Okay, so I created this forum for us, mostly (but not limited to) me and Soxra, to suggest aesthetic changes to the content of this wiki. So, if you have suggestions, feel free to share them here, and please, follow the format.
EVA Unit XIII - The beginning and the end share the same moment. TALK - I've been waiting for this moment... 04:41, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
Browsing our articles, I realized that the images to further ilustrates subjects and situations in the story sections and the others... didnt really catch the eye, and as such, they didnt really illustrate the subjects. Besides, they are plain boring, so I think a nice, color frame around them will make them look more appealing to the eye. Below are some examples:
No frame (Current)
Frame (My suggestion)
Note that the color used can be freely customized so it's not bound to be that shade of blue I have in my custom .css. What do you guys think?
(Like my new box? Hikari made it for me) Well, if Bulbapedia can change colors for boxes and such, many wikis can, including us.
ShardofTruth Once you believe, truth and lie are quite the same thing. — 14:56, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
I like it, especially the curves. Maybe we could adjust the color to the new design (and by that I don't mean pink).
17master - Wow, Phones! That was spesticular! TALK - It's a party in my mouth! - 15:24, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
Oh gog rounded edge.
17 approves.
Pea14733Haha, some folks just don't take no for an answer.— 17:22, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
Nice idea, DE. :D
ShadowsTwilight - He's leaving you behind, and when you catch up, he'll be a different person TALK - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I like it
Chitalian8 Say...— Mother and Father call me Joshua. I guess you can call me Joshua, too... Since you're my dear, dear partner.
I don't see how this is my fault. You're the one who refuses to call me Pink. — 21:06, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
This frame, I like it. ANOTHER.
Eh, I prefer the one we're currently using. The other would make it look less organized. But, I haven't seen it being used in any articles yet so I can't say for sure if it would look bad or not. Maybe it would look good, also depending on which color we would chose. But for now I'm still saying no this until I see it in action. - JTD95 21:56, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
In response to your doubts, JTD95, no, the frames do not collide with the content and do not make it look chaotic, as you can see Here. Since the general consensus seem to be that this change is liked, all that remains is to decide in a color before I can apply it.--Dark-EnigmaXIII 22:22, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
Eternal Nothingness XIII - You have to be strong. Strength of heart will carry you through the hardest of trials. TALK - What I do, I do for friendship. — 22:52, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
All for it!
UnknownChaser - You had potential at the academy. What a waste.... But I have no business with weaklings or puppets. TALK - 00:27, 31 January 2012 (UTC)
Aye, looks awesome, lets do it.
Light_Roxas - "I'm a dwarf and I'm digging a hole! DIGGY DIGGY HOLE!!" TALK - "I DEMAND YOUR FINEST BACON!"
I don't have a problem with the color you have there, to be honest. but orange is my favorite color...
SidVI - It's weird. I feel like I'm forgetting something really important. TALK - Who am I going to have ice cream with? - 19:07, 1 February 2012 (UTC)
I like it, and since you can change the colours, it should be pretty damn good.
UxieLover1994 Cuando la vida te da las herramientas, a construir motos libración — 06:19, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
That's alright then. However, the text should be in a dark color, since I cannot read the infomation written in the boxes. Take a look at my Legado, for example.
Huh? The boxes are dark purple. If it was black, you wouldn't be able to read it. Perhaps provide a screenshot so I can see exactly how it's unreadable? Soxxeh 06:26, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
UxieLover1994 Tiempo de morder de nuevo con el poder! El tema de hoy: su sorpresa! — 06:40, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
Purple? It's white on my computer.
Click here and see. Please note that it's to only be online for 48 hours.
Ergh, my oversight. Should work fine now, once your cache decides it wants to be nice. You should upgrade your browser sometime soon, though... ^^ Soxxeh 07:05, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
Really not liking the color. It's too red, and it doesn't match anything in the theme. I suggest Jazzberry Jam (#A50B5E) or something similar. Does that work? -- ASIF! 21:27, 4 February 2012 (UTC)
KrytenKoro - "Because I knew something he didn't. I knew that I was lying. Seriously, sir. 'No silicon heaven'? Where would all of the calculators go?" TALK -
The color and text color need to be modified so that links are still visible. Blue on violet is difficult to see.
