Scratch Wiki talk:Community Portal/Connect Wiki and Website

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This is a Talk Page with Suggestions about "Connecting Scratch-Wiki and -Website" in a better way. This could be a great chance for the Scratch Community to profit from the Wiki even much more than it does today. Feel free to add and discuss suggestions in the section #Brainstorming like you would do it in the S:CP.

BACKGROUND

The reason for having this as an separate article (as a subpage of the S:CP) is, that the Scratch-Team asked explicitly for suggestions of us Scratch-Wikians and we agreed upon making a wiki-page for it. (Hangout de:Scratch Club#21.12.2015 with Christan (user:Ceebee [1]) + Linda (user:LiFaytheGoblin [2]) who is also at the Scratch-Team now and also thinks that this could be a good idea. At de:Scratch-Wiki:Scratch_Club#04.01.2016 we decided to make a start. ( user:jvvg, user:ErnieParke, user:LiFaytheGoblin, user:frodewin, and user:MartinWollenweber) This suggestions result also from a translation of de:GP#Wie kann die Scratch Gemeinschaft mehr von Scratch Wikis profitieren?.

Ordered Suggestions

please post only in the #Brainstorming-Section, where your post stays untouched (like in the community portal). We will try to order all suggestions later in this section, so the Scratch Team has a "easy to read" Suggestion-List + the original discussion.

Brainstorming

Links at the Tips-Window

At the end of the tips-window in the Scratch.Editor there could be a link to a scratch-wiki-articles with futher information
MartinWollenweber (talk | contribs) 22:55, 4 January 2016 (UTC)

You could do that already when translating at the pootle server, at least at a test
MartinWollenweber (talk | contribs) 23:04, 4 January 2016 (UTC)

Support!

♥PrincessPandaLover Talk | Contributions | Scratch Account 17:53, 5 January 2016 (UTC)

We especially need to tell this to the translators! Maybe the ST could write an email to all of them, telling them that they are free to add a link to a wiki article in their language and that if they don't have a wiki yet, they can register at the Test Wiki. - LiFaytheGoblin (Talk) 14:39, 9 January 2016 (UTC)

More suggetions

Maybe add scratch wiki to the scratch family! Also why not add Scratch Wiki to then tutorial and possibly add it to the front page - Scratch have been good though on wiki Wednesday

Language dependent links

The Scratch-Wiki-link at the Footer of the Homepage could be language-dependent.
MartinWollenweber (talk | contribs)

Only if your language is English or there is no wiki in your language, this should link to the English Scratch-Wiki. Else it links to the Scratch Wiki of your language
MartinWollenweber (talk | contribs) 23:04, 4 January 2016 (UTC)

Support!

♥PrincessPandaLover Talk | Contributions | Scratch Account 17:53, 5 January 2016 (UTC)

Support, should be easy to implement as well!

Hamish752 (talk | contribs) 11:46, 17 January 2016 (UTC)

Button "comment this article at the forum"

It should not be to difficult, to make a Mediawiki-Plugin that does the described task. It would make a great connection between Scratch-Forum and Scratch-Wiki. There must be no changes at the forums for that, forum works as it works today.

1. At the end of the Wiki Page there will be a button called "comment this article at the forum"
2. If a Scratcher uses this button, a forum thread will be created starting with standardized post containing the Link to this wiki-article as a Headline of that Thread (by a bot-user: nobody can change this "Headline-post")
3. Also a second post of the same thread will be created and displayed in edit-mode at the end of the wiki article: Here the user can post his comments ideas and questions to that article.
4. Forum-Thread and Wiki-article are connected forever via the first post and all followings posts to this forum-thread can be made and seen in the forum and at that wiki article in the same way.

This technique has many advantages:

• Forum user find out about the wiki and wiki user get active in the forum
• Wiki authors get motivated because they see their readers feedback and can use it to improve the articles
• A subject that is explained in the wiki has not to be described again and again in the forum, but the wiki article gives a knowledge base and in the forum-thread details can be discussed

MartinWollenweber (talk | contribs) 16:48, 5 January 2016 (UTC)

Support!

