Board Thread:News and Announcements/@comment-31035787-20150603105140

Greetings, Yogscast Wikians.

The last Wiki restructure which took place around last month was undoubtedly a success. We managed to remove unnecessary pages, establish the YoGPoD Wiki and overall, made the Wiki look and feel much more cleaner and professional. However, the restructure is far from complete. After confirming that the first phase has well and truly ended and summing up further areas needing work, it is now time to commence the second phase of the restructure.

In total, there are three more areas requiring improvement and will be focused on in this phase of the restructure. I will express here that this phase will at least take a month. We will take one step at the time. Keep in mind this post is very long. You may want to read it more than once or not read it in one go so you don't forget anything.

Lets begin.

Wiki Restructure Phase II: Focus I — Category Restructure
The categories are currently very disorganised, with things all over the place. Tidying it up will most certainly help users read and navigate.

The Problem?
This is an issue I've noticed all the way back in 2013, but it wasn't of too much concern for me to bring it up back then. Now, the categories have grown exponentially with the introduction of new members, new series and new pages. This has become a problem that I have to address.

First and foremost, there are a tremendous amount of categories with one page, which is not how categories are supposed to work. "Category" means that it contains two or more pages, yet right now, over 50% of all categories contain one page. I have an example on the right, taken from here.

Categories with one page really don't have a purpose. They are for grouping pages with similar content together so it is easier for users to find related pages. The ones with one page don't have anything related, so users won't be able to find similar pages by accessing those categories. This is a serious hinderance for users who wish to find similar content, and something that should definitely be fixed.

Secondly, I notice a lot of categories that should be in pages, but are lacking. The other day I added over 30 categories to Shadow of Israphel characters, and I'm sure the locations of that series are lacking categories too. The adding of categories on pages is just not very consistent. Users should be aware of what categories to add so nothing is missed.

The Fix?
In order to help with the navigation of the Wiki, categories that have only one page must be tidied up.

These categories should be removed. There is simply no use or purpose in keeping them. However, I do realize that some categories are simply incomplete. For example, the category "Deep Space Mine" might have more pages added. If more pages can be added, then there is no need to remove it.

Even though this sounds simple, it will be quite a lengthy process. By removing the category, the link to the category on the page is not removed. For example, if the category "Deep Space Mine" was deleted, the link that connects the category to the page "Deep Space Mine" would still exist. This means we will end up with links to deleted categories on many pages. The only way to fix this is by going into each individual page and deleting the link to the category and deleting the category itself — quite a strenuous task.

In addition to this, users should take more care when adding categories to make sure they haven't missed a category. It is best if the consistency of categories is kept.

Wiki Restructure Phase II: Focus II — Page Format
This area of improvement is fairly straightforward. We must ensure all pages have the updated page format.

The Problem?
It comes down to consistency again.

Much of the Wiki still does not have a set page layout. "People" pages are fairly consistent and shouldn't need too much work. However, in "Character" and "Location" pages, often there would be a heading containing information on a page that wouldn't exist on another page related to it. If we are to make pages more tidy, one of the first things we must have is a set layout and format — keeping with the consistency.

Right now, pages don't seem to align and match up correctly. Updating all pages with the correct format will be another important area of focus for this restructure. Also, as I have mentioned before, the "tabber" on the Page Format page doesn't seem to be working. Some headings are missing for certain users and it looks disorganized for them.

The Fix?
In order to update all Wiki pages to the new format, users must follow the layout of the Page Format Page and edit pages, adding in the new format. I am currently working on Character Formats, but this will take a long time. Perhaps a few can dedicate themselves to editing in the formats.

Another thing is to update the Page Format page itself so headings would show for some users. I again suggest to change "tabber" to "tabview" so that all headings will show.

Wiki Restructure Phase II: Focus III — Plot Summaries

 * For original thread, view here

The Problem?
Whether it's a TV show, movie or some other series, they usually have plot summaries. Long or short, good or bad, a plot summary is preset most of the time. On the Wiki, we don't have plot summaries on episode pages. Yes, there are one or two sentences describing who did the series and occasionally why they did the series, but we have never created an episode guide where there is a proper plot summary describing what occurs in the series.

Now, this isn't really a problem with short series, say, for example, Papers, Please by Lewis and Simon. There are only a few episodes so the plot isn't all that important. But with series like Tekkit and Shadow of Israphel, it's not easy to know what happens in the series unless there is a plot summary. People who haven't watched a series and want to know what happens in it would be greatly benefited if we had a plot summary on each and every one of our episode guides.

In addition to this, there is strong emphasis on characters' history at the moment and introducing the character page layout. It would not be plausible to have the summary of the series using the history of the character. People looking for a summary can just go on the episode guide, and if they want to know what happened to a specific character that appears in the series, then they go to respective character pages.

Quite simply, episode guides are a bit short at the moment and lack substance.

The Fix?
I suggest for the introduction of plot summaries in episode guides. They are a convenient way for people who haven't watched the series to get an idea of what it is about, as well as a recap for those who have already watched it without the need to watch the videos again. The Wiki should have all relevant information, and this is one. Plot summaries do not need to be long, only clear and concise. Therefore, I believe writing a few paragraphs on each series should not be too much trouble. We can decide to only write once a series has finished or on hiatus, so we don't need to update it constantly, or just "write as they go," updating every time a new episode is released.

Organizing The Restructure
Without a doubt, this restructure will be a huge task occupying us for the next few months. I do not want to jump in and begin editing blindly. We need to organize everyone's task and time so we have a proper approach.

The most vital thing to do is designate certain tasks to people so members are not editing all over the place. I find this will be the fastest and most organized way of restructuring instead of random editing by random people here and there. For example, someone who is keen on watching Yogscast series and writing plot summaries may go ahead and do that.

Despite this, I won't be the one deciding who does what. That is for you to decide depending on your interests and what you wish to do. Leave a comment below saying what you'd like to focus on. If everyone approves of that choice, the you will be the one designated with that task.

On another occasion, perhaps in a few weeks, I will post a brief outlining the progress on the restructure once we have started. I will probably post a few of these reviews during the restructure on our progress so we know what still needs to be done.

Leave your suggestions and comments below and decide what part of the restructure you wish to do. Thanks for your time.

 