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Languages

I was thinking we could extend this wiki by having diffrent languages. This of course, would be a huge project and would take a very long time. People who are fluent in other languages would have to take all 2000 someting articles and translate them into the other language. I know this would be a mega project, but would it be possible?--Link hero of light 00:51, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

I don't think that is an option. Too many people are not fluent in any language but their own. Doing this would too many other languages showing up where they are not supposed to. This wiki is about a game series. When the games were translated from Japanese to English a whole bunch of the meaning was lost and it takes expert translators quite some time to get it to be acceptable. We just can't do that here. we're too small. Wikipedia is huge so it is not a problem for it. Besides, from my understanding, we do not have the server space or the bandwidth for such a project. The wikis out there that have multiple languages are all backed by huge corporations that can afford really big servers. We don't have that option and we don't want it. So no more extra languages.User:Matt/sig 01:17, July 20, 2008 (UTC)

This was also attempted once. Some German guy made a copy of the Iron Knuckle page. Don't know what happened to it, think it got deleted. --Felicia's Champion 01:23, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

Pretty much what's been said here. Anyone who COULD write a different-language Wiki article is probably the only one on the site who could read it anyway. Most languages have at least a small Zelda-related Wiki in their language anyway (unless it's a really small language). I mean, if there were a LARGE, LARGE demand for such a thing, perhaps, but there's really not. User:Ando/sig 01:35, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

That was not that long ago. I remember it. That German guy talked about it on the Hyrule Castle page that's on our sidebar. The discussion was since moved to here.User:Matt/sig 01:41, July 20, 2008 (UTC)

There may be a program for it but i donot know if words like "Moblin" translate into different languages . But i do know you can have the main stuff in different languages(like the things below about the license)--Rapido 14:56, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, this could never happen for the reasons stated above. Also, as Matt pointed out, our pool of contributors is too small. I speak fluent Italian and Spanish, but I certainly don't have the time or inclination to translate the whole wiki. Plus I would likely be the only one working on those languages, so it would be like a full time (unpaid) job (and I already have one of those, not the unpaid bit thankfully!) Also, if it were ever possible to "finish" the translation, it would then need to be updated every day with all new edits to the relevant articles, i.e one small change to the Ganon article would require dozens of translators to spring into action. The alternative would be to translate everything and then leave it static and unchanged, which kind of defeats the purpose of a wiki... Basically, without trying to sound like a spoilsport, I have to agree that the premise is unworkable and a little naïve. For these reasons, the only language of the wiki remains American English, and I will continue to delete any translations which appear (for the record there have been previous attempts in French and Portuguese, among others. None were even of acceptable quality.) User:Adamcox82/sig 05:46, 22 July 2008 (UTC)

Some where just to big to translate?--Rapido 12:42, 22 July 2008 (UTC)

The German guy is here again ;) I had problems with my computer, I'm sorry. Sure I can help to translate, but over 2600 articles are a little bit to much for one translator. Maybe I can find some help. But of course such a project won't be finished in a week or two. P.S.: The 'german Iron Knuckle' is on my discussion-page Sirius 01:07, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

It was decided that we are not going to do this. Every time we edit a page, the same edit would have to be made to the translated page. Typically we have fifty to one-hundred articles edited every day. That is a lot of translated versions to make the same edits on. This is not something we are capable of doing. If only one person is able to make the changes to a vast amount of pages that change on daily, it becomes a liability and we cannot hope to ever keep up. So thanks for the offer. But we must accept that we have limits of what we are capable of doing.User:Matt/sig 06:20, August 10, 2008 (UTC)

Okay, no problem. Maybe we'll find a way one day. Sirius 07:01, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Actually that's not completely true. If you look at Wikipedia in different languages you'll see that the pages differ quite, moreover not all pages are available in every language. So it would be more of a separate Wiki than a direct translation. Still if bandwith is a problem than sticking with just an English wiki would be for the best. Nictel 13:06, 12 November 2008 (UTC)

That is how Wikipedia does it. But not all multilingual wikis do. MediaWiki has other languages on subpages. But we've already had enough server problems. So multiple languages is just never going to happen.User:Matt/sig 16:12, November 12, 2008 (UTC)