♥PrincessPandaLover Talk | Contributions | Scratch Account 17:53, 5 January 2016 (UTC)

I see your advantages. But this would 1) require someone who can code that plugin and dedicate time in maintaining that system and 2) it is a possible security risk since it's an easy way to spam - it'd need much work to moderate this and 3) I'm not sure if people would like to have bot generated forum topics, especially with such a high risk of spam. I agree though that there should be more possibilities to have feedback on articles. Unfortunately I can't think of any good way to realize that... - LiFaytheGoblin (Talk) 21:43, 6 January 2016 (UTC)

Good idea, but which forum would it go in?
Mitopolis (talk | contribs) 21:29, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

Translated SDS/Welcoming Committee Descriptions

Since there is no feature that automatically loads a user-made translation (eg. German if your website language is German) as studio description for the SDS and the welcoming committee, we could add links to translations. Like that we don't need to create many studios in many different languages which would especially be a bit annoying since they would probably not get any attention, compared to the english studio. These translations could be put in wiki articles (eg. SDS/NUMBEROFSDS) (in the appropriate wiki of course). One problem I see is that there aren't wikis for all languages yet, so where would we put those translations? - LiFaytheGoblin (Talk) 22:44, 5 January 2016 (UTC)

I agree with this idea. And I'm not completely sure where we'd put the translations, though.
AghaCool (talk | contribs) 15:17, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

Easy Linking to Wiki Articles in Comments

I think a feature that you could comment a short link to a wiki article would be very handy. For instance, if you wanted to explain what the SDS is you could link a person to the article by typing "wiki:SDS".
The_Grits (talk | contribs) 04:14, 6 January 2016 (UTC)

Great idea! In forum-speak, +9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999!
Mitopolis (talk | contribs) 16:41, 6 January 2016 (UTC)

I love this idea! So we don't just have the BBCode in the forums where you type [wiki]ARTICLENAME[/wiki] or what you suggested! :D - LiFaytheGoblin (Talk) 21:40, 6 January 2016 (UTC)

Or maybe for shortness, [Wiki:ARTICLENAME]?

I do like this idea. I would use the suggestion quite a bit.

Edit: I'm not sure how/if this is possible in BBcode, but maybe we can link to different language wiki articles?

Ex: [Wiki, Article:Scratch Katze ,Language:DE]
ErnieParke (talk | contribs) 21:27, 13 January 2016 (UTC)

Yeah, that'd be shorter. Or to fit in the codes we have so far, it could also be _wiki:ARTICLENAME_ or @wiki:ARTICLENAME... There are many possibilities! Also, yes to link to other languages you do [wiki]de:ARTICLENAME[/wiki]. Just put the interwiki code in, basically. Obvs. this only works for wikis that are connected with the english wiki via interwiki... - LiFaytheGoblin (Talk) 09:53, 14 January 2016 (UTC)

I love this idea:D
Fmtfmtfmt2 (talk | contribs) 04:02, 25 January 2016 (UTC)

Wiki-Article-Tags in Forum Post Editor

The_Grits' suggestion above gave me the following idea: In the Scratch forums, we have the BBCode tags [wiki][/wiki] that you can put around a wiki article name and it'll transform into a link to that wiki article. You can also use it like this: [wiki=articlename]text[/wiki]. Not many people know about this I think, so I suggest adding a button to the forum post editor that will add those tags for you (this would work like the button that adds eg. [b][/b] tags to make your text bold). What do you think? - LiFaytheGoblin (Talk) 21:40, 6 January 2016 (UTC)

I think this is GREAT! I was actually going to suggest that such a BB code be created. To think that I have almost 5,000 forum posts, and never knew that code existed when I could have used it so many times... Yes, I diffidently support that this should be added to the post editor.
Amateurradiogeek15 (talk | contribs) 01:47, 7 January 2016 (UTC)

This is a great idea! I've been wanting something like this on the forums for a while now.:D
AghaCool (talk | contribs) 15:22, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

I tried the wiki tags out for the first time yesterday. They seem to work quite smoothly and well. :) Now if we could just make them more readily accessible. :)
Amateurradiogeek15 (talk | contribs) 15:24, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

YES! I NEVER KNEW ABOUT THESE! SO USEFUL!!! +100000000000000000000
Programmer1121 (talk | contribs) 22:26, 12 January 2016 (UTC)

References

Adding a system where a mainsite page can be referenced to a wiki page, for example, the forums could have a "reference" (link) to the Scratch Discussion Forums article. The "reference" would be a link, possibly like this.
Mitopolis (talk | contribs) 01:11, 7 January 2016 (UTC)

