NationStates

Posted: **Tue Mar 21, 2017 4:34 pm**

The Kingdom of Glitter wrote:How would we go about displaying files from imgur on iiwiki pages - if that is even possible?

The United Dominion wrote:Example use cases of current imgur extension:

Code: Select all
<imgur>d1WJZnt.jpg</imgur> <imgur w="200">d1WJZnt.jpg</imgur> <imgur thumb="yes" w="250" comment="Some chick Santh has a photo of.">d1WJZnt.jpg</imgur>

I don't believe it works in infoboxes, and the other extension... didn't play nice with our current set-up.

Posted: **Tue Mar 21, 2017 4:49 pm**

North Daecon wrote:My problem with it is that we have to upload every image ourselves, and before if we just wanted a image about farms on our nation page we just grabbed a Commons image.

This imgur solution, IMHO, is too bloody complicated and would probably never work out.

We're not abandoning Commons wholesale. I'm telling you that you want a solution now, then imgur is it. It's also just plain better for the site in general. The wiki also existed without commons setup before. It's not "too bloody complicated" and it will work so long as you're not being ridiculously over-the-top negative about it because it's slightly (very slightly - like, an extra 20 seconds) inconvenient for you.

Qianrong wrote:Seconded.

Also, if we switch from Commons to Imgur, would I have to, say, reupload every image that isn't showing up here (plus every other Commons image on all of my articles) onto Imgur? And would there be any potential consequences to suddenly flooding Imgur with iiWiki images?

No. Imgur is an image host; they're used to being flooded. They're flooded 24/7.

Posted: **Tue Mar 21, 2017 6:04 pm**

Santheres wrote:
Luziyca wrote:All the Wikicommons images from Katranjiev are gone. Ditto with Luziyca. And Zelenagora, and Faatoatoaina Islam, and here as well, and here, and here, and... I can go on forever.

I am not sure if we need to start uploading every single image that we need onto IIwiki servers, especially what with IIwiki's server issues and what not. But we need to at least resolve the Wikicommons situation so we can continue to use their images.

"Upload all images" wouldn't be the first back-up solution. The first solution would be to use imgur wherever possible.

Actually, imgur is preferable to wikimedia commons because commons doesn't offload terribly much strain as we still have to hold on to caches from it.

So would it be possible to change "[[File:{{image}}|{{px}}}]] ..." (or flag, map, etc) -type fields to ones that allow for imgur to be put into these infoboxes?

Posted: **Tue Mar 21, 2017 7:14 pm**

Lyncanestria wrote:
Santheres wrote:
"Upload all images" wouldn't be the first back-up solution. The first solution would be to use imgur wherever possible.

Actually, imgur is preferable to wikimedia commons because commons doesn't offload terribly much strain as we still have to hold on to caches from it.

So would it be possible to change "[[File:{{image}}|{{px}}}]] ..." (or flag, map, etc) -type fields to ones that allow for imgur to be put into these infoboxes?

Indeed, that is worth mentioning, due the fact that imgur does not currently work in infoboxes, which is where the bulk of my own images at least are located on at least one count.

Posted: **Tue Mar 21, 2017 9:36 pm**

Post War America wrote:
Lyncanestria wrote:So would it be possible to change "[[File:{{image}}|{{px}}}]] ..." (or flag, map, etc) -type fields to ones that allow for imgur to be put into these infoboxes?

Indeed, that is worth mentioning, due the fact that imgur does not currently work in infoboxes, which is where the bulk of my own images at least are located on at least one count.

I sincerely doubt it. It would be great, but I don't get paid enough to work on it myself or verify that it's doable.

Posted: **Tue Mar 21, 2017 9:59 pm**

I'm not sure where the idea that Imgur doesn't work in infoboxes comes from, it worked fine when I used it:

Example

The one problem with it is that the compression algorithm is worse for Imgur than MediaWiki's own software so images come out looking a lot blurrier than they otherwise would when downscaled. Which is probably fine for maps and photographs but is very obvious when linking to line art, which is why I ended up replacing the Imgur link with a direct upload.

