User talk:Bluegoblin7/Archive 3

From TrainSpottingWorld, for Rail fans everywhere

Archive for my talk page for the 2nd half of December 2007, begining from the 18th.

Hello

Couldn't resist the pun in the name after seeing Listuser. Can you give me the lowdown on this place? I will try to help where i can. I'm likely to be a bit infrequent for now, but there again.

Btw, why are you so stressed? Exams coming? Christmas? 51mply south 11:21, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Well basically we're here to make a haven for Rail Fans, where they can find out pretty much all they need. It's very informal, and seeing as it isnt a year old yet, it's still being built up. We allow all sorts of content that WP dont, such as videos, maps, and even fictional information if it's in the FanFic area. We're also starting up some "WOrkforces", like WikiProjects, but again less formal.
Is that what you need?
I'm stressed because i've got a ton of revision to do for GCSE mocks after Christmas! (But it needs taking down a notch - that's from last week when I had the school play too...)
Thanks,
Bluegoblin7 11:25, 18 December 2007 (UTC)
Good luck in them. I'm not a trainspotter but i am interested in current and future railway projects, rail routes and features. Sometimes historical but mainly the others. And i may be but then again maybe not.
Btw, i don't think calling Unisouth a cash machine is likely to get anywhere! 51mply south 11:32, 18 December 2007 (UTC)
Thanks a lot!
Don't worry about how active/inactive you are. If we think youd be interested in something we can always grab you via WP!
I think we need to put in a note somewhere about people who sign up being Train Spotters. I also am not a Train Spotter, and I am simply interested in trains!
Calling unisouth a cash machine?!?!?!
Thanks,
Bluegoblin7 11:36, 18 December 2007 (UTC)
"We need a lot of help atm with the Workforces" (from Unisouth's page) :p 51mply south 11:54, 18 December 2007 (UTC)
Ah! Yes. That was me slipping into text language ---> Atm = At the moment! Better go and change it! Bluegoblin7 11:55, 18 December 2007 (UTC)
No leave it. :( 51mply south 13:26, 18 December 2007 (UTC)
Ah ok - you see i actually changed it earlier on... Bluegoblin7 13:50, 18 December 2007 (UTC)
Good luck in your mocks. Look back on my user talk page regarding the newsletter. Thanks. Tbo 157 16:30, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Newsletter

Have a look at User:Tbo 157/newsletter sandbox where Ive mocked up a possible template for the newsletter. The titles, layout and colours of sections and the title of the newsletter can easily be changed. This is just an example. Thanks. Tbo 157 18:15, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Portals

Hi. I can see that users have been quite busy with portals. Theres not much space on the main page so we can only put the main portals on tehre as wp does. But how are we going to decide which portals are the main ones? Tbo 157 19:54, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

I've set up a temp at {{browsebar}} with some ideas. This temp has the main portals on at WP. If we can sort this temp and the associated pages we'll have a winner! Bluegoblin7 19:57, 18 December 2007 (UTC)
just treied otu soem formatting for the main page. 6 portals seems to be the minimum we can fit without changing the design. Tbo 157 22:47, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

{{Portal}}

{{helpme}} Hi Guys,

The above temp is making all the pages it's used on (including it's own) go all screwy. Any ideas?

BG7 14:22, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

There was an extra </div> after the table. Slambo (Speak) 14:31, 19 December 2007 (UTC)
Ah cheers Slambo - i knew someone could fix it! BG7 14:33, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Trains Wikiproject

Could you undelete the full version on Trains WikiProject and drop it in a sandbox on my user space. I was actually working on the issues between wikip and here, but didn't have time to resolve them all at once. Eventually once I get the dents hammered out what I had planned to do was move the entire document over and get rid of the trains wikiproject name all together and renaming it with a native name. Thanks.. --DP67 (talk/contribs) 14:36, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Ok will do. In the mean time, I have put a version more relevant at the moment at {{USR}}. Cheers BG7 14:39, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Portal

