Doom Wiki:Central Processing/2017

Map screenshots gallery dimensions
I presume everyone agrees that the default dimensioning of map screenshot galleries is somewhat underwhelming: the thumbnails are post-stamp size, and the borders too large and uneven. Larger thumbnails (with even borders around them) would make them more useful and the page more visually attractive. For my next scripting endeavor I intend to update all existing galleries with new dimensions (and also clean up formatting issues, if any). Empty ones too, to assist future contributors of more screenshots.

How much larger? I sandboxed a few possibilities. I propose to use option 1.3, and set 1.3.1 as default in the skeleton. Any objections or alternative suggestions? --Xymph (talk) 11:46, 30 January 2017 (CST)


 * Suggestion: using packed galleries; or at the very least noline. See this. Currently we have too much of our real estate pixels (real pixstate?) taken by entirely useless white noise such as borders and trims. By getting rid of these, we can have less poststampy screenshots without increasing the visual size of the page. --Gez (talk) 12:07, 30 January 2017 (CST)


 * Good idea, both options sandboxed, after which (for me) packed mode can be crossed off again due to the undesirable effect of centering the entire gallery within the page. Nolines mode however looks nice, with the additional benefit that the aspect ratio-dependent height doesn't have to be determined.
 * Quasar suggested (on IRC) to also try a large gallery, because a larger widths value might balloon it up too much within overall page context. 15 is the largest I could find among vanilla Doom maps (most are 5-10, most galleries elsewhere too). But I find with nolines mode, 160px width still looks fine. So my vote goes to option 2.2 (== 5.2). --Xymph (talk) 08:55, 31 January 2017 (CST)


 * The alignment can be addressed thusly: or by editing the wiki's CSS. I suppose something similar to prettytable would end up existing, so we'd just write  and be done with it. --Gez (talk) 09:38, 31 January 2017 (CST)


 * For technical reasons I don't understand (but Quasar does), the latter won't work, so we have to keep the gallery params simple. Given that all map screens in a given gallery (should) have the same aspect ratio, I see little difference between nolines and packed modes anyway (apart from centering), so it's easiest to use the former as per my previous proposal. Yes /no/maybe ? --Xymph (talk) 11:20, 31 January 2017 (CST)


 * On Feb 1 in IRC, Quasar expressed his preference for option 2.2/5.2 as well, though an ongoing attack of shyness seems to prevent him from repeating that one-liner that here. %-) So that wraps up this topic, and the bot script is ready to roll. --Xymph (talk) 05:56, 4 February 2017 (CST)


 * Sorry slipped my mind last night ;) I have been super busy on a contract coding project that's in crunch time, so, minimal wiki editing for right now. --Quasar (talk) 07:16, 4 February 2017 (CST)


 * Sometimes I'm oblivious to the obvious: after some two dozen updates I realized that in nolines mode too, captions are centered. They used to be left-aligned in traditional mode, but either is a choice we could put to another vote. I'm leaning to the left. :)
 * If sufficient consensus is left-alignment, this can be handled in Common.css: something like should do it. --Xymph (talk) 13:27, 4 February 2017 (CST)


 * I was fine with the captions as-is, I thought it was intentional and had already considered when I signaled my prefs. --Quasar (talk) 17:48, 4 February 2017 (CST)

Updating/adding demo links
For my next bot script, I'm considering the external links to demo sites Compet-N and DSDA. For some PWADs, all map pages in the series contain a link to the PWAD's demos page on either site. In some series, these links are broken, e.g. here and there. In other series, the links seem obsolete (here), or use a HTTP link instead of the appropriate template. For most other PWADs that have a DSDA page, no links are present here yet.

The bot script would add and standardize links on all map series' pages for which a Compet-N and/or DSDA page exists. Is this is a useful project? Are there further aspects to take into account? And is my assumption correct that this site is the obsolete predecessor to DSDA?