I agree with Kryten, and I would like to suggest using straight up Red-Violet (#C71585) with links in Silver (#C0C0C0). That's just my personal taste, though, so I can set up a custom CSS if I get outvoted.
Soxra - This party's getting crazy! Let's rock! It's showtime! - Soxxeh 21:10, 8 February 2012 (UTC)
I've updated it, but I couldn't quickly find a page that has links in the thumbnails, so I wasn't able to see the result... should work, regardless, though.
Looks great, Sox. Thanks a lot. LightRoxas 00:00, 9 February 2012 (UTC)
Category Bar + Input Buttons [implemented]
Soxra - You've heard of it, haven't you? The legend of Sparda? Let's rock! - Soxxeh 04:50, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
On the same ideas as above, the category bar the bottom of each article, as well as the input buttons (such as "Go" and "Search") are rather flat and boring. (I group these together because the proposed style for both is rather similar.)
Current (browser-dependent)
Proposed
Again, keep in mind that we are not bound by color here. Any color can be used, I've just used grey for the sake of simplicity.
Discussion
ShardofTruth Once you believe, truth and lie are quite the same thing. — 14:56, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
This looks really good.
17master - Wow, Phones! That was spesticular! TALK - It's a party in my mouth! - 15:24, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
Same as above, I really like these two ideas.
Pea14733Haha, some folks just don't take no for an answer.— 17:25, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
These ideas are heavenly. :3
PS. Why should we have two discussion sections?
Soxra - This party's getting crazy! Let's rock! It's showtime! - Soxxeh 17:31, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
The ideas will be posted one-after-another. These two are just a start, so every idea will have a separate discussion section.
Alright, Soxra's Monobook mod, which contains both of these ideas, has been out for a while. I like just about everything about it, except:
Can you change the colors of basically everything to pink?
The body font looks really awkward in Arial next to the new header font. The same font is used for the sidebar, where it looks great. Would you mind implementing that font in the body text as well?
That's it. Really, amazing job, Soxra.
Eternal Nothingness XIII - You have to be strong. Strength of heart will carry you through the hardest of trials. TALK - What I do, I do for friendship. — 22:53, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
Fail to see why everything needs to have a rounded edge...categories don't need to look flashy...it's the contents of the article that are important.
Soxra - This party's getting crazy! Let's rock! It's showtime! - Soxxeh 23:54, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
@ENX: If you want to attract all varieties of users, it has to look visually appealing. That's a given.
@As If: That's because the CSS you're using is my personal CSS. It uses fonts of mine, images of mine, etc. Don't expect the full experience.
UnknownChaser - You had potential at the academy. What a waste.... But I have no business with weaklings or puppets. TALK - 00:27, 31 January 2012 (UTC)
Aye, looks awesome I'm all for it. But why no triangle edges? What type of triangles discrimination is this?
LegoAlchemist - They changed "Snipe Magnet" to "Magnet Grab"? Who's translating this game, 4kids? TALK - Friendships are in direct contravention of mercenary conduct as delineated in your contracts, and on a personal note: I am very, very, disappointed with you.
These actually look amazing. I think the default gallery box color should be dark purple, to match our theme.
SidVI - It's weird. I feel like I'm forgetting something really important. TALK - Who am I going to have ice cream with? - 19:07, 1 February 2012 (UTC)
I like it, because it's clearer and more appealing.
KrytenKoro - "Hey, I want to settle down. And as soon as I find the right small group of girls, the seven or eight women who are right for me, my wandering days are over, buddy." TALK -
These look good, but is it possible to make the colors more contrasting for users who might have weaker eyes?
Hm. I'll see what I can do... Soxxeh 04:51, 3 February 2012 (UTC)
Chitalian8 Say...— Every Player had to give up something. Everybody makes sacrifices.
