Difference between revisions of "Talk:Main Page"

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(Wiki bot thoughts)
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::If there was a 'like' button on here, I'd press it!  I'm not sure about other functions for it to carry out. Most of the bot edits I come across on Wikipedia tend to be formatting and housekeeping, things like stripping leading and trailing spaces in tables, changing links and references separated by <nowiki><br></nowiki> to bullet format and so on. Not a particular priority here in my view. One of them moves references after closing punctuation, which would cause a problem on here because of our formatting issue (see my [[User:Robin|user page]]), which I think is caused by the conflict with the terminology add-on (whose name I forget). Presumably we haven't got anywhere with resolving that one? --[[User:Robin|Robin]] ([[User talk:Robin|talk]]) 14:10, 10 October 2017 (UTC)
 
::If there was a 'like' button on here, I'd press it!  I'm not sure about other functions for it to carry out. Most of the bot edits I come across on Wikipedia tend to be formatting and housekeeping, things like stripping leading and trailing spaces in tables, changing links and references separated by <nowiki><br></nowiki> to bullet format and so on. Not a particular priority here in my view. One of them moves references after closing punctuation, which would cause a problem on here because of our formatting issue (see my [[User:Robin|user page]]), which I think is caused by the conflict with the terminology add-on (whose name I forget). Presumably we haven't got anywhere with resolving that one? --[[User:Robin|Robin]] ([[User talk:Robin|talk]]) 14:10, 10 October 2017 (UTC)
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::: The addon in question is "Lingo". I remember hoping/expecting the software update earlier this year would fix it. However, it didn't, and at the time I did put in a report about the issue still being present. Looking back at the bug report, there's been no response or fix yet. --[[User:Danny252|Danny252]] ([[User talk:Danny252|talk]]) 08:38, 12 October 2017 (UTC)

Revision as of 08:38, 12 October 2017

SVRSevern Valley Railway photographic guide

This comes up periodically. There is no published guide of publicly available photo locations. There is an old thread at http://railways.national-preservation.com/threads/svr-photo-guide.5590/page-2 with quite a lot of info and a thread around PacificLocomotive with a 4-6-2 wheel configuration Power. I'm not a photographer but a guide would be useful. It would need some thought though, so as initial suggestions what it might include: Work north to South Location name GPS OSOrdnance Survey reference Means of access Particular restrictions Tips - better in the afternoon than morning type thing Example photo

Also a does and don'ts section (trespass etc.)

Thoughts?--Patrick Hearn (talk) 10:55, 19 December 2016 (UTC)

I'd erred away from doing one in the past, in case the SVRSevern Valley Railway considered it to be encouraging people to photograph from lineside (even in legitimate viewing locations) rather than paying to visit the railway. However the SVRSevern Valley Railway itself gave a number of possible viewing locations for PacificLocomotive with a 4-6-2 wheel configuration Power, so maybe not considered an issue? If we do add one, your suggestions would be a good start.--Robin (talk) 15:59, 29 December 2016 (UTC)

Official response from Lewis Maddox: "Great idea, if you need any photos let me know." So, going back to the original post, what's the best way of setting it up? Does it need a table with the headings I suggested. Is there a better way? This might be one where a little thought and input from photographers is worthwhile...--Patrick Hearn (talk) 13:06, 4 January 2017 (UTC)

Just while thinking about it, on the Current events on the Severn Valley Railway page, I put a comment relating to SVRSevern Valley Railway Live that "Information which is publicly accessible for enthusiasts includes Traffic Notices, Working Timetables, lineside photography policy and application forms, and so on." However I can't see photography policy on the new version, or on the SVRSevern Valley Railway website either. Any idea where they would be found these days?--Robin (talk) 16:50, 4 January 2017 (UTC)
When I looked earlier this year, the lineside photography information available on the old site seemed to be horribly out of date, and upon enquiring directly with the SVRSevern Valley Railway on Facebook, the response I got gave me the impression they were only interested in direct inquiries, rather than advertising it online? --Danny252 (talk) 09:52, 5 January 2017 (UTC)
In terms of setting it up, the unofficial WSR site WSR.ORG.UK has a photography section here. There may be some good ideas to be had from it.--Robin (talk) 16:55, 4 January 2017 (UTC)
Thank you. A job for when I have some time :)--Patrick Hearn (talk) 12:28, 18 January 2017 (UTC)