Hm ... what would you think about having interwiki links between articles in different languages at different wikis? Would look like Wikipedia's links to other languages with the only difference that the wikis are not located at the same domain. We have a German wiki called Zeldapendium, so it would be possible to link ZeldaWiki.org's articles with Zeldapendium's. I made an example of the interwiki links at the article about the Triforce (see "Andere Sprachen" [= other languages] at the end of the sidebar; could be linked using [[de:Triforce]] if a sysop activates this feature). This would not cause any server problems here because the wiki is not located at this server. Btw, I also wrote Jason about this but have not received an answer yet - and sorry for any mistakes in this text, I'm from Germany (near Stuttgart, like Sirius^^) ;-) --Pascal 21:31, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, we've been talking about that. It seems like that staff thinks it is a good idea.User:Matt/sig 21:36, December 2, 2008 (UTC)

Seems good to me as well, though if it's like Pascal said, then we'll need to find other Zelda themed wikis of other languages. Also good to see someone else from Germany (even though I don't live there anymore =P).User:MARKOL/sig 22:22, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

I set up the interwiki link. To prevent confusion, I put the site name as the key. So it works like this: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.User:Matt/sig 03:27, December 3, 2008 (UTC)

Hey, I'm really pleased to see that you like our suggestion, thanks^^ But before we start linking anything: How would you propose to link the articles? Using "normal" interwiki links (= no interlanguage links) means that we have to put a link into the text. Shall we create a template with a text like "This article is also available in German at [[Zeldapendium:Article]].", or a section like "==Other Languages==" per article? Or shall we use interlanguage links (but this requires the interwiki prefix to be "de:")? Pascal 20:41, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

We have the interwiki links set up. Adam has just started putting a template at the top of articles. But I like this "Other Languages" section better.User:Matt/sig 20:44, December 3, 2008 (UTC)

green text

im a user so why is there still green text?Dragonstetraforce 22:33, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

Do you mean the green text that shows advertisements when you move your mouse over them? Yes, that appears for everybody. However, if you click on the "?" in the box that shows up and choose "Disable ads", they will not appear for you anymore. User:Ando/sig 01:38, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

ive noticed something else. as you scroll down text gets bigger.Dragonstetraforce 16:19, 20 September 2008 (UTC)

I'm on a new PC and I noticed it too. It is an artifact of Internet Explorer. Just get Firefox. There is another issue though. Why are the page diff and page histories all highlighted in white now? Did someone change something?User:Matt/sig 16:43, September 20, 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, the diff / hist issue is just due to a lot of the graphical settings getting reset during the upgrade. Jason fixed most of them, but missed these two things. It's been brought up with him... a while ago (please have more time in your schedule to fix things, Jason D:). User:Ando/sig 21:06, 20 September 2008 (UTC)

The origin of Zelda

Hello, my name is Andrew and I currently live in Tokyo, Japan.

I came across something rather interesting and I was wondering what everyone thought about it.

As we all know, Shigeru Miyamoto is the creator behind Zelda, correct? but where did he get his motivation to build this game?

I recently visited a place in Japan called "Onjuku", where a memorial museum exists that celebrates an event that happened many years ago (Something having to do with a spanish ship crashing onto the edge of chiba in the 1600s)

Anyways, the first thing that occurred to me about this building is that it looks just like Hyrule castle.

Now, this could simply be coinsidence, however when you cross the bridge over the "moat" or river that seperates the memorial from the beach and look at the statues of the two people in front of the building, one of them looks strikingly similar to zelda. The other one could perhaps be a modified Link.

Now, after I saw that, I wondered what else might be around here of interest, and interestingly enough I found a forest opening next to the memorial. Walking through the forest leads nowhere.

Last but not least, I walked up above the memorial to a tower labeled the "Mexico Memorial Tower". In Japanese the website (http://www.ebiotope.com/ti40spot03onjyuku05mexco.html) reads that in 1609 the phillipino spanish territory leader Don Rodrigo's ship hit a typhoon going to Mexico and crash landed there.

Anyways, with all that aside, to me it looks a lot like the master sword was aquired here.

The pictures belong to their respected Japanese sites (Guides for Onjuku and so forth) Template:Nosig

First and foremost, allow me to say +1 awesomeness to you for being named Andrew. +2 awesomeness for being named Andrew and living in Japan.