It was me. All of it. — 21:58, 8 February 2012 (UTC)
I'm on Firefox, and it doesn't seem to be showing up for me. Any way to change that?
@KK: That issue should be dealt with now. @Chit: Should be fixed also. Soxxeh 23:10, 8 February 2012 (UTC)
"If you want light to rule over all, then you must rid the world of everything else."
An idea I came up with and emulated from the Valve Wiki Network template. Erry assisted me in its aesthetics.
Current
Proposed
Discussion
SidVI - It's weird. I feel like I'm forgetting something really important. TALK - Who am I going to have ice cream with? - 19:07, 1 February 2012 (UTC)
I like it, it's a really good idea, but where would this template go (on the main page, where, I mean)
Neumannz — Looks like I'm gonna have to jump...! TALK — I work alone! Except when I work with Xion...which is all the time.
— 20:16, 1 February 2012 (UTC)
The Chrono Wiki logo needs to stand out more from the background. Maybe a white highlight border?
Eternal Nothingness XIII - Funny... This whole time, I've been telling myself I want to be stronger, more independent... But the second I let my heart do the talking... I find out how little I really know myself. And how much I miss them. TALK - All this time, I've been staring into the darkness... But... that doesn't mean I have to jump in. — 01:08, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
Looks good, but the tops of the letters in "SEIWA" get lost against the background, and in my personal opinion, the text underneath the SEIWA logo is a tad hard to see. Other than that, looks great!
17master - My name is Daisukeno...Aw screw it, jus' call me Beat. TALK - The beat is on! - 13:17, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
The background should be recolored, maybe to magenta or something pink-ish to fit KH3D theme while making the wikis's logos clearly visible.
"If you want light to rule over all, then you must rid the world of everything else."
Added a white blur background to the Chrono logo.
I approve of the logos and stuff (well done on the template idea!), but I agree with 17m in that the background should be recoloured. That black/grey gradient is terribly dark.
Helping others always comes before asking others for help. • TroisNyxÉtienne — 13:21, 9 February 2012 (UTC)
Nav Bars
Soxra - You've heard of it, haven't you? The legend of Sparda? Let's rock! - Soxxeh 21:06, 1 February 2012 (UTC)
The navigation bars, however consistent they are, use outdated and squared formatting which do not go with the rest of the site. Additionally, their current formatting only displays correctly for Firefox users. A new look will brighten the footer of the article and let users enjoy the transitions between pages.
Eternal Nothingness XIII - Funny... This whole time, I've been telling myself I want to be stronger, more independent... But the second I let my heart do the talking... I find out how little I really know myself. And how much I miss them. TALK - All this time, I've been staring into the darkness... But... that doesn't mean I have to jump in. — 01:13, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
The rounded edges are growing on me...but I still think the templates themselves are tad bit "boring" to look at. Any way they can be "jazzed up" without totally ruining their purpose/formatting? Could they possibly look more Kingdom Hearts-y?
FinalRest - I move the stars for no one. TALK - 08:36, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
I personally prefer the corners to the rounded edges because the way the round edges curve around the [show] button bugs me. I also agree with EO in saying that I reckon they could be jazzed up a bit. I like the brighter colors of the current ones a lot more, but I'm still not crazy about them. I dunno.... Oh, I do prefer the borders on the rounded ones better too.
17master - My name is Daisukeno...Aw screw it, jus' call me Beat. TALK - The beat is on! - 13:17, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
I think the colors need to be brighter, like the old NavBars.
...I think I'm basically suggesting a rounded-edge version of the current NavBar
Soxra - You've heard of it, haven't you? The legend of Sparda? Let's rock! - Soxxeh 21:06, 1 February 2012 (UTC)
The header templates are nicely colored and have good images, but could be more representative of what they signify: attention-getters. In order to get the most people to contribute to the articles, they not only have to be aware that changes are required, but what they should be changing. Colorful and list-oriented templates will help with this.
