Talk:Main Page

From GenieWiki

Modding and data editing

Should modding and data editing be separate or combined? At first I was thinking separate, but they're so related. Really data editing is just a subset of modding. Thoughts, anyone? --DiGiT

Combined --Anastasia 21:31, 28 May 2006 (CDT)

I think modding should be a category, with the graphical and data editing parts the two main subcategories. Richard 18:14, 11 June 2006 (CDT)

Site Problem

Could you give us some more info on the problem you're having and when it might be resolved? Richard 04:44, 16 May 2006 (EDT)

Hmm OK here's the story: My webhost changed servers, so the nameservers for all of our domains had to be updated. This occured over a week ago, but gmail accidentally blocked the email as spam, so I didn't find out until a few days ago. So, I posted the message here and requested a change in nameserver (which takes 24-48 hours). When the nameserver updated, though, there was a problem with the SQL database, but now that's mostly fixed, but I can't seem to edit the main page. Looks like I need to talk to my host again. Sorry for the delays. --DiGiT

AI Scripts

No mention of AI Scripting here :-S -- AIS_Berrys66 30/05/2006

Wanna help me out with an article? I don't think I can do it by myself... - Cesar

Random Page button

I can't tell if this is a bug or just pure coincidence: while pressing the "Random page" button, I was linked into the Main Page 4 times, into the "Arrow" page 3 times, and into the "SWGB list of civs" 2 times. Cesar

I'd say it is just pure randomness... seems to be fairly 'random' to me, anyway. Richard 04:20, 1 June 2006 (CDT)

Splitting/Hosting of Wiki

Alright, this is probably a rather major issue for the wiki - The main concen with the current setup is that there is too much overlapping, which especially effects categorization and naming, as well as the readibility and usefulness of the articles.

For example, every time we have an overlapping subject like Effects (AoK) we have to name them as such, then point out that they are for the game AoK. Having naming conventions like may also put beginner editors off, and/or create much work for the admin. The other option is an article that covers several games at once, which can be interesting to someone who has all the games, but can also be unwanted for someone who has e.g. AoK only.

Then when it comes to categories, all articles are going to be under the same blanket regardless of what game they are for, and we are going to have to add 'Category: Age of Empires II etc to them'. If not, we are going to have to do the same with category names, add 'Scenario Design (AoK) into the name.

Advantages of splitting

Some people will dislike the way some articles get mixed with other games - As mentioned above, naming of both articles and categories must include the game, or the articles must mix info about the different games together. Conventions on this matter have not been discussed at this point.
The quality of the articles may be affected (e.g. confusion between games, readability as it tries to deal with both at once). Similarly, naming makes it very difficult to find an article by searching.
AoE and SWGB may become dwarfed by the popularity of AoK, and receive little attention to their own individual needs.

Advantages of keeping together

Some people like the way certain articles come together, e.g. fans of both AoE and AoK who like to see the two games under the same wiki.
Games are all supported at an active wiki. Even if the two lesser supported games in the wiki have little content, there's still the chance of editors doing a little work for them as well, and by themselves they will be very weak.
The genie engine and the many similarities between AoE and AoK are all kept together, as well as general subjects like scenario design.
The wiki's hosting, organization and management is not separated

Some possibilities

Leave as it is
Split into three games
Split into SWGB and AoK/AoE

The other thing is about hosting the wiki - Wikia[1] provides free, reliable hosting, paid for by advertising revenue. HG seems basically unwilling to host a wiki, but asking a single person to handle hosting also has its issues. Here are some advantages/disadvantages

Advantages of using Wikia

Very good reliablility in terms of hosting and long term existence (though reliablility here has been very good so far too)
Easily found by other users of Wikia, and forms part of the Wikimedia Project and Wikia community
Doesn't require DiGiT to supply hosting and resolve hosting issues himself
The site here is still fairly young, so it's the best time to do it, if ever.

Advantages of staying here

Have to move existing content and reconfigure etc. Also requires people to register all over again. This is probably the biggest problem, as we've already made quite a start here, especially with AoK.
Advertising (but face it, we aren't likely to get many donations)
Basically requires DiGiT to support the move or have competing wikis for a tiny community, which probably isn't a very wise idea.

Hosting possibilities

DiGiT continues to host the wiki at http://www.digitization.org
Hosted at Wikia[2]
HG takes up wikis (seems highly unlikely at this stage)
More than one of the above?

