OCR Mascot Bios - 20 more up for grabs!

[Dafydd]

Exactly. No, I just set that deadline because it's a date you remember and it's a reasonably short/long time away. It would be cool if people actually died if they failed to keep to deadlines... Yeah, I'd be dead, too.

[Liontamer]

So instead of the wiki links like "[[Jedah Dohma]]" we should use "[http://www.ocremix.org/info/OCR_Mascot_xxx Jedah Dohma]"?

You can use [[OCR Mascot xxx|Character Name]]

[Dafydd]

I knew there had to be an easier way to do that. Thanks, Larry.

[Linearity]

Yeah, thank you, Larry.

There is a potential problem: the Darkstalkers overview and the extended Darkstalkers bios have no page that redirects to them, so I can't link to their redirect pages. Which picture should be associated with the former, if any? And how will we get the picture to appear for the extended bios if we don't use redirect pages?

EDIT: Once we get that question cleared up, I think I have all of my markup done, and I can post all 50-some of my bios.

[Dafydd]

Very good questions. I hadn't thought of those issues, and I guess Larry will have to answer those questions.

[The Coop]

I'm not familiar with how the wiki coding works, but couldn't you just put a URL link at the end of a short bio that goes to its long one, and then a similar link at the end of that long one that goes back to its short one? The short bios are the main pages if my understanding is correct, so it seems logical that the only way to reach the 7 extended bios is to link to them only from their short ones.

...

Is that paragraph as confusing to read as it was to write?

[Dafydd]

No, I get what you're saying, but the problem isn't where to put the links, but what to link to. What should we name the extended articles? If we consider the standard way of linking to other mascots is to link to their redirection pages (i.e. don't link to Chrono, link to Mascot001), then what should we name the redirection page for the extended darkstalker bios? And what about the overview?

The problem here is the mascot images. Supposedly, it should be possible for DJP to recode the site so that when reading a mascot bio, the mascot image on the site header should be the one that goes with the bio you're currently reading, i.e. not just any random one. It would make things easier for DJP - and be good practice - to use redirection pages for all bios. We just don't know how to do this with the special darkstalker related articles. That's what I wanted Larry to give us answers to/about.

[The Coop]

Well, here are my thoughts (yes, I do get them from time to time... hurts though)...

Each image links to the short bio, right. In each of those short bios, I figure a few things can be done. 1) Make it so each time the word "Darkstalkers" comes up, it's automatically made a link to the "What is" page, 2) put the "What is" info somewhere on each of the short bio pages, or 3) make each image link to the "What is" page, have links to each of the seven bios on that page, and then have a link to each ones extended version on their pages, so that the linkage system would work like this...

Anyway, just some possibilities.

[Polo]

When a reader clicks on a Darkstalker image, they should be taken to that character's short profile. I like The Coop's second option to bundle some stuff within these "short" bios.

Does the Wiki provide any code that will expand / contract sections? Say Jon Talbain has his regular bio section, and next to the header Bio there's the tag "spoilers" or "full history (spoilers)". Click on the tag and it'll change / expand to show the Reader's Digest version. There can even be a collapsible header / section before or after the bio chunk that details what a Darkstalker is, with links to the others. Saves pages that way.

The only downside is that the reader won't see the Darkstalkers all lined up when reading about the series as a whole... though it could just be an aesthetic preference. *shrug*

[Dafydd]

1) Make it so each time the word "Darkstalkers" comes up, it's automatically made a link to the "What is" page, 2) put the "What is" info somewhere on each of the short bio pages, or 3) make each image link to the "What is" page, have links to each of the seven bios on that page, and then have a link to each ones extended version on their pages, so that the linkage system would work like this...

1) Yeah, that works, but what should the "what is" info page be named url-wise? That still needs an answer from Larry.

2) That works too.

3) Since we can't have the images lined up in the what is bio (unless Larry allows for an exception), the user who clicked on of the darkstalker mascots and is sent to this "what is" info page won't know the name of the mascot he's just clicked.

I understand what you're saying, I just don't think you've understood what it is I'm saying. It's not about which page should link to what or how to organize them, it's about redirection pages, what to name them, and even whether to use them. We will need Larry's input on this, no matter how much we discuss it ourselves. The darkstalker bios and the info page will be included somehow, probably in one of the ways that you just suggested, but that's not what this discussion is about. Just wait until Larry pops his head back in. I'll send him a PM and hopefully the wait won't be so long.

[The Coop]

1) Yeah, that works, but what should the "what is" info page be named url-wise? That still needs an answer from Larry.

Perhaps I'm being naive, but if these wiki pages work anything like the ones on Wikipedia, why not have "What_Is_Darkstalkers" as the page name at the URL's end, instead of a given bio's number/name? Is there some specific formula that has to be used in this wiki URL setup, or was that your plan to begin with?

