View source for Grand Theft Wiki talk:Staff Noticeboard/archive1

__NEWSECTIONLINK__{{shortcut|[[SN]]}}'''Welcome to the Grand Theft Wiki Staff Noticeboard'''. This is a space for staff to issue notices and invite discussion amongst staff. Here, staff can explain recent events, things to watch out for and potential changes; or request comments, suggestions and ideas on anything on the Wiki.

This page is to be edited by [[Staff]] only. If you would like to discuss an issue mentioned here, please use the [[{{TALKPAGENAME}}|talk page]].

Please start a new section for every new topic, and don't forget to indent properly and sign your comments.

[[Category:GTA Wiki]]
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== Task List ==
I'd like to remind all our Staff of the [[User:Gboyers/Tasks|Task List]] I created. This outlines the various cleanup and administrative tasks for admins and editors. Pick some tasks that you can regularly check on, and try to keep on top of those. Managers should ensure that all the tasks on that page are looked at periodically, if not regularly. Feel free to add more to the list, comment on the talk page, or discuss here - [[w:c:gta:User:Gboyers|Gboyers]] <sup>[[:w:c:gta:User_talk:Gboyers|talk]]</sup> 01:44, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

== Orphaned pages ==
Something we need to work on is [[Special:Lonelypages|Orphaned Pages]] (Lonely Pages). These are 141 pages which nothing links to (excluding categories). Categories are NOT the main way of navigating the Wiki, they're meant to be used to ''"find more stuff like this"''. Articles are the main way to find things, and lists can be very effective if used [[Vehicles in GTA San Andreas|well]]. So can we start spamming links to some of these orphaned pages? It's pretty much a one-off job, then we can just keep an eye on it. Thanks - [[w:c:gta:User:Gboyers|Gboyers]] <sup>[[:w:c:gta:User_talk:Gboyers|talk]]</sup> 01:50, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

== Potential Candidate Administrators ==
I'd like to suggest the following users be considered for candidacy for advancement to [[Administrator]] status:
*[[User:MattyDienhoff|MattyDienhoff]]
*[[User:Elbarto90se|Elbarto90se]]
*[[User:MasterChief117|MasterChief117]]
*[[User:Hardrock182|Hardrock182]]
In my opinion, these editors seem to make very good edits, handle things in a mature manner, and generally work to improve the wiki and the community. '''[[User:Eganio|Eganio]]<sup>''[[User talk:Eganio|Talk]]''</sup>''' 03:05, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

:We should probably hold a big event to appeal to members to try to become staff. We do need new admins, and it is best for us to have the biggest selection to pick from. We should give everyone the opportunity to become staff, and show them how they can do the right things to be considered. This is not just a ploy to cover the Task List, but a genuine opening with real opportunity. I think this would be a great initiative for the site, the team, and (most importantly) the visitors. Don't offer anyone the jobs yet, we'll fix up all the [[Project:Promotion|recruitment]] pages then start blasting the word out.  [[w:c:gta:User:Gboyers|Gboyers]] <sup>[[:w:c:gta:User_talk:Gboyers|talk]]</sup> 03:17, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

==E-mail from [[User:Sukhoi-35BM|Sukhoi-35BM]]==
I would like to post here a copy, word-for-word, of an e-mail I received today from [[User:Sukhoi-35BM|Sukhoi-35BM]].  I responded to his e-mail on his [[User talk:Sukhoi-35BM|talk page]], since he does not have e-mail activated on his Grand Theft Wiki user account.
{{Cquote|So...I was banned without warning? Dude, the other admin was<br>a) being a cocksucker<br>and<br>b) abusing his power. He was talking down to me, to I talked to him like I would to any cocksucker. I have nothing against you, but perhaps better selection of admins is necessary...}}
I've been wanting to use that template for a while, now ;)  --[[:w:c:gta:User:GuildKnight|GuildKnight]]<sup>[[:w:c:gta:User_talk:GuildKnight|Talk2me]]</sup> 03:46, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

