User talk:MZMcBride

Main page
Hi MZMcBride - I have reverted some of your main page edits, because they are not, imho, improvements. Resizing the images makes the page dull, and your modifications to the version list don't make any sense - they make it harder to read and introduce unnecessary bulletting. If you disagree with these changes then we should discuss it further - please don't undo them until a consensus is reached. --HappyDog 19:22, 31 July 2008 (UTC)
 * The Users, System administrators, Developers, and News boxes all use bullets. I see no reason to not use bullets on the Current versions box, it's the only box that doesn't use them, which looks awkward. The icons in the three boxes are far too large and serve no purpose other than decoration. They also expand the screen size unnecessarily while providing little to no benefit to the reader. Having them in the dark grey bar keeps them consistent with the icons for the News and Current versions boxes. But I'm glad someone finally noticed my changes. : - ) Thoughts on what I've said? --MZMcBride 02:14, 1 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I've been away for a while, so sorry about the slow reaction... :-\0
 * "The icons [...] serve no purpose other than decoration" - From an informational point of view, perhaps. But from a UI point of view, I completely disagree.  The icons have a very important dual purpose - Firstly they make the main page more colourful and welcoming, and stop it being a set of textual box-outs that are very hard to get any kind of handle on, and Secondly, they help identify the 3 different types of person this site is aimed at, at a glance.  They draw the eye to the appropriate text area, they delineate the fact that different levels of user have different needs and the same icons are re-used in other sections of the site which provides an important level of cohesion, and based on this, the front-page emphasis is actually pretty important.
 * Re: the bullets. This is not a big deal, but I don't think they're really needed here.  I don't think that there is any confusion caused by not having the bullets, therefore adding them is not necessary - it's just extra screen clutter that adds nothing from the user's point of view.  Personally, I think they should also be removed from the news section, though they have some pertinence to the other parts of the page.
 * --HappyDog 03:11, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I understand the purpose of the icons, I just don't understand why they must be so large. Surely they can be the same size as the ones in News and Current versions boxes, which still serving their function as tools for identification. --MZMcBride 19:25, 3 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Not really, for the reasons mentioned above. In what way is their current size causing problems? --HappyDog 04:14, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

Thanks!
Thanks for the explanation.... it just looked a bit odd. Anyway, feel free to join my wiki, and you can have sysop and bureaucrat status!! Thanks, AP aka --Sunstar NW XP 22:15, 17 August 2008 (UTC)

Meta imports
Hi MZMcBride, could you please always use Template:TalkFromMeta and Template:EndTalkFromMeta when importing from Meta? Thanks for your help. -- :bdk: 23:41, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, I'll try to remember. :-) Perhaps the instructions at Meta should be updated? --MZMcBride 01:17, 4 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Yeah, feel free to add something about it there :-) Adding these templates is kind of "common" for most of us here, so I guess nobody stated it explicitly somewhere on Meta yet.
 * And, another issue: could you please only use Special:Import for further imports? This will leave an automated "origin link" to the Meta page in question in the page history (which isn't done through "file upload" importing), see also the differences in the log ("x revisions from meta:yz" vs. "x revisions" only). -- :bdk: 01:25, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I'd be happy to use transwiki importing, but it doesn't work. ;-) It's broken, gives an error about no import sources being found or something. So I've had to do manual exports from Meta and manual imports here. If you can find someone to fix the problem, I'll happily use transwiki. But I think it's going to be broken for a long while. --MZMcBride 01:43, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
 * tss, thanks for the additional notes on IRC ;-) -- :bdk: 01:55, 4 October 2008 (UTC)