I don't think the template's background color is a good choice. It brings too much attention to the template. Something like a white background might be more appropriate, and maybe with a colored margin, similar to {{ cleanup}}. Gary King ( talk) 20:52, 20 April 2008 (UTC)
This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Consider asking this question at the
Wikipedia:Reference desk. They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. You could always try
searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps. |
I created a sandbox version. See Template:HD/testcases. --— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 17:40, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
I don't see how this is any less attention-attracting - if anything, the bright colors make it worse. The amboxes are HUGE when used on the Help Desk, and they seem to make things really cluttered, and blatantly obvious that these are boiler-plate responses. Could we knock this down to a simple icon + text like "question" and "note" are? That'll make it easier for people to add signatures afterward as well, which would definitely help with the presence of the "Please sign your posts" code. Hersfold ( t/ a/ c) 20:20, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
How about this:
This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Consider asking this question at the
Wikipedia:Reference desk. They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for. Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. You could always try
searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps.
--—
Gadget850 (Ed)
talk -
21:33, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
I don't understand the objection to making our boilerplate responses blantantly obvious. I think we want to make our boilerplate responses blatantly obvious. Here are my reasons:
These are just my opinions. I don't want to fight a war over this. But I gave reasons for my opinions. I'd like to see reasons to support the opposing opinions. Not liking something is not really a reason - it must be possible to argue in terms of what is good or not good for the Wikipedia project. -- Teratornis ( talk) 20:47, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
I think a good point was made above that the class of help desk responses should have a consistent look. {{ AIV}}, {{ UAA}} and {{ RFPP}} are all mature templates: I don't see an overriding need to deviate. The icon makes it pretty clear that is is an "official" response, and by not using the box it is easy to add supplemental text. In response to new volunteers: I've been on WP for almost three years and only learned of the Reference Desk a few months ago and of the Help Desk only very recently. Established editors may be only peripherally aware of these resources. A better solution would be to solicit an article in the Signpost. --— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 15:43, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
Can the Ref Desk param be modified to indicate which Desk is perhaps most appropriate? Astronaut ( talk) 23:59, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
There has been some back and forth on substing this template. This template uses switches, thus the entire template is included making for a very long chunk of code in the reply. --— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 11:46, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
The simplest solution I can think of is to just make each specific template a subpage of the main template. It doesn't take any extra work to type {{HD/RD}} instead of {{HD|RD}}. That way there wouldn't be any problem with subst'ing or transcluding.--VectorPotential Talk 12:30, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
Over the last few months, I have several times come across a query which basically says "I edited/created an article but I can't find it. It is not on the delete log, and it is not in my user space. Where is it?" (OK, the delete log and user space are normally found out by folks on the HD!) - and the reason is probably because they clicked on "Preview" rather than "Save", so I created a HDT:
{{HD/not-saved}}
gives:
Did you click on the Show Preview button instead of the Publish changes button?
Edit summary (Briefly describe your changes)
This is a
minor edit
Watch this page
By publishing changes, you agree to the Terms of Use, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the CC BY-SA 4.0 License and the GFDL. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
If you didn't click on Publish changes, the edit wasn't saved.
Regards, -- PhantomSteve ( Contact Me, My Contribs) 12:09, 1 November 2009 (UTC)
Another query that crops up from time to time is "Before I registered, I edited using an IP. How to I get my edits assigned to my user name?" (or "I forgot to log in, so I edited using an.....")
This template is for replying to that:
{{HD/re-attribute}}
gives:
It used to be possible to re-attribute edits from IP addresses to named accounts, but not since 2005 (
see this page). However, as that page says, you can list your contributions made with the IP address(es) on your
user page.
Regards, -- PhantomSteve/ talk| contribs\ 16:16, 14 December 2009 (UTC)
![]() | This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
Archive 1 |
A query we also get from time to time is "I accidently clicked on 'permanently disable mobile layout' on my mobile device - how do I get the mobile version back?"
{{HD/mobile}}
gives:
If you go to
Wikipedia:Enable mobile version on your mobile device and click on the link there, you will re-enable the mobile version.
This talk page has fewer than 30 watchers, while Wikipedia talk:Help desk has over 3000. I propose that this talk page be centralized at Wikipedia talk:Help desk; that is redirected to keep discussions in one place. See Help talk:Cite errors for an example. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) talk 15:48, 5 May 2011 (UTC)
Great improvements since the last time I visited that page. Great job to all of you! For that reason I give a round cookies:
![]() |
Cookies! | |
Mabdul has given you some cookies! Cookies promote WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day better. You can Spread the "WikiLove" by giving someone else some cookies, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend.