Note: updating the tables of actual demo runs in the Speedrunning sections is not within this script's scope. It might be in a future one. --Xymph (talk) 10:45, 16 February 2017 (CST)


 * Useful: sure. doomworld/sda precursor of dsda: indeed. Appropriate template: don't forget about competnmap and competnftp. And do definitely replace all http/https hard links by templates because that's the only way to avoid issues such as the compet-n database jumping around from doom2.net/~compet-n/ to doom2.net/compet-n/ and then to doom.com.hr -- and completely changing the way individual demos are accessed in the process, heh. --Gez (talk) 11:39, 16 February 2017 (CST)


 * Thanks for the quick follow-up. competnftp is intended for directly linking demo zips in Speedrunning tables (so falls outside the current scope) but competnmap looks useful indeed, now that I found examples of how it's applied and the resulting output (wasn't clear to me at first from the template's instructions). Originally I had hoped to need only a wad ID in my .ini file per PWAD, but on DSDA some demo collections are distributed across level-specific pages (with a predictable pattern in its map IDs, it looks like), while for Compet-N's level-specific pages the map ID is less predictable unfortunately. So I guess I've got my work cut out for me, once again. ;) --Xymph (talk) 13:14, 16 February 2017 (CST)


 * No, it's a VERY useful project. :D   I seem to recall this being the consensus for format at the bottom of a map page (but then we couldn't figure out multi-map runs and the project bogged down).  If it's easier, the bot could start with WAD file names instead of IDs, and parse the source of these lists.  Compet-N's scope is much smaller, never changes, and uses scrambled IDs as you noticed, so I assume it's faster to simply compile those once manually.  For individual file links, it would be progress if the bot could verify they used the correct templates and weren't dead.    Ryan W (usually gone) 21:52, 17 February 2017 (CST)


 * Thanks. I saw that, and I aim to use that ordering convention on all pages (also on those without Compet-N link but with misc. other links). No that wouldn't be easier, all my scripts start with .ini files to which I simply add a DSDA wad ID field (and a Compet-N one in the 11 pertaining ones, which is already done). The script builds the parameterized template(s) from those ID(s) -- the harder part is putting them into the External links section (which can be missing, empty, contain old-style links to replace, and other links not to be affected).
 * What "individual file links" are you referring to? If in the Speedrunning section, then see above -- otherwise please elaborate. --Xymph (talk) 14:45, 18 February 2017 (CST)

The new bot script is mostly done and during testing the following questions (and possible topic for debate) came up: --Xymph (talk) 06:10, 22 February 2017 (CST)
 * 1) On DSDA, wads with a large number of demo entries get a page per map (e.g. Alien Vendetta (2nd release)), otherwise one overview page for the wad (AV (1st)). The threshold appears to be around 600 demos. The bot script can handle both cases (linking individual map pages to individual DSDA pages), but once it has been run over a wad's map pages and that wad's demo set grows beyond the threshold at some point in the future, it would ideally need to be run again. Does anyone know the exact threshold, and is there a way to find out (except checking manually) when a wad's demos page has been reorganized into subpages?
 * 2) competnmap accepts various no...= parameters to disable demo categories. I understand their use in case a category is unavailable (because identical to another category, see section one). But categories shouldn't be disabled just because no demo entries for them have yet been submitted, right? E.g. multiple cats are disabled for E2M8 and MAP30, but is that because they are fundamentally impossible to achieve or "merely" practically very/too hard? For this demos layman it is difficult to determine why a category isn't available for, say, quite a lot of Hell Revealed maps, and to configure / handle that in the script. So I am not going to cover the no...= flags at all, and leave them for manual edits by other enterprising souls, or possibly myself. Is that okay?
 * 3) I discovered in the HR series that the two demo site links are included not in the External links section but elsewhere: e.g. MAP01 at the end of the Routes and tricks section, and MAP06 directly under the Speedrunning header. This happened right at page creation by Fredrik in 2005. To me the Speedrunning section actually seems quite a logical place, but perhaps there is a later policy to put all such links in the EL section? Does anyone have a strong opinion either way? If we want to change the section for the demos link(s), now would be a good time to decide, then I can still augment the script and apply the new choice in all map series.


