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Hello there fellow moviestars and contributors!
As the title suggests, today I’d like to bring up the wiki theme and propose a change for it.
Before I show you what I've worked on, I’d like to bring up why our current theme needs changing and why another option isn't as good as the one I am proposing today.
So first up – Why the current theme needs to be changed.
Well there are many reasons why some changes would be good for our wikis theme, but I'm only going to bring up the main ones
It's bright
Love it, hate it, the theme is undeniably bright. Brightness isn't always a bad thing, but I often worry our theme is too bright or that the brightness has become blinding for some.
It's one color based
Some of you may not understand this the way I do, but the theme for our entire wiki is made using only one color. You may argue that there is blue, which is true, but since it is used for links, it's hard to use it elsewhere. Now if you don't know why a one color theme is bad, let me explain: Ideally color should pop out so that certain things will catch the viewers eye or will be seen clearly. With our theme only using one color things are very often missed even though they're colored with the intentions of standing out.
In addition to this, having the theme based around one color makes bringing in and using other colors much harder and MovieStarPlanet is a game of many colors.
It doesn't reflect MovieStarPlanet
Well, maybe a little, but not nearly as well as it should or could. MovieStarPlanet's main colors are pink, purple, and blue with the secondary colors being orange and green. As a wiki based on MovieStarPlanet, we should have some of the MovieStarPlanet feel on our wiki. This would also help to insure our content matches well with it's surroundings.
It's old
Even if you love our very flawed theme, it's old and everyone knows that as time goes on, it's out with the old and in with the new.
Moving on - Why a MovieStarPlanet theme doesn't work.
If you're confused, I mean a theme that very closely resembles MovieStarPlanet. I was previously attempting to make a theme that was focused on looking like MovieStarPlanet, but I very quickly ran into many issues, let me explain those.
We're a wiki
Unlike MovieStarPlanet, a lot of our content is long groups of text and text in general. MovieStarPlanet can rock their look so well because a lot of their website is based on images, graphics, so forth, ours however, is not. Even MovieStarPlanet knows this as their corporate website in no way closely resembles their game.
We have fewer options
Even though you can change a lot in a wiki, the bottom line is we have fewer options than moviestarplanet for making the theme look good. This also goes somewhat along with what I wrote above, but in general, we have less surfaces to work with and less options for how those surfaces can look. Additionally we have some surfaces that we can't change as they're something that is wikia's.
We're not MovieStarPlanet
Yes, we're a wiki about MovieStarPlanet, but we're not them and it's not bad for us to have somewhat of our own look. We don't want people to see the wiki and think "MovieStarPlanet", we want people to see the wiki and think "MovieStarPlanet Wiki".
It looks "cheap"
Maybe my opinion, but probably not. While designing the theme, it very quickly turned into a mess that looked very "cheap" and poorly done. The reasons above are mostly what caused this to happen, but it still did happen and it's not something we want.
Finally - The proposed theme
So now that you've seen the proposed theme and know why some other options don't work, let me explain why this one does work.
It uses multiple colors that match MovieStarPlanet
This fixes our one color theme problem, but it also makes sure we stay true to MovieStarPlanet.
It's main "color" is neutral
In order to insure all of our content looks equally as good on our wiki, the main theme color is neutral. Additionally, this helps to insure that real color stands out.
It's bright, but not blinding
Bright is good when it comes to text, which as mentioned, we have a lot of. This theme keeps the good about brightness, but it doesn't give you so much that it's blinding.
It's the right mix between MovieStarPlanet's design and "modern" design
This keeps our wiki up to date and up to the standards of modern websites, but it doesn't take away the feeling of MovieStarPlanet.
It's the MovieStarPlanet Wiki
It's not MovieStarPlanet, it's not a wiki, it's the MovieStarPlanet Wiki. This theme allows our wiki to stay true to both being it's own thing, but also being about MovieStarPlanet.
It's New
Remember, everyone knows, it's out with the old and in with the new. (;
Well, now that you've heard all that, it's time to share you thoughts(as always).
Please let us know what you think of the proposed theme!
Feel free to:
- Suggest changes.
- Explain why you do or don't think it's a good fit for the wiki.
- Ask Questions
Three final things before you do:
- This isn't by any means finalized; if it needs changes, it will be sure to get them.
- This is only a peak/start. In the event this were to be added, it would take time for everything else to be updated, so you may suggest specific changes overtime.
- Try to leave your personal opinions out when giving your thoughts on the theme. You may hate purple personally, but MovieStarPlanet throws it all around their website so that's why it's been chosen to be used.