Forum:New New Skin

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The new monobook skin looks great! But all Wikia wikis are moving over to the new Monaco as default. That doesn't mean the new monobook can't be used, it can still be a personal preference, but we are helping wikis move to the new skin for the site default. Our designer, Christian has taken your design, and carried it over to Monaco... which gives you the same cool look but with the shiny new skin. To see it, look here. (To see it on pages other than the main page, you need to add "?useskin=monaco&usetheme=custom" to the URL)

I've also been working on a new main page layout today. One of the changes that's happening at the moment, is that we are adding a block of two ads on each main page. It's possible that they won't always show up, but to ensure your main page continues to work properly when they do, you need to update your main page column formatting code with new column tags. These two ads are the only ones you will see if you are logged in, all other pages will be ad free on Monaco for logged in users.

I have started a draft main page with the new tags on Main Page/draft which I hope you can take a look at - it's not quite working yet, I can't see how to get the second column working with the tabs. But I'll be back for another go later today. As you can see, this column is fixed width, so that the ad doesn't push the whole page down.

I hope you'll have a look at these, and let me know how it looks. Thanks -- sannse<staff /> (talk) 11:09, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

Why the sudden shift to Monaco? Also, I think we scrapped the tabs idea a little while ago in favor of having the entire page layed out. I don't really know how Greenpickle felt about that, but... —Jimbo Jambo

Did anyone besides me notice Recent Changes is in all caps? ~CrystalLucario~

That doesn't have to do with the new skin. I requested that Green make the link somehow more noticeable for new users. I opted for both text, but that was apparently impossible to do without making the entire navigation bar bold. —Jimbo Jambo

<Quote> That doesn't have to do with the new skin. </Unquote> Where else could I put it? Anyhow that makes sense. ~CrystalLucario~

It's not really sudden, Jimbo Jambo, it's been coming a while. It's just that it's now come to the stage where we are approaching people directly and helping with the transition. I'll have another go at the main page and see if I can change it to be without the tabs - see how that works for everyone (I think it's a good decision by the way, the tabs are nifty, but I didn't realise how they worked when I first looked at the main page) -- sannse<staff /> (talk) 17:14, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

'Also, I think we scrapped the tabs idea a little while ago in favor of having the entire page layed out.' Wait...that was...when...? And I thought I told you about this forced switch over to Monaco? I know I told Prez, at least. About the tabs, I think it helps keep the main page's length down - it can end up massive otherwise, what with the size of some of the random quotes and stuff - though I suppose it might not be clear what they do, or how they work; and on slower connections, you see the page all appear then vanish. I'd expect people to be able to see them, though, and I always tend to hover over tab-like things to check if they're links.

About the draft, I'll see if I can get it to work too. The Monaco port of the skin looks fine, by the way. Wait, I'm sure I was going to mention something else... Oh well...GP

I don't remember you telling me about the skin. Also, we did have a conversation about the tabs at Talk:Main Page#Hmm..., it's just a bit different than how I recalled it...very different in fact. I mean, not so different, just the outcome was totally wrong. I mean, I don't even use the main page that often, but still....sheesh. —Jimbo Jambo

I've had a go at an all-in-one version, so people can decide between them... I also took the opportunity to simplify the code - mostly because I'm learning HTML and need the practice :P So feel free to discard the all-in-one version or switch it around or whatever :) -- sannse<staff /> (talk) 20:55, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

I made some changes: I removed the forum:help box, as I only added that in the first place to put something more in the help tab. I rearranged a few of the boxes, moved the pictures one to the bottom and not in a column (that is fine, right?), so the more important ones are at the top. I removed less important links from the header box to fit it all in 2 columns, now that it's more cramped. I also combined what was actually two lots of links below that (one left, one right; now one centre only) and removed links that are better represented further down the page.GP

The random picture has escaped from its box and is rampaging on the right-hand margin! Quickly, contain it! —Jimbo Jambo

I don't see the random picture problem, but... Greenpickle, do you have a particularly low resolution? Because one column is fixed, the other moves to fit the remaining space. So the evenness of the columns depends on the screen resolution (I would love to find a way to fix this). I think your resolution may be one of the extremes, and not a common one - so it may be best to put some more in the left column - for most people this will be the widest. -- sannse<staff /> (talk) 17:46, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

Windows XP with Firefox. Interestingly, the box where the random picture is on FF just has the text "Second ad goes here" on Internet Explorer, and the random picture is at the bottom of the page. In fact, it looks like all the footers have been bumped over so they intersect with the right column. —Jimbo Jambo

Picture placement for me is fine in both FF and IE on WinXP, in FF on Linux, and in Wii's Opera browser. My resolution's 1024x768, which I've always assumed is about average. At that resolution, the left column is slightly shorter than the right (exerpts are random by the way, so when they're really short, the left column ends up proportionally shorter).

Lower resolutions can be simulated by resizing the browser window, and it seems that at 800x600 (which is always what the Wii's browser is at, I think), the left column gets smaller than the featured article's image, so that box is overlapped by the right column. Not good. I can simulate something in the 1280-width range by making the content area overlap the adverts, and then I see what you mean about the right column being too long. Does the edit I made make it fit better for you?GP

Was that directed at me or Sannse? Because nothing has changed with my problem. It's not just the image, it's everything at the bottom which spans two columns; it all gets bumped off the bottom of the page and nestles into the second column's space beginning at the top of the page. Adding {{clear}} at the end of all the second column text seems to work. —Jimbo Jambo

I've made a change to the ordering on the draft, Jimbo Jambo - does that help with the image? I can't see anything else that might be doing that. Are you using FireFox 2?

The columns look good to me now, so I think that part is sorted. -- sannse<staff /> (talk) 20:13, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

Catherine switched the skin over while chasing down a bug (which seems to have disappeared now)... as everyone seems OK with the new version, might as well leave it there now :) Let me know if you need any help with tweaking it! -- sannse<staff /> (talk) 21:44, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

Mostly, yeah, but there's still one tiny thing: the Random Picture rests just below the first column, but the second column is a bit longer than the first, so it's cutting into the Random Picture. —Jimbo Jambo

Maybe just stick a {{clear}} before it? Actually, since the page is really long (which was the original problem before implementing the tabs), would it make sense to set it so either the exerpts, did you know or picture are shown? It would shorten the page, leaving only one of those, a random one each time it's reloaded.GP