 * For those not aware, Andy Olivera takes questions . (If you post, be comprehensive; he only seems to visit on Sundays.)  What follows is merely my own speculation.
 * (1) It's plausible that the number is not exact, Andy having to set a flag manually which causes the page to divide. (The database backend has many such "features", which is one reason an upgrade will eventually be needed.)  That said, would we necessarily have to check manually?  Could the bot log which WADs are close to the threshold, then read this page periodically to note when they acquire new files?  (Easy for me to say, obviously...)
 * (2) Correct; the community's default is that a category exists even if empty. Over the years, Compet-N maintainers have unilaterally declared certain categories impossible, and although I appreciate their reasoning (MAP30 Tyson!), I think it creates unnecessary work.  There may be isolated cases where XymphBot could implement a parameter, e.g. nonmc if a map has 0 secret sectors.
 * (3) I can't believe the two HR maps are anything but an oversight. Collecting all external links at the bottom of a page is one of our strongest style conventions.  The "FTP" links are a rare exception to keep all the data about individual runs together (the alternatives are awkward &mdash; the reader having to scroll back and forth to make sure he's clicking on the intended link, or else we add explanatory text to the external links section which is completely redundant with the speedrun section).  As far as I know, everyone who has manually maintained demo links has followed this precedent.  I can see an argument for extending the exception to movie files (which may need their own tables, so again, gather systematically presented information in one place).  Given the mess I made when I tried it, however, I'm uncertain where consensus lies.  Brief previous threads are here and here.    Ryan W (usually gone) 23:00, 22 February 2017 (CST)


 * 1. You know about the "many such features" and "needed upgrade" because there's a description of the database backend? Where? (Sorry, didn't read through the 60-page thread...) As far as bot interaction with DSDA goes, that would be a separate script. Moreover, instead of processing its website HTML (which is feasible but cumbersome), I would prefer to work directly off a database dump that I could load into my own database server and then query from a script. I'll contact Andy whether cooperation in this area is possible. Ideally, this future script would generate the Current DSDA Records table in its entirety (and ditto for Compet-n tables), but given the various notes, exceptions and other intricacies that can occur, I'm not sure whether that is feasible in a sufficiently automated way.
 * 2. There are about two dozen secret-devoid maps among the 11 mapsets supported by Compet-n, so while the existing script could indeed run DMMPST and check from its output whether a map has no secret sectors, that looks like quite a bit more work than just manually updating the pertaining pages after the demolinkBot.php run, using info I already have from earlier secretBot.php runs.
 * 3. The two HR pages were merely examples of having the demo site links there with and without Routes and tricks info, but I suppose I could have mentioned that the same was done on the other 30 pages. ;) It is however the only map series to do this that I've found so far. So EL section it is then, I won't have to overhaul the demolinkBot script, and will manually delete the links from the HR pages' Speedrunning sections after the bot run. --Xymph (talk) 08:49, 23 February 2017 (CST)


 * Well, I did read it :>  and it seems obvious that Andy can't do everything he wants, or that others request, due to infrastructure issues.  (Upgrading was later mentioned more visibly.)  I didn't suggest a dump because I have some idea how much legwork can be required, but I wouldn't discourage you from asking either; we are a community of volunteers after all.  I am sure no one, even those as intelligent as Fredrik, imagined in 2005 that we would reach a stage of maturity allowing an automated process to add data and standardize formatting with very little scandal (thus the HR links appearing in a different section was far too marginal to attract comment, let alone remediation), but here we are. :D    Ryan W (usually gone) 18:10, 23 February 2017 (CST)

External backups
For those interested in the resilience of The Doom Wiki, there is now an independently-generated backup of all page contents, page history and all images on archive.org - https://archive.org/details/wiki-doomwiki.org. There have been others there in the past but I don't think they were complete, and they certainly were missing images. -- Shambler (talk) 03:27, 7 March 2017 (CST)


