Although I’ve been pondering around thinking about ideas for a template that’s been around a long time, I’ve always been told to leave it alone. It’s got many views and many people are using it. However, all it is is a copy of an image. While I was told recently to leave it alone once again, I got thinking. There has to be a compromise. I mean we could make it into an official template adding additional words to make it something that’s more than just the image itself, yet I don’ know just what words we could use that could go along with the image that just says “Proud Wikihowian”, without making it sound UIB-ish. Hundreds and hundreds of users are using this template, if you look at the What Links here page for this template.
I’d hate to use one of my reasons as “it’s taking up space” when users can just copy and paste the image code to their userpage instead, but I do feel something’s gotta give.
I’m pretty sure I have other reasons. Just can’t put 2 and 2 together right now. Other than us responsifying these templates, it helps to look into things that can go another direction in a lot simpler place. Let’s look into finding a compromise (the wikiWay) to solving this dilemma.
Kudos if you , after reading this forums post, you change your copy of the template on your User page to the image version itself. Links provided below.
https://www.wikihow.com/Template:Proud-Wikihowian
What Links here page links:
Used in User-space: https://www.wikihow.com/index.php?title=Special%3AWhatLinksHere&target=Template%3AProud+Wikihowian&namespace=2
Used in User_talk-space: https://www.wikihow.com/index.php?title=Special%3AWhatLinksHere&target=Template%3AProud+Wikihowian&namespace=3
Currently found on (in wikiHow space): https://www.wikihow.com/index.php?title=Special%3AWhatLinksHere&target=Template%3AProud+Wikihowian&namespace=4
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You can use AutoWikiBrowser to replace all instances of {{Proud Wikihowian}} to the image code ([[Image:ProudwikiHowian_436.png|325px]]). Then you could just delete the template.
But then again, many users find this template via the User Fun and Personal templates page
, which is why it is on so many user pages, so perhaps taking it out of the template space is not the best idea.
Also, does anybody else here think that some of the templates on the fun and personal page aren’t actually fun and personal?
I think that I will deal with that latter.
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I guess I’m just having a hard time really seeing exactly why
a change is needed here
Content in the Template namespace is meant to be replicated across multiple pages without having to copy-paste the actual full code, whether that content is text, a UIB, or an image. With this particular one, it looks to be an easier and more newbie-friendly way of placing the “Proud wikiHowian” image. Images can be hard to search for, and the code can be a little confusing for new users, whereas a template is straightforward (a good example of applying the KISS principle
). And given the amount of users in the WhatLinksHere list, I’d be a little hesitant to make a change.
I know you’ve been working on responsifying our templates Chris, so I’m interested in knowing more about your reasons why you think a change should be made, and hope to clarify the “it’s taking up space” part. The way I’m seeing it, I just don’t think it’s worth the effort of taking it out of the template namespace if there isn’t a practical benefit in doing so and when it’s already being used on lots of user/talk pages. If another editor once advised you to leave it be, then I’d probably agree with them because the reasons for change isn’t too clear for me so far. Just my two cents.
4 Likes
I got thinking last night about a way to keep the template - yet add some additional text- thereby avoiding the deletion of this template altogether. I was trying to be very vague because I didn’t know how all would feel about a thought like that. I hadn’t thought about the additional text at that time.
Here’s my thoughts:
Leaving the image as a more-left sided image, we could put (on multiple lines if necessary), the line “Proud Wikihowians is what we are.” But I think it needs more. I’d be adding a border of a similar color (haven’t decided which one I’m vying for, but I might detect the main color and run with that color through RGB values, and leaving the background the same color. Text colors will either remain the same as default text or something a little different than the current color of the image. Any suggestions on the colors or any of these ideas to strike a compromise, feel free to leave them below.
