Forum:New theme proposal

I know that every time a new theme discussion is started, it seems to inevitably lead to problems. But, I also know that our wiki theme is a bit dated and could badly use a new coat of paint. Right now most of our thematic elements are TS3-based and are starting to show their age. Where we've had issues in the past is in collectively deciding what we should do about this.

To alleviate that issue, I've been working on a new design on my test wiki. I am now reaching the point in the process where I need input from others. I've asked a few folks on the IRC channel what they think of my work so far, but I'd really like a wider range of input.

So, without further ado, click here to see the redesign live. Or, take a look at the screenshots I've posted below:

''Note: Screenshots are from my computer, with 1080x1920 resolution. If your screen is smaller than this, there may be some visual differences. Your mileage may vary.''


 * Some information
 * There are some templates missing, missing files, and redlinks present in the screenshots and on the test wiki; please do your best to pretend they're not there, or that the content that should be there actually is there. It would take a lot of work to get all of that content populated in, since the screenshots were taken from a completely separate wiki.
 * A few of the "odd" features have been removed, such as the Events template and History/Random Quote generator. I'd like to find a home for those features, but right now they sorta clutter up the main page and are really hard to find a good spot for.
 * The Sims Pen has been consolidated into The Sims Wiki News (re-named "community news" to encompass both), to reduce the amount of space dedicated to blogs on the main page. The Sims News selection has also been reduced to 2 blog posts, since it isn't updated as frequently.
 * I removed the "Recent releases and updates" list; the list tends to be so full of patches that the real game releases get lost. To compensate for this, I set up a new "recent releases" section on the right bar.
 * I removed the "forums interface" wheel. The wheel does not work on mobile versions of the main page, and really don't fit in with the new theme.
 * The "Chat module" needs to be updated; please pretend it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb.

I'd like to get feedback on this design, including pointers on what can be updated, fixed or improved. If responses here are positive to this design, I'd like to implement it on The Sims Wiki fully.

So what does everyone think? --  LostInRiverview talk • blog  •  contribs 02:01, March 24, 2015 (UTC)


 * So far so good. It may need a little more touching up, but overall I'd be happy with that as the new wiki theme. --  C.Syde  ( talk &#124;  contribs ) 03:26, March 24, 2015 (UTC)
 * What kinds of touch-ups would you suggest? Do you have any specific improvements in mind? --  LostInRiverview talk • blog  •  contribs 03:41, March 24, 2015 (UTC)
 * Replacing the Sims 3 pictures with the Sims 4 ones. I noticed that there are Sims 4 pictures in the wiki theme proposal, but there don't seem to be any where the Sims 3 pictures used to be. Although it may look fine the way it is at this stage. I'm just used to having the Sims pictures where they are. --  C.Syde  ( talk &#124;  contribs ) 03:43, March 24, 2015 (UTC)
 * Sims 3 pictures? I'm not sure what you're referring to. I just added icons to the main page there, but those are all from TS4. And, there are a few rotating "pagecover" images at the top, but they're all TS4 based as well. --  LostInRiverview talk • blog  •  contribs 03:53, March 24, 2015 (UTC)
 * I was talking about the Sims 3 pictures of the current wiki theme on the Sims wiki. --  C.Syde  ( talk &#124;  contribs ) 04:01, March 24, 2015 (UTC)

Personally, I absolutely love it. It's a nice, fresh, modern-looking update to our theme. I think it would be a good idea to find a way to get Pluto Sans, the font used in TS4, onto the wiki, if that is not too much trouble for the community (I know it's possible because we've done it over on Infinite Histories). The proposal is a great improvement over our somewhat-outdated TS3 theme. However, what happened to the separation of TSW News and TSP? &#8213; The  Tim   Man  (Infinite Histories • Galactic Crucibles • The Sims Wiki • Hallows Maleficent • Why I'm here in the first place ) 16:29, March 24, 2015 (UTC)
 * I looked into a custom font, but there are licensing issues involved in doing that. Ultimately we'd need to find a nice-looking font with a license that allows use on a website, which is actually easier said than done. My guess is that "Pluto Sans" is a licensed (i.e. non-free) font, so our using it would be copyright violation unless we purchased the rights to use it.