 * I'm a big fan, as you know. :D  .    Ryan W (usually gone) 16:51, 7 March 2017 (CST)


 * When it comes to information, redundancy is key. Xcalibur (talk) 19:45, 19 July 2017 (CDT)

Layout of wad template
In a recent IRC chat with Quasar, he expressed his dislike (which I share) of the wad template's layout – primarily its horizontal width and structure – and we came up with the idea of redesigning it into a vertical layout. Besides a custom table with some colored backgrounds like the current template, I also thought an instantiation of infobox might fit the bill. Both approaches are sandboxed here. The custom table approach includes a variant based on feedback by Gez, and all three have been tested on mobile (which, incidentally, doesn't display the original template very well).

Further, an old and ugly ❌ template exists which is used only once. I plan to replace it with the wad one after this here discussion is wrapped up. A related layout aspect are the Top100 boxes which are competing for that same area of pages, e.g. Caverns of Darkness. The vertical wad box will push that down. On a final note, Eris Falling pointed to his drafted people infobox.

Questions: --Xymph (talk) 12:55, 19 March 2017 (CDT)
 * 1) Since source ports (e.g. ZDoom) already use an infobox instantiation, should WADs (and people) follow suit, or would one of the layout 1 variants be preferable?
 * 2) Does anyone have further tweaks/improvements to suggest to the chosen approach?
 * 3) Should some fields from Pwad_infobox, like Modes, Levels and Resources, be incorporated in the wad template?
 * 4) Gez proposed to drop the caption under the image, but not all WADs have a title screen.  In such cases a gameplay screenshot could be used, but then a caption would be appropriate.  Since wad's caption parameter is already optional, I think this is covered - agreed?


 * While I can see the appeal of having all infoboxes be derived from infobox, I do like the special treatment the current template gives to the Top and Caco rows, when present. The cacoward icon notably doesn't look good on a white background. The infobox template doesn't allow custom styles and it's enough of an unwieldy mess not to want to add that feature to it. --Gez (talk) 13:32, 19 March 2017 (CDT)


 * Agree that the infobox doesn't look too pretty for WADs. The Gez variant of layout 1 is the nicest by far to me. Regards additional features, I think including the primary game mode might be a nice touch - especially in the event that DM WADs start getting their own articles (like splitting out the 32in24 stuff maybe?) Number of maps and resources probably aren't required IMO. --Eris Falling (talk) 14:05, 19 March 2017 (CDT)


 * I am in favor of "New test layout 1, per Gez". --Quasar (talk) 10:50, 23 March 2017 (CDT)


 * I'm fine with that one too, so that seems like sufficient consensus. In chatting a little more about it, Quasar suggested to bring back the background color in the field headers column, to visually separate the box from page content. That's here with one consistent color, as we think the gradient approach of the original template is a bit overkill. I'm not in favor of adding more fields. If there are no more follow-ups in the next couple of days, I'll update the template to this new layout and resume adding the several dozen titlepics I've queued up. --Xymph (talk) 11:42, 23 March 2017 (CDT)
 * Yeah, I like that one. --Gez (talk) 11:48, 23 March 2017 (CDT)


 * I am in favor of "New test layout 1, per Gez", except I think the cacoward bit looks better on a light background per 3 (honestly!) -- Shambler (talk) 02:01, 24 March 2017 (CDT)


 * Both Caco and Top100 images are anti-aliased for use on a dark background, so I'm afraid you stand alone in the opinion. :) --Xymph (talk) 02:24, 24 March 2017 (CDT)


 * Cacoward.png doesn't appear to have artifacts on a light background to me. It looks like the border is feathered. Is it using PNG alpha channel on the edging? Top100 does indeed look bad. -- Shambler (talk) 11:53, 24 March 2017 (CDT)
 * Caco doesn't have artifacts, but the horns blend in with the background. --Gez (talk) 11:57, 24 March 2017 (CDT)


 * To me, the last style looks the most polished (very subjective!), but I suppose such tiny text is a deal-breaker for mobile. Of the remaining options, then, I also like New test layout 1, per Gez, +background color; the shading definitely makes the enumeration appear less... flat.  I suggest changing Link1 &rarr; Link 1 if multiple links are indeed implemented, for grammar.