Hi. Ive noticed youve started work on the UK rail portal. Lets make it a different design and layout to the US rail one. Tbo 157 16:24, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Ok no problems. I've used the same layout for all 4 portals so far, but Slambo has done a bit on the US one. I'm going to work on colour schemes for them all next: then, when the Portals are done, it's time for the Workforces. And then when there done, we can start all over again...
BG7 17:11, 19 December 2007 (UTC)
We don't seem to be getting much input on the newsletter on the station cafe. Tbo 157 17:28, 19 December 2007 (UTC)
No we don't. Hmm... Maybe we could do the first one ourselves, send it out, and have a plea for ideas and comments. I'll nudge Tim, EdJogg, Slambo and DP and see what they think. BG7 17:34, 19 December 2007 (UTC)
Good idea. We also really need to get started working on articles. We only really have very few articles which aren't copied from Wikipedia and the top viewed pages are the Thomas the tank engine pages. I have a feeling that we can just work on articles and other things such as workforces will just start to fall in place when we have more members. Ideally, opening anonymous editing would work the best. Tbo 157 17:42, 19 December 2007 (UTC)
Yes i really would like to see that too. But if Tim says we can't then I suppose we can't. We just need an anti-vandal bot that doesnt use IRC. Any ideas anyone? BG7 17:45, 19 December 2007 (UTC)
Well actually, Tim mentioned that other than advertising and legal issues community consensus applies so if theres a consensus to open anon editing that will be the case. Tbo 157 17:48, 19 December 2007 (UTC)
Actually yes thats true. Take it to the cafe? BG7 17:50, 19 December 2007 (UTC)
Yes, definitely. Lets both write something about it there. We'll need to weigh out the advantages and disadvantages. Tbo 157 17:51, 19 December 2007 (UTC)
Ok which part? BG7 17:53, 19 December 2007 (UTC)
of the cafe* BG7 17:56, 19 December 2007 (UTC)
Somewhere where we can get user's attention. The cafe doesn't attract too much attention. Nudging all the users may be more effective. Tbo 157 17:59, 19 December 2007 (UTC)
Ok. I cba to do everyone. THe most active are Slambo, EdJogg, and DP at the moment, not including you me and TIm. BG7 18:06, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

(reset indent and edit conflict)Tbh, I think the reason anon editing is the best way to encourage article writing is because they are not subject to the bureaucracy and cult like organisation that registered users are. We seem to jsut be recreating Wikipedia on a smaller scale. Ideally all users just edit articles and communicate with each other on talk pages with no need for features such as Station cafes, AfDs, RfAs. Wikipedia processes such as Arbcom, Medcom worry me even more. Tbo 157 18:16, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Yes that would be ideal, but i doubt it will ever happen. Plus, they do come in handy!
Please comment below about it! BG7 18:21, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Anonymous Editors - Allow them?

We wondering what the community thought on this.
Please leave suggestions at: Trains:Station Cafe (Buffet Car)#Anonymous Editors - Allow them?

(That is where discussion on site policy should be undertaken.)

Interwiki map

Have a look at [1] where I proposed for this project to be on the interwiki map. But they are asking for examples of what kinds of interwiki would be useful. COuld you take a look. Thanks. Tbo 157 21:10, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Ok will add some thought tommorrow. BG7 22:10, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Newsletter

Should we just go ahead with the newsletter ad move it to the Trains namespace since noones discussing. Tbo 157 22:35, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Yes might work best. I'll put a link in the first issue telling people to discuss or they'll be banned! BG7 22:37, 19 December 2007 (UTC) of course i'm only joking cause Tim'll block me if i do that!
I've also added some thoughts on the interwiki page. And the anon editors above - please add your thought....
Ok, I'll get to work on the newsletter. Can we also simplify our station cafe. Its just as complicated as WPs village pump and just as hard to use. Tbo 157 22:41, 19 December 2007 (UTC)
Yes i'll have a look tomorrow. BG7 22:43, 19 December 2007 (UTC)
Please propose and discuss any changes to the Station Cafe at the Station Cafe talk pages. If you find it hard to use, then we need to address this, but it was introduced to meet a need for a central location for discussion on site-wide topics, rather than expecting users to spot conversations taking place on other users' talk pages. Each of the individual Cafe pages can be accessed by simple shortcuts from anywhere within TSW. There are multiple pages to allow separate areas of work (eg policy, bugs, etc) to be handled separately. Anyone performing maintenance activities should be watching the Cafe pages to see if there are discussions to contribute to. (/rant, Sorry!)
EdJogg 00:13, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
Since noone's yet commented on the newsletter, shouldw e go ahead with the first issue? Tbo 157 17:33, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
Yes let's go for it. The one thing with this wiki at the moment is that there are only about 4 really active users who actually contribute to dicussions, and the rest don't bother (most of the Thomas editors).
We really need to boost readership and editorship.
BG7 19:07, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
Lets ask if anyone wants to subscribe. Tbo 157 19:10, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
Ok - how do you propose? Send a link in the first issue, sending the first issue to everyone, or send a link, and then send the first issue? Also, if possible, new users should get the latest issue by default. BG7 19:13, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
I can set it so that it appears for new users with teh welcome message. Tbo 157 19:17, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
Yes that would work. Did you figure out how to display a different from xxx on the Thomas pages? BG7 19:18, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
I don't think it can be done without doing something on the servers. Tbo 157 19:22, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
Ok i'll just add it to the main one - which is it in? And rv me if you don't like... BG7 19:25, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
What do you want to add to the main one? Tbo 157 19:32, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

