Talk:Main Page/Archive 17

Veterens?

Surely it's veterans? Unless this is some Americanism I'm not familiar with...

Done: spelling fixed --SVTCobra 16:36, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

Incorrect spelling of Sydney

Somebody really needs to correct this on the main picture.

Ticker

Some info on the new ticker is located at Wikinews:Ticker. TheFearow 04:15, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

This ticker does not work with people using Internet Explorer. Eric Wester 15:14, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

It is purposely disabled for IE, due to problems. TheFearow 01:03, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Well, we should probably get something figured out that works the IE, since that is the most used web browser in the world. :) Eric Wester 20:44, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

And the worst web browser in the world. If someone else wants to support it they are free to do so, but i'm not spending any effort to support their broken horrible AJAX implementation. TheFearow 19:24, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

I am not saying that I use IE, ohh no way! However, that does not change the fact that IE is still the most used web browser. Eric Wester 19:39, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

I think the ticker is a good bonus for FireFox - I am considering making it link to getfirefox.com if the user is using IE, but that probably wouldnt be popular. I don't really want to spend a lot of time getting it going for IE when it works for a lot of people. TheFearow 21:10, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Everybody should have the same features. I don't think we should not give features to people just because they use IE. That's mean. —FellowWiki Newsie 17:15, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

The problem is, supporting IE means rewriting the ticker loader - not fun. If someone else can rewrite it to load on IE then feel free to, but I do not have IE and cannot get IE easily, so it will not work for me. I also dont particularly want to spend two days supporting IE when I could be working on news. TheFearow 23:25, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

I thought I could fix it by using the API being offered by the MediaWiki software, but there is no way to get rendered pages (ie, evaluating the DPLs and substituting them with article names) to be dumped. :( irid:t 23:28, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, that's why its so difficult. I need action=render, which the API doesnt provide. TheFearow 23:39, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

FWIW (though you're surely already aware), action=render has now been implemented :) AmiDaniel 03:27, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps Full list link should go to {{Latest news}} instead of the ticker dpl source. Bawolff ☺☻ 00:51, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Full list is the purge link, and is there to trick people into purging it. It's the easiest way of doing it. TheFearow | ^userpage | ^contribs 02:49, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

I am currently using IE on vista and, I have had no problems anywhere, the ticker and the image works Symode09 14:15, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

Lead with large image

The image doesn't display on this computer, it disappears after a short display. I'm really concerned that the new lead is not compatibel with all computers... if anyone knows how to fix this, please also update the lead with large image to my attempt, which I couldn't see myself! --Steven Fruitsmaak (Reply) 07:45, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

I tested the new lead on a large number of browser/OS configurations, see this link. It appears to work well in these. I personally also tested in Firefox 2 and IE7 in Windows, and in Firefox 2 on Linux. Can you tell me your OS/Browser combination? -- IlyaHaykinson 07:51, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Well, I'm on Internet Explorer with (obviously) Windows, and it's having the same problems for me, too. It worked ok at first, but the last 2 stories have been as Steven describes them. Blood Red Sandman ^{(Talk) (Contribs)} 12:26, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

I have the same problem. The image did work in IE but disappeared. It showed in Firefox. Also, the thingy that flashes news stories on top of the first lead only works in Firefox. —FellowWiki Newsie 15:30, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

The ticker doesn't work in IE by design, due to IEs crap system of everything. See above conversation. TheFearow 19:25, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

I am currently using IE on vista and, I have had no problems anywhere, the ticker and the image works Symode09 14:15, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

Hungarian wikinews: How can I start?

http://hu.wikinews.org - How will I get this domain?--Kádár Tamás 00:25, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Replied on talk page. TheFearow 01:04, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Too much Finland news?