 * Regarding The Sims Wiki News and The Sims Pen... it's a space-saving measure. Ultimately TSP is "fanon news" (in a sense), so bundling it together with "wiki news" makes sense. The two features are still separate, they're simply shown together. --  LostInRiverview talk • blog  •  contribs 16:43, March 24, 2015 (UTC)

I'll give you the same answer I gave you on IRC last night; this theme is pretty cool. I like how you interpreted a modern theme, and made it look a lot like The Sims 4. The colors go really well together, and I like how you shadowed the headers; non-shadowed text gives of a blurry vibe, and that would most certainly not be a good look for the theme, in my opinion. Overall, this is a great theme and if we were to use it, I'd be more than happy to support it. ~ Beds (talk - blog ) 16:59, March 24, 2015 (UTC)

I don't really have much to input other than what has been said. To be honest, I don't really know what Sims 4 looks like because I haven't played it because I haven't had much interest to do so. (I haven't even gotten into Sims 3 yet. HA!) I guess it matched the theme of the Sims 4. I will say that it does look good from an overall point of view. -- Icemandeaf (talk) 17:14, March 24, 2015 (UTC)


 * I think it looks good. I don't think I have anything to add to the discussion aside from my opinion.  22:29, March 24, 2015 (UTC)

I just wanted to give an update here, and maybe lay the way forward from this point.

It looks like the response to the changes is good, which I appreciate. I'm actually very eager to roll this out, but I do want to give it a few more days at least to ensure that everyone has a chance to weigh in. That being said, assuming support for the redesign continues, I want to discuss how we move forward after the initial change. When we decide to roll out the change, there will be a coordinated updating of the Main Page, MediaWiki:Wikia.css page, and the wiki's theme via the Theme Designer tool. After this change, there will still be work to do in order to get the theme fully implemented. For starters, every location on the wiki that currently uses "MP header blue" or "MP header green" (except the Main Page and some "modules" elsewhere) will still be using the old header designs and will need to be switched over. For example, we have several Portal pages that will need updating. After this, there will likely be a lengthy period of tweaking things to make them fit and work just right, but this is to be expected and should not cause any major issues. Eventually, I do hope to continue the theme rollout to major templates on the wiki, including Metabox, Pagecover, and the infoboxes, but that is a ways into the future and not one of my immediate concerns. I just wanted to make sure everyone was aware that simply changing a few pages isn't the end of this process; we'll need to continue the work past that in order to truly complete the update.

In any case, I am as always receptive to any questions or concerns about the proposed design. It's not too late to make changes, if there's something about the new theme or the new Main Page design you don't like. Also, be sure to check out the current design, as I've made a few changes since the initial proposal, including adding some icons to the headers. The screenshots posted on this thread are no longer totally up-to-date. --  LostInRiverview talk • blog  •  contribs 05:47, March 25, 2015 (UTC)

I'd remove the "placeholder for icons", since the icons have found a new home under the "Welcome to The Sims Wiki!" text. Would that make more room for the random quote/today's events stuff? --I am  k6ka  Talk to me!   See what I have done  11:31, March 25, 2015 (UTC)
 * Probably not. Right now the right side is slightly shorter than the left side, but you have to factor in the ad that appears (for those without an ad blocker) at the top of the right side, which will push the content down. Since Wikia seems to be allowing skyscraper ads (300 x 600px) instead of the usual 300 x 250 ads, the length factor is even more severe. With the current configuration, even without history, events, or quotes, all of the Chat module and almost all of the Battles module are forced down below the bottom of the left-hand side when the page is loaded with a skyscraper ad. --  LostInRiverview talk • blog  •  contribs 14:29, March 25, 2015 (UTC)