(reset indent) Well, supposedly we're THE home of Thomas, plus they're our only non WP articles - so I was thinking of something like: From Train Spotting World, THE home of Thomas the Tank Engine or similar. Thanks, BG7 19:35, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

But that promotes us as a Thomas wiki. Why would you want to do that? Tbo 157 19:39, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
I suppose in the long term it's probably not good. But, in the short term, seeing as thats the only bit we do well on, perhaps it's wise? THat's why i only wanted to do it on the Thomas pages. Now, please excuse me: I'm off to expand the Tramway Museum with stuff that WP removed. BG7 19:42, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
PS When i'm done it won't even look like the WP article. BG7 19:42, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
Thats good. I was planning to start writing about the London main stations. Tbo 157 19:46, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
Ok. Just DON'T make them like the WP ones. That IW map would be really useful (it means we can IW from WP doesnt it?) Also, can we make a largeish push on the UK Rail and Tram Workforce/Portal, and then create LT? I know we said wait, but i think seeing as they're our main target audiences at the moment we should go for them! BG7 19:49, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
Thats why Ive just set up the European rail workforce. We also need more writers. Any dieas on hwo to get more? Tbo 157 20:38, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
Hmm... I'll put a link on my Website (http://www.transportcentre.co.uk(want to help with that btw? Create an account and i'll set you up with editing right if you want!)). I can't really advertise, as i'm on the brink of being banned from all my Yahoo Groups for advertising my site! If we can get higher up the search engines it might help. And also links on other sites. And that InterWiki thing would REALLY help!!! perhaps we should start refrencing WP articles with sources from here, if that's allowed? BG7 20:42, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
No we need to be able to get higher on the google list. google use key search terms. Wikipedia are obviously very good at this as they appear when you search for just about anything. We need to ensure we appear on the first page of google results when someone searches for railway related material. Tbo 157 20:46, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
Ok - and we do that how? BG7 20:53, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
The best thing to do is think about what people would normally search for in google. The commonest term should be the title of an article, For example, when people search for the gherkin, people are not going to search for 30 St Mary Axe. ALso include in articles texts themselves what you would search for. Remember Google looks for key terms which people search for. Tbo 157 20:54, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
Ok mate you've actually confused me more now... I think youre saying that if someone was going to search for example THomas the Tank Engine and Friends, we need lots of links here? BG7 20:58, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
Ok not quite. Forget links. I meant people search using common terms. E.g. not many people would search Thomas the tanks engine and friends. More people would search for Thomas and friends or simply Thomas the tank engine. Have a look at WP:WP:NC(CN). Tbo 157 21:06, 20 December 2007 (UTC)
Right that makes more sense. So basically have simple, common names, rather than long uncommon ones? BG7 21:11, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

(Reset indent) Exactly. Ive propsoed a policy on it at the station cafe. Tbo 157 21:16, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Re:MediaWiki

Ive replied on my user talk page. Tbo 157 15:35, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Special:Allmessages may be useful to you. It links to all MediaWiki code pages. Tbo 157 15:40, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

CSD

Can't find the template for CSD.. I created a page by accident (Dyslexia) and tried to flag it.. But oh well.. the article in question is EDT supposed to be ETD a redirect to Flashing rear end device. Are those templates in the to-do list? If they are I don't mind grabbing them and making them look native, Cheers!--DP67 (talk/contribs) 11:31, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

One more question.. Images that don't come from commons but do come from wikipedia and are marked PD and properly attrib'd what import template do you want to use? the {{From Wikipedia}} states article, {{From Commons}} says image. Or does it not matter, even if the image in on Wikipedia will the link still grab it?
--DP67 (talk/contribs) 13:24, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
If you get a chance drop me a todo list of small routine templates you know you need. Things like CSD's, image/article source tags, etc.. In the meantime I'll start putting some together that I've found to be needed, but in case I miss something, (Im' sure I will) it'd be nice to have a list. I'll drop them on a template name space and tell you where so you can put a protect them. I'm not too good at complex templates just yet, but I can probably do the small ones.
--DP67 (talk/contribs) 18:36, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
Ok Will do. --BG7 18:40, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Help, Please!