Locomotives hired to or visiting other railways

We have sections for locos coming in, are there equivalents for SVRSevern Valley Railway-resident locos going the other way? I can't find any. TIA--Patrick Hearn (talk) 12:28, 18 January 2017 (UTC)

Off the top of my head, no section exists yet. The exception would be for main line excursions, which are listed on the linked locomotive pages, but not many of those happen these days! --Danny252 (talk) 13:09, 18 January 2017 (UTC)
Some individual loco pages also mention longer term hires to other railways, but you're right in that there is no equivalent section for gala appearances elsewhere. No reason we couldn't have such a page, but it would be a major exercise to backfill the history.--Robin (talk) 15:50, 18 January 2017 (UTC)
Thanks both. Do you think we should we start one with 2017 galas out as an incomplete page, and allow people to backfill? Or let it ride?--Patrick Hearn (talk) 02:43, 19 January 2017 (UTC)
If you're eager, go ahead - just look how the gala visitors page started! I have to admit I don't really know where to find historical information; the SVRSevern Valley Railway News sometimes mentions locos going off on hire, but I don't know if this is comprehensive? Then again, I'm sure Robin will find all the information about 7714's visit to the Little Piddling and Nowhere Railway's 1976 gala... --Danny252 (talk) 10:44, 19 January 2017 (UTC)
It must have been there as a static exhibit - according to the SVRSevern Valley Railway Wiki it wasn't steamed until 1992. --Robin (talk) 13:10, 19 January 2017 (UTC)

Bug reports

Navbox error

I'm seeing {{#invoke:Navbox|navbox}} instead of Navboxes appearing on the carriage and loco pages. Anyone else? Can one of the administrators have a look please? --Robin (talk) 16:08, 16 May 2017 (UTC)

It was something I did without realising by altering parser settings while trying to convert page names to dates and vice versa. It should be working again now. --Graham Phillips 110 (talk) 16:48, 16 May 2017 (UTC)
Yes fixed. Belated thanks.--Robin (talk) 16:18, 24 May 2017 (UTC)

On this day refresh error

Another oddity. When I first access the home page without being logged in, the "On this day" link shows May 18. As soon as I log in, it refreshes correctly. Any ideas? Is it some sort of caching issue? --Robin (talk) 16:18, 24 May 2017 (UTC)