I still have little knowledge on the pros and cons of 'wiki-crossover' (where multiple similar but also conflicting subjects are the topic of the wiki itself) and will have to look into it more to get a better idea of what is best. I also don't mean to divide the community here or insult the host, but this is a discussion we seriously need to have.

My personal belief (at this point, and it isn't especially strong) is that we should use Wikia to host, split the wikis into three (though some exist already) and if possible keep them connected strongly, even having some articles all kept together somehow (but I doubt this is possible at this stage). I think keeping AoE and AoK together is a definite possibility, though SWGB is too different from the previous two to fit in well.

My opinion means very little, though. Please add your thoughts to this important discussion, and feel free to add to the advantages and disadvantages lists. Richard 04:20, 1 June 2006 (CDT)

The reason why the three games are together is because all of them use the Genie engine... not a great reason though, as it seems that most people who play AOK also play/have played AOE, but not SWGB. I say we split into 3 wikies.

As for the transference of host, I don't really have an opinion on that. For now, we're good here, for the Wiki isn't very popular yet, which gives us time to work on it. However, as you said, it requires DiGiT to host and solve problems by himself.

This is probably the best time to have it transfered, because it still requires much to be "completed", and waiting longer means having more stuff to transfer.

I'll wait and see what you think about the transference (sorry, but I'm kinda neutral now... both seem like good choices). I think the best option would be to split the Wiki into 3 and host it in each corresponding Heaven. But since HG isn't willing to host it, we'll have to try something else. Cesar

The reason I set up the three together is because there has been so much development in the data editing area and there was very little centralization. (You'd have to search all of STC's threads, basically.) So basically, the wiki has been taking the "wrong" direction so far. I don't really mind, since centralization is good, so I put it in quotes. Also, you may have noticed I've added a namespace for each game, which allows specific searching and stuff. I'm going to expand the search bar to the left so you can select which game you want to look for. However, if you all are bent on different wikis, I'll shut this down without too much complaint. --DiGiT

Thanks for your responses, DiGiT and Caesar!

As I worked my way through writing the arguments up, my view sort of 'neutralized' as well last night. It's great to hear you're willing to do what the community wants DiGiT, and I'm interested in the namespace thing, which sounds very promising.

I agree about HG hosting it being the best option, but as I've said, and most agree, it seems extremely unlikely. If a lot of the community gets involved it may change, though it seems off-site and unofficial status is the best we can hope for at this stage. For me the main thing is that we get along well and our small community sticks together to make a decent wiki for these games. I guess it's ironic that I don't allocate enough time to it to do much, but real life is an issue for all of us, and time is always going to be a scarce resource.

Keep posting your thoughts guys, and keep bringing new recruits in! Richard 03:29, 2 June 2006 (CDT)

I'm always on the search for new people to join us... sadly, with very little success. Cesar

Me too, Caesar. Though we don't have a massive community here, I'm actually impressed with the success we've had so far, and I think the project will only grow over time. For my part, I've emailed probably over a dozen people from AoEH and AoKH asking them to join. Richard 07:50, 4 June 2006 (CDT)

Sadly, the project seems to be dying. I found myself with some extra time, and I suddenly thought to come here, but Richard seems to be the only one really doing a lot... For what it's worth, I'm in favor of splitting into three wikis, or perhaps even ditching the idea of AoE and SWGB wikis altogether. Zyxomma100 00:23, 7 September 2006 (CDT)

Uploading files

Problem uploading

I can't seem to upload anything at the moment. This is the first time I've tried, but it seems to be broken right now - any idea what could be wrong?

It says The upload directory (/home/digitiza/public_html/wiki/images) is not writable by the webserver.

I'll try to upload some good images for our articles when it comes back Richard 05:35, 3 June 2006 (CDT)

Sorry, probably an issue when my webhost changed servers. Thanks for alerting me to that, it should be fixed now. --DiGiT

The issue seems to be fixed in that I can now get to the upload page, but there was then an error when I tried to upload an image (it was just a small jpg too). Perhaps someone else could upload an image and see if it's working? Richard 03:58, 5 June 2006 (CDT)

Edit: It now seems to be working, no worries! I've just uploaded the new AoEH Logo as a test. It will come in handy for the future article on AoEH. Richard 00:37, 7 June 2006 (CDT)

How to upload?