Where would you put these references on the forum thread page?
Amateurradiogeek15 (talk | contribs) 15:26, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

Good question. Maybe you @Mitopolis (or someone else who has a suggestion) could create a screenshot of the inspect-elemended page? - LiFaytheGoblin (Talk) 15:40, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

Reason I'm asking is that forum threads usually end up with multiple pages, (especially if I'm involved ) So it would have to be in a place that's not affected/changed by pages. (Extra sigs removed)

Also, would the reference be editable by the thread owner? If so, it also (obviously) needs to be editable.
Amateurradiogeek15 (talk | contribs) 16:15, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

Yes, it would. I tried to inspect element, but it didn't work. Also, the references would always be at the bottom af a page.
Mitopolis (talk | contribs) 16:20, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

Above the Editing area perhaps? Personally, I almost never scroll down farther than the Submit button. :P
Amateurradiogeek15 (talk | contribs) 16:29, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ I just made a screenshot.
Mitopolis (talk | contribs) 16:33, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

That actually looks pretty nice. I like the colors. I think that might be a bit large format for use on the forum pages though. Perhaps just make one line of the references vs. stacking them?

EDIT: I mean for the forums. Your screenshot looks awesome for the home page. Just so I'm clear.
Amateurradiogeek15 (talk | contribs) 18:22, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

That is size H3. It could be H4.
Mitopolis (talk | contribs) 21:24, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

New Scratcher Message

You know how when you first sign up you have that one message in your inbox saying congratulations and links you to the explore page? What if it also said something along the lines of "Wondering something about Scratch or have a question? Check out the [Scratch Wiki]!
 St19_Galla   Talk • Contribs 

Such a simple but great idea! I love it! And it should be easy to implement :D - LiFaytheGoblin (Talk) 12:25, 11 January 2016 (UTC)

Yes! As I say, "Capital Idee!" :P
Amateurradiogeek15 (talk | contribs) 15:58, 11 January 2016 (UTC)

Amazing! Or as The Scratch Team would say it "Purrrrrrrrrfect!"
-unsigned comment by Programmer1121 (talk | contribs)

Yesyesyesyesyesyesyes! The only problem is the hundreds of thousands of non-new Scratchers wouldn't see it.
Mitopolis (talk | contribs) 02:34, 12 January 2016 (UTC)

+1 :-)
MartinWollenweber (talk | contribs) 10:52, 12 January 2016 (UTC)

I agree with Mitopolis
Coke11 (talk | contribs) 13:46, 13 January 2016 (UTC)

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ I really like this idea. It's simple and easy, yet super effective.

I just wonder what the Scratch Team will think about it, though, since it will be such a bold mention of the Wiki. The ST has traditionally put the Wiki in a bit more obscure places...
ErnieParke (talk | contribs) 21:25, 13 January 2016 (UTC)

Why is that I wonder?
Amateurradiogeek15 (talk | contribs) 13:58, 14 January 2016 (UTC)

@ErnieParke And why can't traditions change? It's not like fish suddenly walking on land it's more of... Every first child being named this certain name but then your parents name you something else!
Programmer1121 (talk | contribs) 00:55, 17 January 2016 (UTC)

Well, I don't know if the ST will change the traditions or not, but I will have to say that illusion made me laugh.
Amateurradiogeek15 (talk | contribs) 01:44, 17 January 2016 (UTC)

I think a better idea would be to show it at account registration, that way everyone would see it.

Hamish752 (talk | contribs) 11:46, 17 January 2016 (UTC)

This is a great idea! Therefore new Scratchers will know where to go if they need help or want to know more about Scratch!
AghaCool (talk | contribs) 18:22, 18 January 2016 (UTC)

@Hamish752 I don't think putting it in account registration is a good idea. Most people blow through that fast, entering the boxes and excitedly getting started (this has led to problems with people not reading the Community Guidelines). On the other hand, most people will probably notice messages.

Tymewalk (talk | contribs) 19:20, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

support, +1, whatever
JonathanSchaffer (talk | contribs) 19:52, 21 April 2016 (UTC)

Wiki link on the bar at the top of every page

I've been thinking about this for a while now. What if we had a link to the wiki along with Create, Explore, Discuss, About, and Help on the bar found at the top of every page? Here's a quick mock up.