I was getting that as well. It was caused by {{#time:}} using "the time the page was last rendered into HTML" rather than the current time. For some reason, it would always default to May 18, even immediately after logging out after displaying the correct date while logged in. I've changed it now to read {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} and {{CURRENTDAY}} which do exactly what their names suggest. It seems to have solved the problem on the wiki itself, although I don't know if there may still be a caching problem for individual users. --Graham Phillips 110 (talk) 00:56, 25 May 2017 (UTC)
I'm aware that it is still not working as it should. Editing the page also updates the displayed date, so the error doesn't show up until a day later, which makes it a slow job fixing it by trial and error. I've asked for help on the Mediawiki Project Support Desk--Graham Phillips 110 (talk) 08:58, 27 May 2017 (UTC)
I think it's working now. If you want an explanation...The various Time and Date functions use the time the page was last rendered in to HTML. For a logged in user, that will be their current session, for a non-logged in user, it is the time the page was last modified, as shown at the bottom of every page. By linking to the internal On This Day page as if it was an external link, it seems to be creating the link using the real current time, even when logged out.--Graham Phillips 110 (talk) 22:52, 28 May 2017 (UTC)
Another minor bug fixed. As the wiki was seeing the On This Day page as an external link, it was opening in a new tab, rather than the same tab like all other internal links. I couldn't fix it properly, so the external link is now displayed as a single full stop right at the bottom of the page, I couldn't make it completely invisible. Just having the link somewhere on the page forces all dates to work correctly, so now the internal link works as it should. There's another minor bug in that the wiki is set to GMT and is not adjusting for BST. I might look in to that one at some point as well. --Graham Phillips 110 (talk) 07:25, 29 May 2017 (UTC)
I really think I've got it this time. What was confusing me was the random image on the Main Page Test page which was causing that page to refresh every time it was viewed, whether logged in or not, which the proper Main Page wasn't doing. I've now set up the Main Page to automatically refresh every time. I thought this might slow down loading, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. What was slowing everything down was fetching nine individual images from Wikimedia Commons for the schematic map. I've now duplicated these locally, so not only does the page load a lot faster, logging in is a lot quicker as well.--Graham Phillips 110 (talk) 14:55, 2 June 2017 (UTC)
Thanks for spending the time on it! It would be an idea to update the pre-1963 map page to use local icons as well; it can be very hit and miss loading at times. (Not meant as a request, happy to do it myself when time permits).
Probably a bit late to ask this as were are closing in on 100 individual Day pages, but is there anything in them which could be better handled in a template called to each page, rather than the block of text we copy and paste each time?--Robin (talk) 15:32, 2 June 2017 (UTC)
I'd already started on the other maps when you replied. Consider it done. Yes, now I know how easy it is to create and call a template, that would be a better way of getting the forward and back dates. I did wonder if it might be better if the links just said "Previous" and "Next" rather than the date, but that would mean going back and altering all the existing ones for consistency.--Graham Phillips 110 (talk) 16:49, 2 June 2017 (UTC)
I thought it had been working fine, but today it is linking to June 20 when not logged in, even though a page exists for June 25. Not sure if it is a coincidence, but the home page was last edited on June 20. Has anything changed in the back end, apart from switching Lingo back on? --Robin (talk) 19:58, 25 June 2017 (UTC)
Another oddity with 'On this day in history'. When logged out, the next and previous page links on 'August 4' and other days works fine. When I log in they stop working, replaced by a grey box with a dash in. Not sure how long it has been happening - anyone else getting the same and if so, any idea why? --Robin (talk) 14:37, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
It took a bit of trial and error, but I've finally got the Previous & Next links working. It turns out it needs spaces either side of the + & - signs when searching for Pagename + 1 day etc. I've got no idea why it worked when logged out, but not when logged in, or why it used to work and then stopped working, but it works now. I'm still stuck on the out of date On This Day link though. It looks like we need a bot to automatically edit the page at 00:01 every day, but creating a bot is beyond me at the moment.--Graham Phillips 110 (talk) 09:44, 6 August 2017 (UTC)
Thanks - I'll keep manually updating if I remember and nobody else beats me to it.--Robin (talk) 05:51, 7 August 2017 (UTC)

User permissions

I've modified the user permissions so that new users can create articles and talk pages without being marked "trustworthy". I found it a bit odd that having created a new user, I couldn't edit my own user page... Given that spambots are a non-issue now, hopefully we'll be ok. --Danny252 (talk) 09:25, 9 October 2017 (UTC)

Wiki bot

I'm playing around with making an "svrwikibot", mainly to do the front page update that Robin currently does. I've gone with the Pywikibot framework, because a) I can code Python and b) it works.

If anyone has other ideas for things we could get the bot to do, let me know. --Danny252 (talk) 09:27, 9 October 2017 (UTC)

Alright, hold your breath - if it's working, the bot will now update the main page comment at 5am BST (4am GMT) daily... --Danny252 (talk) 10:01, 9 October 2017 (UTC)
If there was a 'like' button on here, I'd press it! I'm not sure about other functions for it to carry out. Most of the bot edits I come across on Wikipedia tend to be formatting and housekeeping, things like stripping leading and trailing spaces in tables, changing links and references separated by <br> to bullet format and so on. Not a particular priority here in my view. One of them moves references after closing punctuation, which would cause a problem on here because of our formatting issue (see my user page), which I think is caused by the conflict with the terminology add-on (whose name I forget). Presumably we haven't got anywhere with resolving that one? --Robin (talk) 14:10, 10 October 2017 (UTC)
The addon in question is "Lingo". I remember hoping/expecting the software update earlier this year would fix it. However, it didn't, and at the time I did put in a report about the issue still being present. Looking back at the bug report, there's been no response or fix yet. --Danny252 (talk) 08:38, 12 October 2017 (UTC)