[Dafydd]

Yeah, for all I care, that would be fine, but I need Larry to confirm this first. The solution to all of this is probably extremely intuitive and simple, but I don't feel like I have the admin powah to make the decision myself.

[Liontamer]

Lemme hold of on this until after MAGFest. Not that I'm lazy on it, but I wanna give this my full attention, and think the possibilities through.

We might actually be able to incorporate a collapse-able deal to allow extended bios on the same pages as the regular bios, BUT that stuff has only been programmed on Wikipedia proper and may require templates that we can't simply cut-and-paste into MediaWiki in order to have work on our side.

In terms of pages redirecting to extended bios via the mascot #s, I don't think we would offhand, but again, lemme figure out how we're gonna approach this. If I can get the collapse-able stuff working, it would be a moot point.

As for a sort of group/main page for the DarkStalkers, that sounds fine to me, but we may be able to just do that as a Category page rather manually creating a new page, so don't move forward with any of that yet.

[Dafydd]

Ah, of course... a new category. Yeah, I'll let you get back to us about this. Though, we've written a "main page" for the Darkstalkers, and I'd really like to see that text included on a page of its own.

EDIT: Oh, and once this is finished, I want to write a short blurb about the project itself so that those who never knew about it before it was finished can find out. Just so I can thank everyone and stuff. I guess a wiki page would be used for that as well.

EDIT 2: I found this little thing I'd like to nitpick about - in Link's bio, the following sentence ends the third paragraph: "Like many other main characters in this style of game, Link rarely speaks, using facial expression to convey his feelings." I want to add the word "instead", or something, right after the last comma. Is that proper English? I feel as if the sentence suggests that speaking and using facial expressions is the same thing, or... well, I just don't like it. Adding this little word would make the sentence so much less of an eyebrow raiser. Help?

I need to add the links to other characters in each of the 51 bios I've uploaded. Once I'm done doing that, we should all try to make sure that we don't have any "illegal" links still left by mistake or other problems caused by the migration. I might be the only one to have errors in my bios though (if any of us does). I also don't have the real names for some of the writers of the bios I've uploaded, some of who might actually want to be credited by their real name as well as by username.

[Polo]

Looking at the last 11 bios (Yuna through Otacon), I just have one thing to say...

*AHEM*

Don't let Lin's faithful edits go to waste. I can't create a page called Bonus kun (lower case 'k') to redirect from Bonus Kun, so unless Larry's willing to delete the existing page so we can try again, we'll have to leave the article title as-is. I did however update the links to Mega Man 2-7 in Mega Man's bio because the urls dropped the Roman numeral facade (I noticed it when uploading Dr. Wily's bio).

"Like many other main characters in this style of game, Link rarely speaks, using facial expression to convey his feelings." I want to add the word "instead", or something, right after the last comma. Is that proper English?

That makes more sense, yes. Good catch. Go ahead and add "instead" to that sentence. Also, it should be "facial expressions" (plural).

I also don't have the real names for some of the writers of the bios I've uploaded

Rexy is Bev Wooff (Sonic's bio). She displays her real name in her profile and posts, so you can add it. Lin's in charge of Wiki'ing Claire Redfield by Dean Park (Spunodi) and Edge by Luke Williams (Less Ashamed Of Self) who also display their real names (the latter in his sig, which is just as obvious if not more so). That covers the last few unknowns.

[Dafydd]

Whoops. Will try to adjust tomorrow night. Sorry about that.

EDIT: No progress yet. I've been remixing. Deadline's still set though. I'll be honest, I'm trying to get an ADD examination. Hopefully within a month I'll be chewing ritbits and doing fine. Should I turn out to be "healthy", I'm going to feel so worthless. ...Well, I got Bonus Kun moved to Bonus kun. Bonus Kun still exists but redirects to Bonus kun, and so does the redirect page. I'll get the last 11 bios updated as soon as I can.

[Dafydd]

Now done copying Lin's edits of the last bios into the Wiki, overwriting the old articles. Will begin changing the names of other characters into their proper links as soon as I can. Meanwhile, please tell me if you find any oddities in any of my bios, and ask questions if you have any.

EDIT: Someone hasn't been uploading all of their bios yet. There are 107 articles in the mascot category, and Luigi and Peach are not among them (I noticed when I started to linkify the character names). Who might this person be? Well, Valentine's day still stands, so no worries.

EDIT2: Ok, about halfway done adding the links. I noticed I don't like the X quote. Could it be changed for something else, like, I dunno, "I guess I'm not powerful enough to defeat him..." or something? I'd appreciate your input.

