Talk:Main Page

Revision as of 22:38, 5 March 2009 by A-Dust (talk | contribs)

Latest comment: 27 February 2008 by GR002 in topic GTA Vice City Stories PSP

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Protection

Hullo there! I've just unprotected this page as it is a talk page about the Main Page. If this is protected, there is no area to talk about the Main Page!

I also strongly suggest that the Main Page and other such pages are unlocked so they can be edited by non-admins, as per the Wikia:Protection policy. Only if you have a high risk of actual vandalism should a page be protected. Kirkburn (talk) 19:45, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Character Template and Images

First off is character templates. There is already a template for characters, which appears in the GTA Wikia articles. They could be useful, in particular if expanded to include more basic information about the character. So should the template be updated and put onto the GTW pages?

Also, do we know of any members of GTW who are able to collect images from the GTA games? A-Dust 21:44, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

Images 2

Does anyone speak Italian? Just thought that we could ask GTA-Series.com if we could use some of their images on GTW, linking back to their site. They have an extensive image gallery of all the GTA games, so it surely couldn't hurt to ask. I don't know whether any of the webmasters speak English, so Italian would be the best bet. A-Dust 12:40, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

why don't you use an Italian/ English dictionary. GrandtheftautoIV4 15:33, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Template-style navigation

I notice you are using a template to provide navigation from the Main Page - it might be an idea to split the Main Page navigation off this, so it can be used to cover more topics and listed in a way more in keeping with the rest of the Main Page's design - like the Mass Effect wiki or WoWWiki. Kirkburn (talk) 18:37, 4 February 2008 (UTC)

I've uploaded a stock Main Page design to User:Kirkburn/Dev2 which you may be interested in taking elements from. The problem I find with using a general purpose template for navigation is that it doesn't allow a diverse range of links without overburdening the template for every page. If it was separated, you could add external links and other info. Kirkburn (talk) 17:42, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

Wow, well that was slightly unexpected :) Looks really good ... Great job! Kirkburn (talk) 13:42, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

Glad you like it. Thanks for starting that page, and all the other stuff you've helped out with - Gboyers (?) 16:41, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

GTA Vice City Stories PSP

Hi, I am having problems with the Maverick helicopter. I go to the the top of the VCN Building and see the helipad with no helicopter. Do you need to have 100% Completed of the game for it to be there? GR002 20:25, 27 February 2008 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Do you mean VCN building, no on the VCN builiding isn't Maverick. --El Quebrado 01:34, 27 March 2008 (UTC)
Please ask GTA-related questions in the Forum in future. The helicopter at the top of the VCN building in GTA Vice City is the VCN Maverick. I'm not sure about GTA VCS, but I assume it is the same. There was no requirement for 100% completion as far as I am aware, but make sure you have reached the point in the game where you are allowed to fly helicopters at all. Gboyers (?) 03:38, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

New language version

Shal be new language version, but I don't know, where is the template with de:Main_Page, nl:Main_Page, for administrators: Please add the cs:Hlavní strana on the main page, thank you. --El Quebrado 01:33, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

If you look at Sister Projects on the German GTA Wikia, you can see their link [[:en:|EN]] links to us - this does not happen on the Czech GTA Wikia. Also on this wiki, no combination of [[:cs:]] links back to that. This is a fault in the way the wiki has been setup, so I will forward this to Wikia staff and let you know what happens. Thanks - Gboyers (?) 03:47, 27 March 2008 (UTC)
This wiki exists now. [1] --El Quebrado 17:45, 27 March 2008 (UTC)
I know the wiki exists, but the interwiki link is broken. A member of Wikia staff is fixing it. I will let you know when it is working - Gboyers (?) 22:00, 27 March 2008 (UTC)
Ok, thanks. --El Quebrado 01:21, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Grand Theft Wiki main page seo

Isn't it better to make the main page url be http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/Grand_Theft_Wiki as opposed to the generic http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page ? At least I've seen some Wikia administrators do this because of search engine optimization (seo). Just thought I'd bring this up. w3stfa11 23:55, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

I agree this would help SEO, but would it confuse members within the wiki? At the top of this page now, it says "Editing Talk:Main Page" - if we moved the page, it would say "Editing Talk:Grand Theft Wiki", which isn't as clear. Also, we have a Grand Theft Wiki namespace, not sure if that would clash with an identically named page. I'll look into it - Gboyers (?) 13:10, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

pages vs articles

is there a specific reason that you have number of pages on the front page (via transclusion of the /TOP page) instead of number of articles? 10,039 articles vs 56,418 pages. granted, the larger number looks bigger (better?) but its a false statement of content as it includes things like talk pages and templates and MediaWiki control messages. --Uberfuzzy 03:20, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes the total number of articles is a more accurate measure of content, but the pages number represents the activity of the community rather than just the encyclopaedic content. I agree if we're writing a book you only include the content, but I treat this site as so much more than that. Thoughts? Gboyers talk 08:22, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Main page update

