User talk:Mrs. Potato Head/2012 Archive

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Cache

Have you had any more problems with image thumbnails and the caching ?

I overlaid a couple images this morning, and they seemed to be fine. I'll do some more poking around to make sure. Thank you, thank you for working on this puzzle, James. --Mrs. Potato Head 20:06, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

The caching and thumbnails are still a problem. I put it on the bug list a couple of weeks ago. --Mrs. Potato Head 22:43, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Hi

I didn't want to get too snarky on "The Maze" in Domestic discipline, but yeesh! --KTJ 00:24, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

If snark is called for, then snark away! Folks can always come in and add un-snarkiness. :-) --Mrs. Potato Head 00:36, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

re: all done with this default sort project

Lotta work there, thank you. <3 <-- bonus seasonally appropriate emoticon :) --Sk 22:14, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Thank you! It didn't take me as long as I thought it would. And in the process, I figured out several snarls. So, it's all good. I think sorting like it is now is quite smart. First of all, most people forget to put the default sort on, so the "default" is now correct. That, and pseuds and "real names" just don't translate like that any more. While not a perfect system now, I think it's an improvement. --Mrs. Potato Head 22:19, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

I would (oops) be one of those most people! Not for first-name last-name fans so much, but for fanworks that start with "the" or "a" I'm very sure I've forgotten to do the default sort thing -- I should try to go back to the pages I've made to check&fix that... (Hmmm, do you happen to know if there's a way to see only the New pages a user has made, instead of all contributions? That'd make that easier for sure.) And yes, agree that the new sorting order for fans makes sense. :) --Sk 22:26, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

I think you can click on on your user page, then at the tool bar on "contributions." I think that should bring up your additions. You can also go the the category "Fanworks," and look under "A" and "The." That, of course, brings up everyone's. Some fans have been doing a periodic clean- up that way, which is super. Those are the ways to find the strays that I know. Someone may have other tactics. --Mrs. Potato Head 23:25, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Unfortunately the user contributions page doesn't seem to sort more granularly than all a user's contributions for a particular page type (main, file, or help, etc.), it doesn't let you sort for New pages. So I'm still seeing all the few thousand edits I made on Main namespace pages, instead of the maybe 50-60ish new pages I made. (Idle musing: I'd love for there to be such a function; quickly seeing what kinds of new pages -- fan of tropes? fan of fanworks? of fans? or maybe zines & conventions? ;) -- particular users make is entertaining.) Okay, back from the tangent to the other tangent, doh/thank you! looking under "The" and "A" in the fanworks categories is a much more straightforward way -- I'm gonna go check that out now! :) --Sk 23:49, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Er, I spoke too soon: in looking in various Help pages (using a page that already uses feels like cheating, as newer editors wouldn't know to do that) for the template to use to change the default sort, I discovered that I can't find information/that template on the five or six help-like pages that seemed most logical. Sorry to be a pest, but would you happen to know which help-page or template-page does have the default sort code mentioned & explained, so I can copypaste that info to the other pages that might benefit from having it? If yes, awesome/thank you! (If not, I'll go bug poor Aethel -- muahaha?) --Sk 00:03, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

Yeah, I never use the "contributions" page for myself as it's a vast nest of stuff. I use it for someone else when I want to find out the last time a user made an update. It would be fun to see new pages in a specific subject. Sometimes I head over to the "gallery of new files" just to look at the pretties but that's only for fun and not work. About the help pages, I'm not much of a help. I almost exclusively rely on my homegrown cheat sheet, a word document I keep on my desktop. When I find a template or a code of some sort I think I need on a Fanlore article, I cut and paste it to this document. Now, I don't necessarily recommend my way to anyone else; it can be clumsy, and it's tailored totally to the pretty narrow path I tread -- but there you have it. In any case, the default sort code is {{DEFAULTSORT: Name of Fanwork}} . Does this help, Sk? --Mrs. Potato Head 00:16, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

I found it! Help:Categories#How_to_Sort_the_Page_Alphabetically_in_the_Category.--æþel 00:22, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the code MPH (and for always being very helpful re fanlore, whether it's about how you edit stuff or more general help, pointers, and info) -- I did cheat and copied it to use from a character page I knew had it, but my foolish tender heart was also hoping to more centrally pass on the info to other/new editors. Which I'm gonna try to go do, with Aethel's linky goodness! (Thank you, Aethel!)

