Additional Changes Edit

So, I guess nobody has any suggestions for any changes or additions to what I've proposed for the official rules? If not, I'll go ahead and make them official. HaarFager 09:50, July 7, 2012 (UTC)

They haven't exactly been advertised. If they're just sitting here people will have to stumble across them. -Badger16 (talk) 00:53, July 8, 2012 (UTC)

Some of the guidelines have a bit of a confrontational tone - I don't know that we want or will benefit from that. I also notice that #20 seems to assume that people are editing in "Source" mode, while "Visual" mode is what automatically loads. Based on what I'm seeing other users doing, I think that some users know that their images look wrong, but don't know how to fix them.

If we want people's first edits to be correct in every respect, we're going to need to add a lot more support than we have, and emphasize use of sandboxes. --Badger16 (talk) 01:10, July 8, 2012 (UTC)

I'm glad to see you brought up the point about these guidelines not having been advertised and that they may be hard to find. Users need to keep this in mind also when accusing other users of "playing favorites." What may seem like preferential treatment may also be the simple fact that somebody may simply have not seen something that was done on here. I simply said what I did here to try and get the ball rolling. By no means are the guidelines I proposed anywhere near final or even complete. HaarFager 13:15, July 8, 2012 (UTC)

"Source mode." What is this source mode and where is it located? I don't have that option, so I have no clue as to what it does, how it looks or what happens when a person uses it. HaarFager 13:18, July 8, 2012 (UTC)

The use of sandboxes is a good idea. That should be worked in the guidelines as well. HaarFager 13:18, July 8, 2012 (UTC)

Source mode allows you to see the all of the coding. There's also Visual mode, which shows the page as it will appear once it's been saved. These images show Chevy Pro Stocker opened in the editor in Source mode (top) and Visual mode (you'll have to click to enlarge, obviously - the images seemed to big to put on the page in full scale). I'm guessing that you've set your account to open pages in Source mode by default, but for new users the editor opens in Visual mode. Visual mode, unfortunately, only seems to be able to upload images as thumbs - the software automatically adds the thumb coding. Visual mode also does *not* allow editing of templates - all you see are green puzzle-piece icons. --Badger16 (talk) 18:52, July 8, 2012 (UTC)

Well, if Visual mode doesn't really work well here, maybe we need to think about getting rid of it so that everybody is on the same page as far as editing and their results of editing goes? HaarFager 18:58, July 8, 2012 (UTC)

The only info I've found so far on disabling the Visual Editor is here. If I read it correctly, it suggests that we'd need "overall community preference" to disable Visual mode. How that's measured I don't know. Personally, I do most of my editing in Source mode, but I occasionally use Visual - for some formatting I find it easier. I 'grew up' with source mode though, over at Wikipedia, so I find it to be pretty straightforward. Of course, I also grew up with DOS. Point being that less computer-literate users might have difficulty in Source mode. Errors in Source mode might be more difficult to sort out. Just playing Devil's advocate here - not trying to be a naysayer. -Roger (Badger16 (talk) 19:45, July 8, 2012 (UTC))

Format Edit

May I suggest boldfacing the topic of each guideline for ease of use? For instance, point one might look like:

1. If you've ever used an encyclopedia to look up something, the first thing you'll notice is that correct grammar and English (if printed in English) are always used. The theory behind this is that more people can speak correct English than the "slang" that crops up from time to time. If a user isn't good with the English language, he/she shouldn't inflict his lack of understanding on everybody else who uses the wiki just because he/she wants to take part.

--Badger16 (talk) 17:36, July 14, 2012 (UTC)

Abbreviations Edit

I have seen encyclopedias with abbreviations. Such encyclopedias like Hot Wheels Wiki you can see Met. for Metalflake in many places. Check out the Sweet 16 II page on Hot Wheels Wiki and you can see abbreviations, such as Met. Purple for Metalflake. Many pages on that wiki also says Met. sometimes.173.21.234.15 01:50, July 19, 2012 (UTC)173.21.234.15

Thanks for bringing that instance to my attention. I've been correcting all abbreviations whenever I come across them, but I can't see all of them, so your pointing it out is welcomed. I will standardize it to the full "metalflake." Thanks for pointing this out. HaarFager (talk) 21:26, July 19, 2012 (UTC)