STOWiki talk:Community portal/Archive02

Episode Templates, et. al.
Hello folks! I posted a discussion in Talk:Azura_Blues. I've posted the link here as well as my comments have far ranging implications throughout this wiki. It has to do with what kind of content we post regarding opinions vs. facts. Please comment on this topic here so that we can keep the community discussion in a central location. -- Rohar (talk|contribs) 22:26, 14 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I've moved the walkthrough in that page to a sub-page, as you recommended in the talk page of that article. – TerranRich ( hail ∙ log ∙ comm ) 19:31, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Game Play
I looked around and I don't see a category/section to cover the actual play of the game. Things like how the HUD works, starting hot key assignments, inventory screen, weapons slots, etc. Seems like we should have something like that on the Main Page. -- Rohar (talk|contribs) 02:56, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

Whoever owns this wiki PLEASE edit the CSS!
Whoever owns the wiki can you PLEASE edit the CSS to look better or at least eligable (MediaWiki:Common.css). For example:

Galleries

No one can actally see the captions - it's just a block of white.

Tables

Is annoying and and doesn't fit in with the wiki. Something like this...

...is what it should be. I don't want to manually enter all the all the style codes edits when it could just be simply added to the CSS sheet.

Arua 11:01, 17 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I've fixed the CSS for gallery images, and I've created a CSS class for orange/blue tables like the one above. It is the "infotable" class, and no color/centering markup is required. All TH cells (wikicode: ! ) are orange as shown above, and TD cells (wikicode: | ) are teal/blue as shown above. See below for an example:


 * {| class="infotable"

! Rank ! Escort ! Cruiser ! Science ! Lieutenant ! Lt Commander ! Commander ! Captain ! rowspan="2" | Admiral
 * colspan="3" | Light Cruiser
 * Escort
 * Cruiser
 * Science Vessel
 * Heavy Escort
 * Heavy Cruiser
 * Research Science Vessel
 * Escort
 * Exploration Cruiser
 * Long Range Science Vessel
 * Advance Escort
 * Assault Cruiser
 * Reconnaissance Science Vessel
 * Fleet Escort
 * Star Cruiser
 * Deep Space Science Vessell
 * }
 * }


 * Thank you for your input! – TerranRich ( hail ∙ log ∙ comm ) 19:41, 26 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Hey Rich, how come the site is framed to fit to a certain resolution? probably 1280x1024, I have a widescreen monitor and tons of wasted space on either side. It would be nice if the site just fit to the resolution of the user. -- Lem (talk)  20:43, 26 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Well, at the time I designed this site, I wasn't sure how to get it to fit the entire width of the browser without resorting to using tables instead of DIV elements (which conforms to web standards). If I do this, however, I'd have to go through every page with tables and make sure the 100%-width tables don't look too huge on HD resolution. I have a 1920x1080 desktop and the site doesn't look that bad to me. – TerranRich ( hail ∙ log ∙ comm ) 21:00, 26 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Are you sure there isn't a simpler way, because it seems like a setting that has been turned on as just about every other wiki I have been to autoscales to the users page, memory alpha, wikipedia, guild wars wiki and the one I had installed on my own computer. Any tables that aren't set at 100% width have probably been done so for a reason, everything else will be using the wikitable class I would have thought. -- Lem (talk)  21:06, 26 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm not saying it looks bad, I just feel like it is a waste of all this space I and others have. -- Lem (talk)  21:08, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Please add a section in the Items section
We need one specifically for "PvP" stuff. Where we can list the badges, how you get them, and what you can buy with them.

Wow
I haven't been around much lately. This wiki is taking off! Great to see! I will be doing some more work soon. Keep it up guys! 18:38, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

Main Page Categorization
I'd like some opinions about this... I believe the front page Portal table needs to be revamped and reorganized. Now that most of the features of the game are known and we can better categorize certain things, and we have some lists going, should the Portal be reorganized? – TerranRich (TCE) @ 17:05, 28 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Well one thing that bugs me is that List of episodes and Episode givers both redirect to the same page, seems pointless having both. Otherwise I quite like the images and the overall size, shape and content. I would rename episodes to missions, as episodes are a series of missions, and missions covers everything including fleet actions etc. I would like to see a link to the latest patch notes, I have some DPL ideas for that when it happens so it can auto-update yet still remain a protected page. -- Lem  (talk)  17:13, 28 January 2010 (UTC)
 * The Portal was designed long before we knew anything about what was to be included in the game. Hence, a lot of the links on the Portal go to pages with a few lines of text about how it might be like in the game, while several other lists and "master" pages (what I call them anyway) go unnoticed. I'd been working on STOwiki for most of the open beta, so I never really got a chance to get a real feel for the game. Just today I realized that "abilities" applies to BOffs, while "traits" applies to players... I had "Ability/Abilities" redirecting to "Traits". I just changed it to redirect to "Bridge officer abilities" and added a link on the front page. Somebody with a slightly better grasp on STO mechanics should come up with a better organization for front page navigation to important pages, which then link to other important pages, etc. Another example would be Sector space, which has a huge map, while Galaxy is just a list. – TerranRich (TCE) @ 17:19, 28 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Please remove the item on the bottom of the main page about the Omega Squadron, that's not supposed to be on the main page of this Wiki. -- Sabouma