Re your cheatsheet, that actually sounds sophisticated compared to mine -- I have some fanlore "things I use/try to remember when making a page" listed on, er, a post-it. Which I don't always remember to look at while editing. I might try to type it up at some point; maybe other/new editors would find some of it useful? Anyhow, if I do I'd certainly love your additions and "there is a simpler way to do x -- try this" (or any other) comments/input! --Sk 00:57, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

Sk, I'd be happy to send you my cheat sheet, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be too impressive. It's just a list of codes and templates that I use most often so that I can avoid keeping another Fanlore window open while I work. It's in no order, has odd personal notes all over it, and isn't terribly sophisticated. --Mrs. Potato Head 13:41, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

Spam accounts

Feeling your pain! Even as a non-gardener, it's getting increasingly annoying to have to filter Recent changes to see the wood for the trees. Is it worth raising the issue (again) at the Dreamwidth comm? Given the number of real people joining over the past few months, it would seem easier to ask for a statement of intent/interest (as many moderated lists do) and hand-moderate them than the current situation. Regards, Espresso Addict 05:00, 18 February 2012 (UTC)

I am HATING the waste of time, as well as having to swim through the detritus spam leaves behind. I'll bring it up on the comm again. Thanks for your support! --Mrs. Potato Head 14:02, 18 February 2012 (UTC)

I assume you have some kind of experience with these spam accounts, right? Getting frustrated with them - I don't even know how many I have blocked this week. Do you know if there's any other way to get rid of them than block them one by one? :'( *crying* --Tuulia 19:24, 12 June 2012 (UTC)

Tuulia, I wish I had an answer for you. Blocking them one-by-one is what I've done for many, many months. They just get worse and worse. Some info is here: [:http://fanlore.dreamwidth.org/]. I don't know if what I had been doing even made any difference. I think if they're getting you down, to take a break and do something that's way more fun, like making some articles about your favorite fandoms. :-) --Mrs. Potato Head 21:22, 12 June 2012 (UTC)

Mrs. Potato Head, It's cool thanks for this. I guess I just needed to open up to someone and I knew that you were blocking them a lot earlier, so I thought you would understand my pain (: Have a great day / night :) --Tuulia 07:09, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

There is no way I know of to mass-ban accounts. If Fanlore had the capability, it would be in the special pages, and I don't see anything relevant there. I think the closest thing we have is the IP block checkbox, which I imagine only blocks stupid bots who can't spoof an IP address. On the other hand, we do seem to be hit with a lot of stupid bots. Check out the IP blocking in action: [1]

I want to offer some encouraging news: we're not getting any actual spam edits, and I know I have blocked spam accounts more than 4 hours after they were created. So they are not smart enough to wait and run again if their first edits are blocked. Banning them is still a good move, but it's not a race against time. Please don't worry! They're annoying, but not dangerous, and we are looking into solutions.--æþel 00:43, 15 June 2012 (UTC)

Question about phrasing

Heya, I got a question about phrasing that looks like it's directed at you. See here for comment. Franzeska 03:22, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

I answered the question here and adjusted the wording. --MeeDee 03:31, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the alert, and the clarification! --Mrs. Potato Head 14:18, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

Lost a Bookmark

I accidently erased a bookmark I use a lot, the one that allows me to search Fanlore with a specific phrase on Google. What is that tool? --Mrs. Potato Head 19:20, 4 May 2012 (UTC)

Do you mean "site:fanlore.org" when you search Google? --Doro 19:49, 4 May 2012 (UTC)

It is site:fanlore.org and then the phrase in quotes (ex. "Sam and Dean kissing in a tree"--MeeDee 20:34, 4 May 2012 (UTC)

That's it. Only I don't remember how I made it a bookmark, one I could tuck into quickly. Putting it on my Word doc cheatsheat is going to kill me as it takes so long to load each time. --Mrs. Potato Head 20:36, 4 May 2012 (UTC)

Like this? --Doro 20:57, 4 May 2012 (UTC)

Thank you! Both. I had to make a fake search with it and then bookmark that. *feeling dorky* --Mrs. Potato Head 21:02, 4 May 2012 (UTC)

Possible Category?