 * The idea of displacing navboxes (e.g. Cacoward years) bothers me slightly because it compresses or pushes down the most important text section, the WAD overview, but I don't have a good solution yet. We've always resisted the Wikipedia approach of collecting navboxes at the bottom, presumably in deference to our readership's attention span.    Ryan W (usually gone) 14:42, 25 March 2017 (CDT)


 * Sandboxing Link1/2 was just to show the visual difference between http and idgames links, I don't intend to add a secondary link parameter to the template. I agree the new vertical orientation of the wad box, especially in combination with a Top100 box, can lead to awkward page layouts, e.g. this extreme example. Don't know what to do about it either, except to prune superfluous rows from the wad box, which I'm doing now. This is also one reason why I didn't favor adding more fields. Speaking of parameters, when iwad="Doom", a non-existing "Doom WADs" category is added, while an (equally non-existing) "Doom II WADs" category is not added with iwad="Doom II" (see Darkening 2). I don't quite follow the logic (nor the reasoning behind it) of the category ifs & switches there – perhaps you or Gez can look into that? --Xymph (talk) 07:17, 26 March 2017 (CDT)


 * I think I fixed the switch &mdash; please double-check a few categories next time Xymph Bot uses the template. It is still the case that arbitrary values, such as iwad="Hunt the Wumpus", do not assign categories.  (Hopefully the emergence of a new IWAD would be a news item anyway!)  Such categories seem a bit pedantic to me, frankly, although the information should absolutely be included in some form because most ports will not inform the user of an incorrect IWAD, other than possibly exiting with a resource error leaving newbies helpless.    Ryan W (usually gone) 21:04, 28 March 2017 (CDT)


 * I (human) will keep an eye out for it. :-P XymphBot doesn't operate on WAD overview pages. Thanks for the follow-up. --Xymph (talk) 03:11, 29 March 2017 (CDT)

new doom 2 rpg screenshot category
At the moment, there's Category:Doom RPG, a Category:Doom II RPG, a Category:Doom RPG screenshots but no Doom II RPG equivalent. I'd like to introduce a Category:Doom II RPG screenshots, any objections? I'd also like D2RPG to be added to the copyright drop-down when you upload an image. Not sure how to achieve that. -- Shambler (talk) 10:59, 22 March 2017 (CDT)


 * If the plan is to create articles as we have for Doom RPG (levels, characters, monsters), then no objection from me at least. :>   An important task, given that.
 * The drop-down is MediaWiki:Licenses, which can be edited by any admin. To populate the category you must also create a template.  This may however be controversial, as the drop-down is commonly viewed as bloated and confusing already with the present number of entries.    Ryan W (usually gone) 00:48, 29 March 2017 (CDT)


 * Perhaps the existing Doom RPG line could be edited to reflect it covers both games. What is the reasoning for when to combine and when not to combine games in the license list? -- Shambler (talk) 04:12, 31 March 2017 (CDT)


 * This is a question about 2008 :>  but I believe we were trying to minimize the number of new templates, for later maintainability.  We combined templates when the copyright holders were likely to be identical, e.g. Heretic and Hexen share a category, which in hindsight is ridiculous.  More recent updates, like this, were mostly because the volume of one type of image was becoming too large to categorize manually, so a new template was created even though it extended the drop-down.  I don't know whether that applies to Doom II RPG, but our coverage of the series is still very incomplete, so perhaps it will.    Ryan W (usually gone) 09:24, 31 March 2017 (CDT)

Setting up edits for Dystopia 3 add-on level
Requesting some assistance here. Those of you familiar with Dystopia 3 may know about the add-on level for the WAD. Not sure how I should integrate it into the wiki, would like to seek some guidance before I commence editing:

1. How should the article be titled: say, MAP01 (Dystopia 3 Add-on level) or MAP01 (DYST301.WAD)?

2. How would you like the Dystopia 3 levels infobox to be modified to accommodate the add-on level, if desired?

--15FiftySeven (talk) 06:07, 28 March 2017 (CDT)


 * Good question; it's an unusual situation. The WAD doesn't have a replacement name string, so we go to the readme which says "Dystopia3: Re-Birth of Anarchy".  For a standalone release, we would consider this the title of the mod, not the map, e.g. Doomsday of UAC.  In this case, however, the original WAD is required, so I would consider the additional map retrospectively part of the complete work.  Thus the new article title could be MAP01: Re-Birth of Anarchy (Dystopia 3).


 * A link should definitely be added to the navbox. It will then have two MAP01 links, so perhaps it's helpful to put (add-on) or (DYST301) there for clarity, similar to this format.


 * This post represents my usual 3 seconds of research in SLADE, so I welcome any correction by longtime fans. :>    Ryan W (usually gone) 02:01, 29 March 2017 (CDT)


 * Uh... problem is that the original WAD is also sub-titled Dystopia 3: Re-Birth of Anarchy...--15FiftySeven (talk) 23:46, 29 March 2017 (CDT)


 * As per my last clause. :D   Well, I personally would be fine with "MAP01 (DYST301.WAD)" which vaguely matches some precedents (I actually thought we had cases like this already, but I'm not finding any)  Perhaps someone else has a more convincing rationale...    Ryan W (usually gone) 16:33, 30 March 2017 (CDT)

Cacoward markers for people articles
Like we have for Cacoward-winning WADs, this would be an equivalent marker for winners of Mapper of the Year, Espi award, and so on. As a rough example, here's one for Ribbiks. Thoughts? --Eris Falling (talk) 12:47, 5 April 2017 (CDT)
 * I dunno, I find it a bit tacky when we're talking about people. Maybe it's just me. --Gez (talk) 14:46, 5 April 2017 (CDT)
 * Not just you. It's reminding me of those pop-up annotations for celebrities on Japanese talk shows.  Also, doesn't it assume implementation of the person infobox?  We've never discussed that; I would be against it.    Ryan W (usually gone) 01:30, 7 April 2017 (CDT)

Doom 4 1.0 article
I've finished up my Doom 4 1.0 article on the development of the abandoned concept, based largely on material from the noclip documentary series on YouTube. I'd like input on what this article should be named when moved to mainspace. "Doom 4 1.0" is the internal name id Software has used for the former project since the 2011-2013 transition period was completed, but whether or not that's a suitable name for the wiki article is up for debate. --Quasar (talk) 11:39, 12 April 2017 (CDT)
 * Seems acceptable. The alternative would probably be something like "Abandoned Doom 4 project" or "Doom 4 (aborted project)" and I'm not sure it'd be a better name for the rebooted reboot than what has already been popularized by /noclip. --Gez (talk) 12:09, 12 April 2017 (CDT)

Separate page for Compet-n demos recorded by notable Doom speedrunners
I have read articles on Doom speedrunners and I found out that each page hosted the Compet-n records that each speedrunner had on the four official IWADs, but I would like to ask two questions: 1. Is it possible to host the Compet-n records for the PWADs (such as MM, MM2, AV etc.) that the speedrunners have done? 2. Is it possible to list the Compet-n demos that notable Doom speedrunners (such as Drew DeVore (stx-Vile), Jim Leonard (Xit Vono)) have posted over their running careers somewhere on this wiki (e.g. through a subpage)?

I'm happy to try out this suggestion, and if not that's fine with me. 90.206.227.186 13:06, 18 April 2017 (CDT)


 * Hello, and welcome!


 * 1. See previous discussions here and here. I assume those users intended to add PWADs eventually, but haven't found time yet.  If you can understand the color scheme, I'm sure they would be grateful for more help.  :>  The answer to Jartapran's question in the second thread is no, IWADs aren't more special than PWADs; we simply never got around to extending the tables (huge tables may have slowed page loading as well, back then).