:How sweet!  I'm surprised he could tell that I'm a "cocksucker" just from my photo!  Must be psychic.  Anyway, I think I'm going to take a hiatus from here for a while...feeling a little exposed and unwelcome. '''[[User:Eganio|Eganio]]<sup>''[[User talk:Eganio|Talk]]''</sup>''' 06:03, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

GK: Spot on again, proving I've made the right choice. Ed: Don't take it personally - of course he's going to be upset if he's suspended. In fact, looking at his comments (and the reason he got banned) he's the type of person that IS going to cause a fuss. We'll let him make a formal complaint, and we'll handle it properly, so you have nothing to worry about. If he kicks up a fuss again, he's out. I remind you both that this page is public, so keep it professional. [[w:c:gta:User:Gboyers|Gboyers]] <sup>[[:w:c:gta:User_talk:Gboyers|talk]]</sup> 12:37, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

== Community Portal ==

The [[Community Portal]] needs a bit of a re-think. At the moment its just news, bulletins and a few basic instructions. It needs to be the first place people go for non-encyclopaedic content, such as help/instructions/tools, discussion/forums/talkpages, userpages/editorials/forums, info/staff/policy. It shouldn't just be a collection or widgets, nor a collection of links. It needs to be well laid out, user-friendly and accessible, without being overcomplicated or useless. I'd appreciate it if someone could sketch up some plans for this in their user space, and then we'll see where we go from there.

This fits into the idea of having portals for each subject, and also the heightened amount of community discussion. Remember that this is a wiki all about information, so proactive discussion is key - we don't want or need loads of fancy widgets or multicoloured fun sections; however we still need to engage our community and provide all the support we can for people to extend & improve our information. [[w:c:gta:User:Gboyers|Gboyers]] <sup>[[:w:c:gta:User_talk:Gboyers|talk]]</sup> 03:14, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

:Just wanted to point something out: I think if the Community Portal is intended to be the first place people go for non-encyclopedic content (to use [[User:Gboyers|Gboyers']] words), then it should be more prominently displayed on the [[Grand Theft Wiki|main page]].  As it stands, it is at the very bottom.  I think in the interest of user-friendliness, it should be at the top with or under the ''Contents'' heading.  We've already got many of the principal aspects of the Community Portal (e.g. [[Help]], [[HowTo]], [[Editing]]) listed there...maybe we should consolidate/expand on the main page. Thoughts? '''[[User:Eganio|Eganio]]<sup>''[[User talk:Eganio|Talk]]''</sup>''' 07:45, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

:Also, please see [[User:GuildKnight/Sandbox/6|GuildKnight's Sandbox]] and the concomitant [[User talk:GuildKnight/Sandbox/6|discussion]].  She's got some great stuff (as usual!). '''[[User:Eganio|Eganio]]<sup>''[[User talk:Eganio|Talk]]''</sup>''' 08:01, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Yes, the Community Portal needs to be more prominently positioned, more heavily promoted, and more commonly used. However, it would be silly to do that with the Community Portal in its current state. This should happen only after the new portal has been implemented. I've made a couple of edits to GK's sandbox, and it's looking pretty good. I'd like to keep thinking what can (usefully) go on that page, without duplicating the Main Page. [[w:c:gta:User:Gboyers|Gboyers]] <sup>[[:w:c:gta:User_talk:Gboyers|talk]]</sup> 04:12, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

== Swearing ==

A couple of users have been writing mission pages which include a lot of inappropriate/informal language and swearing. An example of this is [http://gta.wikia.com/index.php?title=Have_a_Heart&diff=prev&oldid=37929 here]. I deal with this whenever I see it, but keep your eyes peeled for walkthroughs that are worse than just badly-structured. [[w:c:gta:User:Gboyers|Gboyers]] <sup>[[:w:c:gta:User_talk:Gboyers|talk]]</sup> 02:47, 25 July 2008 (UTC)

