UESPWiki:Archive/CP Vandals, Main Page

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Vandals, Main Page

I pulled the Vandals warning from the main page for several reasons. The main reason is that the warning was too prominent and seemed a bit insulting to the bulk of users/editors (remember that most people visiting the site are simply readers, not editors). It seemed to be talking down to users/viewers. (I'm sure Aristeo didn't intent such, but that's the way it came across to me as reader.) It also seemed a bit unwiki-like. (I would say that wiki assumes that users will act like adults, though it is quite willing to wipe their edits out (without fanfare) when they don't.) I'm also a bit concerned about counter-productivity -- it seemed a bit likely to act as a waving red flag to some people.)

Note that I'm not disagreeing with the policy, I'm disagreeing with where and how it was presented. In part, it doesn't belong in the news section. But more than that, I think that it probably doesn't belong on the main page at all. Rather, it should be in our equivalent of wikipedia's "anyone can edit" page, but it should be a shorter note. Which leads me to... The main page lead into editing is a bit complicated and dated and probably should be updated. (E.g., logins are no longer required.) There really should be one fairly simple and short page to get people started. The link to that page should be easy to find (e.g., like Wikipedia's "anyone can edit" link), and any warnings which we have to give (e.g., vandal warning) should be on that page. --Wrye 01:48, 1 November 2006 (EST)

I talked to Lurlock, Hoggwild, and Nephele before posting the news article up, but I do think you give some valid points. How about I replace that news article with one about how the wiki was upgraded to version 1.8.2? --Aristeo | Talk 12:08, 1 November 2006 (EST)

Wiki upgrade news: Just put yourself in the shoes of Joe Blow, non-editor, or Jane Blow, occasional editor. Would he or she care? Don't post unless one of them would care. If only heavy editors and/or sysops would care, then post it here. (I assume that all heavy editors have this page watched.) --Wrye 12:33, 1 November 2006 (EST)

More good points. Will do. :) --Aristeo | Talk 13:39, 1 November 2006 (EST)