Forum:New Look

You guys probably know my habit of wanting to change the look of this wiki... that's what you get from a person like me. So... thanks to wikia's easy way of changing the theme, I happened to play around with the color of this site to come with something I thought looked pretty cool. I understand that most of you don't want to accept changes, but hey, didn't we get over complaining the removal of Monaco? (Come on guys, you know you did) I too am nervous to change the wiki's look but I am ready (for those who know me, know this is what I try to do most of the time). Anyways, here's the picture.
 * Kindly state your opinion. Remember to be nice!--58SlugDrones • (Contact) 16:45, January 27, 2013 (UTC)



To be honest, that dark blue color seems to add charm to the wiki. I see no problem in changing the color. 16:53, January 27, 2013 (UTC)

Sorry. I like the look the way it is, and the dark blue might make images with white backgrounds stand out. 17:00, January 27, 2013 (UTC)

Well, the blue hue and the other colors was a nice touch, but there was some flaws as well; the transparent background made it harder to read the text due to the figures in the background, it created a sharp and colliding contrast in comparison to the infoboxes, and the texts in said infoboxes became nearly invisibleUltrasonic9000 (talk) 17:01, January 27, 2013 (UTC)

Sacorguy - Thank you.

Silver - Good point, but I think there's a way to fix that. I'll see... since alot of wikis don't have a white background but the images look just fine.

Ultrasonic - I can reduce the transparency and change the infoboxes to go with the theme (that's what I had in mind in the first place). I was mainly talking about the theme, and then change the details when the consensus is final. I'm basically asking - what if the entire wiki including the templates, all had this similar theme?

-58SlugDrones • (Contact) 17:09, January 27, 2013 (UTC)

I oppose, it would mess up the emotes on the chat, plus I think it looks just fine the way it is. 17:11, January 27, 2013 (UTC)

It's very nice and I would love a site like this. But I agree with Plays. White pictures would stand out, and could ruin the wiki's "cache". And all the pictures would be had to be uploaded in a PNG format. Meaning, that all the backgrounds should be removed before uploading... 17:12, January 27, 2013 (UTC)

SpyroSonic - That's a very good point. I didn't think about the chat. I'll look for a way to fix this.

Tinka - The Assassin's Creed wiki looks absolutely fine despite it's dark theme and I have uploaded a few images on there. I think that can be fixed.

--58SlugDrones • (Contact) 17:17, January 27, 2013 (UTC)

Despite my general preference for white backgrounds, I like that example. I'm not sure about the transparency of the background, though. Obviously we'd need to fix picture thumbnails/frames and templates and things, but I think it would be interesting to try something new. -- Supermorff (talk) 18:38, January 27, 2013 (UTC)

Er...no thanks, this would be too much blue for me. Too much strain on the eyes. No offense, but too much of one color can't be good for reader's eyes. 19:43, January 27, 2013 (UTC)

I'm perfectly fine with the proposed changes so long as the text remains legible and the issues expressed with the picture thumbnails/frames and other templates is taken care of. I also think that I'd prefer a solid background rather than a slightly transparent one, but that's just a personal preference. If the transparency can be made to work with everything else then I think I can tolerate it. Lloyd the Cat "I don't die. I just go on adventures."  21:45, January 27, 2013 (UTC)

I have to agree with Unleashed and Spyro and oppose the propositions. The white pictures would stand out, the eye strain would be horrible, and the text would be hard to read unless color was changed to something better fitting with the changes. --The Shadow Of Darkness (talk) 22:36, January 27, 2013 (UTC)

I have no problem with changing the colour, but I personally dislike that shade of blue in Drones' example. It should ideally be a little lighter that that, with no transparency, so that the text is readable, it is easy on the reader's eyes, and there is no clashing contrast between images and templates. 23:17, January 27, 2013 (UTC) You can change the chat's appearance through Chat.css. This would make the blue change to the wiki ineffective on the chat. It's not about how many edits you make, its about how significant the edits you make are 23:33, January 27, 2013 (UTC)