Stuff That Needs To Be Added
Hi all. I'm compiling a list of things that need to be added to the site (or made more complete):


 * Populate the three skill trees (Sci, Eng, Tac)
 * Populate the pages for each skill with in-game information, as well as other notes on how they affect gameplay.
 * Get BOff skills info into their own pages
 * Get all NPC info from tutorial, onward. Every single NPC should be documented and categorized, with their dialog UI headshot used for their image.

That's what I have so far. If you know of anything else that should be added to the above list, let me know. – TerranRich (ETC) @ 14:34, 31 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Hi, I will be adding skill and abilities information in the next few days or so, if I get the time. If theres something you want me to know or anything like that before I go at it, contact me please :) – Karoline (TCE) @ 23:33, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Hi all, i'm new to editing wikis, and just registered to the STO Wiki. I might format these topics in the wrong way, but I will get the hang of it over time. So forgive me if I seem demanding. But what i've seen so far is that you are all doing a great job...keep it up.

Here were some of the Topics that we should add:


 * The Path to 2409 (The Star Trek Online Book came out here in Hawaii, so it must have everywhere else. If I recall, the back had an extended timeline up to 2408.)


 * The Terran Empire (Always found them interesting for some reason.)


 * Ship Classes: Borg, Undine, Terran Empire, Romulan, Ferengi...etc (I'll try to help out if I can, time permitting)


 * Planets: Individual Planets ruled out from others like Earth, Risa and others in separate pages

...Just suggestions guys, not demands.-Alpha6 23:46, 27 March 2010 (UTC)

A great looking site, well done!
Hi Everyone,

This is a great site you're putting together :) I've never really done any Wiki editing, but would like to start with STOWiki. I've read the guidelines etc., but will do so again before making any changes. I see the Skills information still needs expansion, so I'll probably start there for an easy introduction.

Thanks,

Darren.
 * Thanks! We have some very talented individuals here that are doing a great job! I look forward to seeing you around! ~bobalobabingbong -=[ T  + C  ]=- @  19:43, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Section for info about Fleets?
Now that the game is up and running - wondering if the Wiki might serve as a good master directory of which Fleets are active within the game. Each Fleet could have one entry for info about their specific fleet, affiliates, allies, commanders, web site, etc. Could probably setup some templates to keep things consistent, etc.

Thoughts? --Aequalitas 08:33, 10 February 2010 (UTC)
 * I have no issue with fleet pages and such. I will be updating the fleet page guidelines soon.
 * ~bobalobabingbong -=[ T  + <span=help title="boba's Contributions">C  ]=- <font color="#33FF33">@  05:42, 17 February 2010 (UTC)
 * There was a discussion about it some time ago, and it was mentioned that it might become a messy affair. Not sure how we should go about this, if at all. – TerranRich (ETC) @ 07:04, 17 February 2010 (UTC)
 * After reading Lem's post, I would have to agree with him. Leave it to the user pages. We certainly have enough to worry about. Sorry Aequalitas.
 * <font face="Helvetica"><span=help title="bobalobabingbong's User Page"><font color="#306ac9">~bobalobabingbong <font color="#306ac9">-=[ <span=help title="boba's Talk Page">T  <font color="#33FF33">+ <font color="#306ac9"><span=help title="boba's Contributions">C  ]=- <font color="#33FF33">@  14:21, 17 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Having read the above linked article I can fully understand peoples reluctance to add Fleet entries to the Wiki now. I do wonder though if the same issues would occur if the fleets page was just a bare bones "Telphone Directory" style (by policy) which only allowed "Fleet Name" and a "Website Link" (or similar minimalist entry)? I can though fully understand you wanting to avoid problems, but wouldn't the increased web-traffic benifit you? I see ad's lol [so there working] ;). --DoggyDude 00:34, 9 September 2010 (UTC)

