Difference between revisions of "Talk:Main Page"

Revision as of 09:27, 1 February 2015

Would it be a good idea to have a suitable SVRSevern Valley Railway image or logo on the main page. For a visitor seeing the page for the first time, it would give them some idea what it was all about. Yes, I know it should be obvious, but......

Sharpo (talk) 00:09, 13 January 2015 (UTC)

I've been thinking the same (I just mentioned it in one of the forum threads). I guess the main question is whether the SVRSevern Valley Railway would be happy with us using its logo - it's starting to sound like we'll need to get in contact with the office at some point on a few of these things. If they decide not, does someone feel suitably arty?

--Danny252 (talk) 09:23, 13 January 2015 (UTC)

We'll probably spend a lot of time providing info about the SVRSevern Valley Railway, but we also need to show where it is for people who come across this wiki & decide the railway might be worth a visit. So, for those arty people amongst us, how about finding a suitable size image of the UK that can be used, with a highlighted area showing exactly where the Railway is, then showing an enlargement of the area alongside the UK image with the main stations highlighted and the course of the railway.

Sharpo (talk) 11:39, 13 January 2015 (UTC)

On the subject of maps, I've adapted the map at [1] to only show as much of the SVRSevern Valley Railway as is currently in use. It works OK on my sandbox, but not here http://www.svrwiki.com/Map.
I gather I need to import the template that the map is based on, but I can't find instructions on how to do that.
I was going to duplicate the full GWRGreat Western Railway/SVRSevern Valley Railway map and create a more detailed map, showing more features as well.
Is it worth persevering, or would it just be easier to create the maps some other way? --Graham Phillips 110 (talk) 10:42, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

I was looking on the internet yesterday for suitable maps & saw that very same page, then thought I would do a tracing from a map & then create my own simple map from that - then scan & upload it. It was then I realised I was spending time on this instead of doing other things!! In answer to your question, I don't know how to edit that template to how you want it. May be better to draw a new version? Sharpo (talk) 11:00, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

I think the main issue is that the map requires a standard set of images (about 3000!) that exist on Wikipedia, which you can tile together to show the layout (e.g. plain track, station, disused station, and so on), as well as all the templates it pulls in. It might be possible to copy it over, but I don't know if it would be a good idea to pick and choose the bits we want, or alternatively to copy the whole lot over with a lot of redundant bits, but with the flexibility to make more in future.

--Danny252 (talk) 12:15, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

I was hoping it would be possible to import the template and just those icons used as it's a handy way of linking directly to stations on the line directly from the map. I was then going to create a more detailed map showing all the bridges etc. with a link to each. Maybe I'm asking too much and it would be best to stick to a normal image file of a map. --Graham Phillips 110 (talk) 12:55, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

I remember years ago using some free software that allowed me to add links from a word or words pasted into an image on my site. There may be something similar for a wiki if you have time to try & search for it. This was the sort of thing I just found after a search, but not within a wiki - http://www.onextrapixel.com/examples/image-map/

Back again, just found an example on a wiki, there is an image where you can click on the different people you can see. http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:ImageMapSharpo (talk) 15:09, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

Wow, took me a few hours to understand it, but I have learnt how to create more than one link from within an image within a wiki. My own wiki test included 2 locos in a photo & moving the cursor to either of the locos would give a link for that loco. Sharpo (talk) 21:40, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

I've been spending far too long on this as well, but I've finally got there.
Click on the town names on the Map .
It takes a bit of trial and error to get the box coordinates in the right place, but I think this is a better than the standard route map as it allows linking of nearby features of interest, such as the Engine House. --Graham Phillips 110 (talk) 01:46, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

Some good work there. The main thing now is to get a suitable map - the OSOrdnance Survey maps will presumably somewhat awkward, given that the "Kidderminster" label is nearer to Bewdley Station than Kidder! --Danny252 (talk) 10:14, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

I like the map on the front page. Would it be worth putting on each of the station pages to show their positioning on the SVRSevern Valley Railway? --Brick60000 (talk) 16:17, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

Making changes

UpIn reference to the direction of travel means towards the major terminus (i.e. towards Kidderminster on the present day SVR) to now, everyone's been making changes without consulting anyone else. There haven't been any disputes yet, but should we be putting things to a vote first?
Minor edits of text should be OK, but what about more conspicuous changes like adding the maps and logo? I just went ahead and did it. Should we have discussed it first? I can easily undo it.
Should we have a picture on the front page? How do we pick one?
--Graham Phillips 110 (talk) 08:43, 31 January 2015 (UTC)

If you decide to have a picture on the front page, keep it interesting by changing it every week. Otherwise, once this wiki nears completion (if that is ever likely to happen) people aren't likely to look at it very often. Sharpo (talk) 13:46, 31 January 2015 (UTC)

My 10p worth is so long as you think it is an improvement, carry on and add/edit as necessary which is the idea of a Wiki; stopping for votes just delays things. Worth adding a note in the summary if comment is required, eg if I had a better logo (which I don’t!) I would upload it and say “shall we try this instead?”.--Robin (talk) 17:32, 31 January 2015 (UTC)

I've "protected" the front page, logo and maps to prevent any malicious edits. We haven't had much spam yet, but there was the possibility that someone could alter the front page to something unwanted. If anyone wants to make a genuine edit, they can put it here on the Talk page and one of the administrators can do it.
I created the logo in Paint on my PC and thought I'd got a reasonably good match for the chocolate & cream. The cream looks a bit beige now on my chromebook. If anyone's got the correct colour codes, I'll do a new one.
I don't know if a picture as well as the two maps would be too much though?
There's a random image extension for wikimedia which can be installed.
One idea I had was a long thin picture of a full train in profile, taking up the full width of the page, but only a couple of lines worth of depth. The picture could be selected at random from one of each carriage set. Worth a try?
--Graham Phillips 110 (talk) 09:27, 1 February 2015 (UTC)