That out of the way, those are very interesting pictures, I must say. While I'm hesitant to say that these are where he got all of his ideas for the game, perhaps design ideas came from here? He's said that inspiration for Zelda (and sometimes Mario) came from when he explored the forests and caves near his home in Kyoto. But perhaps certain design elements came from Onjuku, assuming he ever visited. Perhaps it's also worth noting that the Triforce symbol is the same as a religious symbol in Japan... I don't really know what to say about this, honestly. On one hand, at the very least that building looks a LOT like it could have inspired Hyrule Castle, but at the same time... it just doesn't add up for me. Not sure why. :/ Very interesting info, though, thanks. User:Ando/sig 16:46, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

beta stuff

lets make articles on all the beta objects in the games! Dragonstetraforce 22:36, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

Well, there are already a couple (such as Goron Golem). I'm not sure what else there could be that would justify its own article, though. User:Ando/sig 14:43, 26 October 2008 (UTC)

we could do the beta forest on twilight princess, if you look in the trailer for it or type in beta forest picture it comes up with pictures of a forest that isn't in the game, but is there really anything that we could write about it though? -Calibure

Actually, there's quite a bit of info, and I agree making a page for it. Most of it is theorizing though, so it should be treated as such.User:MARKOL/sig 15:54, 16 November 2008 (UTC)

i agree with it being theorized, so is it worth making it? -Calibure

Well, I could see a page like that being made much along the lines of Glitches in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time or something. And not the entire article would be theorization, either. A lot of it's factual - no one can deny that the beta items are there. User:Ando/sig 20:13, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

I absolutely agree, but I was referring to beliefs about rumors of the beta forest is still in TP and etc. User:MARKOL/sig 22:11, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Er, right, sorry. I was rushing through reading that. :P But still! Yeah, a "Beta Items in [game]" page could work. None of the stuff really constitutes its own article, so might as well consolidate it all, right? User:Ando/sig 23:37, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Yeah so lets make it!! But theres just one problem... I'm rubbish at writing yet alone making a whole page. so could one of you guys do it. heh heh sorry about that.. -Calibure

alright guys i'm gonna try and make a page about the beta forest, i'll tell you when i'm done, then you can see it and improve it. it should be up by tommorow. -Calibure

okay its done, i couldnt add any pictures because i dont know how. well could you guys look at it and improve it for.... it my first page ive created all by myself Template:Nosig

Awesome, nice job. I added a few paragraphs and touched it up a bit to better follow the general Wiki format. You're free to add some pictures now (speaking of, there's a nifty little guide on just how to do that right here!), and maybe mention the cats because I totally forgot to do that. D: User:Ando/sig 07:37, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

thanks. I was able to add the picture but it may be a tad two big. -Calibure

So guys what else is there to make? Because i'm out of ideas (yes one is enough) actually we could do beta creatures (two ideas in one lifetime im on a roll) but do any of them have names and info? -Calibure

Main Page/Navigation improvements

I feel that the Main Page and left side navigation could benefit from a bit of restyling. As it stands the Main Page feels crowded and confusing, the navigation currently isn't very inviting for someone who just wants to read something and isn't looking for something specific. For a comparison, I personally really like the navigation that Wookieepedia has. It is simple and through the drop-down menu still stores lots of links. Super-Experimental Masterminds' News Dashboard is nice but makes the page feel crowded and doesn't add much as all sites will most likely have the same news. The colour combination works unpleasant to me, perhaps (if possible) we could use the forest background that ZU has and change the colours accordingly. If not, at least have a few more colours than just different shades of blue. Nictel 21:07, 11 November 2008 (UTC)

Reference Desk

I've brought this up before but let's see if it's better received this time. I think we should have a Reference Desk like Wikipedia's. Of course, it would be about Zelda. Users could ask questions such as: "Where is the shortcut when I'm racing Yeta?"

Or maybe: "What is the name of those bat like creatures?"

Then, a user who knows the answer would answer it. I would be willing to start this project out, but a person who knows more about Wiki technology could make it neater.--Link hero of light 01:15, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Support

1. I obviously support this since I nominated this. Not only could users have their questions answered, we could add the answer to an article if not already there.--Link hero of light 01:15, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
2. If it was as easy as looking on Google for an answer, then would there even need to be a Zelda Wiki? The fact is, if someone searched what Link hero of light has said, wouldn't that bring you here? I support this knowing that it will help a lot of users, it wouldn't just help with Zelda content, but with templates as well.User:Steven/sig 12:40, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Opposition