To spread the goodness of cookies, you can add {{ subst:Cookies}} to someone's talk page with a friendly message, or eat this cookie on the giver's talk page with {{ subst:munch}}! |
I don't think the template's background color is a good choice. It brings too much attention to the template. Something like a white background might be more appropriate, and maybe with a colored margin, similar to {{ cleanup}}. Gary King ( talk) 20:52, 20 April 2008 (UTC)
This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Consider asking this question at the
Wikipedia:Reference desk. They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. You could always try
searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps. |
I created a sandbox version. See Template:HD/testcases. --— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 17:40, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
I don't see how this is any less attention-attracting - if anything, the bright colors make it worse. The amboxes are HUGE when used on the Help Desk, and they seem to make things really cluttered, and blatantly obvious that these are boiler-plate responses. Could we knock this down to a simple icon + text like "question" and "note" are? That'll make it easier for people to add signatures afterward as well, which would definitely help with the presence of the "Please sign your posts" code. Hersfold ( t/ a/ c) 20:20, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
How about this:
This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Consider asking this question at the
Wikipedia:Reference desk. They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for. Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. You could always try
searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps.
--—
Gadget850 (Ed)
talk -
21:33, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
I don't understand the objection to making our boilerplate responses blantantly obvious. I think we want to make our boilerplate responses blatantly obvious. Here are my reasons:
These are just my opinions. I don't want to fight a war over this. But I gave reasons for my opinions. I'd like to see reasons to support the opposing opinions. Not liking something is not really a reason - it must be possible to argue in terms of what is good or not good for the Wikipedia project. -- Teratornis ( talk) 20:47, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
I think a good point was made above that the class of help desk responses should have a consistent look. {{ AIV}}, {{ UAA}} and {{ RFPP}} are all mature templates: I don't see an overriding need to deviate. The icon makes it pretty clear that is is an "official" response, and by not using the box it is easy to add supplemental text. In response to new volunteers: I've been on WP for almost three years and only learned of the Reference Desk a few months ago and of the Help Desk only very recently. Established editors may be only peripherally aware of these resources. A better solution would be to solicit an article in the Signpost. --— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 15:43, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
Can the Ref Desk param be modified to indicate which Desk is perhaps most appropriate? Astronaut ( talk) 23:59, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
There has been some back and forth on substing this template. This template uses switches, thus the entire template is included making for a very long chunk of code in the reply. --— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 11:46, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
The simplest solution I can think of is to just make each specific template a subpage of the main template. It doesn't take any extra work to type {{HD/RD}} instead of {{HD|RD}}. That way there wouldn't be any problem with subst'ing or transcluding.--VectorPotential Talk 12:30, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
Over the last few months, I have several times come across a query which basically says "I edited/created an article but I can't find it. It is not on the delete log, and it is not in my user space. Where is it?" (OK, the delete log and user space are normally found out by folks on the HD!) - and the reason is probably because they clicked on "Preview" rather than "Save", so I created a HDT:
{{HD/not-saved}}
gives:
Did you click on the Show Preview button instead of the Publish changes button?
Edit summary (Briefly describe your changes)
This is a
minor edit
Watch this page
By publishing changes, you agree to the Terms of Use, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the CC BY-SA 4.0 License and the GFDL. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
If you didn't click on Publish changes, the edit wasn't saved.
Regards, -- PhantomSteve ( Contact Me, My Contribs) 12:09, 1 November 2009 (UTC)
Another query that crops up from time to time is "Before I registered, I edited using an IP. How to I get my edits assigned to my user name?" (or "I forgot to log in, so I edited using an.....")
This template is for replying to that:
{{HD/re-attribute}}
gives:
It used to be possible to re-attribute edits from IP addresses to named accounts, but not since 2005 (
see this page). However, as that page says, you can list your contributions made with the IP address(es) on your
user page.
Regards, -- PhantomSteve/ talk| contribs\ 16:16, 14 December 2009 (UTC)
![]() | This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
Archive 1 |
A query we also get from time to time is "I accidently clicked on 'permanently disable mobile layout' on my mobile device - how do I get the mobile version back?"
{{HD/mobile}}
gives:
If you go to
Wikipedia:Enable mobile version on your mobile device and click on the link there, you will re-enable the mobile version.
This talk page has fewer than 30 watchers, while Wikipedia talk:Help desk has over 3000. I propose that this talk page be centralized at Wikipedia talk:Help desk; that is redirected to keep discussions in one place. See Help talk:Cite errors for an example. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) talk 15:48, 5 May 2011 (UTC)
Great improvements since the last time I visited that page. Great job to all of you! For that reason I give a round cookies:
![]() |
Cookies! | |
Mabdul has given you some cookies! Cookies promote WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day better. You can Spread the "WikiLove" by giving someone else some cookies, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend.
To spread the goodness of cookies, you can add {{ subst:Cookies}} to someone's talk page with a friendly message, or eat this cookie on the giver's talk page with {{ subst:munch}}! |