Forum:Introducing Metabox

In the TS4 prep discussion, I mentioned the possibility of retiring Parthenon. I wanted everyone to know that I've carried on with that suggestion, and have built a new standard message template

Also, be sure to check out the small version of the same template:

Parthenon has been adopted as the standard "meta"-template for message boxes on The Sims Wiki. Even if you don't know Parthenon by name, you probably recognize its style:
 * Why replace Parthenon?

Parthenon allows a lot of customization to the template itself, but that comes at a cost of many required parameters. Parthenon requires at least four parameters to display correctly -,  ,   and. When using parthenon, the user has to decide, at that moment, what color the template should be and what the title of the template should be (the title is the bold line of text at the top of Parthenon). If background color is left empty, it will display the background color of the page, but if border color is empty, it will not display the borders correctly (thus, losing the distinctive "columns" of Parthenon). Other parameters for Parthenon allow the user to adjust the width of the template or to add an image (as I did in the example above).

Metabox, by comparison, requires one or two parameters to display correctly. is the only truly mandatory parameter, but  is ultimately the parameter that determines what color the template will appear as. The customizability of Parthenon has been retained and enhanced with Metabox, and the following parameters are currently accepted (with more to be added yet):
 * (compare to 'title' from Parthenon template)
 * (compare to 'title' from Parthenon template)




 * Key differences
 * Image display. Parthenon displays the image only if the [[File: ]] brackets are used by the editor; Metabox does not need the brackets in order to display the image. Metabox automatically sets the size of the image to 40px, but the size can be overridden by the editor; Parthenon has the image size set within the image link itself. The reason I opted to include an automatic image size in Metabox is to make it easier to make templates on-the-go, rather than needing to fiddle around with setting image sizes.
 * Template size. Parthenon has a default width of 65%; Metabox standard has a default width of 85%. Metabox also has adjusted the size of text and line spacing within the template, with the ultimate result being a template that takes up less vertical space than Parthenon. Both Parthenon and Metabox have optional  parameters to adjust the width further.
 * Template type. One major feature of Metabox is the establishment of "types" of templates, based on their intended usage. These types determine the border and background colors used within the template. Presently, there are five types and five color schemes: administrative (green), information (blue), notice (red), delete/move/merge (orange), and feature (yellow) - you can see the different schemes in action here.
 * Alternate versions. Parthenon always displays as a large, center-aligned box. Metabox can be set to display like this, but it can also be set to display as a smaller, left-aligned box (as demonstrated here). This is achieved by setting  when editing.
 * Visual differences. Aside from the changes mentioned above, metabox is also visually different from Parthenon. The most notable difference is the loss of the right-hand column and the widening of the left-hand column into a "bar". Ultimately, this bar displays the type color for the template.

The decision to replace Parthenon will be at least partly dependent on whether you prefer the style of Parthenon or Metabox; personally, I prefer Metabox, but this is obviously something that everyone decides for themselves. However, aside from the opinion, there are several pros and cons that can be weighed when deciding which template to use.
 * Pro/Con


 * Pros to Metabox


 * Adjustable size (standard and small-sized versions, in the same template)
 * Establishment of clear template types based on usage
 * Simpler code to add to pages


 * Cons to Metabox


 * All templates using Parthenon would have to be changed over
 * Templates would need to be "established" within a particular class
 * Color customizability is lost (i.e. you cannot set an alternate border and background color, it is set by the chosen type)

Metabox is still being developed. Specifically, I am looking to implement optional parameters for more advanced users, such as adjusting the width of the image space in the template, and making adjustable border and background colors independent of the type chosen.
 * Other points

However, for now I am pressing forward and proposing that we move towards adopting Metabox as the new standard message box on The Sims Wiki. --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 14:24, September 4, 2013 (UTC)