Eternal Nothingness XIII - Funny... This whole time, I've been telling myself I want to be stronger, more independent... But the second I let my heart do the talking... I find out how little I really know myself. And how much I miss them. TALK - All this time, I've been staring into the darkness... But... that doesn't mean I have to jump in. — 01:09, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
Interesting...good work on these, Soxra! However, I am NOT a fan of using such tiny images (I understand they are larger images resized to fit the template). It should be the talk bubble images or nothing in my opinion.
ShadowsTwilight - He's leaving you behind, and when you catch up, he'll be a different person TALK - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Very nice, it seems very updated, i like
@ENX: Of course not. We used those tiny images in the keyhole in order not to imitate the talk bubble sprite idea that it was beign used here. The image this time can be whatever you guys want.--Dark-EnigmaXIII 02:03, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
17master - Wow, Phones! That was spesticular! TALK - It's a party in my mouth! - 13:17, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
Honestly, I've been trying to move these to the talk pages, because they are so big that you often can't see the actual content of the page without scrolling down...Perhaps we could work on one unified "checklist" template that allowed editors to list all the issues without having to add multiple templates?
Also, notices that are semi-permanent and do not indicate problems with the page, such as translation, canon, or spoiler, should be the slim one-line ones.
The colored background is definitely a plus, though, to keep it from blending in. It's just so large that it actually hurts the page, is the problem.
Soxra - I can already tell. Looks like this is gonna be one hell of a party! Come on! - Soxxeh 04:50, 3 February 2012 (UTC)
That. Is. A. Fantastic. Idea.
I'm going to get started on the checklist concept right away.
Infoboxes
Soxra - You've heard of it, haven't you? The legend of Sparda? Let's rock! - Soxxeh 21:06, 1 February 2012 (UTC)
The infoboxes are very well functional but full of code that bogs down the loading of pages and they look a bit widened and bulky at times. To trim them down, we can slim the size, padding, and adjust the colors of the templates to be more pleasing without losing functionality.
Eternal Nothingness XIII - Funny... This whole time, I've been telling myself I want to be stronger, more independent... But the second I let my heart do the talking... I find out how little I really know myself. And how much I miss them. TALK - All this time, I've been staring into the darkness... But... that doesn't mean I have to jump in. — 01:14, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
Nothing much to say about this one...I'm all for it, but I'm not sure I'm a huge fan of the black-on-green.
Yes, definitely do this! Though I like the songs being under one tab better than in individual ones, though that may be just me.
Chitalian8 Say...— And here's me, playing the world's tiniest violin.
Your face is priceless. — 03:36, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
IMHO, I like that the songs are under different tabs, seems more organized to me.
The new one is gorgeous! But I think I have to agree with that it looks slightly better to have all the songs in one tab. -- JTD95 08:27, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
17master - Yo, is it true they sell curry here? A secret base ain't nothin' widdout curry, yo! TALK - Brotha' ain't a Liar. Brotha's a ramen man. A ramen man who knows how to make curry! - 13:17, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
I like it. As for the songs, I thought we were going to make them more noticeable? Having them on a section like FFWiki's is a good idea, I think.
We can split the music off into a separate box if needed, but the image there was part of an initiative to draw the eye to the music section, as requested (though it was supposed to be replaced with a text image...). As for the foreign language links, those automatically create the links to the other wikis. If we want them to display as well, we can, but we need to preserve the interwiki functionality.
Chitalian, the songs are already under different tabs, it's just that that is also collapsed so that the infobox isn't too long.
Would it be better to move the songs to a separate tab, as we do with journal entries?
Also, Soxra, can you adjust your code so that the black text is white (better contrast) and so that the borders don't show around the image tabs?"We're werewolves,not swearwolves."(KrytenKoro) 04:08, 3 February 2012 (UTC)
17master - Yo, is it true they sell curry here? A secret base ain't nothin' widdout curry, yo! TALK - Brotha' ain't a Liar. Brotha's a ramen man. A ramen man who knows how to make curry! - 14:22, 3 February 2012 (UTC)
I still like the idea of making a separate section, but I'm not against making a separate tab for it.