Bluegoblin, I noticed that after I made a page for the Railway Series Book "Thomas the tank Engine", you made it so I could add a disambiguation page as well. Could you please do that for the book "James the Red Engine" as well? --DalekX 15:56, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Dab page? All I did was delete the redirect Thomas as it wasnt relevant as lots of pages linked to it - it actually needs to be a dab page. --BG7 17:59, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
Oh, I see. Well, could you redirect James, Percy, Toby, Edward, Henry, and Gordon so it isn't relavent as well, please? --DalekX 22:13, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Merry Christmas sign

Hi. I have inserted the merry christmas sign so that it is displayed at the top of every page as you agreed with Tim. Thanks. Tbo 157 17:24, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks a lot - can I add an image there? Thanks, --BG7 17:58, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
Ye go ahead. Be careful what you put there though or you'll end up screwing up the format of every page. Tbo 157 18:02, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
Ok thx - ill rv if t screws up --BG7 18:03, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
No worries. Can I ask you to test the Trains:RfA nom page Ive been working on using teh instructions on the page. you can put your test nom udner my test nom. Thanks. Tbo 157 18:30, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
Yep i have done. Its very simple to use, and anyone should get it - i say, launch RfA! --BG7 18:37, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
If the community approves. Tbo 157 18:50, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
The same community that never comments? --BG7 18:50, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
Ye, that one or should we just be bold. We already have too many processes and links to unnecessary pages. Lets get rid of some of the unneeede links on the page, rename and launch it. RfBs, in my opinion are unnecessary at the moment. We have Tim and thats all we need for this small community. Tbo 157 19:14, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
Yes Ok - i'm going to finally crack down on the help pages and some articles, and then i'll come over. I'm also working on rming redlinks at the moment too. --BG7 19:17, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

(REset indent) Thats good. Have you foudn a suitable picture for the sign yet? Tbo 157 19:31, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Erm no - i think ill do one of photoshop later. I'll incorporate the tree image you uploaded as it's FUDed. --BG7 19:33, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
I think were ready to launch the newsletter now. Tbo 157 21:05, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Less active

Just to let you know, I won't be editing Wikipedia or TSW as frequently as I have been in the last few months. I'll occassionally drop by to help though. I will get increasingly mroe busy so I won't really be able to find time to edit. Tbo 157 21:11, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Just a note that in addition, I won't be back before January 2008 so Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Tbo 157 21:33, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
I know I said I wouldn't be here but Ill sort out the banner and the newsletter for you first. For the christmas banner, it would be great if you could widen the banner in photoshop so that it would fill up the whole of the top part. Otherwise a big gap is left next to it and isnt very attractive to visitors of the site. Tbo 157 16:02, 22 December 2007 (UTC)
Looks like I sent you the message above at the same time as you. You'll need to stretch it in photoshop as I said above. Tbo 157 16:05, 22 December 2007 (UTC)
Ill be here to do the site notice for you. Tbo 157 20:41, 22 December 2007 (UTC)
Im off now. If you want to contact me for any reason, the best way would be by email from WP. I won't be active for a while now. Since the Wikibreak enforcer doesn't work here, I ve decided to screw up my password. Although Id love to stay, I really do have alot of things to do and wikis are preventing me from doing them. However Id like to thank you for all the help you've given me here and on WP over the last few months. I may be back one day with another username. Im not sure if Ill retire from WP yet but even if I don't my editing time will be very limited. Thanks. Tbo 157 17:52, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Help!

{{helpme}} Hi Guys, I've created {{user transport journal}} but it's seriously screwed, Can anyone fix it? Thanks, BG7 21:43, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

I tried and failed. I'd ask Slambo - our uncrowned template king. Tim Trent Talk to me 17:05, 23 December 2007 (UTC)
Yes check.svgDone. Tbo 157 22:22, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Those pesky PSW pages

It's tracked down to a pair of templates - both featured in B-18 Bolo. I've commented the little swine out for now, to give us a breathing space. IE is the culprit, FF and safari work fine. Tim Trent Talk to me 17:07, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Between several of us they are solved. It was mismatched HTML tags for h3! Tim Trent Talk to me 14:21, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Draft model railway template

Hi, I've got a draft model railway template started. Nevermind the docs as I haven't tuned them yet. Take a look and let me know if that's about what you'd need for model specs if you need something more or something removed let me know. The draft is User:Dp67/Sandboxes/Infobox model train. Right now some of it may be US specific but can be tuned. Also, I'm not familure with the popular UK locomotive builders and Model builders I can add them to the auto feature if you like. Take a peek and let me know what you think.

--DP67 (talk/contribs) 02:19, 24 December 2007 (UTC)
Ok. From a first look, there is still quite a bit that can go - i've put them on the pages' talk page. Also, I've put some UK maufacturers there. K=kit manufacturer - RTR=Ready-to-run and S=scratch building/spare supplier.
Thanks,
BG7 11:55, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Adminship

Hey BG, I think I'll take you up on your offer for admin. Being as I am a chronic insomniac I do spend way too much time at the keyboard, might as well make myself useful. LOL

Thanks! DP67 (talk/contribs) 00:25, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
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