EOM. 71.231.128.246 15:35, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Most of it's mine, I just have an interest in the country. Although right now there's two other Finland stories up, too. I write so much Finland stuff because I thought I'd adopt a country which gets little attention, and I quite like Finland, so that was that. If you reckon there's something that deserves more to be up, go and write it. Blood Red Sandman ^{(Talk) (Contribs)} 15:41, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

10 THOUSAND ARTICLES!

We did it! We are currently at 22,043 - Congrats everyone on hitting this milestone! Eric Wester 03:00, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Yep. And we even have a news story about it, which was 10001. TheFearow 04:39, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Article title with image is broken

The new style of displaying important news as title overlayed over image seems to be constantly broken here for me - see a sample screenshot. I'm using Opera 9.20, but I think it has more to do with my font selection (I use Verdana for all standard font families). Therefore, a reminder: when using absolute positioning for text, you must specify both font name and font size in pixels, so that you know how large exactly the string will be on the screen, and can resize other elements (i.e. the semitransparent background strip) accordingly. Otherwise there is always a chance that it will look broken for someone. Int19h 12:46, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

The new top stories

I was thinking that just for aesthetic appeal, the new pictures that display the Wikinews Top Story should be centered-- just a small adjustment is all! --Alegoo92 00:36, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

I fully agree, I tried to do so some time back but I couldn't figure out how... Wiki code expert requested! --Steven Fruitsmaak (Reply) 20:14, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

Hows it look now? (For things using weird css tricks, you often have to put them in a table and center the table) Bawolff ☺☻ 18:45, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

Leads how to

Right this is a how to for the leads.

{{Main Page Lead}} is used to change the lead types between {{Lead article}} and {{Breaking news lead}}. Both of the lead templates have instructions on how to change them but if stuck use the notes in {{Lead article}}. Any questions then ill try to answer them but it might lead to a bit of trial and error at the beginning BUT PLEASE USE THE PREVIEW BUTTON BEFORE SAVING!!!! --MarkTalk to me 20:17, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

ITV image

I noticed you added an image of Granada Studios on the main page. However, the British Comedy Awards are actually recorded at The London Studios. Is it possible to produce an image of the correct studio? ISD 13:17, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

is this for news about the English speaking world, or is it more US-centric?

Because there is a ton of US stuff (interviews with candidates) on the main page, far in excess of what is reasonable for balance (I think). Any comments? ta - jan

it's up to you to provide the non-US content. GO! -- anon

{{sofixit}} O:-) --Kim Bruning 18:32, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

In fairness, I think the majority of interviews with Canadidates have been Canadian provincial candidates recently - and typically our "omg that's such regional news" comes out of New Zealand - so I'd argue that while we may be 'unequal' in representation, it's not in the US's favour - nor is it anything intentional. Sherurcij 19:30, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

Ontario elections

Would it be possible to update the title of this page to "updates about the Ontario election, plus 3 or 4 of the biggest news stories in the world."?

yes, however we're not going to as it unfairly discriminates against those other less important news stories

On a serious note (the previous was sarcasm). News is written about stuff that interests whoever writes it. Remember everyone has a different opinion on what is important. While you may think the Ontario election coverage is overkill, I personally enjoy hearing about election issues in other parts of the country. If you feel there is inadequate coverage of the rest of the world, feel free to Cover the rest of the world. Bawolff ☺☻ 01:24, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

Old News

The front page needs some seriously timely updating. Currently it's showing yesterday's news as "breaking", and the featured headlines are days old. This makes Wikinews look less than useful, as any news aggregator (e.g. Google News) has far more frequently-updated content.

Perhaps you'd get better results if you told people which article you are referring to (or even better, you can fix it yourself if you have an account). Bawolff ☺☻ 14:15, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

Breaking news?

It happened 3 days ago, I don't think it qualifies as breaking news anymore. Contralya 07:49, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

Unbalanced coverage

I'm very annoyed about what a lot of wikinews articles are about. For example, so far there are hundreds of wikinews pages about 'Ontario votes' talking to all of the candidates even insignificant things like 'Communist Party'! But really I am very outraged. 'Ontario votes' is about some upcoming election in a small region in Canada, which only Canadians, mostly from Ontario, really care about!

Also I bring your attention to the UK. The UK is never seen in articles. Recently there has been speculation of a general eelction, two major and covered political party conferences, and the UK prime minister 'bottling' a speculated general election. All this in a country twice a populas than Canada, far more than Ontario, and much more influential. But yet no coverage whatsoever, despite it being covered more in Uk news than I'm sure it has been on Canadian news. Wikinews really has to guard more closely what gets on its main page. Maybe just one 'Ontario votes' page every now and then, with everything on one page rather than lots clogging up one page, as I'm sure some people actually bear interest in Ontario votes. But frankly this is just ridiculous.

May I suggest writing up some UK articles? We'd love to have you! One of the great things about Wikinews is that we write what people are interested in - and right now we have a very active Ontario section, putting out some amazing interviews - probably one of the most comprehensive interview sections on that election anywhere on the web. That's a good thing!

