MediaWiki talk:Sidebar

Magic words and empty sections
Nx, what do they do? Anything? We don't even use languages! 21:13, 25 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Language links don't appear on RW, because we don't use that, but toolbox and search are useful. They allow us to specify the position of those two sections. Before this, the search box and the toolbox were always last, now you can place them wherever you want. If you remove them, they'll be placed last. -- Nx  / talk 21:16, 25 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Um, have you looked at the output? It's really crappy.  Do you need a screenshot of what I see (XP Pro, FF3ish)  No problem having toolbox and search "last", what, some people might have to scroll down a few lines to get to them?  21:21, 25 April 2009 (UTC)
 * It's looking fine here, maybe I'm not seeing what you are. A screenshot would help. Removing the sections has no effect as MW simply readds them when parsing this file to generate the sidebar. You can't hide the toolbox and the search box. -- Nx  / talk 21:25, 25 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Dude, I'm not trying to "hide" anything except the junk output. Upload in a moment.  Are you checking your work on multiple platforms?  If not, you need to get a few other people's input on "what things look like".  I'll be back with capture in a second.  21:27, 25 April 2009 (UTC)
 * That's definitely wrong, and not what I'm seeing. I usually do check my stuff on all the major browsers, but this is Mediawiki stuff, it shouldn't do that. I'll delete this page to restore the MW default -- Nx  / talk 21:35, 25 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Another thing: See if the empty boxes disappear if you log out. -- Nx  / talk 21:36, 25 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Good idea. Yup, went away.  Something in my monobook, perhaps?  By the way, when I simply deleted the capped headers before, everything went back to normal.  Can we just go to that version?  21:50, 25 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Also, even with it deleted, those weird boxes are still in there for me. 21:51, 25 April 2009 (UTC)
 * I think it's monobook_adfree. The skin isn't in preferences, but it's probably still active. Try switching to Monobook. -- Nx  / talk 21:53, 25 April 2009 (UTC)
 * That done did it. I was wondering why no one else was complaining!  I waited to whine about it since it wasn't a "functional" issue like the other stuff you've been fixing.  I'm gonna delete the screenshot now.  Thanks, dude!  21:59, 25 April 2009 (UTC)
 * I've changed the skin to monobook for every user who was using monobook_adfree to fix this. Thanks for the help -- Nx  / talk 22:22, 25 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Er, gee, you're welcome - I didn't really do anything except complain ;) Good move on the skins.  Is adfree vaped off the server now?  Since we dropped ads it's spurious...  22:39, 25 April 2009 (UTC)
 * If you don't complain, I can't fix things :) Adfree is still there, but it needs to be updated. Hm, it's in preferences now, I'd swear it wasn't there 10 minutes ago. -- Nx  / talk 22:47, 25 April 2009 (UTC)
 * True, but it wasn't really borking anything, and you were busy for a while fixing things that were conflicting with each other. Priorities, and all.  23:01, 25 April 2009 (UTC)

Rewording
I'm not really happy with "RationalWiki appreciates your donations - fighting fundies isn't free!", especially the "fundies" part, since, one, I think that singles out one part of the mission at the expense of others, and two, "fundies" is a bit slangy.

Also I hope the orange and green box will go back to "normal" after Trent gets the budget sorted. 00:57, 14 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Hippy asshole. 01:00, 14 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Hey, write copy to your heart's content.  But I think the donations box should stay that way for ever.   It's just bad form that this dump has so much done for it by Trent, and is financially supported by so few.   In an ideal world, RW should cost Trent literally nothing, or even make him a little cash for beer.   So I'm all for doing anything we can to make folks pony up plenty of green folding.  DogP Marmite Patrol 01:03, 14 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Hey, I donated 10*pi dollars today. Can that message go my way for at least 10 minutes or so? 01:06, 14 November 2009 (UTC)
 * The userbase thanks you for your generosity in the fight against global fuckwittery.  I say we all just barge in and write slogans to our hearts content, and then we see who's slogan brings in the most dosh.   Market research!   Testing!   We can be like real advertising wonks!   People will hire us!  DogP Marmite Patrol 01:11, 14 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Oh for fuck's sake Human, give it a rest with the reverts.  This isn't about your aesthetics - we're trying to help Trent's wallet out here.   What's the fucking problem with us being a little more aggressive in our fundraising?   I don't have a problem with it at all - does anyone else?   Temporarily?   So that Trent doesn't have to ask again?   And where's this fucking dialogue happening anyway - here, or in the pub?  Quit jumping around - you're the one who brought the thread over here in the first place.  DogP Marmite Patrol 01:19, 14 November 2009 (UTC)
 * You want me to give it a rest? As opposed to you deciding to change what the wiki says just because you want to?  I didn't object to the orange box, that seemed like an obvious and appropriate way to highlight it.  I didn't "bring the thread here", I started it on the talk page of what you edited.  You weren't discussing it anywhere.  And again, you've pared it down to say even less.  "Join the supporters of..." is nice and "inviting". Why are you so wound up about this?   01:32, 14 November 2009 (UTC)