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Although it could stand for more designing of the colors of the text below the image (because I couldn’t get the image and text to be inline with each other - the border overlapped the bottom of the image (I put the image to the left of the text via the wikitext method), I’ve added some designing elements so it wouldn’t be just an image alone. Here’s my preliminary changes: Difference between revisions of “Template:Proud Wikihowian” - wikiHow
EDIT: I made another change for designing the color, utilizing colors from the image to compare it - and also resized the text to a slight size bigger. Difference between revisions of “Template:Proud Wikihowian” - wikiHow
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It looks intriguing with the border and text. That being said, I don’t see an issue with the image by itself being the entirety of the template. Like Matt and R2 mentioned, it’s a simple way for newer users to put the image on their page when browsing through the fun/personal templates listing. In my opinion, with the redesign, it bears resemblance to a talk page award instead, though I noticed that it was just removed from people’s talk pages for the reason that it’s a user page template. I believe there are other user page templates that utilize a similar border-and-text-style design, but those (at least the ones I can recall off the top of my head) tend to be about historical topics or something completely irrelevant to wikiHow itself, and for some reason this one looks more award-like to me in this style than those ones do?
That aside, I wonder what the reasoning behind adding the border and text was? You said you “think it needs more” but was there anything particularly wrong with keeping it as an image itself? And on another note, is there an issue with having it on talk pages? I don’t edit templates that often so I could be missing something, but although it was intended for user pages, as long as it doesn’t obscure messages or go against the talk page policy in some way, I see no problem with it being displayed on talk pages. All in all, frankly I thought the template was fine the way it was before.
Of course, this is just a collection of my thoughts on the matter, and I’d be happy to hear what others think as to the proposed redesign. And thanks for your work modifying templates @EpcotMagic
- I appreciate your eagerness to work through this project and keep the templates both suitable for guidelines and appealing to users
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Users tend to place this template on User pages - as opposed to Talk pages, I felt that moving them to the right place - keeping them all in one type of place - was best - I used the WhatLinksHere page and found those few pages where it was being used on talk pages - and moved them accordingly.
It just felt out of place to have just an image alone. Most of the other templates are words, images, borders…the whole shebang, and I felt that this one needed to coincide with what’s already on most of the other templates. It’s not obscuring messages, the way it was designed/decorated and it doesn’t go against any policy to have static colors such as white, black and the blue which was used on the image itself to be borders and colors of text. Unless there’s something I don’t know (I’d definitely like to know why if something is still wrong), I can change it, but I’m against completely removing most of the design elements.
If necessary, I can drop it back to just borders around the image element, but I think they pair well together. I just had time on my real birthday, that I thought I’d get around to things I’ve been putting off for pretty long - some projects as far back of thought of in 2019 and older.
It’s currently in use on one wikiHow-namespace page: https://www.wikihow.com/wikiHow:Templates/User-Fun-and-Personal
which, where that is listed, it’s listed as being a Userpage template - not a Talk page template- and therefore not an award template of any kind, because it’s listed under User page templates on the main templates page… wikiHow:Templates - wikiHow
I do watch forums posts which I’ve started up until nobody has qualms with something or I feel the work is done. Although I know it’s a work in progress (just waiting for others’ opinions), I do feel that I can wait a little more to see how it’s viewed now.
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Can someone please check why the borders and styling I applied are being applied correctly to the template page after publishing the edit… yet, where it’s linked - hence https://www.wikihow.com/wikiHow:Templates/User-Fun-and-Personal
- the borders and responsifcation edits are missing? What am I missing?
Found my own problem why the borders and styling weren’t being applied. I had a mistaken end-font HTML tag without having a starting font HTML tag. So I restyled it with the borders in place, and previewed the template, and it seems to work splendidly now. https://www.wikihow.com/index.php?title=Template%3AProud-Wikihowian&type=revision&diff=30917601&oldid=30499212
Eric
10
Looks good, @EpcotMagic
. The light blue text is kind of hard to read, though. What are your thoughts on changing that to a darker color? Maybe just black text?
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Let me see. Right now, theres a good Yankee game on TV.
Ok now: regular blue which is darker for that text. https://www.wikihow.com/index.php?title=Template%3AProud-Wikihowian&type=revision&diff=30921171&oldid=30917601
That better for you? I was trying to come close to the blue used in the image, but i missed the mark.
Eric
13
That’s a lot easier to read. Thanks!
Is it just me, or technically should it be
‘Proud wikiHowians arewhat we are’?
Instead of ‘is’?
Because it’s talking about wikiHowians in the plural.
Does anyone see what I’m on about here
