Random joke
"a wiki 4.6 million years in the making", Troodon would have made it earlier if the asteriod hacker hadn't messed it all up
Categories for fauna
I've been thinking about this issue, and I believe that a more specific category system would be better for the wiki.
I'll use Deinonychus as an example. Using the old system, the page's categories would be something like this:
- Animals
- Dinosaurs
- Theropods
- Dromaeosaurids
- Carnivores
- Cloverly Formation
- Antlers Formation
- Cretaceous
- Aptian
- Albian
- Fossil taxa described in 1969
Instead of listing every single animal under the Animals category, every single Cretaceous species under the Cretaceous category, I think this can easily be remedied using subcategories. An example: the Albian category page can have a Cretaceous category, creating an Albian subcategory that is contained within Cretaceous. That way the same information can be represented in less space,…
Advanced posts up for grabs!
Because we've rebooted, we need new admins and bureaucrats. So I'm reposting the guidelines needed for the ranks:
Rollbacks are users that can:
- can revert vandalism with a single click using the rollback button (without the detours of the undo button)
If you wish to become one of these, you should:
- Have contributed to the wiki for at least a week, this shows that you're here to stay
- Cleaned up 2 vandalous edits (although right now this isn't as applicable)
- You have to ask a bureaucrat, otherwise we wouldn't know!
Once you are experienced in the art of rollbacking (or you make really good edits), you might consider an admin post...
Administrators, also known as sysops, can do everything a rollback can, and:
- can delete pages if need be
- can lock a page…
Aesthetics
So far I've been talking about redesigns and templates and main page revamps. But there's still a vitally important factor to consider: the look of the wiki.
I think the colors are fine, but it's possible we may need a new wordmark. More pressing is the background. I played with it a while back, choosing fern pictures. Eventually I settled on a plain old green background. Although it's fine for now, I just don't think it cuts it. It should be customized in some way, perhaps with various dinosaurs and fossils.
Thoughts?
Open for business
Every article now has at least one reference. So, in my book, that's good enough. All the other improvements can wait---the best results will be achieved only by input from others. So let's reopen this wiki now. Have fun editing to your merry will!
In other news, I've activated a few more features. The Category Exhibition and Achievements are now online. The badges are customized! So happy editing!
Styracosaurus Rider (Speak to the Rider, your Lord and Master) {Look upon my servants} 20:58, October 31, 2011 (UTC)
The Renovation
I know no-one will read this except me. This is my table for redesigning the wiki.
Customize welcome messagesCheck, but need moar cutsomizationRenovate the Ranks page to be more serious (we now will be more like Wikipedia for prehistory)Check-ishModify rulesCheck, although might need some more versions- Introduce a referencing system---very important (so far, so good. let's keep it going)
- Create an article for useful/recommended sources
Make templates to show we are redesigning, needs references, etc. (half done)GET MORE USERS!!! I don't wanna be alonePromotion powers activate- Main-page renovation. I'm thinking of possibly a collab effort, with users like JoePlay (who did an uber-awesome job with the Jurassic Park Wiki main page) and MontagnaMagi…
Article structure
Just an idea on how we can structure our articles.
For a basic article:
- 1 Title
- 2 Features (or Description for animals/plants)
- 3 History
- 4 Paleobiology (for life only, which we will likely be focusing on a lot)
- 5 Appearances in popular culture
- 6 Gallery (if there are lots of photos)
Little intro about what "it" is Infobox here (could we create infoboxes for geological subjects such as volcanoes and meteors?)
What makes the subject distinct (like igneous vs sedimentary vs metamorphic rocks) and how they work (volcanoes=boom!). Or if it's a life form, "Hylonomus grew to about a foot long, and" so on.
How the subject came to be recognized (Alfred Russel Wallace first proposed the theory of continental drift), like discovery, naming, important finds (Ovira…
Articles I think we need to make
Tethys Sea, Dunkleosteus, Coelophysis, Gastornis, Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Paleogene, Neogene, Quarternary, everything on here.
In short, a page about a prehistoric sea, to go with Category:Seas, Dunkleosteus, Coelophysis and Gastornis to make sure every time period has an animal page, and a page for each period of the Earth's history. Tell me what you think. Toothless99 07:52, November 18, 2010 (UTC)