Forum:New Wikia Forums?

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So I'm creating this topic to broach the topic of the newer Wikia Forums module. At this point, we are still using the old DPL based forum system which creates articles and is really not a very efficient way of doing stuff. I'd like to propose the enabling of the wikia forum module as it would provide more benefits and a more structured forum system to actually have meaningful discussions, rather than having to deal with edit conflicts on popular topics. If the newer forums are indeed enabled, then these existing DPL based ones will simply be archived: they'll still be viewable but can't be edited.

Here are two links to other wikia's using the newer forum module system if you are not sure what this proposal is talking about: Elder Scrolls Wiki Forum and Community Central Forums.

This proposal will NOT enable Message Walls on user talkpages

Place your signature under the section of support, neutral or oppose and feel free to leave comments in the discussion section, thanks :)

Support

--Speysider ^{Talk Page | My Image Uploads | Tabber Code | Channel} 13:15, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

--TheUltimate3 ^(talk) 13:39, February 5, 2014 (UTC) (Condition: It is limited to the Forum. The Talk Pages as we have them now should remain as is)

— SimAnt 13:41, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

--Soul reaper (talk) 13:51, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

--Elveonora (talk) 13:52, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

--Cerez365^™(talk) 13:55, February 5, 2014 (UTC) Seen it in use already. It should work fine. Will it change the old forum pages as well though?

Neutral

Seelentau 愛^議 13:27, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

Idontcareaboutmyname (talk) 13:30, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

Discussion

Main question before I pick a side, what is the potential downside to the new forum. (There is always a downside to anything. And I don't know anything about the new forum) does Wikia Prime sniff around it? Will be be Viz's lapdogs? Will we be forced to eat porkbutts and taters? (Not a bad thing)--TheUltimate3 ^(talk) 13:19, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

Having been using it a lot on another wiki where I'm active on, there doesn't seem to be any downsides that would negatively impact things, other than threads getting slow when they have over 250 replies, but that is unlikely to happen. --Speysider ^{Talk Page | My Image Uploads | Tabber Code | Channel} 13:21, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

It's up to UltimateSupreme and Dantman I believe, Simant too.--Elveonora (talk) 13:26, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

I used to be against it, but having used it on Metal Gear Wiki I find its much better formatted for these types of things. Plus there's always user blogs to fall back on if needed. The only thing I've noticed is that people seem to become more inclined to have discussions for the sake of discussions, rather than talking about anything important. However, if that's a problem you can simply have an admin remove such posts and overtime they'll stop happening.--Soul reaper (talk) 13:28, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

Does the new forums add to those long comment sections I've seen on places like the Avatar Wiki? I would really like to avoid that like the damn plague.--TheUltimate3 ^(talk) 13:30, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

@Elve: I'm pretty sure that anyone who can access the AdminDashboard can enable this.

@Others: Just for reference, if you don't know what I'm talking about, see these links: Elder Scrolls Wiki Forum and Community Central Forums.

@TU3: I'm not sure what you mean, are you referring to the sections under articles? If so, all that does is list 2-3 threads on the forums which has been tagged with that topic. Personally, that would actually encourage discussion on the wiki since we're not really known for encouraging any kind of discussion :/ --Speysider ^{Talk Page | My Image Uploads | Tabber Code | Channel} 13:31, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

Also, since I saw this on Edit Summary @Elve: No, Naruto Answers uses the DPL forums we have here. See the links above for what I'm talking about. --Speysider ^{Talk Page | My Image Uploads | Tabber Code | Channel} 13:35, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

Oh. I like those. Those are nice...--TheUltimate3 ^(talk) 13:38, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

The talkpages are controlled by a different module: Message Walls. I hate Message Walls and they are not required for using the newer forum system. [since I saw the comment by TU3 in his support] --Speysider ^{Talk Page | My Image Uploads | Tabber Code | Channel} 13:41, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

Yeah, Avatar Wiki has a different comment system that isn't connected to the forums. Wikia tried to force them onto newer wiki's a while back but for older ones like this I believe they were automatically left as disabled and have to be manually activated through the Wiki Features section of the Admin settings area. The Forums also have to be activated through here and are on a separate button so there's no risk on one activating the other.--Soul reaper (talk) 13:51, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

Like it, much more organized and easy to browse through--Elveonora (talk) 13:51, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

@Cerez: The current forums (aka, these ones) will be left untouched so they can still be viewed if the link is known: the only thing is that a notice will be at the top of these DPL-based forums and threads with a link to the newer ones and these will be immediately locked for all editing. :) --Speysider ^{Talk Page | My Image Uploads | Tabber Code | Channel} 13:57, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

Pretty sure this was brought up a while earlier and my reason for declining it then still remains the same. Look at any page at the end, which would ultimately lead to discussion of every page to go into the forums making talkpages moot. Forums are primarily only to discuss improvements to the wiki as a whole. To remove that part with css is a TOU-V.

Btw, setting it up isn't just as easy as to click a button.--~UltimateSupreme 14:15, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

I doubt talkpages would be made redundant from this change. That's making a big generalisation of something that may not even happen. As long as the appropriate forum sections are made and the policies are made clear on what the forums are for, I don't see why it can't be trialled for a couple of months. --Speysider ^{Talk Page | My Image Uploads | Tabber Code | Channel} 14:17, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

So every page must have that "Discuss on the Forums" link at the bottom?--TheUltimate3 ^(talk) 14:22, February 5, 2014 (UTC)

Correct, but it will only actually list anything if a thread is actually tagged with the article's name. If no threads are tagged with the article's name, the bottom bit will simply be a placeholder. Personally, I say trial it for a month or two, see what happens and go from there. :) --Speysider ^{Talk Page | My Image Uploads | Tabber Code | Channel} 14:25, February 5, 2014 (UTC)