1. Users could easily go to Google, and try to find the answer. If there were to be one, it might have to be it's own page. ...and be cleaned a lot, to stop annoying people when going down the page. -Zien 02:11, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
2. Er, well, the more articles and such that you have, the more server space you need which does cost money. Wikipedia's got tons of server space, and needs to be able to pay for it all, hence the $6,000,000 donation drive they're running right now. My personal thought is that most of the questions that could be posed could have answers found easily on Google (for instance, the first Google result for "bat creatures in zelda" gives me a web page about Keese), and any more specific questions that could be used to enhance an article ("where exactly is the location of [item], [place], etc.") could be posted on the specific article's talk page. Game help questions are what strategy guides on fan sites or GameFAQs are for. Basically, every question has its place already, and I don't see what extra benefit this plan could have. A nice idea on paper, but I can't see it being of any help. User:Ando/sig 23:24, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
3. Ando, you've echoed many of the points I made the last time this suggestion was raised. As you'll guess, my opinion has changed very little. The only practical application of such an area here (that I can see) is to offer strategy guide-like assistance, and we're already being quite clear on the fact that ZW.org doesn't cover material of that type. Personally, I don't see how we could offer any advantage over GameFAQs in this area. Also, Ando makes a valid point regarding hosting. While there's clearly a question of scale, all webspace costs money, and we already have inline text ads here to mitigate that fact. We effectively ensure that the wiki remains viable by focusing on the task at hand and making ZW.org the best Zelda wiki there is, and not by diversifying into other realms such as this.User:Adam/sig 07:41, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

Neutral Comments

• Just a note to say that a conversation about this is being placed in the staff area for further discussion by, well, the staff. This voting session WILL be taken into considerable account, however, so please do continue to vote! User:Ando/sig 06:35, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

1. while i belive we should do this, do we have enough people, time, and space on the webpage to do this? if so, is it a waste of space as already said people can just go to google where things like that are already up and running? -Calibure

• There's plenty of people and time. Wiki's can hold as much space as anyone wants. Look at Wikipedia with 2,663,141 articles! MARKOL was right when he said that if people could just go to Google why have a Zelda wiki. There's lot's of thing's Google doesn't have. Also, if the person can't find something, and someone knows the answer, the answer could be added to the article. --Link hero of light 23:06, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

• • "There's plenty of people and time. Wiki's can hold as much space as anyone wants. Look at Wikipedia with 2,663,141 articles! MARKOL was right when he said that if people could just go to Google why have a Zelda wiki. There's lot's of thing's Google doesn't have. Also, if the person can't find something, and someone knows the answer, the answer could be added to the article. --Link hero of light 23:06, 17 December 2008 (UTC)"
  • I do not know if this is true, but don't you have to pay more if your site has more k's? If so, it would just take up room, which would be "a waste of space, and money." -Zien 23:08, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

• • • The help desk would be just a page, it would be no different than adding a full articleUser:Steven/sig 23:52, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

• • Lhol IS supporting this. He started the whole thing. :P User:Ando/sig 23:54, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

Decorating

This is just an idea, but I would be neat if the main page was decorated for Christmas. Sure, not everbody celebrates Christmas, but it would be original and it would only be up for a day. It would just be fun to have something new like that. Is this a lousy idea or a good idea? --Link hero of light 23:46, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

I think this is quite a good Idea, but it should be up for more than a day, it could be up for 20th to 31st, for example. --user:Calibure

That would be great, I was planning on making a holiday theme for my icon on my navbar anyway. I'm not sure what could be done though, decorating wise, since this isn't like ZU where the website is made of multiple images.User:MARKOL/sig 14:41, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

blue hyperlinks

Hi guys, while i've been on zeldawiki.org I've noticed that with names such as Legend of Zelda or Nintendo DS are hylighted blue and have stars underneath and when i put the mouse near them a bubble pops up, what is that? Calibure 12:45, 5 January 2009 (UTC)Calibure

Those are ads placed within the pages, to hopefully lower the amount of money needed to spend on the servers. User:Ando/sig 14:18, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

They're actually special types of ads, Related Links. They're the kind of ads that are actually useful, because they link to interwiki content instead of external sources. So they help you get around the wiki, and every time you use 'em we get a little cash to spend on the server bill, which is always expensive. --GoldenChaos 14:47, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

You do like to dream Jason. The ads you just described do not exist. All there is is ads to sell people stuff. And they do not go to wikis.User:Matt/sig 16:47, January 5, 2009 (UTC)

Gonna have to agree here, Jason. I've seen ads for products, but nothing linking to anywhere in the Wiki. User:Ando/sig 17:22, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

Alright thanks for that guys, didn't think anyone would reply so fast (now thats great service). anyway just thought maybe somone was vadilising or something.,and if that happens (cracks knuckles) we send in the Vandalism.Against.Any.Text.INcorporated (yes i made it up) vaati for short (why Vati you find a zelda-related word wth a V). Anyway thanks for the help bbut another question shouldi touch them? Calibure 17:39, 5 January 2009 (UTC)Calibure

Haha, well, if you want to. It's not like your computer's going to melt or anything if you do. Shouldn't harm you at all if you do. User:Ando/sig 17:59, 5 January 2009 (UTC)