Heya, I've been working on a main page layout update, which you can see on User:Kirkburn/Dev. It's a fairly important update, and you can read more about why on User talk:Kirkburn/Dev. Any feedback would be very useful. Thanks! Kirkburn (talk) 12:25, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

I have updated this project with some fixes and tweaks. I also realise I linked the wrong page above - see User talk:Kirkburn/Dev for the reasons for it/feedback on it. Thanks! Kirkburn (talk) 17:13, 1 July 2008 (UTC)
Oh wow, that was unexpected. I love the new skin too :) The old main page can be found on Main Page/2. Kirkburn (talk) 19:02, 1 July 2008 (UTC)
The skin is the one I made for Military Wiki, but it doesn't really suit us, so I've revered back to Slate until we have something a bit better. Gboyers talk 19:21, 1 July 2008 (UTC)
Aww, those who I showed at Wikia really liked it :) Though there was one small bit of feedback, the "Community" widget shows as black on grey. Kirkburn (talk) 19:24, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

I updated the column tag order so the left column comes first. Edit: I've also added the fr interwiki that I noticed at the bottom - it should start working in a day or two. Kirkburn (talk) 13:23, 23 July 2008 (UTC)

protection issue

whever manegers want to lock main pages is up to them for instence i had a problem with vandalsm on the main page at my wikia http://blakes7.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page and i was sick of revering the damage so I protected it i found once you protect a page vandels take a hint Chip2007 5:49 26 June 2008 {GMT}

I agree that when there is an issue with vandalism, there is a need for protection on the main page; however, until and unless that happens, there is no need for protection here. --GuildKnightTalk2me 17:54, 25 June 2008 (UTC)
We know we can protect pages when we need to. We do that when we need to. We don't need to protect this homepage at the moment, so it isn't protected. Simple. Gboyers talk 18:44, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

Headerbox

I love it all! It looks great, especially the headerboxes. Also, the image banner on the top of the skin is quite impressive. Did you make it yourself, Gboyers? --GuildKnightTalk2me 19:13, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

One thing; why is there an ad box and an ad banner? --GuildKnightTalk2me 19:03, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Poll

Look, if we aren't going to change the poll every week, can't we change the header from This Weeks Poll to just plain Poll. Thoughts? Biggest gta fan ever 09:44, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

We do change the poll quite often. Some more important polls (around the announcement/launch of new games) will stay for longer. I think weekly is being a bit... optimistic, but it's not that far from the truth. Gboyers talk 11:12, 8 August 2008 (UTC)
OK, thanks for explaining. Biggest gta fan ever 11:18, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

DLC Details Announced. Is this news-worthy?

I've noticed the "News" section on the first page doesn't get much love. Link is here. The GTA4 DLC has been announced apparently, and will feature the Lost Biker Gang. Is it worth putting in the new box, there's still no release date or anything.

On a related note, there's been stuff about Chinatown Wars in the news lately, is that worth putting in?C-d-rom 13:37, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

Yes - the DLC stuff definitely needs to be added to news - just a brief sentence saying what its about, and when it'll be released. Also, a page should be made at The Lost and Damned about it. News about GTA Chinatown Wars is less newsworthy, but should still be added to the GTACW page. Be bold - hit the edit button yourself! Gboyers talk 19:32, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

New Featured Article?

Since coming to this Wiki I don't think I've actually seen a new featured article. Are there any candidates for a new featured one? Something relevant perhaps, maybe expand something from Chinatown Wars or Lost and Damned?... C-d-rom 17:48, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

This talk page is for talking about the Main Page. Featured articles (FA) are discussed at Grand Theft Wiki talk:Featured content. Gboyers talk 17:55, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Naming of Main Page