I feel that this would make the wiki far more well known. I know a lot of people who never even knew the Wiki existed until I told them.
Hamish752 (talk | contribs) 11:38, 17 January 2016 (UTC)

That would of course be nice. But it wouldn't fit in my blue bar :( My search is already almost non-existant:

- LiFaytheGoblin (Talk) 14:40, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

Maybe the ST could remove the about tab once and for all...
Rollercoasterfan (talk | contribs) 14:44, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

To be honest, I think the about tab makes sense because at least from my experience, that's what people first click when they find a new, interesting-looking website... I don't think the menu bar would be changed. But I just thought: What if when searching for something, it would also display results from the wiki, like you can chose to display results from projects, the forums, studios, etc? - LiFaytheGoblin (Talk) 15:31, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

Ooh, I kind of like that idea...
Rollercoasterfan (talk | contribs) 15:33, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

@LiFayTheGoblin Yes, but if I found a new interesting website, I would click a "Wiki" link before an "About" link.
Mitopolis (talk | contribs) 21:26, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Ok...So I see that it won't fit on Lifay's screen because she's using German, and the German words are longer than the English...So. If it's true that people often click the About tab...why not have that tab bring you to a page where you can select to go the Wiki? Kind of an off the ball idea, but maybe?

EDIT: Or better yet, could we just have a prominent Wiki link on the About page?
Amateurradiogeek15 (talk | contribs) 13:20, 21 January 2016 (UTC)

Also, the wiki is a lot more helpful than About. Maybe move About to be a wiki page? I'll make a mockup at User:Mitopolis/Scratch Wiki Home.
Mitopolis (Talk | Contributions | Edits | Scratch account) 17:36, 1 February 2016 (UTC)

I know i'm late to the party, but would you really first check a wiki before an about page when visiting a new website? Chances are i wouldn't. And chances are most people wouldn't. In fact, many of the visitors will be kids who may never have even heard of a wiki. I would not advocate removing the about button in any way, shape, or form.
Scimonster (talk | contribs) 21:14, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

How about making the about tab have a dropdown menu, where one of the options is the Wiki?
Hamish752 (talk | contribs) 07:02, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

In the very early betas, or maybe it was alpha, the help menu had a dropdown. I think it was removed the first time 2.0 was opened to the public and was never put back.
Scimonster (talk | contribs) 08:02, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

Oh, really? Do you happen to know why?
Hamish752 (talk | contribs) 08:52, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

The temporary reason was because they made help link to a page explaining the open beta. I guess they then decided to leave it as a link to the current page.
Scimonster (talk | contribs) 14:13, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘@Hamish752 No, Help should have a dropdown, with Discuss, Help, and About, with Wiki as its own tab. Which one better explains what Scratch is: The Wiki or About? The Wiki.
Mitopolis (Talk | Contributions | Edits | Scratch account) 16:48, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

Show me a good wiki page that actually explains what Scratch is as well as the about page does.
Scimonster (talk | contribs) 14:03, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

Scratch
Mitopolis (Talk | Contributions | Edits | Scratch account) 19:43, 13 March 2016 (UTC)

What if you replace help with the wiki, and integrate everything from help onto the wiki? After all, that is the wiki's purpose.
Helloandgoodbye9 (talk | contribs) 17:19, 25 June 2016 (UTC)

Promote the Wiki in the Questions About Scratch forum

Many questions in the Questions About Scratch forum could easily be answered by looking for one or two minutes on the wiki. In fact, some users even get the answers to post from here. I think that there should be either a link or topic somewhere that tells users to check the Wiki for answers to questions like "What is the first project?", "Who's Kaj?", "What's a forum signature?", etc.
Tymewalk (talk | contribs) 16:25, 27 January 2016 (UTC)

I'm not a forum user, but I used to be, and Yes!
Mitopolis (talk | contribs) 16:32, 27 January 2016 (UTC)

sorry mitopolis, but use human speak.
JonathanSchaffer (talk | contribs) 19:56, 21 April 2016 (UTC)