Re: the colors - how about a 5px or so orange border to highlight it, then just the bold text in black on white? 01:12, 14 November 2009 (UTC)
 * No - the whole point is to make SURE people see it.  It's harmless like this, it's not as bad as the Google ads, and Trent gets some cash in.   Once that happens, dial it back if you like, but I really think we need to sacrifice everything to help Trent out.  DogP Marmite Patrol 01:15, 14 November 2009 (UTC)
 * You make it sound like he's $500 in debt or something... his current reserve shortfall has already been balanced out. The black on orange works better than white on orange, by the way.  01:32, 14 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Trent: "Since I will barely be able to even make rent next month".  I get the impression from what he wrote that he would prefer not to have to run home to his parents to avoid his financial hardship - who wouldn't?   Wouldn't it be good and decent of us who stomp around in his dump if he could make a little money from this barmy endeavour?   That's why I get het up about this - I think we take him and his generosity for granted round here, and without him, this thing would just disappear up its own fundament.   So let's do whatever it takes - big ugly advertising if it needs it - to buy him beer and a chemistry set to play with.   Yes, black on orange is better.   DogP Marmite Patrol 02:50, 14 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Wait, so your argument is now "let's pay Trent's rent and food bill"? He has a way to deal with his own self-inflicted short term poverty (due to the strike) - go home for the winter break, to save expenses.  Keep in mind that in a year or two, he'll be a newly minted PhD and make more in a year than I ever will.  Personally, if I was confronted with Canadian winter versus a month in the southwest US, and I could make that choice comfortably (ie, I could afford the plane ticket), I would choose the warm weather. And, yes, black on orange is better.  03:48, 14 November 2009 (UTC)


 * PS, "if he could make a little money from this barmy endeavour" - he won't do that. If we donated a thousand dollars, he wouldn't use it to pay his rent or buy food or gin.  He'd use it to support the site.  03:50, 14 November 2009 (UTC)


 * "Wait, so your argument is now "let's pay Trent's rent and food bill"?".  Errr...yes.   Maybe not all of it, but the guy deserves some major gratitude from all of us.   Buying him a beer fits with good karma.  DogP Marmite Patrol 07:26, 14 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Fuck you clowns. It should read "Join us by giving a measly dollar. Come on, you fucking cheapskate. A dollar. One Dollar. Just PayPal it. S'kay. A buck. Would it help if I punched you in the taint, you fucking pussy?" 05:55, 14 November 2009 (UTC)

@Human: If the box annoys you, do this -- Nx  / talk 07:23, 14 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm with you Dr.Roux.  I see no reason we shouldn't fucking DEMAND a buck a month from every bozo who hangs out here on any regular basis.   It's only fair I think.   And yes, the donation wording really needs to be a stronger 'call to action'.   Can we agree on something?   DogP Marmite Patrol 07:24, 14 November 2009 (UTC)

Reorganization
"New pages" seems odd in Navigation and "to do list" & "technical support" seem odd in Community. Would a fourth section, "Interaction" (like on WP) work? Presumably it'd go either above or below Community. 22:40, 10 January 2016 (UTC)
 * What happened to "search"? The code is there...- 00:03, 17 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Interaction would be nice.- 00:04, 17 January 2017 (UTC)

RATIONALwiki
Do we need More like IrrationalWiki! on there? When was it added? Christopher (talk) 09:57, 25 March 2017 (UTC)


 * I'd say we don't, and there's little point playing up to idiots - David Gerard (talk) 14:19, 25 March 2017 (UTC)
 * I presume you're removing it then? Or will you wait to see what the rest of the mob thinks? Christopher (talk) 14:26, 25 March 2017 (UTC)
 * yeah, let's see who else has an opinion - David Gerard (talk) 00:59, 26 March 2017 (UTC)
 * It appears no one noticed this discussion. (I'm mostly just replying so it'll be in recent changes again and we'll see other people's opinions on the matter). Christopher (talk) 20:15, 31 March 2017 (UTC)

Appears to have originally been added by FuzzyCatPotato. Christopher (talk) 20:46, 31 March 2017 (UTC)


 * The edit adding it was summarised "dicking around", so I've removed it - David Gerard (talk) 22:47, 31 March 2017 (UTC)

Why is it
That on Conservapedia and Conservapedia talk pages the Sidebar contains a link to a "Random CP page? It looks weird. Christopher (talk) 16:00, 16 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Cuz CP used to be a big part of RW. Anyone else think it's worth removing? 16:38, 16 May 2017 (UTC)
 * I sort of meant what piece of wikicode on what page is making it happen, nothing in the source for this page looks like it's doing it. Christopher (talk) 17:22, 16 May 2017 (UTC)