:I wasn't actually aware that the word used there is considered swearing... the ignorant American, again!  ;)  --[[:w:c:gta:User:GuildKnight|GuildKnight]]<sup>[[:w:c:gta:User_talk:GuildKnight|Talk2me]]</sup> 04:02, 25 July 2008 (UTC)

== Cleanup ==

I notice the [[:Category:Cleanup|Cleanup]] category has been growing recently. Can we make a big effort this week to bring it down to a manageable size? Most of them are simple cases of structuring it like a wiki, but some of them may be a little trickier. If we can get rid of all the easy ones this week that would be awesome - [[w:c:gta:User:Gboyers|Gboyers]] <sup>[[:w:c:gta:User_talk:Gboyers|talk]]</sup> 02:49, 25 July 2008 (UTC)

:I've been trying to tackle some of the articles in the [[:Category:Cleanup|cleanup category]], but every time I remove one, it seems new ones pop up!  So far, we're still around 60 articles...I'll keep it up, but will need some help! '''[[User:Eganio|Eganio]]<sup>''[[User talk:Eganio|Talk]]''</sup>''' 23:09, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

==Page Naming==
We need a bit of a think on page naming. Do we use [[Michelle (IV)]] or [[Mickey (GTA IV)]]. If we use it for other games, do we switch to [[Michelle (SA)]] (which is a city) or [[Michelle (GTA SA)]] or [[Michelle (GTA San Andreas)]]? And what if that character is in more than one game, and still needs to be disambiguated? [[w:c:gta:User:Gboyers|Gboyers]] <sup>[[:w:c:gta:User_talk:Gboyers|talk]]</sup> 00:19, 14 August 2008 (UTC)

:I am of the opinion that we should use as detailed desciptions as possible, while maintaining brevity.  Therefore, I would opt for [[Michelle (GTA IV)]], [[Michelle (GTA SA)]], [[Michelle (GTA LCS)]], etc...I think it's fine to use shortened versions of game names in titles, which can be expanded upon in the article...the only question is, do we use colons, i.e. (GTA:SA), or just leave it as a space?<br>Hopefully I'm not misunderstanding your point, but when a character shows up in more than one game, I think it's fine to leave their nomenclature centered around the game in which they play the biggest role.  There should be references to their appearances in other games within the article, but I don't think including every appearance on a disambiguation page is the way to go.  We can use in-article text and categories to show that a particular character has appeared in more than one game, and should defer to their most prominent appearance as default.  Thoughts? '''[[User:Eganio|Eganio]]<sup>''[[User talk:Eganio|Talk]]''</sup>''' 21:56, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

== Watching Talk:Michelle (IV) ==

[[User:Gboyers|Gboyers]] and I have had an extended [[User talk:Gboyers#Michelle (IV) Protection|discussion]] about how to "protect" users from finding out about the [[Karen]] spoiler. We have decided that the [[Michelle (IV)]] page should remain protected for the release of the [[PC]] version so that new users that don't know about the situation don't place Karen info on the page. The problem that arises with that is that users that don't know about the Karen spoiler ''can'' still read the [[talk:Michelle (IV)|talk page]] (the place that new edits MUST be posted for an [[admin]] to put on the page). We are in hope that users will see the line that says: ''"For spoiler discussion see [[talk:Karen|this talk page]]"'' and know to post Karen info there. However, in case the fails, Gboyers agrees with my idea that if staff could all keep an eye on [[talk:Michelle (IV)]] and move any Karen info ASAP, and inform the user who posted it, that hopefully we can keep accidental viewing to a minimum. (BTW, Gboyers stated that although this isn't the usual thing to put on the SN, he agreed to put it here on this occasion). Thoughts? '''[[user:Biggest gta fan ever|Biggest GTA Fan Ever]]<sup>''[[user talk:Biggest gta fan ever|Talk]]''</sup>''' 10:46, 13 October 2008 (UTC)