Archived
I archived the stuff before, and up to open beta. Hope that's fine, as the page was getting quite large. <font face="Helvetica"><span=help title="bobalobabingbong's User Page"><font color="#306ac9">~bobalobabingbong <font color="#306ac9">-=[ <span=help title="boba's Talk Page">T  <font color="#33FF33">+ <font color="#306ac9"><span=help title="boba's Contributions">C  ]=- <font color="#33FF33">@  16:49, 17 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Yeah, archiving is totally fine. It helps with readability and clutter. – TerranRich (ETC) @ 23:32, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

Tier III Item Upgrades in Crafting
Hi Guys.

I have added the Engineering Tier III crafted items, Mk VIII, IX and X and have made a start on the required materials for each. Over the course of the next few days i will be adding the Science and Tactical Tier III items and required Materials. I am also working on a spreadsheet that people can download (i'll host that on my server if you like) that shows clearly what materials are needed for each item.

Please feel free to correct my wikicode if i have made any errors, this is the first time i have done any work on a wiki. Also if i need to add anything again please let me know

Cheers, Bruce Gossage 22:18, 19 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the help! Just nake sure too keep an eye on the Manual of Style and the other guidelines for help!
 * <font face="Helvetica"><span=help title="bobalobabingbong's User Page"><font color="#306ac9">~bobalobabingbong <font color="#306ac9">-=[ <span=help title="boba's Talk Page">T  <font color="#33FF33">+ <font color="#306ac9"><span=help title="boba's Contributions">C  ]=- <font color="#33FF33">@  04:05, 20 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Engineering Craft Level III (Mk VIII, IX and X) now complete with required mats and descriptions.
 * Science Craft Level III (Mk VIII, IX and X) upgrade names added
 * --Bruce Gossage 11:08, 24 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Awesome! Thanks again for your help! Keep it up!
 * <font face="Helvetica"><span=help title="bobalobabingbong's User Page"><font color="#306ac9">~bobalobabingbong <font color="#306ac9">-=[ <span=help title="boba's Talk Page">T  <font color="#33FF33">+ <font color="#306ac9"><span=help title="boba's Contributions">C  ]=- <font color="#33FF33">@  21:02, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

Captain Escort and Exploration Cruisers
Hello All,

I have four questions before I start adding stuff to the wiki, figured I would jump into the deep end. First are the two ships I mentioned missing because they haven't been added yet or was there something there and there is nothing there now? Second, how would I check this...not sure if that was listed in the guidelines, guess I should go check that out. Also is the a specific way I should get the images or should I just use a screen capture. And last is there any problem with posting images from the game or do I have to use from a specific source, I guess I mean would there be any protection problems with that? If everything is good, I will work on these tomorrow. Thanks!

Zmurray 06:54, 20 March 2010 (UTC)


 * First, welcome to the Wiki! I appreciate your enthusiasm wanting to jump right in. Now to answer your questions.


 * Missing Ships I assume you mean the images were missing? It looks like when the pages were created the creator put in a placeholder for an image but never uploaded one.


 * How to check You can view the page history to see what changes have been made since the page was created. As for files, you can search the list of uploaded files to see if an image has already been uploaded. You can also search the deletion log to see if a page/image was there but was removed.


 * Where to get images In-game screenshots are fine for most things except icons. We have extracted icons directly from the game files. If you do take a screenshot please use the uncompressed .tga screenshot format. The .tga should be cropped and converted to .png before upload.


 * Posting images from the game I assume you are concerned with copyright protection? As I understand, posting in-game screenshots to this Wiki is acceptable but content from other sources is likely unacceptable. Whatever you do don't take images from TV, DVD, books, etc.


 * Hope this answers your questions. Happy editing! --Rear Admiral Twenty-Three, USS Galileo C 04:18, 21 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Also, make sure you read the rules and guidelines available on the left side menu of the wiki. – TerranRich (ETC) @ 17:15, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

Injuries
Hi, I started collecting starship injury information. Before I write everything down, I did a sample page Injury: EPS Conduit Damage to nail the format and discussion. We would need a new icon template for injuries (like for abilities) and maybe some new categories. I suggest the following: --RachelGarrett 22:11, 9 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Injuries
 * Starship Injuries
 * Personnel Injuries
 * Minor Injuries
 * Major Injuries
 * Critical Injuries