My personal issue is that it doesn't generate a proper thumbnail box that matches local or Commons images when embedded directly into the page. The image and subtext just float awkwardly without a box around them.

Posted: **Wed Mar 22, 2017 4:28 am**

It's important for everyone complaining about the current imaging issues to remember that this is not a new problem (save for the issues with Wikimedia commons).

Santh has stated on multiple occasions that he prefers people to use images and host them on imgur and link them to iiwiki to save bandwidth and server space so the site doesn't keep crashing. He's not a web developer, he doesn't get paid to manage iiwiki, and we should all remember - and be thankful - that he takes the time to host the site that we all use (and, myself included, abuse). The simple fact of the matter is that for whatever reason wikimedia commons isn't linking to the wiki anymore. When Santh or any of the other admins can get to fixing it, I'm sure they won't have any issues with doing so. Until then, Santh has given all of us a viable and preferable option as the site administrator on how to display our images without needlessly re-uploading images that are already available to the public on iiwiki proper. Learning the imgur tag isn't difficult, and it works in tables just fine (I haven't used it in any of my own infoboxes so I can't speak on that).

Bottom line, if you have a problem or something is wrong with the site, the easiest way to get in touch with any of the site administrators is through a TG, going to the #IIwiki channel on Esper or Discord, and pinging a site admin to come and help. Posting on this thread does help, but only doing that isn't going to get it resolved quickly. The wiki admin team does the best they can, but like NS, it's only game. Why you heff to be med?

Posted: **Wed Mar 22, 2017 4:48 am**

It appears that Wikimedia Commons is still working in userspaces. Example here.

Posted: **Wed Mar 22, 2017 6:50 am**

I think I have found a way to solve the problem: just make an edit to your article and watch the Wikicommons images return.

Posted: **Wed Mar 22, 2017 7:09 am**

Luziyca wrote:I think I have found a way to solve the problem: just make an edit to your article and watch the Wikicommons images return.

Or let the article connection to Wikipedia Commons fix itself.

Posted: **Wed Mar 22, 2017 7:50 am**

As is so often the case, patience is a virtue. If an image glitch lasts more than a couple of days it might be a serious problem but the response should never be a knee-jerk, upload-the-entirety-of-Commons frenzy. The problems with site crashes and server space are not helped by duplicating large numbers of files for a three-day fix that we then have to delete later.

Also, let the record show that Commons images have disappeared before. Sometimes it's a case of MediaWiki changing its settings, for which some settings then need to be changed at our end; other times they just disappear for a day or two for no reason.

In any case, the images seem to be back up. Page caches might take a short while to clear (though there are manual methods to force a cache purge). Thank you all for your patience.

Posted: **Wed Mar 22, 2017 8:39 am**

The Akasha Colony wrote:I'm not sure where the idea that Imgur doesn't work in infoboxes comes from, it worked fine when I used it:

Example

The one problem with it is that the compression algorithm is worse for Imgur than MediaWiki's own software so images come out looking a lot blurrier than they otherwise would when downscaled. Which is probably fine for maps and photographs but is very obvious when linking to line art, which is why I ended up replacing the Imgur link with a direct upload.

My personal issue is that it doesn't generate a proper thumbnail box that matches local or Commons images when embedded directly into the page. The image and subtext just float awkwardly without a box around them.

That's odd because when I tested it when I set it up, that wasn't the case. Maybe it was a specific infobox that didn't like it.

However, thank you for both the information and for reporting the shortcoming with the extension. That should be fixed; there should now be the same border box given to native thumbnails. I don't know why the extension creator didn't do that, but it was super easy to add in. Please give it a try. The first time I previewed, it behaved oddly (if you see it, you'll know what I mean) - just try loading the preview a second time; I did and it resolved itself.

Maltropia wrote:As is so often the case, patience is a virtue. If an image glitch lasts more than a couple of days it might be a serious problem but the response should never be a knee-jerk, upload-the-entirety-of-Commons frenzy. The problems with site crashes and server space are not helped by duplicating large numbers of files for a three-day fix that we then have to delete later.

