Inkipedia:Proposals/Passed/Main page restructure

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A proposal to reorganize the wiki's main page to load faster and display recent Splatoon series news more succinctly.

With this proposal I'm suggesting two major tweaks to the wiki's main page:

• Permanent moving of the scheduling section to a subpage, still accessible on its subpage via a new section on main page.
• Restructure of the featured news section.

A demonstration is available here (with schedule and news subpages). If this proposal passes, this new layout and subpage handling structure will be immediately applied to our main page. In the case of other editors suggesting major styling changes, the changes will be tested beforehand, delaying the layout update until everything's set up. The main page news templates have already been updated by Heddy to accommodate the new bulletin structure. The news section in its current state will have its contents archived.

Removal of the schedule section aims to improve loadtimes and readability, as the schedule section's previous form took up nearly half of the page when in place, requiring a large amount of external calls to the splatoon3.ink schedule mirroring service. The external data fetches lead to a higher amount of load time than should be necessary to access a wiki's main hub page, especially affecting lower end internet connections. Given the importance of main page, I strongly think we should at most list only monthly active events when it comes to scheduling, with the more-frequently rotated regular stages and shop schedules accessible on their current direct subpage, linked to via a new section. Prior to December 2024 (see below) the schedule subpages would be transcluded onto main page. The new section will put the S3 schedule on the same level of ease of access as the S2 schedule; even though S3 is prioritized as the current active game with ongoing encore events, both should be included prominently as S2's online play is presently ongoing with full support and no signs of being discontinued. Without this change, the S2 schedule will stay sequestered to a brief, out of place link at the bottom of the page that is likely to be missed.

As of December 2024 the S3 schedule section has been temporarily hidden due to issues with the related API; Nintendo updated the SplatNet 3 app in an apparent effort to clamp down on unofficial mirrors of S3's in-game schedule (off-site discussion 1, 2). S2's scheduling was unaffected by the app update. The developer of the specific mirror Inkipedia uses has as of mid-December been able to put together a workaround; this bandaid fix isn't a guaranteed long-term solution but has thus far worked consistently enough for us to consider reinstating the S3 schedule listing. In the meantime this has worked as a test run of how main page would look and feel without the S3 scheduling; I find it much neater in this form.

Schedule mirroring is an impressive and useful project, but ultimately the data is not a priority of the Inkipedia's; general access to the internet nearly guarantees access to Nintendo's official equivalent scheduling service (SplatNet 3) or the several other unofficial scheduling services widely used among the community. Additionally, the recent app update raises concerns that Nintendo may be against unofficial mirroring practices altogether.

A schedule section would ideally be a short side panel included in our main page as a convenience "bonus", but the amount of rotated topics covered in S3's schedule have bloated the section's length. The original SplatNet schedule featured 2 sets of rotating maps, whereas SplatNet 2 features a 6-slot rotating shop alongside 4 sets of maps. SplatNet 3 has its own, separate 6-slot shop slots alongside a whopping 6 sets of maps; the new Challenge schedule in particular is very bulky. This thus-far exponential increase trend poses concerns on how future entries in the series might develop further modes, thus potentially taking up even more schedule space on main page.

Within all this the schedule mirroring isn't being removed entirely, simply de-prioritized.

The news section's current formatting is not quite succinct for at-a-glance usage, with very few members of staff actively contributing to it. This has lead to elliptic coverage sustained by dedicated staff members that must launch the task to the top of their priority list with little warning. A brief bullet point-based system to more plainly document and reflect large announcements would work better. Here we would continue to include wiki news as well, with room to add more general wiki announcements, some of which have previously been exclusive to the site notice banner.

The goal with this news section restructuring is to increase turnaround and up-to-datedness. A Twitter feed featuring posts by Nintendo and our wiki's Twitter account was previously used for at-a-glance news coverage, but major changes to that site starting in 2023 brought on serious destabilization and inaccessibility, subsequently leading to its removal from main page.

I'm very fond of the game news post entries formatted as brief articles system we currently use; it's tonally appropriate, charming and reminiscent of in-universe digital newspapers aimed at kids (à la the Club Penguin Times, for example), but the truth of the matter is it is ineffective when considering the Splatoon news updates to news entries written on Inkipedia ratio of the past few years. Since Splatoon is one of Nintendo's forefront franchises at this time, being heavily marketed as one of their main brands with a large amount of merchandise and collaborations, I strongly think there's enough material to warrant more frequent such updates on main page. I have tried to revitalize article-writing efforts among staff members to little effect, while editors historically do not submit ideas for news entries almost at all.