How can I upload files? I can't seem to find any links... Cesar

We can upload them using the link at the bottom left 'upload file'. This can be any file really, but mainly pictures basically, unless some music or such is especially relevant. We certainly won't be hosting campaigns or anything like that, but I think some voice samples of the Ulio narration for example are a good example of a relevant sound file. Richard 02:06, 9 June 2006 (CDT)

File format

For music files, what file format should we use? I can convert, record and play OGG Vorbis files myself, and I know it's a convention on WP to use vorbis because it's a free format, but are we going to use OGG vorbis as the default file format here, or just go with MP3? I'm concerned that a lot of our readers won't know what OGG files are or how to play them. Since MP3 files are used in AoK too as the default format, perhaps we should just stick to that? It's also a lot to ask when the wiki probably won't host that many sound files. Richard 19:15, 11 June 2006 (CDT)

Search Function

The search function should not... better, cannot be case sensitive. If I search for "aok:archer", I get taken into "That page doesn't exist. You can, however, create it...". However, if I type "AOK:ARCHER", I get immediately taken into the page I searched for. It'd make the search function rather confusing for those who never capitolise (sp?) anything, or for those who have a cockroach lying on their CAPS-LOCK button if the search function is case sensitive. Cesar

List of units

Will we make one list for all units in Age of Kings, or will it be split up in a separate list for ranged units, infantry and cavalry? -Hussarknight

At the moment we have all AoK units listed by class at AOK:List of units. For further discussions about AoK units, I think we should use that page's talk page. Richard 18:14, 11 June 2006 (CDT)

I think that a contents page is needed on the main page. You guys have put up masses of information and I'm slightly overwhelmed and I don't know how to navigate to different subjects. This may be because I'm missing something obvious, otherwise I think it would help to just have a list of everything here. I realise it's not finalised yet but it could be a work in progress. StephenR 18:33, 12 June 2006 (CDT)

It already exists. However, it's rather unknown, since it is hidden at the "Special Pages" page. We could make it more visible, though, by adding a link to it somewhere in the main page. Also, you should realize that there are very few articles by now. There's still a lot to be done.Cesar

Firstly, apologies for long delay in responding. Secondly, that's helpful Cesar, I think it should be made more prominent but what I was thinking of was what they have on front page of the AoE III Wiki. In fact, why not lift it? StephenR

Perhaps some sort of directory like Wikipedia has, but there are areas like map design that don't even have a single article... Really it's still just a case of getting more people involved and creating more and better content pages, including both articles and help/policy type material. When such content is available we can surely add a portal on the main page to help navigate it. Richard 04:02, 10 August 2006 (CDT)

Internal Focused Linking

Is it possible to make a internal link focused on a specific heading? I'm trying to do that in the Franks page to link to Throwing Axemen, but focusing is as far as I know only possible by using an external link. - Hussarknight

Try AOK:SOLDIER#Throwing_Axeman. - Cesar

I tworks, but it looks ugly in a text. - Hussar

If you put [[AOK:SOLDIER#Throwing_Axeman|Throwing Axeman]], it will look like this: Throwing Axeman. Cesar

Portals

Perhaps creating portals for each game (or other sections, who knows?) would be interesting. Cesar

Login

This started to happen a few days ago: whenever I login, I get automatically logged out after 1 minute (approx.). Therefore I actually have to login twice... Cesar 11:17, 12 July 2006 (CDT)

New Thread

I know no one will probably see this but I am thinking about creating a new thread at AoEH about this. I wish to try and raise activity here again and make it a site people actually visit and put articles on. First I'm thinking of making a push at Tribulation Designs then at AoEH after talking to Dr Lorenzo about it. Hopefully I can get a new wave of people here even if no one that started this reads this.

The Dark Archer 05:34, 16 July 2007 (CDT)

Go for it. G1ggy 21:21, 18 July 2007 (CDT)

Done. The new thread is now up and Doc says that he will put it in the News at AoEH tomorrow as well. :) The Dark Archer 03:41, 20 July 2007 (CDT)

Images with copyright

I'm wondering about the images of the boxes - if they are copyrighted by MS we can't provide the here under the GNU FDL. Peter 08:38, 25 July 2007 (CDT)

No, we can't. But we can surely claim some sort of fair use. I'll go see what we can claim, and how. Giggy ^Talk 18:58, 25 July 2007 (CDT)

AoK Heaven

I don't see much related to Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings on that site. The two pictures shown on the page that you've linked to are both taken with AoC.

I'm assuming this is AoK and not AoC... Perfect 13:12, 5 November 2007 (CST)