Recently, Wikia have been trying to get every Wiki's main page to be called the name of the wiki. For example, this would be called Grand Theft Wiki instead of Main Page. One over-enthusiatic and insensitive official Wikia Helper renamed this page to Grand Theft Auto Wiki incorrectly, without ANY discussion with this community or GTW staff. You can see the discussion here, which I reverted to allow us to make the decision ourselves. Since Wikia thinks it is a good idea, then we should probably discuss it. The reason it is currently Main Page is because within the wiki, it is the main page. A page called "Grand Theft Wiki" would not be correct, and the talk page for that "Talk:Grand Theft Wiki" would be totally wrong, because it is meant to be a talk page about the main page, not about the entire wiki. Thoughts? Gboyers talk 17:51, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I don't understand Wikia's motivation at all on this issue. The main page is located at Main_Page, it's a fundamental that just makes sense, and I don't see any reason why it should be renamed on any wiki. --MattyDienhoff 18:04, 31 December 2008 (UTC)
It's simply because having "Grand Theft Auto wiki" in the title of the page (twice) makes the page more likely to show up higher on google etc. It's just one of many Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) measures they enforce to get more visitors to the site, so that they can get more money from the adverts. Wikia is meant to be for-profit, which is fine, but they seems to be doing everything possible to squeeze every last cent from these wikis, at the expense of the quality of the wiki and the community that builds it. Gboyers talk 18:22, 31 December 2008 (UTC)
I agree that the page should remain Main Page because as stated by Gboyers, having the page name the same as the actual wiki name makes little sense. Other than that of advertising. Making more money I can understand, but I still feel that the main page should remain as it is. Also Gboyers, I had a screen grab of my PC a while ago, which had an advert down the centre of the page, and adverts are already in article content space for non-members, so I think the quality has been hit enough, without this as well. A-Dust 23:19, 31 December 2008 (UTC)
It'd be good if you could upload that screen grab sometime. Same goes for any inappropriate, massive or intrusive adverts. If they don't stop doing these sorts of things, we're gonna have to take action. Gboyers talk 23:25, 31 December 2008 (UTC)
I agree with keeping it called Main Page. I have my own reasons as well as what is said above. Also, Wikia IS the best site for hosting a wiki (except for possibly hosting it yourself). They keep up with the MediaWiki updates and try to keep up with all possible extensions. On the other hand though, there's the advert problem. I notice considerably longer loading times when I'm not signed in because of all the adverts all over the wiki. It can't attract new users (they don't know that once you sign in they disappear). As for the SEO, it's already Main Page - Grand Theft Auto - Grand Theft Wiki. I disagreed with the change to MediaWiki:Pagetitle to put Grand Theft Auto in there. I don't think we need it three times. Biggest GTA Fan EverTalk 04:11, 1 January 2009 (UTC)
I saw that Gboyers protected the main page from being moved. Is that different from default, to stop Wikia staff from moving it? Because we already do have moves restricted to staff. Biggest GTA Fan EverTalk 10:55, 1 January 2009 (UTC)
To be honest, I'm not 100% sure. Figured it was worth having on, it may or may not make any difference. Almost all Wikia staff have full admin rights on every Wiki, and nothing we can do about it. Gboyers talk 13:31, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Anyone here mind

If I actually added a new link to the bottom of the main page? "Handsome" Hollywood K. 03:30, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

If we didn't want you to edit the main page, we would have it protected. But a link to what? Biggest GTA Fan EverTalk 03:55, 20 January 2009 (UTC)
If it's a link to something in this wiki, then only if its "important" enough. If it's another language of GTA wiki, then yes so long as it is hosted by Wikia. If it's another GTA site, then it should go on Fansites. If it's a random site, then I'm afraid not. Gboyers talk 13:21, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

Grand Theft Auto 'Portal'

Hey guys/gals, I haven't been around for a while because of some work stuff but I've been coming to look more frequently and one of the things I've noticed is the 'portal'/'box' on the Main Page that holds the links to all the GTA info (this is also on the game pages). Would it be wise to include: (The Lost and Damned) after the GTA IV links in this box if there is a link concerning TLAD? For example, under GTA Games, it would have the previous games and when it comes to GTA IV: GTA IV (The Lost and Damned). It would help newcomers/oldcomers reach the DLC pages quicker/easier. --Aussiebushmatt 10:50, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

GTW doesn't show up on google

Grand theft wiki main page doesn't show up on google anymore, only the pages about san andreas and Little Jacob. Anyone know why this is, it only happened recently. Hbriz 09:13, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Seems we've been pushed down a few ranks too, strange. The main page doesn't need to show up, but it is best if it does, since people can then find whatever they want quicker. I'll see what we can do about SEO to fix this. In the meantime LINK TO US from every site you can! More links means a higher google rank. Gboyers talk 11:29, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

GTA: Chinatown Wars

Can someone put a link in the MediaWiki:Sidebar to GTA: Chinatown Wars? Thanks. --{{SUBST:Usuario:ClaudeSpeed9425/Firma}} 22:35, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

I have requested this on the Staff Noticeboard, although nothing has yet been done. I would also suggest adding The Lost and Damned and GTA Advance. A-Dust 22:38, 5 March 2009 (UTC)