EDIT3: Ok, unless I've missed something, which I probably have, I'm all done, except for the Otacon bio. I don't know if the link to Solid Snake there should go to #065 or #147. Feel free to point out any other mistakes I might have made. If the rest of the bios have not been uploaded by next weekend, I'm willing to help there.

[Polo]

I don't suppose your diagnosis is having an adverse effect on double-checking these bios, could it? In any case, I went ahead and fixed some details that were casually overlooked. Kudos on the Bonus kun article title fix, though.

I noticed I don't like the X quote. Could it be changed for something else, like, I dunno, "I guess I'm not powerful enough to defeat him..." or something?

If you want. Or you could try something from one of the more text-heavy games...

"There must be alternatives to this endless fighting!"

"Even if we fight, what good will it do? A battle won't solve the problem."

"Why do Reploids always have to fight each other? Darn! Do I have to fight again?!"

"OK, Zero! I'll be waiting for you... ... you'd better come back alive!"

"Sigma won't beat us Maverick Hunters!"

I'm all done, except for the Otacon bio. I don't know if the link to Solid Snake there should go to #065 or #147.

It doesn't really matter, but if you want a consistency rule, I'd say link to #065 (earlier numbers get the link). Similarly, Crono redirects can go to #002 while Zelda redirects can lead to #027.

If the rest of the bios have not been uploaded by next weekend, I'm willing to help there.

We still need Larry's input on how to deal with the redirects for the Darkstalkers overview and the extended bios. Do you need his input on where to put your blurb on the whole project / general word of thanks to all who helped out?

[Liontamer]

We still need Larry's input on how to deal with the redirects for the Darkstalkers overview and the extended bios. Do you need his input on where to put your blurb on the whole project / general word of thanks to all who helped out?

For both the DarkStalkers and Mascots categories, we should be able to add text to the Category pages like any other entry, so we'd use those to house that stuff. For project thanks, I'd think to use the Mascots category page. We could probably get a link to that added onto the sidebar and dropdown menus as well.

[Dafydd]

I don't suppose your diagnosis is having an adverse effect on double-checking these bios, could it? In any case, I went ahead and fixed some details that were casually overlooked.

I hope not. The idea was to improve things, not make them worse. I tried hard to get those details right, what were they exactly? Thanks for helping.

EDIT: Wait, I thought you meant something else. If I do indeed get that diagnosis, then that would explain why I took 2½ years to get this done. And why my double-checking seems to need triple-checking by someone else more often than not. By getting the diagnosis, officially, if I do, I hope to get help. That's what I meant by "the idea was to improve things", the idea being getting the diagnosis. The syndromes I've had all my life.

"There must be alternatives to this endless fighting!"

"Even if we fight, what good will it do? A battle won't solve the problem."

Sounds like the X I know. I think I'll go with the latter of the two.

...while Zelda redirects can lead to #027.

You mean 028, right? I disagree though. Picture 028 is the WW version, while 094 is more like what most people's image of Zelda is. So I think that one should be it.

[Dafydd]

For both the DarkStalkers and Mascots categories, we should be able to add text to the Category pages like any other entry, so we'd use those to house that stuff.

Ok, but what about the general info blurb about the darkstalkers then?

For project thanks, I'd think to use the Mascots category page. We could probably get a link to that added onto the sidebar and dropdown menus as well.

Ok, great. Though no hurries there.

[Linearity]

I still don't know which pages to redirect towards, respectively, the "Darkstalkers" bio and the extended versions of the Darkstalkers characters' bios. As yet there is no Darkstalkers category.

I'll upload my bios presently, omitting redirects for the aforementioned bios until Larry tells me what to do.

[Dafydd]

Do you know how to create categories? Just add [[Category:Darkstalkers]] to the end of each of the short darkstalker bios and voila, it's done. Unless I'm wrong, that is. But yeah, leave the extendeds and the info page for now, we'll deal with it when Larry comes back.

[Linearity]

Oh that's how that Mascots category page came into being. Alles klar, I'll do that for all of the Darkstalkers bios.

[Dafydd]

I didn't see any of the Darkstalkers bios up there yet, only the info page. Once you do upload the Darkstalker bios, I'd suggest adding the [[Category:Darkstalkers]] before the [[Category:Mascots]] in each of them (they're kind of a sub-category, aren't they?).

EDIT: Ok, category pages can contain text. I didn't realize this before. I tried moving the page named "Darkstalkers" (which I didn't know existed yet) to "Category:Darkstalkers" but it wouldn't allow me to for some reason. Obviously, that's the page where the Darkstalkers "what is" should be. This must have been what LT was talking about all along, only I didn't understand that. So, Liontamer, can the Darkstalkers info page a. be removed entirely, so that its contents can be put in Category:Darkstalkers instead, b. moved to Category:Darkstalkers or c. just be changed to redirect to Category:Darkstalkers?