Also, let the record show that Commons images have disappeared before. Sometimes it's a case of MediaWiki changing its settings, for which some settings then need to be changed at our end; other times they just disappear for a day or two for no reason.

In any case, the images seem to be back up. Page caches might take a short while to clear (though there are manual methods to force a cache purge). Thank you all for your patience.

Yes, please be patient. I can't resolve things in a matter of minutes, especially not when I don't have access to the server, like last night.

I've determined that the cache had an issue that would resolve itself once dumped. That means everyone could have just waited until this morning and it would have been fine. I've made some adjustments so hopefully it doesn't come up again, though I make no promises on if it causes other issues.

I've also added support for the Wikipedia API, so you can display images that are on Wikipedia. Works exactly the same way as local uploads and Commons do. I'm not sure if we'll pull first from Commons, then from Wikipedia, though that's the order I have them in in the settings config. Let me know if it causes any problems but otherwise, feel free to not upload anything that's already on Wikipedia (which should be essentially Commons++)

Edit: If you uploaded any images because Commons was down, please report them for deletion. If you don't, I'm going to get bitchy when I find them.

Posted: **Wed Mar 22, 2017 9:33 am**

The Akasha Colony wrote:I'm not sure where the idea that Imgur doesn't work in infoboxes comes from, it worked fine when I used it:

Example

Okay, well if you go to the template and look at the script, you will see this is because this particular template doesnt do a [[File:{{if#image|}}|{{image}}|{{image_size}}px]] type thing (can't remember the exact code). Rather, this template would make contributers put the whole [[File:___.jpg]] into the "image=" field. There are a few templates like this; {{royal styles}} infobox, which allows you to link to imgur. I actually changed a template not long ago to allow both (ei have [[File:_]] written into the code, and also not have it written in to allow for imgur link)

My template, look at the script; you'll see it allows both options

Posted: **Wed Mar 22, 2017 10:22 pm**

Is it possible to have this 8 team bracket that's re-seeded? I know the round of 8 bracket works, but that has a third place game and it's seeded. I don't need a third place game and for my tournament the teams are re-seeded after the first round.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template: ... t-Re-seeds

Posted: **Sat Mar 25, 2017 5:36 pm**

Arkiasis wrote:Is it possible to have this 8 team bracket that's re-seeded? I know the round of 8 bracket works, but that has a third place game and it's seeded. I don't need a third place game and for my tournament the teams are re-seeded after the first round.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template: ... t-Re-seeds

Done. Let me know if there're any problems and I'll see what I can do. In future, please post template import requests on an admin's talk page. Thanks!

Posted: **Thu Mar 30, 2017 9:17 pm**

Site will be down for a bit while I try to get a backup that is movable to a new server going, so we can try out a new host.

I'll get it back up before I go to bed if I can; if the backup couldn't be done, expect this to happen again in the next day or two. I really want to get moved. It will only be inaccessible while I'm working, though.

Posted: **Mon Apr 10, 2017 3:43 pm**

Please be advised that we are continuing the process of finding and setting up on a new host which should provide more than enough space to suit our needs.

The next time I put the site into read-only mode should hopefully be the last, and we will be able to move over a fresh copy of the database. Article content and user accounts will all be transferred. Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia images, and Imgur should all retain their current statuses as image repositories (or close enough in Imgur's case).

Images uploaded to the wiki, however, will not be transferred. This is to aid in the cleanup of years-old images that are unused or are on unviewed articles from ex-players, therefore just taking up space. Please ensure you have local copies of any images you care about for re-upload to the site following the server change.

Posted: **Mon Apr 10, 2017 6:42 pm**

Santheres wrote:Please be advised that we are continuing the process of finding and setting up on a new host which should provide more than enough space to suit our needs.

The next time I put the site into read-only mode should hopefully be the last, and we will be able to move over a fresh copy of the database. Article content and user accounts will all be transferred. Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia images, and Imgur should all retain their current statuses as image repositories (or close enough in Imgur's case).