Previously, we've had great UK coverage, including breaking the London subway bombings before other news.... we just don't have any active UK contributors right now doing UK news. Please, start writing!

Finally - we'd rather have many many articles on the mainpage from everywhere - but we will, for now, just have the articles that get published - so get writing and let's get some more on there! Lyellin 16:06, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for your suggestion! When you feel an article needs improvement, please feel free to make whatever changes you feel are needed. Wikinews is a wiki, so anyone can edit any article by simply following the Edit This Page link at the top. Don't worry too much about making honest mistakes—they're likely to be found and corrected quickly. If you're not sure how editing works, check out how to edit a page, or use the sandbox to try out your editing skills. You can create stories using the big box on the main page. It's not hard and you can fix the balance if you want. Matt | ^userpage | ^contribs 20:32, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

Article...

Shouldn't there be an article about the proposed U.S. bill that would condemn Turkish genocide of Armenia? It's going to have the Turkish population burning flags. Check Google news. Contralya 16:39, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

BBW Movement

Kira Nerusskaya isn't the BBW Movement founder, she's just one of its more active voices and is making a movie about it. This should be changed under the featured story. --David Shankbone 18:43, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

Done. If you ever see anything wrong with one of the leads just scroll to the upper right of this page, there should be links to all the leads :) —FellowWiki Newsie 18:47, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

Ahhh...I see! Thanks! --David Shankbone 19:10, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

Brownback

I went ahead and put the Brownback interview up as an early Monday edition. --David Shankbone 22:47, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

Yeah. It looks great on the main lead. —FellowWiki Newsie 22:48, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

• As interesting as the terrorism arrest in New Zealand are, we should be considering that in the lead we have 1. a major Presidential candidate; 2. who has given an interview to Wikinews; 3. and discusses issues of global importance; and 4. is a U.S. Senator. These factors should have us leave that lead up at least through today and not casually replaced with a terrorism bust in New Zealand. The New Zealand bust is interesting; but it shouldn't replace an in-depth interview as the lead story after less than half a day. --David Shankbone 12:17, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

What should be the lead story today? New Zealand environmentalists or a U.S. Senator and Presidential Candidate talking to Wikinews?

There are only 240 articles on the Maori/Environmental activists, "Terrorists", whatever on Google News. It's a well-written article, interesting and I'm sure this is big news in New Zealand, but it's very local; even the "terrorists" are local indigenous people. Whereas with Brownback we have 1. a major Presidential candidate; 2. who has given an interview to Wikinews; 3. and discusses issues of global importance; and 4. is a U.S. Senator. These factors should have us leave that lead up at least through today and not casually replaced with a bust of activists in New Zealand. The New Zealand bust is interesting; but it shouldn't replace an in-depth interview as the lead story after less than half a day.--David Shankbone 19:02, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

I agree. Although I do think it should be second lead. Matt | ^userpage | ^contribs 20:06, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

I agree, also. --David Shankbone 20:09, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

Nzgabriel has changed, although I thought the edit summary on Template:Second lead seemed a little rude. Matt | ^userpage | ^contribs 20:14, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

News briefs popping up

Yikes, I don't know whats happening, this hasn't happened before. Well..... it wasn't until I added Category stuff to the Audio newsbriefs that suddenly they started popping up in the news stories. Is this on purpose? I would prefer they not and if we want the briefs to appear than I would like to begin renaming them to a cleaner format: "News brief: October ##, 2007" which just means adding a space between brief: and the month which for some asinine reason there is no space and there hasn't been one as I look at the archives. Lazy spelling/format? Meh. Still, whats the deal, the noincludes are not working. .:*:*:DAVUMAYA:*:*:. 05:13, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

Can you cite an example of this happening? Did you include category:Brief on them? Bawolff ☺☻ 05:17, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

Can you be a bit more specific as to what happened? Did it include the brief page in a dpl, did it include a date cat in a DPL? Bawolff ☺☻ 05:22, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

A simple fix is to add Category:No publish to them, which will make them not pop up on the DPLs. Matt/TheFearow | ^userpage | ^contribs 07:53, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

Oh, I know why, traditionally briefs have not been published. Usually its just been the date and the Brief category on them. Bawolff ☺☻ 19:49, 26 October 2007 (UTC)