Would the category "Fan Clubs" be a good idea? --Mrs. Potato Head 12:53, 7 May 2012 (UTC)

Sounds good to me. As a subcat of Category:Fan Communities or of Category:Offline Spaces (which is a subcat of Fan Communites)? This discussion should move probably be moved to the talk page of Category:Fan Communities. --Doro 13:08, 7 May 2012 (UTC)

Yes, I'll ask the same question over there. --Mrs. Potato Head 19:34, 7 May 2012 (UTC)

Shadow Chasers

I don't think it's necessary for all the Shadow Chasers stories to be linked directly to Deb Walsh's main archive. Yes, I know she asks people not to link to stories hosted on the archive in case she moves things around, but the Shadow Chasers stories aren't hosted at the archive; they're over at shadowchasers.org. It's a pre-existing site, and while Deb now maintains it, I doubt she's going to be moving files off it, especially as it's now a tribute site. --Greenygal 20:39, 14 May 2012 (UTC)

I just finished up that whole page before I saw your note. I didn't know about the separate archive, only that she didn't want folks to link right to the pdfs and stories, and I wanted to honor that. Hopefully, what I just did didn't actually mess anything up. --Mrs. Potato Head 20:48, 14 May 2012 (UTC)

No harm done, but I'm going to revert the Shadow Chasers changes unless you have an objection--I spent a fair amount of time linking all the stories on that page, and I'd rather keep those direct links. --Greenygal 21:05, 14 May 2012 (UTC)

Oh, I'm sorry, Greenygal! Of course, I have no objections, and I apologize for lumbering over your previous work. I was completely fixated on combing through Deb's page and doing it "right." --Mrs. Potato Head 21:17, 14 May 2012 (UTC)

Welcomeness

Hey, thanks for the warm welcome! I am tres stoked to fiddle around edit and write things. -- mresundance 2 June 2012

Hi, thank you for your lovely welcome! I'm excited to be part of this and am slowly (very slowly) learning my way around here. But you all have done such an amazing job! I'm updating some minor info on ST:TOS slash zines, etc. Though I do have question, would a section on outside references to K/S such as in pop culture/tv/books/other media be okay? -- Shivohn Songbreeze 13 June 2012

You're doing super so far, Shivohn Songbreeze! I'm looking forward to your edits and information. Re: K/S mentions in pop culture -- would you ask this on the K/S discussion page, and let's see what folks think/how to do it? --Mrs. Potato Head 19:58, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

Thank you :) Will post the question on relevant page.--Shivohn Songbreeze 21:04, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

Out of Town

I'll be out of town with no internet access from early July 1-July 5. --Mrs. Potato Head 12:40, 1 July 2012 (UTC)

We will def miss you in here. Hope to see you soon and be safe (: --Tuulia 12:46, 1 July 2012 (UTC)

I'll be out of town (backpacking in Montana) with no internet access from July 28th-Aug 12. --Mrs. Potato Head 22:11, 19 July 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for your welcome! I've finally got enough spare time to get back to tinkering here :) Espresso Addict 14:45, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

On stubs

Hi Mrs Potato Head -- Could I entice you to join the discussion I've just started about defining stubs at the template talk page? Cheers, Espresso Addict 13:05, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

Redirect

You recently created Martha Selena Brown which redirects to Bonita Kale (which doesnt exist) which created a broken redirect (Special:BrokenRedirects) Phoenix 02:27, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

Yeah, I know. I don't know enough about the fan to make an actual page, but when it does happen, the two names will be connected. That's my plan anyway. --Mrs. Potato Head 02:45, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

<3

Thank you for the welcome, MPH! I'm still stumbling my way around, but it's my goal to be more of an active contributor someday. --FishieMishie 07:38, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

Welcome message

You welcomed User:Sharpiefan on their user page -- is this a mistake? Espresso Addict 17:36, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

Uh. Yes. I'll move it. --Mrs. Potato Head 17:38, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

Thanks -- I can't get used to this new ability to edit other people's user pages! I hope you don't mind that I've welcomed her too -- we've recently become acquainted on dreamwidth. Espresso Addict 18:17, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