 * 2. How is this different from Compet-n's search function?   Do I recall correctly that AdamH had a URL parameter to display current records only?  If fx implemented that, maybe we could replace the tables with links and save a lot of work (no disrespect intended to the above editors, but is there a good reason to mirror an entire database when someone else is actively hosting and updating the original?).  In any case, I can't see the advantage of subpages, which have proven awkward to maintain.  Even the most prolific runner would need perhaps 1.5 screens of records, which isn't unbalanced if we imagine that a complete bio and "career history" narrative is included above.  Someday they will be.  :>


 * These are just my opinions, as someone who formerly contributed to those articles but hasn't done so lately.   Ryan W (usually gone) 18:33, 18 April 2017 (CDT)

Replacing an image with incorrect aspect ratio.
Hello, I am trying to replace an image in the Korax article ('Korax close-up') with one of my own. However, the name of my file has a space in it that is creating problems in displaying it. Is there a way to change the name of the file? Or do I need to delete it and re-upload? Please let me know --Atma


 * Spaces and underscores in wiki links are both translated to underscores in the actual URLs, so your image could be used as is (Hexen Korax.png) or with underscore (Hexen_Korax.png). However, while your new image fixes the gamma problem of the one to be replaced, it still suffers from the same aspect ratio problem. That is most visible in the other gallery the old image is used. If you can capture a new image to solve that, and one for the other Korax image too, that would be most welcome. --Xymph (talk) 02:52, 29 April 2017 (CDT)


 * In GZDoom I used the 4:3 aspect ratio setting. Is there another I need to use instead?--Atma (talk) 12:21, 29 April 2017 (CDT)


 * Don't know, but the resulting 1600x900 image clearly didn't respect that setting. Btw, talk topics are threaded by indenting with successive ':'s. --Xymph (talk) 12:56, 29 April 2017 (CDT)

Thing appearance stats
I've tackled the problem of inconsistent and missing appearance statistics for things in the main four games by adding this long-planned feature to my DMMPST tool. Please see the outline and examples. Any feedback on: As usual, if there are no suggestions or objections I'll start rolling out the stats soon. This will be a manual endeavor (no bot involved), so I prefer to get "things" right on the first go. :) --Xymph (talk) 15:13, 19 May 2017 (CDT)
 * 1) the overall approach?
 * 2) the single/multiplayer tables?
 * 3) the episode/hub stats?
 * 4) the layout and styling?
 * 5) anything else?
 * The "Doom registered" and "Ultimate Doom" rows for first appearance seem a bit redundant, as seen in the baron example. Same for Heretic registered/SotSR in the weredragon example. I'm fine with them appearing in the tables for totals, though. The sheer size of the mystic urn examples makes me think perhaps Heretic and Hexen should have separate tables. It's fine for Doom II/TNT/Plutonia because they're not split into half a dozen episodes each; and besides Heretic and Hexen are truly different games in a way the four Doom IWADs aren't. Other than these comments, no real objection. --Gez (talk) 15:46, 19 May 2017 (CDT)


 * I didn't like the size of the mystic urn tables either, so agree with dropping some rows and splitting Heretic/Hexen. There are only a handful of items common to both games anyway, so it's cleaner to list them separately, and allowed some headers to become more accurate too. See the notes for other changes. The one thing I tested manually but am undecided about: in the MP barons table the episode counts are italic like their corresponding names, while the IWAD totals are no longer bold. There's something to be said for both approaches. Thoughts? --Xymph (talk) 11:01, 20 May 2017 (CDT)


 * I have a small thought, which I realize I'm sharing after you've done the edits... These sections now use the term "IWAD" without defining it.  Yes, it's linked, and many readers will have some technical jargon, but many will not.  Compare this version, which apparently I added, but based at least partly on an earlier anon edit and a related remark by Fredrik.  No, I don't recall why I never extended this to all stock things after seeing no serious objection.  In hindsight I might also have said the original Doom series instead of classic Doom, the latter sometimes being taken to mean any vanilla map predating Quake and/or the source release.


