User talk:Rawja

The Great Wikicars Migration

Dear user, I am writing this note to inform you that over the course of the next few days Wikicars will be migrating to a new home on Shoutwiki. Since we have been left for dead by parent site Internet Brands, Wikicars will be merging with Shoutwiki Autopedia. Rest assured we will do everything in our power to preserve all existing articles in our move including talk pages and edit history so your articles of interest will remain intact. All we humbly ask for is your patience and understanding. Thank you.

If you have further questions, ask me on my talk page or User:Silver Knight.

- Red marquis 12:30, 24 December 2010 (PST)

Welcome to Wikicars!

Hi there, Rawja, and welcome to Wikicars! I'm a regular moderator and contributor here, and when I notice on the recent changes log that a new editor has registered, I like to send them a welcome message - that's how I ended up on your talk page.

There are a few useful links that you might want to look at, designed to help newcomers to Wikicars learn the ropes:

• About Wikicars
• Wikicars FAQs

Here are a few templates on Wikicars that I find particularly helpful when I start a new page:

• Make Template
• Model Template
• Model Review Template

Here are a few features of Wikicars that I find particularly helpful:

• If you leave a message on a talk page, you can sign it with four tildes (~), which will automatically produce your name and a date stamp when you save the page.

• The "Show preview" button allows you to look at what your post will look like before you save it - that way, you can proofread what you've written and not have to back and correct spelling mistakes, failed links, etc.

• You can create a watchlist for yourself that will keep a record of any changes made to a page that interests you.

There are plenty of other features and facets of Wikicars, many of which I probably haven't even discovered myself, so have fun looking around and finding them.

If you need help, ask me on my talk page.

Again, welcome and thanks for adding to our community!

p.s. If you wish to create a new page for a model of car or a car company, please type either of these down {{subst:model}} or {{subst:make}}. There are also various templates for different types of vehicles, such as {{subst:Concept Model}} for concept cars; {{subst:Racing Model}} for general racing vehicles and {{subst:Formula One Car}} for Formula One vehicles. Note that these codes are all case sensitive. I would advice you to first check out a number of our featured pages to get a feel and idea of the overall product we aim for. This is necessary for the sake of professionalism.

Also, please categorize images when you upload them. For instance, you upload an image of a Porsche 911 or anything related, for that matter with Porsche, on the "Summary" box located in the upload page itself, type [[Category:Porsche images]] and so on. All images must be categorized according to their respective marques.

If you have any further questions, simply contact me or any other one of the admins.

- Red marquis 03:16, 24 October 2008 (PDT)

Images

You don't have to include information about the copyright license of the image. We're not Wikipedia and are not as anal about that kind of stuff. However, I do encourage you to only upload pictures that are part of manufacturer's press kits because 1. they are fair use which will let us sleep better at night without having to worry about being sued out of the blue and 2. they are professionally done, which just looks so much better than pictures that were taken by some guy with a cellphone camera. It gives the articles a more professional look as well.

On a side note, I have attached your 1978 Seville image to the Cadillac Seville article. Unfortunately, Wikicars is having a bit of a problem displaying newly uploaded images onto articles right now so where your pic should be will displat this line,Error creating thumbnail: sh: /usr/sfw/bin/convert: No such file or directory, instead. However, once Wikicars' parent company, Internet Brands, gets to fixing the site's problems, you can be rest assured to find it there.

Keep up the good work.

-Red marquis 03:28, 24 October 2008 (PDT)

I have been badgering Internet Brands about it. They keep saying they'll get round it. Hopefully they do (along with a long needed Mediawiki software upgrade). I have a whole host of upgrades I've been planning for this site as well.

Red marquis 03:53, 24 October 2008 (PDT)

Cellpadding

We are trying to ban its use. Part of what we have envisioned for Wikicars is not just to offer information but also provide a more visually enticing interface with said knowledge and cellpadding, lets be honest, is just plain ugly. There is going to be some learning curve with using our Pricing, Gas Mileage and Resale Values boxes but they are actually pretty intuitive once you learn it. To use them, simply input the number of columns you want in the colspan= line just before the respective field headings (there are 3 which you'll have to change) and then to add the extant fields simply copy and paste the either of these lines below the existing ones:

! style="text-align:left; font-weight:large; background:#ddb;" |
! style="text-align:left; font-weight:large; background:#f4f4da;" |

Now there are two of them which corresponds to either the light olive or beige background colors so you'll have to interchange them.