Serif fonts in display

Sans-serif is hard for me to read due to my eyesight. Could the serif fonts in some of the display formats be brought back please? --KTJ (talk) 01:40, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

KTJ, I'm sorry, but I don't know anything about fonts, or changing them. Is this something to do with the upgrade? Maybe you could ask the wiki committee about it? --Mrs. Potato Head (talk) 01:46, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

I did, and they very courteously wrote back and told me how to make a custom CSS change. I don't know why they removed the serif fonts when they made all the other format changes today, but they told me no one else had said anything (not surprising, it's just my vision). --04:08, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

Onmyouji shouldn't be disambigged as (manga)

Heya. I was wondering where the request to disambiguate the Onmyouji fandom as "(manga)" came from. The general concept isn't of great fannish relevance, IMO, though this type of magician does appear in a number of works that have fandoms. Onmyouji, as a fandom, is a set of media properties, the first of which is a novel series. The manga is an adaptation, and not one with that much of a fandom, AFAIK. My impression is that the Japanese-speaking fandom is much more interested in the original novels and in the movies (and in historical RPF). The English-speaking fandom is almost 100% focused on the movies (though, again, with a side of historical RPF and other media featuring the same historical characters). I don't mean to be hostile here: I'd be happy to help flesh out the plain onmyouji page if I knew who wanted one and what they were expecting to find there. (It's equivalent to... idk... making a "wizard" page or a "geomancer" page or something.) It would probably be simplest to change Onmyouji (manga) to Onmyouji (fandom). Franzeska (talk) 02:39, 28 November 2012 (UTC)

MPH here, and wondering if this comment is meant to go on someone else's user page? If so, feel free to move it over from here. No worries. --Mrs. Potato Head (talk) 02:43, 28 November 2012 (UTC)

Nope. In the history of the page (ancient history though, I'm afraid), it shows an edit comment from you: "moved Onmyouji to Onmyouji (manga): per request". I'm trying to track down who else was interested in the page or where the request came from. (Sorry, I'd have asked at the time, but I didn't notice the name change until briar_pipe poked me just now.) Franzeska (talk) 19:19, 28 November 2012 (UTC)

Derp. And as soon as I say that, it occurs to me to check "what links here". Sigh. (Should have known it would be the Talk:Tokyo_Babylon article where it originated!) Franzeska (talk) 19:22, 28 November 2012 (UTC)

I don't remember that move at all. I made the name change based on someone's request and then promptly forgot about it. It's an area of fandom I know nothing about, have no advice for sorting anything out. It sounds like you have some sort of a handle on it now? --Mrs. Potato Head (talk) 19:43, 28 November 2012 (UTC)

Yeah, I'm good now. Seeing what fandom they're in and a comment on why they didn't make a glossary page themselves makes it clear what they were after. We should still rename the article for the fandom at some point. Franzeska (talk) 01:54, 29 November 2012 (UTC)

Let me know precisely what you want the article to be called, and I'll rename it. I'm easy that way. --Mrs. Potato Head (talk) 02:36, 29 November 2012 (UTC)

Thanks! :) Here's the change: Onmyouji (manga) --> Onmyouji (fandom) Franzeska (talk) 05:19, 29 November 2012 (UTC)

songbook template

Hey, I saw you were doing a lot of filkbooks today! I think we can start using the Template:FilkSongbook now. We can always change the categories later.--æþel (talk) 15:29, 1 December 2012 (UTC)

æþel! You read my mind! I was going to ask for that template, and in fact almost put the request on The Barbeque Songbook's discussion page, (way back in the "B's") then thought that was too vague, thought about hopping over to your talk page, then got distracted. Has that template been there all along? I looked at the list and didn't see it this morning.

I'm working off the Finder's Aid at Iowa, as they just finishing processing 106 boxes (be still my beating heart...) of zines. I wish I knew more about filk songbooks, and know the articles are woefully inadequate right now, but that's how most things start out, right? Hopefully, these skeleton pages will have more flesh added to them by fans more in-the-know than I. --Mrs. Potato Head (talk) 15:41, 1 December 2012 (UTC) [added: Ahhh! I see there was a template already, but it has miss-sorted on the template list in the "S's." --Mrs. Potato Head (talk) 15:46, 1 December 2012 (UTC)