Memory Alpha talk:Announcements/July 2008 style change

Date?
19 June isn't a Tuesday... what's the correct date for the change? Taduolus 17:36, 15 June 2008 (UTC)
 * 17th, sorry, was going from memory. Corrected. -- Michael Warren | Talk 17:38, 15 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't know how to put it... but the new skin is gay, very gay!! The old skin was one of the reasons I considered MA superior to other series wikis, both in look and content. This is simply awful.

Advertising boxes are destroying the format of the articles!
These nasty ad-boxes shoving down the info-tables and images destroy the formating of the articles! I understand the necessity for advertisement, but can't it be incorporated in a more compatible way? --36ophiuchi 14:09, 27 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm with you on that. --Alan 14:23, 27 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Agreed, they are way too intrusive. Taduolus 22:06, 27 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I agree with y'all on the box-style ones. In my opinion, however, the banner ones aren't that bad. They only take up about an inch of screen space and they push everything down uniformly. Hoping agains hope, but is there any way to have just those kinds of ads? Willie LLAP 22:16, 27 June 2008 (UTC)
 * The people responsible for the ads don't care how intrusive or stupid the ads are as long as they're making money from the advertisers. The only reason they will consider removing the ads is if Wikia goes dead as a result (meaning the majority of users get tired of it and quit). Having an ad-blocking tool such as NoScript helps, though there are still some minor layout issues. For now, I recommend just changing back to the old skin (Monobook) which does not yet have the intrusive ads. For those who don't have accounts, you're stuck with the new, crappy skin until you create an account, log in, and set your skin in your preferences. --From Andoria with Love 01:01, 28 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Instructions here. --TribbleFurSuit 01:36, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

We're losing visitors
I just wanted to share this with everyone: these are Memory Alpha's traffic details, courtesy of Alexa. Notice, in the history graph, that the number of people visiting the site was increasing until around the time the new Wikia style went into effect. Not only has site traffic been decreasing, it is currently at the lowest its been all year. If it goes below the 0.004 line, traffic will be at its lowest point since early October. I wonder how low it needs to get for Wikia to realize they made a mistake? --From Andoria with Love 18:09, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

For the record, the traffic decline is being experienced Wikia-wide: see? --From Andoria with Love 18:20, 28 June 2008 (UTC)
 * My main design philosophy is: the majority of usability comes from familiarity. So when you change the design so dramatically, a drop in traffic is to be expected. They should've seen this coming. (I've already changed my preferred style back to monobook) --Ortzinator 19:26, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

That's very true, a drop was expected. But if that drop continues, Wikia is definitely going to have to rethink their strategy. --From Andoria with Love 20:11, 28 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, I don't think you've noticed but I was the first to point out the problem here: the new skin is... lacking a more accurate term... simply gay. It's overly complicated, the interface is disturbing, distracting, mainly all that I loathed about other series' wikis. If it ain't broken, why fix it?

Oh, I noticed, and while I wouldn't use the term "gay" to describe it, the new skin is far inferior and more complicated than the old one. I used the new skin for about two hours when they made the change, but had to change it back, not only due to the layout but due to the ad boxes, as well. --From Andoria with Love 04:56, 30 June 2008 (UTC)
 * "willie nillie" :) --Alan 05:04, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Indeed. :D I just noticed, though, that number of visits to the site is now going back up. Did Wikia change something or fix something in the last few days? --From Andoria with Love 05:20, 30 June 2008 (UTC)


 * This may mostly be due to registered users rechanging their personal preferences back to monobook, thereby regaining their appreciation for memory-alpha. --36ophiuchi 15:34, 30 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Shran, the slipping number of visitors has _zero_ to do with wiki's new "updates". If you looking at the Alexia stats for the past month it was already (starting the 9th) on the slide _prior_ to the 17th, when the new design went into effect. I suspect a lot of it has to do with the time of year, but I hardly see it as a case where wiki needs to realize its mistakes... --Alan 15:56, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Indeed, especially since the graph shows visitors are on the rise again. Maybe I jumped the gun on this one... all I saw was that viewership began to decline in June and I immediately connected it with the updates. Didn't realize it began prior to the updates taking effect. Then again, it's always possible people began to stop visiting after hear of the imminent changes... though that's doubtful. --From Andoria with Love 18:00, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

I created a new account
...because I didn't want to have to use the new layout. It is too busy, and, as far as I can tell, it's only purpose is to show ads better. And I'd already configured this profile not to have ads. This is an in-universe encyclopedia, and the ads merely distract you from that.

I thought I had successfully overcome this by unchecking "Let the admins decide", but that wasn't enough. Once I travel to a different Wikia wiki, my settings go back, as some wikis have figured out a way to make the changes look good. I know y'all tried, but 20th century ads don't belong on a 22+ century site.

So, I've finally upgraded to a properly spelled, in-universe version of my name. I won't be using the other account. If I understand correctly, you can't delete it, so I'll have to do some redirecting. --Commodore Sixty-Four 08:05, 10 September 2008 (UTC)