I would agree, those sound like good categories. About the only thing will need to figure out is how to make the templates' case plural. I've noticed one template makes a category of Injurys and another of Inventorys, which is like nails on a chalkboard to my grammarian ears. --Curmudgeony 03:25, 10 May 2010 (UTC)

Agreed, we should create a new template for the infobox to clean up the category mess and to fix the different in game formatting. Maybe we can also change the deafult infobox template so it looks for the "Inventory" type and creates an "Inventories" Category instead of "Inventorys". Heck, that's gonna be messy.--RachelGarrett 09:07, 10 May 2010 (UTC)

Missing Injuries
I created some new templates Template:injuryinfobox, Template:MinorStarshipCure, Template:MajorStarshipCure, Template:CriticalStarshipCure and Template:injury to get us started on the injuries. The templates are straight forward, the injuryinfobox might need some further cleaning-up since I cannibalized the iteminfobox and skillinfobox templates. --RachelGarrett 12:54, 14 May 2010 (UTC)
 * We got:
 * All major starship injuries
 * Some of the other starship injuries
 * We ain't got:
 * Any personnel injuries
 * Any overview or category pages.
 * Any overview or category pages.


 * I added the overview pages List of personnel injuries and List of ship injuries. There I added all injuries I could find on the official forums and some more I figured out by conjecture. The new ones do not yet have their own articles. We are still missing the personnel injuries and . Also should "personnel" be replaced with "personal"? --RachelGarrett 10:26, 26 August 2010 (UTC)

If you want I could try to get my character beaten up a lot to try to fill in the gaps. What can I say, DRG is a glutton for punishment :) Curmudgeony 01:32, 28 August 2010 (UTC)


 * List completed by beating up my main char on Tribble. Man, was that painfull - to find a ground combat exploration mission I mean. --RachelGarrett 12:17, 2 September 2010 (UTC)

Upcoming Refits
On Tribble currently are new ships for end level Admirals(Tier 5).

These ships are Refits of the Exploration Cruiser, Deep Space Science Vessel, and Tactical Escort.

However, I am at odds on how to handle their placement. Should I add them as a part of those articles or create new articles with (Refit) in parenthesis? --Omega X 18:22, 11 July 2010 (UTC)
 * I suspect them to differ a lot from the Tier 4 versions (more bridge stations, weapon slots and so on). So I it is justified to create the new articles the way you suggested. Try to use the "official" in-game name (e.g. the listed name in the shipyard) of the ships as article titles. If that is "Exploration Cruiser (Refit)", go for that.
 * --RachelGarrett 15:20, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

Inclusion of Path to 2409 into pages
The Path to 2409 contains much information concerning the STO story background. Is it okay to use this info? If so, any information from the Path would become "STO canon". Markonian 18:38, 15 August 2010 (UTC)
 * As far as I know, that is exactly the policy of this Wiki. Feel free to add Path to 2409 info where appropriate. --RachelGarrett 18:50, 15 August 2010 (UTC)

Bill Paying Problems??
Hey everyone... Being My first post I'm thinking there isn't a place here for discussion of things external to the game itself... Has anyone else had a problem with Cryptic or STO canceling your account?? I recently replaced my credit card due to the expiration of the one I used to pay monthly fees, the system apparently read that as a Canceled card and DUMPED Me!!! So ... if ANYONE has any information regarding this I'd be happy to hear about it.... I have a ton of questions but for some unknown reason Neither Cryptic NOR STO has answered any of my trouble tickets!! SO .... what do I do??? Any ideas out there...And before anyone asks the credit card IS valid, and there is Money in the account. Carrick "I was once a Vice Admiral in Starfleet... but I expired!"...grrrrrr!!!--CarrickRiver 23:03, 23 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Sorry, but his is not the place to discuss this. This Wiki is dedicated to gathering information about "what is in the game", not discussing issues with billing. As such we only "post" in here to organize the content of the Wiki. However, you can post on the official forums if your ticket has not been answered, yet. As far as I know, your character data will persist, even if your subscription ends. So your character will be back and intact when you log back in.--RachelGarrett 07:46, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