I take all this to translate to an issue regarding the news section's structure rather than there being disinterest or inability from staff and/or editors. As such, I would like for the article format to be formally retired in favor of the bulletin format.

The new proposed bulletin system is very short and brief, inspired by Nookipedia and Mario wiki's main page news bulletin designs. The goal is to reflect official announcements, major unofficial happenings (i.e. tournaments) and wiki announcements ASAP. This way readers can efficiently stay up to date on relevant Splatoon/Nintendo news as well as wiki news; while the wiki is consistently updated to reflect new material and new announcements, we have no alternative basic documentation of announcements as they are released elsewhere on the wiki. Readers wishing to find out about new pages we're building in response to recent announcements would have better luck participating in our Discord server, or frequently combing through our recent changes page.

This format should be easier for staff to edit and more likely to get editors to participate in (though editor participation is not required). New announcements fresh off the related presses (Twitter, Nintendo site updates, external news articles, YouTube) are typically shared within a few hours of publication in our Discord server by a large amount of diligent regular chatgoers in the editing chats; this leads me to believe we already have the capacity and attentiveness for immediate, brief updates but no on-wiki outlet for it. I strongly think a bulletin news system would be more likely to be efficiently maintained compared to the current less active articles news system.

We're now "in-between" games, with S3 slowing down; though no more major updates and thus no further major news are expected to release for the latest game, some new minor updates and repeat events were confirmed. We're receiving a more casual, easy-going stream of Splatoon news following the Grand Festival's conclusion compared to when S3 was in pre-release or receiving major updates, so this is a great time to reevaluate how we could better present breaking news in case of later major installments to the series.

The one major downside of the bulletin system would be the removal of the current playful writing style. I'd like to thank Glovermist in particular for his excellent contributions to the front page news section vignettes throughout the years, having done so with particular gusto and flair.

This proposal specifically concerns the suggested structural changes. Any serious styling or formatting concerns regarding the new sections can be decided upon with further discussion. That is to say, if the only thing making you withhold your supportive vote is you find aspects of the design or phrasings in the demonstrations clunky or imperfect, keep in mind they would be subject to change and improvement down the line. Feedback and critique of such is welcome, but the key topic here is whether or not the change should be made at all. Yoshifan52 (talk) 06:31, 1 February 2025 (UTC)

End date: 22 February 2025

Support

1. I think this is a very good change. My only suggestion is that maybe news updates could start with a little icon to indicate whether it's Inkipedia, Splatoon, or Nintendo news. Of course reading the contents would answer which type of news it is, it would make it easier to distinguish at a glance. FancyRat 18:02, 1 February 2025 (UTC)
2. While I did not support a previous iteration of this idea, and felt resistant to the idea of losing paragraphs or writing style, I'm happy to say that I've come around and love the current iteration if this idea! Heddy (talk) 20:56, 1 February 2025 (UTC)
3. I love this! The compactness of it is perfect! While I do miss having our news be open source, I understand that my past deeds magnified some concerns about the current structure. PawnShop75 [Talk|Contribs] 22:51, 1 February 2025 (UTC)
4. This is a nice change, I support it! OrderSquid38 [Talk] 22:33, 2 February 2025 (UTC)
5. There are some aspects that need improvement, but since the key issue is whether the change should be made at all, I fully support it. The schedule on the main page takes up a lot of screen space that could be better used to display only the most important information for the readers. 🍂Fxfxfx0 (talk) 06:40, 3 February 2025 (UTC)
6. I support this proposal as due to the schedule being on the main page if hidden the schedule is completely useless until its unhidden which can take a lot even if problem is fixed as it is right now, it could use some improvement like the news have a short description apart from the title but apart from that I completely support this. SEDALLARI (talk) 15:04, 17 February 2025 (UTC)
7. I've never been a fan of our main page and have pushed for this change behind the scenes. Full steam ahead for me. Trig - 15:14, 17 February 2025 (UTC)
8. Same qualms as the folks who are neutral or opposed, but otherwise it'll be nice to clean the home page up. ArgentuTA164 (talk) 15:26, 17 February 2025 (UTC)
9. I support that we reformat the Main Page structure, assuming the curent drafts are a means to show a rough idea of a future redesign. For a final redesign we would need to make multiple more adjustments.  Perfectionist  (talk) 10:32, 21 February 2025 (UTC)
10. I agree with everyone above. While the Splatfest section from the demonstration takes up too much space, I still appreciate it. The news section looks brief yet smart! Squidtent ~ (Talk) 22:25, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