Images uploaded to the wiki, however, will not be transferred. This is to aid in the cleanup of years-old images that are unused or are on unviewed articles from ex-players, therefore just taking up space. Please ensure you have local copies of any images you care about for re-upload to the site following the server change.

Do we have an ETA on that server change?

Posted: **Mon Apr 10, 2017 7:49 pm**

For the (probably many) of you who are unaware of the on-site file list tool: Special:ListFiles lists as the name suggests files, and you can enter your username to get a list of every single file you've uploaded. If you have images you've forgotten that you don't want to lose, this should be your go-to resource. Hopefully it saves people a lot of stress looking for that one seventeenth-century monarch whose image is definitely somewhere on the server.

Posted: **Mon Apr 10, 2017 9:09 pm**

The Akasha Colony wrote:
Santheres wrote:Please be advised that we are continuing the process of finding and setting up on a new host which should provide more than enough space to suit our needs.

The next time I put the site into read-only mode should hopefully be the last, and we will be able to move over a fresh copy of the database. Article content and user accounts will all be transferred. Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia images, and Imgur should all retain their current statuses as image repositories (or close enough in Imgur's case).

Images uploaded to the wiki, however, will not be transferred. This is to aid in the cleanup of years-old images that are unused or are on unviewed articles from ex-players, therefore just taking up space. Please ensure you have local copies of any images you care about for re-upload to the site following the server change.

Do we have an ETA on that server change?

As soon as possible. The old server will remain up in read-only mode for at least another week or two at iiwiki.us after the changeover, so you will have time.

That said, grab your images as fast as you can.

Please do not re-upload anything to the new server (when it goes live) unless it will be used in an article.

Posted: **Tue Apr 11, 2017 6:08 pm**

It's a shame about all the line art and other things people have created that will be lost when the server switches but it's understandable given the bloat disrupting the entire wiki.

Posted: **Tue Apr 11, 2017 8:48 pm**

Kazinstan wrote:It's a shame about all the line art and other things people have created that will be lost when the server switches but it's understandable given the bloat disrupting the entire wiki.

If they're using it, I'm sure they'll grab it.

If not, meh. *shrugs*

Posted: **Tue Apr 11, 2017 9:36 pm**

Santheres wrote:
The Akasha Colony wrote:
Do we have an ETA on that server change?

As soon as possible. The old server will remain up in read-only mode for at least another week or two at iiwiki.us after the changeover, so you will have time.

That said, grab your images as fast as you can.

Please do not re-upload anything to the new server (when it goes live) unless it will be used in an article.

Will Wikimedia Commons integration be retained?

Posted: **Tue Apr 11, 2017 9:49 pm**

Gallia- wrote:
Santheres wrote:
As soon as possible. The old server will remain up in read-only mode for at least another week or two at iiwiki.us after the changeover, so you will have time.

That said, grab your images as fast as you can.

Please do not re-upload anything to the new server (when it goes live) unless it will be used in an article.

Will Wikimedia Commons integration be retained?

...yes.

Santheres wrote:Please be advised that we are continuing the process of finding and setting up on a new host which should provide more than enough space to suit our needs.

The next time I put the site into read-only mode should hopefully be the last, and we will be able to move over a fresh copy of the database. Article content and user accounts will all be transferred. Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia images, and Imgur should all retain their current statuses as image repositories (or close enough in Imgur's case).

Images uploaded to the wiki, however, will not be transferred. This is to aid in the cleanup of years-old images that are unused or are on unviewed articles from ex-players, therefore just taking up space. Please ensure you have local copies of any images you care about for re-upload to the site following the server change.

(emphasis mine)

Posted: **Tue Apr 11, 2017 10:19 pm**

Luziyca wrote:
Kazinstan wrote:It's a shame about all the line art and other things people have created that will be lost when the server switches but it's understandable given the bloat disrupting the entire wiki.

If they're using it, I'm sure they'll grab it.

If not, meh. *shrugs*

Still, a shame for someone's unique creation to be lost forever. Somebody else could've used it or... something.

NationStates

IIWiki - Premier Encyclopedia for the Roleplaying Forums