Quotes
Soxra - You've heard of it, haven't you? The legend of Sparda? Let's rock! - Soxxeh 21:06, 1 February 2012 (UTC)
This is a minor change; it simply helps draw the eye to the quote and makes it stand out from the rest of the text.
Please, no. I really don't like this aesthetically. Yes, it does bring more focus to the quotes. However, I feel it looks quite tacky and unprofessional, regardless of how many other wikis use a similar template. I would rather you increased the size and color of the entire quote, rather than just the quotation marks. That would make it look less awkward.
Eternal Nothingness XIII - Funny... This whole time, I've been telling myself I want to be stronger, more independent... But the second I let my heart do the talking... I find out how little I really know myself. And how much I miss them. TALK - All this time, I've been staring into the darkness... But... that doesn't mean I have to jump in. — 01:18, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
As it was just said, no, no, no, no, NO! Looks bloody awful to me. I personally find quotes are formatted just fine the way they are now and that they should not be changed...they are not what matter on an article to begin with (besides, we have the quotes pages to feature quotes now...no need to make an eyesore such as this appear in the main articles).
Actually, guys, this would work really well here, since there's no width restriction as there was back in wikia. But, oh, well, let's hear other's opinion, too.--Dark-EnigmaXIII 02:06, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
Soxra - This party's getting crazy! Let's rock! It's showtime! - Soxxeh 05:46, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
That's definitely a possibility, maggosh. You'd be in favor of it, if we did?
17master - My name is Daisukeno...Aw screw it, jus' call me Beat. TALK - The beat is on! - 13:17, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
I think the quotation marks are too big, it should be a bit bigger than what we have currently, but also smaller than the ones at Heavy's article over at TF2 wiki.
Neumannz — Looks like I'm gonna have to jump...! TALK — I work alone! Except when I work with Xion...which is all the time.
— 06:11, 3 February 2012 (UTC)
Setting the quotes apart is great and all, but the insanely oversized quotation marks are not nice to look at. The Team Fortress Wiki's ones are a better size. If we can maybe have a slightly colored background, that'd be great, too.
No, it looks horrible, no matter what the size is (it doesn't look good on the Team Fortress Wiki either). Quotes are just a minor part of an article, their not all that important. You shouldn't put this much focus on the quotes. Making the quotes this noticeable is just disturbing for people when they're reading through the articles. - JTD95 21:54, 4 February 2012 (UTC)
I disapprove. The bigger quotation marks look awkward. Granted, the current quote template is pretty basic, and care can be taken to highlight the main quote, but something else can be done... say, changes in the text formatting. The quotation marks should be proportionate in size to the text.
There are some things even the stars cannot tell me. • TroisNyxÉtienne — 13:29, 9 February 2012 (UTC)
Staff Member Template
Soxra - You've heard of it, haven't you? The legend of Sparda? Let's rock! - Soxxeh 21:06, 1 February 2012 (UTC)
Another small change, the little key that signifies a staff member isn't too bold; if we were to use different-colored crowns to represent staff instead, it would give their positions a more rewarding sheen.
Eternal Nothingness XIII - Funny... This whole time, I've been telling myself I want to be stronger, more independent... But the second I let my heart do the talking... I find out how little I really know myself. And how much I miss them. TALK - All this time, I've been staring into the darkness... But... that doesn't mean I have to jump in. — 01:21, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
Not really a big fan of this one. It's sort of the reason why we never used Xemnas back when there were enough staffers for an Org. XIII theme...we don't want to suggest superiority and minority. Having a user say "Oh, he's only a silver crown, so he's probably worthless, whereas this guy has a gold one and is probably the ultimate existence on this Wiki" is not what we want here. At least there's a level of common ground between the staff by using the same template.