 * It's a minor point, which you should ignore if no one else has feedback. :>  If people are interested, however, I'll be glad to implement it myself (you've made that easy by using exactly the same text on each page).    Ryan W (living fossil) 21:30, 12 July 2017 (CDT)


 * ISTR noticing the difference and thinking it over, but because the "classic " intro was not consistently applied on Doom things and rarely if at all on Heretic/Hexen/Strife things, and because I couldn't find pages/redirects for the latter three games that are equivalent to Classic Doom, it didn't seem important enough to preserve. Also, because of the template-based creation of the sections, it was simply easier to use the same phrase and template variables twice – although it would certainly have been possible to use a "classic "-type intro instead.
 * Anyway, if you or anyone else feels strongly about it (I don't), you're welcome to make a few hundred edits. ;) --Xymph (talk) 04:36, 13 July 2017 (CDT)

http &rarr; https in external links (again)
Hello. You might have noticed mass edits to bypass HTTP 301 redirects, which supposedly improves search rank. My question is, having revised articles, categories, and other "outward-facing" content, should we do the same to talk pages and user pages? Historically we've been cautious about such edits, as the entire consensus-building principle assumes people aren't changing each other's posts. How concerned should we be? Ryan W (usually gone) 18:30, 6 July 2017 (CDT)


 * IMHO the benefits of HTTPS outweigh normal concerns around doing this. It's not as if you have changed any substance or meaning of content when adding an "s" to the protocol of a URL, after all. --Quasar (talk) 16:27, 26 August 2017 (CDT)

Template gremlins advisory
I have just made an edit to Template:Map, which is used on nearly 4000 articles. This is not expected to cause server load issues (per previous IRC discussions regarding Template:Screenshot boilerplate, and that was before the server upgrade). Please watch for any weird behavior of map articles, however, especially their categorizations. Thanks. Ryan W (living fossil) 20:27, 16 July 2017 (CDT)

Doom Wikia
Something needs to be done about the ❌. I didn't realize that it was defunct and had moved to here until after I had spent the last few days putting work into updating several pages. I know I'm not the only one because I have seen plenty of other people doing the same. It also shows up as the top 3 Google results when I search for "doom wiki". Are none of the administrators of that wiki available to make it clear that the wiki is defunct on the main page?

Deathmonkey7 (talk) 16:02, 26 August 2017 (CDT)


 * You'll want to check out this article and some of the linked Doomworld Forums threads on the history of the split. In short though, there's nothing that we can do about it; wikia keeps old sites up because they make an enormous amount of ad money off of them by monopolizing the top spots in Google search results via their near-invincible SEO tactics. They consider the "community" of the wikis on their sites to be whomever stops by to edit or read them, and not the dedicated core of users who initially built and continue to maintain and refine the content for years. --Quasar (talk) 16:06, 26 August 2017 (CDT)


 * I made the same mistake myself because I was on hiatus during the fork. I came back to add my Hexen content, but fortunately Gez pointed me in the right direction. After that, I tried to take down the content I had already put up, which worked for a time, until a certain individual put on his superhero cape, restored my content against my wishes, and blocked me. I could try removing it again, but other than that, there isn't much I can do. Wikia doesn't play fair, and the old wiki is still maintained by a few strikebreakers. At least I've added unique content here. Xcalibur (talk) 00:30, 28 August 2017 (CDT)


 * I've removed the link. Everyone here knows about that site knows the URL already; and part of what we do to help with SEO is make sure that we don't have backlinks pointing back to Wikia, which is a thing that gives them "Google cred". --Gez (talk) 07:14, 30 August 2017 (CDT)

TorBlock
You probably notice that our TorBlock extension was not in a working state last night; I got it fixed by installing php5-curl on the server. MW devs said the default php method of getting URL-based resources in the backend (such as the Tor exit nodes list, which is retrieved from the onionoo REST service) has a lot of problems with TLS in "older" versions. The version we're on is not even that old though, so who knows :P --Quasar (talk) 09:58, 25 September 2017 (CDT)