Don't worry though, I am working on making the processes more easier and user friendly to the editors in my next overhaul/update of Wikicars' visual language. My end goal is for the editing interface to resemble that of the infobox's. Considering your history at Wikipedia, do you by any chance know anyone over there who has expertise in the Wiki HTML4 code? Thanks.

-Red marquis 07:00, 26 October 2008 (PDT)

Reatta

I've removed the Hybrid section since you are right, in this case, it is a pointless section and does not really need to be here. We do like to keep the resale values chart available because, although, resale values change frequently, the charts do give readers some ballpark idea of what to expect if they decide to perhaps purchase one and we do not want to just give readers historical accounts (ie the pricing chart) but also information they could use today. That whole section was conceived by Internet Brands and the idea was they were expecting this place to be rife with contributors who would regularly update the information. As far as the vehicle platform section in the infobox is concerned, well, unfortunately, when I standardized the infobox (which was highly necessary) that was among the casualties. I was hoping that maybe the information could just be inserted somewhere in the article. I think a good place would be somewhere in the introduction.

Sorry if we're not turning out to be as lax as you might have hoped. I do like to think we're more relaxed than Wikipedia and not as bogged down by bureaucratic red tape. I hope you're not turned off.

-Red marquis 07:40, 26 October 2008 (PDT)

Nah, I'm perfectly happy, My biggest complaint with Wikipedia was their insistence on removing any decent photographic content, factory-sourced especially. The "totally free" license thing is like a religion over there, and is (IMO) counter-productive. Now if you could just get the photo thing straightened out I really be able to roll. Rawja 07:56, 26 October 2008 (PDT)

Just a heads up, I moved around some section of the Reatta around. I didn't delete them. Red marquis 18:32, 27 October 2008 (PDT)

Reatta interior pic

I deleted the page. Try uploading it again. See if the picture comes out this time.

Red marquis 03:19, 29 October 2008 (PDT)

I've learned to work around the system's fussiness. Just change the file name slightly. But thanks :) Rawja 03:22, 29 October 2008 (PDT)

Category 1980s Automobiles

Nice. Much more detailed. Red marquis 03:56, 29 October 2008 (PDT)

Admin/Sysop

I'm thinking, considering your previous experience with Wikipedia, of promoting you to admin status. What do you say?

Red marquis 04:31, 31 October 2008 (PDT)

I'd be honored :) Rawja 05:24, 31 October 2008 (PDT)

Why don't you fill out your user page as well. Red marquis 06:13, 31 October 2008 (PDT)

Done. Try exercising admin powers so i'm sure I haven't made a mistake.

Red marquis 06:37, 31 October 2008 (PDT)

Seems to work. Rawja 10:52, 31 October 2008 (PDT)

Btw, as an admin, I'm sure you can also block IP addresses rather than simply deleting and reverting pages. You can also "protect" pages so unregistered IP addresses can't tamper with them at whim.

Do you know of a way we can track the source of these spammers? I know they use bots to cook up random IP addresses but is there a way to go directly at the source and report them to authorities? I know there is such a thing as the CAN SPAM act, though not quite so sure what it entails.

Red marquis 02:41, 9 February 2009 (PST)

Yeah, I thought about banning 'em, but I didn't want to overstep my authority. BTW, are they ever going to sort out the picture issue??? Rawja 16:33, 10 February 2009 (PST)

I asked them again for the umpteenth time. No response.

Red marquis 17:49, 10 February 2009 (PST)

The Great Wikicars Migration

Dear user, I am writing this note to inform you that over the course of the next few days Wikicars will be migrating to a new home on Shoutwiki. Since we have been left for dead by parent site Internet Brands, Wikicars will be merging with Shoutwiki Autopedia. Rest assured we will do everything in our power to preserve all existing articles in our move including talk pages and edit history so your articles of interest will remain intact. All we humbly ask for is your patience and understanding. Thank you.

If you have further questions, ask me on my talk page or User:Silver Knight.

- Red marquis 12:30, 24 December 2010 (PST)