The point for this at the Keyhole was mostly so it was know what kind of activities a staffer could do, so users could know who to ask each thing, like moving pictures or blocking vandals. There's the staff page for that, but some users dont bother in checking the link at the bottom of the Interaction segment in the sidebar. By no means is this a way of showing superiority.--Dark-EnigmaXIII 02:01, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
Chitalian8 Say...— Only by allowing strangers in can we find new ways to be ourselves.
Life's little crossroads are often as simple as the pull of a trigger. — 03:34, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
I like that this one differentiates between the Mods and the Admins, seems nice, don't really see too much of a problem with the "superiority" thing.
LightRoxas - "I'm proud to be a small part of something bigger - the people it did choose. TALK - "I am who I am, because of them."
Yeah, I don't really see it being a problem in terms of "Superiority" - it helps distinguish mods from admins, as Chit said.
Neumannz — Looks like I'm gonna have to jump...! TALK — I work alone! Except when I work with Xion...which is all the time.
— 06:15, 3 February 2012 (UTC)
I'm not against the crowns, but if we don't do that, why couldn't we just pretty up the keys? That might be better, considering crowns are already used elsewhere, like with featured articles/media.
Utility Templates
Soxra - You've heard of it, haven't you? The legend of Sparda? Let's rock! - Soxxeh 21:06, 1 February 2012 (UTC)
The utility templates, such as Template:Youmay, are a bit flowery and should be left-aligned. Using thick borders and dark colors helps draw the eye to its content and helps users find what they're looking for quickly and efficiently.
Eternal Nothingness XIII - Funny... This whole time, I've been telling myself I want to be stronger, more independent... But the second I let my heart do the talking... I find out how little I really know myself. And how much I miss them. TALK - All this time, I've been staring into the darkness... But... that doesn't mean I have to jump in. — 01:28, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
Meh, I prefer the first one because of the rounded edges, of all things. Remember, Soxra...just because a template looked good on the Keyhole, it doesn't necessarily mean it will still work the way it did here.
Templates that worked in the keyhole should work even better in an independent wiki when there are no limitations or restrictions by wikia, in all honesty.--Dark-EnigmaXIII 02:07, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
LegoAlchemist - They changed "Snipe Magnet" to "Magnet Grab"? Who's translating this game, 4kids? TALK - Friendships are in direct contravention of mercenary conduct as delineated in your contracts, and on a personal note: I am very, very, disappointed with you.
I agree with ENX; I don't like the Keyhole's templates for this one, especially when they all pile up. The old one just looks... cleaner.
Try to pile up the current templates like that. There's not much of a difference, not to mention they wouldnt pile up this time due to the suite template--Dark-EnigmaXIII 04:49, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
The current one looks better. It has nicer colors (perhaps it could be changed, I don't know), I prefer the round edges and the fact that the text is centered makes it look more independent from the rest of the article which doesn't have centered text. - JTD95 08:44, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
17master - Yo, is it true they sell curry here? A secret base ain't nothin' widdout curry, yo! TALK - Brotha' ain't a Liar. Brotha's a ramen man. A ramen man who knows how to make curry! - 13:17, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
I like the current one we're having. maybe making it a big bigger to make it more noticeable (but the bright color should've done the job).
Neumannz — Looks like I'm gonna have to jump...! TALK — I work alone! Except when I work with Xion...which is all the time.
— 06:19, 3 February 2012 (UTC)
I agree with Erry on this.
Additional update to thumbnail frames
I quite like DE's suggestion for thumbnail frames, and I've got a question: now that image thumbnails have been rectified, what about the gallery?
Now I'll acknowledge that the purpose of the thumbnail frames was to highlight the subject, so I agree that they must be bold and eye-catching. But I find the gallery image borders a bit unsightly (the usual boxy grey borders!). Please, if anyone would like to add on to my idea, do edit this section.
EDIT 13:23, 9 February 2012 (UTC) : I'll post an image suggestion and ask if this is possible.
Helping others always comes before asking others for help. • TroisNyxÉtienne — 13:20, 9 February 2012 (UTC)