After reading through this conversation, I also really don't feal comfortable with modding the current system when the new one we have, which is less than a week old, seems to work just fine. I also can see Spart's point in that this system does have some other issues that I didn't think of and for those reasons, I have some very real concerns in the content this new system can handle. I was worried about regulation, but apparenlty I didn't think of everything. Lancer1289 03:19, August 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * To be very blunt, the only hurdle here appears to be that Spart thinks short news items don't warrant blog posts. Dragon Age Wiki thinks otherwise:, . The system is fine. We're making a mountain out of a molehill. -- Commdor (Talk) 03:48, August 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * I still would beg to differ. One or two line blogs look tacky and unprofessional, especially to someone who is A) Averse to blogging unless absolutely necessary or on a voluminous subject; and B) Looking forward to making the most of the new Wiki News section. To be very blunt in turn, this entire exercise seems to be nothing but change for the sake of change. If it wasn't a less-capable revamp of a system we literally just got done revamping, maybe. But it is. The Dragon Age wiki feels differently? Great for them. They also, for example, don't feel it necessary to give major characters from the Dragon Age novels and expansions more than a sentence or two of info in their articles. They do their thing, we do ours, and that's fine by me. I prefer professionalism to change for the sake of change. SpartHawg948 04:22, August 10, 2010 (UTC)

The last system wasn't revamped, however. That was merely a cosmetic change as part of a series of changes, rather than a functional update to the news system itself. I expected us to be using bullets for some time yet, but I also expected that at some point in the short-term we would upgrade to something better. The current system is crude. We have to edit the main page every time we update the news, and once an old news item is removed, it is lost. The new system would have rules and organization and entries would be archived. It is not change for the sake of change, it is an improvement. But I digress, this has shifted from discussion to argument. If you can't be persuaded, I'll let it go. -- Commdor (Talk) 04:57, August 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm all for this new system as long as it retains the functions of the old one. I personally was very excited to see both a Mass Effect News section and a Wiki News section, and am pretty opposed to losing that. Were it incorporated into the new system, I'd be all for it. And I hate blogging, and rarely do it myself (with one notable exception), so the idea of a blog created for the sole purpose of putting in one line which under the current system could easily be done without needing a blog strikes me as asinine in the extreme. Keep the two sections, and remove the necessity for making blogs for each and every story, and I'll support it 100%. Remove the two sections, and make blog posts mandatory even for one-line blurbs, and I'll oppose it 100%. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. SpartHawg948 06:14, August 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * Wow, I duck off to write a report, and all this happens. Personally, If we do implement this new system, I think we should make sure everyone is happy. I'm possibly the world's biggest fan of comprimises, but if this is going to replace the system we put in merely a week ago, it's going to have to be perfect. The only problem with my admin interviews idea was extra effort, so really, I don't think that one should be entirely off the table. Anniverseries and such are really one of the most common things I see in various wiki header alert areas (still don't know the proper term), so I see that as working just fine here. I also would not be at all opposed to bringing back the two-section system, using this system intstead of the main page edit system. SpartHawg earlier raised the issue of having more then one header announcement, which is entirely possible, and indeed is done all the time elsewhere. The absolute last thing I want to do is mess up this wiki's sense of community, so if we do this, I want it done right. In fact, we don't even have to do this at all! I simply started the project to see if this system would look good and funtion properly on this wiki, and I only got serious about it once others started showing their support. Back on topic, though, does anyone else have any more ideas? Arbington 06:23, August 10, 2010 (UTC)