User talk:Falconeye/Skill Template 2.0

Note: Requesting any active GW1 or GW2 editors with advanced nav-template formatting knowledge

Brain Fart This material needs all the help it can get. (I'm sure I meant something mo' better.)

OK to edit You have permission to edit this page as long as you respect its intent. (I reserve the right to revert.)

Skill nav

I was going to create a skill type list nav (similar to GW2 wikis') but 3 nav's already exist... then I'd realize it would be better to merge them. --Falconeye (talk) 21:39, 26 May 2015 (UTC)

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My Proposal

• Create column and row
  • Add sidebars
  • Add top/bottom subheaders and subfooters (like Wikipedia's navs');
  • After nailing down the 3-4 individual skills navs; see about merging them into a single Skill nav
    • Example(s): {{Titles nav}}; {{Reward trophies nav}}; {{Team Roles nav}}

{{Skill lists}}

• Rename to "Skill lists nav" (if no consensus on merge)
• Revamp to follow GW2 Skill lists example
• Additional articles (like casters; martials; etc.) as needed

{{Elite skill lists}}

• Rename to "Skill types nav" (if no consensus on merge)
• Revamp to follow GW2 Skill types example
  • Common/shared skill types in single row, by alpha supertype (& subtype)
  • Profession-specific skill types with their respective rows.
• Elite is technically a "skill type"; elites are still given "priority real-estate" for Skill Hunter ease

{{Skill lists navbar}}

• Rename to "Skill misc nav" (if no consensus on merge)
• For now lets ignore these, as they contain a misc. assortment of very useful lists that do not neatly fit into the "standard navs"

Current Proposals

• Infinite's skill navs revamp
• Wendy Black's skill navs revamp

Discussion

Interesting idea. I'm going to break down what it is that I see when I look at these tables.

{{Skill lists}}

• Breaks down the skills based on the profession.
• Links to the different terminology and aspects of skills.

{{Elite skill lists}}

• Same as above, but focused on elite skills.
• Contains a set of lists for elites based on campaign.

GW2 Skill lists

• Breaks down skills by profession.
• Not as in-depth as any other table.
• Uses a tabular format.

GW2 Skill types

• Breaks down skills by type in each profession.
• Uses a tabular format.

The main difference I see between the two sets of tables is how they're laid out. Our templates tend to spread horizontally, while centred in the page. The GW2W templates tend to be in tables, with information flowing vertically down a single column, and then horizontally.

If you were looking to be closer to the GW2 Skill types template, what were you planning on putting in the "first" column, and what information would flow horizontally? My preference would be professions going vertically, and then... skills based on attribute? skill types? a link to the professions elite skills?

Also since GW1 can focus heavily on capturing elite skills in the late game, a specialized set of lists is great to have around. Any modifications should maintain this access to information.

I'll add more thoughts and questions later, but perhaps you could toss a quick table below, laying out what you see as a general outline. G R E E N E R 09:28, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

Yes, it's a little bit hard to imagine the differences between these two layouts without seeing the actual prototype of the new navbar tables. Dmitri Fatkin (talk) 22:36, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

At first blush, I love how much better a table is looking compared to our centre-justified format. I think this change has a lot of promise. G R E E N E R 02:09, 28 May 2015 (UTC)

Hello. Firstly, I wouldn't mind a revamp of the existing 3 GW lists at all. If we can generate nicer, slicker, more intuitive list(s), that would be fine by me.

But like Dmitri already mentioned, it's kind of hard to envision what you're imagining (I checked all 5 lists and read your explanations, but I'm not certain).

Would it be possible - without too much effort - to sketch your ideas? Or give a more concrete example? Steve1 (talk) 18:17, 28 May 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for asking my opinion. Not bad idea sprucing up the boxes, this is my compact redesign have fun! --Wendy Black 11:56, 31 May 2015 (UTC)

(Reset indent) I'm breaking the status quo harshly, but I suppose this might work: User:Infinite/Sandbox#Skill_navs_revamp - Infinite - talk 13:58, 31 May 2015 (UTC)

Amazing design, Infinite. I won't have time today to vet that it covers all topics that we'd like, but it is much better to my eyes. If others could give it a once over as well, it'd be appreciated. Thanks! G R E E N E R 03:10, 1 June 2015 (UTC)

Good design Infinite, sort of a universal skill box. Also uses the space well. --Wendy Black 04:56, 1 June 2015 (UTC)

Kicks the horse again. Sorry that I forgot about this. Falconeye had a great idea about condensing and simplifying the skill navs, and Infinite came up with a pretty nice option. Were there any objections or glaring omissions? G R E E N E R 17:06, 16 July 2015 (UTC)

My current version incorporates everything from listed navs (except the kitchen sink); Infinite has a cleaner layout without skill types; Wendy has "Quick links"-style. So the correct questions are: What can we merge? What should we merge? How many skill/profession/attribute navs are actually needed? --Falconeye (talk) 08:04, 17 July 2015 (UTC)

Skill quick reference: One Year Later

Lets get this party re-started! --Falconeye (talk) 10:34, 19 June 2016 (UTC)