Beginners's Section/Guide
Hi, I'd like to clean up the introductory pages. Here is, what I propose for our consideration:
 * Merge Guide: Playing Star Trek Online and Guide: Basics. I think, the later is currently the better one, since it is shorter and more concerned with explaining game mechanics.
 * The Guide: Basics only covers careers, skills & abilities and is in parts is better than the corresponding articles. I think, that should be merged with the Skill, Player ability and Bridge officer ability articles.
 * Guide: Basics does not talk much about traits, the overall structure of the game, bridge officers, starships etc. I think, it should cover a short Introduction to all these aspects and cut back on the skill/ability part after moving the existing text to the corresponding articles.
 * Make it friendly and put in some (appropriate and informative) pictures.
 * At the end of the article link to other relevant beginner's articles (that should be the same as on the main page).
 * Make sure, these follow up articles do not expect more knowledge from the reader as given in the Guide: Basics article
 * Alphabetic list of locations should be reformatted to match List of locations. Since we have this view of Quadrants/Blocks/Sectors/Systems in many articles, we should consider to create templates for each sector, integrate them into templates for sector blocks and integrate those into quadrant templates. This way, when new locations are introduced into the game, we can update it more easily.

Tell me what you think, before we start vandalizing/restructuring/(hopefully) improving. Regards, --RachelGarrett 10:17, 26 August 2010 (UTC)

Deferi faction symbol
In-game, the Generic faction icon is used to represent anything Deferi but in fact they have their own symbol, visible on Defera in the center of the place and in the Deferi-related accolades (such as "Tipping the Scales").

The question I pose for discussion here is: Shall we use the Deferi icon or stick with the Generic faction symbol? Imho, both have their validation (as Generic is used in the game, however the Deferi "deserve" their own faction) but in my personal opinion we should use the Deferi symbol. (Deferi-Missions would remain unaffected as they're because they're Federation and Klingon mission alike). Your opinions? Regards, --Markonian 09:22, 3 September 2010 (UTC)
 * I'd like to see it used in NPC, Ship, System and Planet articles. The faction agnostic mission should display the generic icon as you said. Using the new icon in most templates should be straight forward. However the factioncolor template should be supplemented with a new Deferi specific background color. Also, if someone manages to extract a more HQ version of the icon, that would be most welcomed. Maybe I have some spare time during the weekend. Regards, --RachelGarrett 10:32, 3 September 2010 (UTC)

NPC Pictures
Proposal: When entering a picture of the NPC into the Wiki, take a screenshot of the environment the NPC is in, not just the face pic in the dialogue box.

Why: Sometimes seeing the setting the NPC is in is easier to gauge where he/she/it is. --Ehmtwo 18:28, 13 September 2010 (UTC)


 * We have always the option to add more screenshots to any article using the gallery. The portrait has the nice property that it is always the same size, and therefore, lends itself very well to the info boxes. However, I acknowledge your point in helping the player with in-game screenshots. In that spirit, it's also nice to have the location of the NPC indicated on a map. I'll try to add such information as I update/edit articles. Regards, --RachelGarrett 07:20, 14 September 2010 (UTC)

Did You Know? giving out incorrect info
One DYK? talks about diplomacy missions and getting DXP even from "scan five things" in space. The latter has not been the case since it went live on Holodeck with Season 2. From List of Missions: "Investigate Ship's Fate" and all non-combat missions in Exploration clusters also grant 10 Diplomacy XP each, except for "Investigate Anomalous Readings." --MatthewM 19:31, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

Forum Status
The link to omega squadron is dead, where are/what happened to the forums? --Curmudgeony 15:17, 3 October 2010 (UTC)
 * I guess that happened around the time TerranRich left the project and the url's got rid of the /wiki in front of all sub-pages. Regards, --RachelGarrett 21:42, 7 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Maybe removing the link and/or relocating or installing a new set of forums would be a good idea then? I'd do it myself but it is on the front page. Gotta admit that I came here looking for forums.  Was wondering if anyone knew how long the downtime was supposed to last.  I saw the planned outage announcement on the news page but don;t recall the time period involved.  Even thought it was supposed to be over.  --Drmike 14:34, 17 January 2011 (UTC)

New mission format
Hi everyone, I've revamped the original mission formatting and the corresponding guideline. You can get an idea, of what the new mission pages look like in these sample articles:
 * (the maps should be sent to a walkthrough, but that's a minor thing)
 * Project:Formatting/Missions
 * (the maps should be sent to a walkthrough, but that's a minor thing)
 * Project:Formatting/Missions

I'd like to hear your thoughts on the new section ordering and how one could iterate and improve the guideline further. Obviously, I should have asked you before changing too much stuff. I apologize. In the beginning I only wanted to unify the existing section order, but it slowly became a bigger and bigger change over the last weeks, before I realized, how big my changes had become. Of course, an admin should adhere to the same rules as anyone else, so again, sorry for not starting the discussion earlier.

Regards, --RachelGarrett 21:42, 7 October 2010 (UTC)