Oppose

1. There are multiple reasons for my oppose, the first one being that when viewed from desktop the Splatest section from the demonstration has so much empty space taking almost the entirety of my screen.
   Additionally, I personally haven't had any problem with loadtimes while using multiple setups and I actually appreciate having images to illustrate the news section, as well as displaying the rotations and the shop info on the main page.
   In short, I really prefer having dynamic elements that give me fresh info everytime I check the site over static elements that doesn't give new info past the first glance. It's moon [Talk!] 22:17, 2 February 2025 (UTC)
2. Although I'm completely supportive of redesigning the homepage, I must oppose the current proposal. First of all, the Splatfest section takes up a large size of screen that is not fully used (maybe 10% of that section is being used?). Next, the news section leaves a lot to be desired as it is very compressed on the side and, at a quick glance, you don't know if a news has been added (which the current pictures give that feedback). Then, the Big Run section is too far down, and the Schedule section should be given a makeover, although it is true that it should be on a subpage. Finally, once the Splatfests and Big Runs are over, the page should be redesigned so as not to leave those space empty with a homepage without content. In short, the display of the homepage should be redesigned in a better way, trying to make it a page rich in information about the wiki and not as a "news page". If this is considered again in the future, with a better proposal, I could support it; otherwise I can only express my disapproval. A22PG (talk) - 23:22, 2 February 2025 (UTC)
3. That… was a lot. I would’ve chosen neutral but I have a few things to say of my disapproval of this new system. First, the news is completely devoid of any emotion at all, seeming more as an update board than news in my opinion. News is supposed to have some sort of feeling behind it, not just what happened. Second, I really like what you did with the links to both schedules, but the background for that portion is the Splatfest icon…? Why? I’m not too against adding a sub page for schedules but something about it just seems off for some reason, like some part of me disapproves, and for that reason I oppose all proposed changes. (Another note, I’ve been completely unaware of any load time problems. I always chalked it up to wifi issues but if this is the cause, I’m fine with the moved schedules.) These are all my opinions, but either way, Stay Fresh! NewSquidbeakSplatoon (talk) 18:15, 17 February 2025 (UTC)

Neutral

1. I've though about it a bit, and I have concluded that I am neutral in this proposal. I think both the current Main Page and the proposed version have around one or two things I don't like. In the current version, I think that the news section is too big, making the text in each of the individual boxes too wide and thin compared to the rest of the box, leaving a lot of empty space to each side of the image. In the proposed version, I think that the Splatfest box is too big compared to how much space the image and text take up, and I also think that the Splatfest and Big Run/Eggstra Work boxes should be next to each other, like the current version.
   Each version, both the current and proposed, I think could be made better by only changing a few things. For the current Main Page, I would add the stage schedule box from the proposed version and add it to the lower right quadrant, which would also make the news box less wide. For the proposed version, I would swap the places of the news and Big Run/Eggstra Work boxes and make the Splatfest box smaller and the news box bigger, and add images back into the news box like the current version. The Thing 13:24, 3 February 2025 (UTC)
2. I've considered both the original and the proposal, and I am also neutral. Although I do think that moving the schedule to a different page is a good idea, especially for people with worse Wi-Fi connections, I cannot deny how useful being able to open up the main page and see the rotations is. The proposed version's Splatfest box is way to big compared to the rest of the page, but I do like the condensed news section and the dedicated link to the Splatoon 2 rotations. I agree that both pages have issues that could be fixed. TheYoshiGang (talk) 10:36, 12 February 2025 (UTC)
3. My vignettes! My precious vignettes! Joking aside, I'm obviously biased towards the little news thing we've had going over the last few years, so I'd like to keep it if at all possible (or make a less frequent community roundup page thing when the news cycle is going again?), but the other proposals I back. So consider me split down the middle! GloverMist (talk) 22:03, 15 February 2025 (UTC)
4. I think moving the schedules is a good idea, since it will prevent them being loaded unnecessarily. However, I'm neutral about the news section restructure. It will make it easier to add new entries, but I think the current news is a lot more interesting. I also don't think it's necessary to cover regular Splatfests/Eggstra Work in the news, since there are sections for them on other parts of the main page.  GX_64 (talk)  13:22, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

Discussion

• In response to the current opposing and neutral votes' statements, I want to reiterate this change has to do with the structural changes (permanent removal of schedule, retiring of article-based news updates) rather than the resulting aesthetic or stylistic ones seen in the demonstration. Multiple editors have pointed out styling-based changes they'd like to see made to the demo, which, as expressed in the proposal, would be tested before the redesign takes effect (should the proposal pass). Yoshifan52 (talk) 04:04, 4 February 2025 (UTC)