Okay, for those who are concerned about the thumbnails and templates - it can be changed. Don't worry about those. I'll fix it when we get the final consensus.
 * For those who prefer little or no transparency - I'll show you a screenshot of your preference.
 * For those who find the blue color strainful to the eye - I don't get how you think the white background causes no strain for your eye... one of my reasons to change the color was to cause less strain because white is too bright apparently. I tried light blue but it looked even worse. I'll show you a screencap of all the shades and styles I can find. For other admins participating, they can share a photo of what they want.--58SlugDrones • (Contact) 05:52, January 28, 2013 (UTC)

Hey, it seems the thumbnails automatically change: all we have to do is change the templates, I guess.--58SlugDrones  • (Contact) 06:26, January 28, 2013 (UTC)

Ya know what? Why don't you implement the new look drones and then we can change things to our liking. That's what we do when we do seasonal themes. 11:26, January 28, 2013 (UTC)

I think we should try the new look out for several days. If any user dislikes a certain feature of the new look, he/she could just bring it up here and maybe it could be changed to the community's liking. Or if few users like it when it's implemented, we should revert to our "normal" theme and rework the theme or scrap it. 13:36, January 28, 2013 (UTC)

Yeah, I was thinking about that. I'll wait till others (like Supermorff, our only bureaucrat) will let me keep the theme for a couple of days. I can't just slap it in.--58SlugDrones • (Contact) 16:15, January 28, 2013 (UTC)

With a community consensus (and agreement of another admin, I guess) you can. XP 16:17, January 28, 2013 (UTC)

I suppose I can. But... well the wordmark's background layer isn't transparent. I made a transparent version however it keeps looking choppy and it looks blurry and seems 'stretched' on the chat window. Who made this wordmark? Can he make a transparent version?--58SlugDrones • (Contact) 16:29, January 28, 2013 (UTC)
 * I think he's inactive. And do you mean a transparent background? 16:31, January 28, 2013 (UTC)
 * The wordmark's background is white. In order to make it go with the new theme, it should be transparent so that their isn't any box behind it (the wordmark). The reason why it looks choppy when I do it is because I have to crop it out using the selection tool in Photoshop since the background and the text aren't on separate layers. I'm also used to painting, and rarely every use the lasso or selection tool, perhaps I'm not using the tool correctly... but I can't find a better way to do it.--58SlugDrones • (Contact) 17:04, January 28, 2013 (UTC)


 * Even though I'm fine with the wordark, if you have something better than the one we have now, you can share it here. I don't think we need to change the background. Its absolutely fine to me.--58SlugDrones • (Contact) 06:21, January 29, 2013 (UTC)
 * Per SlugDrones (Is that what I'm supposed to call you?) The wordmark and background are fine, but I like Splash's idea for different themes on chat. I'm experimenting with chat themes on my sandbox wiki. 15:08, January 29, 2013 (UTC)

Pertaining to the new look of the wiki, I'm very fond of Drones' choice with or without the transparency in the background. It has a true Sonic feel to it. I wouldn't mind if these changes are implemented now in purpose of obtaining a feedback. 16:42, January 29, 2013 (UTC)

I think I would prefer the background as it is, I like black on white, white text on dark brackgrounds tend to strain my eyes.  Myself  123  02:40, January 30, 2013 (UTC)


 * Drones, I'm not the site's only bureaucrat anymore. Genesjs and Myself 123 are both bureaucrats too, and both of them have commented.
 * As for the Wordmark, it used to be transparent and then we did a switch for Halloween or Christmas and it never went back to being transparent. I tried to fix it and couldn't. -- Supermorff (talk) 21:17, February 1, 2013 (UTC)
 * Oh wow, I missed out on alot didn't I?
 * I don't get how changing the theme of the wiki would make it lose it's transparency. Did someone change it? What color was the halloweeen theme?
 * I can cut out the wordmark and place it on a transparent layer (see the screenshot, I've done it before) but it keeps looking choppy and thus looks stretched and blurry on the chat. I can try again however.--58SlugDrones • (Contact) 03:47, February 2, 2013 (UTC)