Promote our Tutorials in the Help With Scripts forum

Similar to my above idea, we can promote our tutorials in the Help With Scripts forum. We could make a small topic about the Wiki and how you can learn commonly-asked topics from it, and get it added to the "Helpful Topics for Scripting" sticky. I think this would work really well, plus if anyone found the tutorial didn't work or didn't help, instead of making 20 posts back and forth, they could just add it to the page's talk section and other people (or themselves, if they know a better way) can edit the tutorial to make it better.
Tymewalk (talk | contribs) 19:20, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

Make Project Version of Articles

I think some articles, such as Kaj, Remix, and BYOB, would go good with a project alongside it.
-Radical- (talk | contribs) 15:55, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

Do you mean like a project actually imbedded in the article?
Amateurradiogeek15 (talk | contribs) 20:53, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

I brought up including projects in articles/userpages ages ago (wow i was so immature back then) and i think the reasons it was rejected for still stand. If that's what you were suggesting. [That old discussion was really hard to pull up!]
Scimonster (talk | contribs) 22:05, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

Yes...That's kind of the lines I was thinking. Wow! You must have hunted for awhile to bring that up. xD
Amateurradiogeek15 (talk | contribs) 22:30, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

It was hard to search for, because i didn't remember the exact title i used (i tried "we need this extension"), and "extension:scratch" aren't exactly rare terms. I eventually turned to Google for help.
Scimonster (talk | contribs) 22:55, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

Do you mean to have a project that tells the same info as the article? If so, I don't really see the point in that. The Wiki can be accessed from mobile devices, while projects can not, so I go to the wiki a lot on mobile devices.
Pianogirl84 (talk | contribs) 23:20, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

Banner in forums signature

I made a banner to put in my sig on the forums advertising the Wiki: I put it in my sig, and it would be great if other Wiki editors did the same. It would not only help Scratchers discover the Wiki, it would be a lot easier in the Questions about Scratch forum (you could say, "Check out the article on Kaj on the Scratch Wiki! A link to it is in my signature ;)")

By the way, I'm the first person to edit this page in a while... have we stopped using it or something?
Pianogirl84 ♬ Talk ♬ Contributions

Support!

banana439monkey (Talk | Contribs | Scratch | Edits (3,484))

19:18, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

Support

Imaginizer (talk | contribs) 21:31, 13 June 2016 (UTC)

+1 -
LiFaytheGoblin (talk | contribs) 14:14, 14 June 2016 (UTC)

Show wiki articles in the search

I think that a lot more Scratchers would find the wiki if articles showed up in the search. So, if somebody serached "Pen", for example, the wiki article about pen would show up.
Abstract- (talk | contribs) 18:58, 27 June 2016 (UTC)

That is actually a really good idea. Expansion of Search functionality would be good in general.
ErnieParke (talk | contribs) 18:21, 5 August 2016 (UTC)

+

KrIsMa user | talk | contribs | edits 18:50, 5 August 2016 (UTC)

Achieved

Having our featured article appear in the news

Have the front page of the Scratch Website include our featured article. This will alert people to the fact that the Wiki exists, since I think a lot of people don't know about it.
jvvg (talk | contribs) 15:05, 5 January 2016 (UTC)

Support!

♥PrincessPandaLover Talk | Contributions | Scratch Account 17:53, 5 January 2016 (UTC)

I love this idea! - LiFaytheGoblin (Talk) 21:44, 6 January 2016 (UTC)

Brilliant: So easy and so effective!
MartinWollenweber (talk | contribs) 21:58, 6 January 2016 (UTC)

That's a nice idea especially since HOW often do we change it? (hint:not often)
Programmer1121 (talk | contribs)

This seems to me to be a very wonderful idea!
Amateurradiogeek15 (talk | contribs) 01:42, 7 January 2016 (UTC)

Great idea!
Coke11 (talk | contribs) 13:44, 13 January 2016 (UTC)

Complete support! I think this would show people just how cool the Wiki is! :D

Hamish752 (talk | contribs) 11:46, 17 January 2016 (UTC)

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Or just having our featured article in a separate box. That way it doesn't clutter up the news.
Tymewalk (talk | contribs) 19:20, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

accepted - With the introduction of Wiki Wednesday, this suggestion was approved by the Scratch Team and will be done in a slightly modified way :) -
LiFaytheGoblin (Talk)

Wiki Wednesday was good, but I don't understand where the featured article *is* exactly.
-Radical- (talk | contribs) 15:54, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

support
JonathanSchaffer (talk | contribs) 19:49, 21 April 2016 (UTC)