User:FrozenPlum

This is not my wiki, I'm just a Miraheze user helping to get some content moved over. Feel free to reach me on my Talk page.

Content questions

 * What is meant by "you can suppress back" and then "references to a page containing a DPL query by using and/or " on this page: General usage and invocation syntax. I'm thinking may just very poor wording, but I'm not certain. I think this means something similar to: If results in the result references/links to pages, templates, images, or categories; in DPL output, these can be suppressed (an example of this would be to suppress the inclusion of categories to result pages, to prevent the result pages from being similarly categorized).
 * I also have an open GitHub task relating to this because I believe that if such items are wrapped in  or    tags, inclusion/transclusion should probably respect these tags, but that's not currently the case. I'm not certain though, maybe this odd behavior has some utility I'm not aware of. I'd imagine that   or   should be used in the case that users don't want to have to wrap all these items in such tags.


 * In the section, there's reference to the use of filters that I don't understand and can't find a way to make work, I also find no related reference to filters or filtering in the GitHub code, but perhaps there's something I'm missing (or perhaps the explanation of these was not sufficient for understanding).

Self Reminders

 * Still need to work though Special:WantedPages to fix or change any of these that should or should not be there.
 * The pages for submitting a bug report, installing, getting extension (its MW page, github), giving feedback etc are not here yet and where this all goes might get juggled around depending on UO's feedback.
 * There probably should be a page explaining how to enable DPL3 on Miraheze (or linking to MH ManageWiki docs and at least saying what tab the extension is found in).
 * Still need to add notes to areas where there's code but a non-working example (preferably before making the wiki public again, link to info about this to let users know more explicitly why they don't work (yet) and that there's a plan for this also). I have this template for it, but I'm too tired and need a break before I put it everywhere it needs to go to head off any questions about this portion. I still have a few things to fix yet also... if I can get both of these done, then ready to open for business again. Here's the template because I'll forget tomorrow:


 * Note: I still need to go back through to determine which templates/page (if any) require string functions to be enabled for Parser Functions extension. Once determined, should make sure it is also noted everywhere pertinent (some examples may rely on this, it is not default turned on at MH). See Examples for more info.
 * states that the required settings is.
 * states to use.
 * states the syntax is.
 * Also, there's now  that needs to be added to docs (later). It too currently kicks fatal error with imagecontainer.
 * I'm tracking note use at Category:Development.

DPL3 Code Demos
I'm aware almost all use examples are currently broken, this is intentional until they can be replaced because this resource is in development. It is not ideal to have manual pages manifest inside the manual itself (this adds a level of unnecessary complexity for new users). Ideally, it would be optimal to have different example categories to draw from (e.g., fruit, pastries, countries, etc.) that are overly simple, and nearly impossible to confuse with other site content. Some time is needed to determine a solid instructional plan for this, it will likely be similar to the examples used in the Help:Tables page to explain tables simply, on MediaWiki.org. It is best practice to begin with the simplest examples possible to avoid ambiguity and any level of unnecessary complexity. This type of approach shifts the focus from the output to the learning at hand because the concepts used in the examples are highly intuitive and easily understood enough to mostly be ignored. It is best practice to use simple concepts in examples, and only add complexity to the learning itself (not the examples) as the complexity of the task increases. I need some time to think of a solid structure and organization for these "demo pages" (such as category:fruit, category:pastry category:coutries etc). Please be patient, until the examples are corrected, please use the Gamepedia DPL3 Manual.

Examples
It would be good to have "more examples" links in-line, in each parameter's page section, that display a full selection of examples specific to a given parameter. Ideally, these should be named with parameter name first, followed by "example" or "(Example)"; this allows examples to be quickly-skimmable from different entry points (there are practical reasons for this as-is). Different entry points, such as the Examples page and Examples category, will have different organization. Having the key words at the beginning of each page title makes readers do less work (not having to read past "Example:_" every time, to find what they want (they can ignore the word "Example/example" if placed at the end (while I don't love titles like "Parameter:_category" because it mimics a namespace, and if a "Parameters" namespace is created the blank space at the beginning will be removed and parameter name changed to title case, this is the only feasible way to have lowercase parameter names to avoid ambiguity, despite the unorthodox approach).

The logic to rejigging the examples, is to cater to different audiences and entry points to the information:
 * 1) Comprehensive – Audience: Average or infrequent visitors, needing to re-read parameter sections – Basic examples still stay in-line, but each parameter section links to a "more examples" page, for a larger selection of different use cases/examples for the given parameter.
 * 2) Task-based – Audience: Moderate to advanced and/or frequent visitors, already having read the parameter sections. – Allows a fast starting point, or quick copy/paste of example code to adapt, without having to sift though long pages/TOCs (a problem with the current Gamepedia DPL3 Manual).

An idea (that might not work), is that individual examples from "More Examples" may need their own pages, so they can be categorized by parameter use. If categorized by parameter use, these can be transcluded into the other pages mentioned ^ above. I'm still thinking about a system of sorts (and if this is even feasible) for this, it may take some time. Ideally, (also may not be feasible) I'd like a way to get each bit of code to go into a sandbox, with preloaded text, for someone to try manipulating.

From Creating pages with preloaded text for sandbox test links, from example pages. "default=Special:Mypage/parametername test" loads "User:Username/parametername test" (a reminder that if already existing, the preload won't work, and to enter a distinct name other than "test" might work.

The DPL2 site had an Examples category, but the examples had generic names like "Example 002" which made the task-based approach not feasible because you'd either have to click every one, or had to sift though manual sections like the Gamepedia Manual currently. Also, too many in-line examlpes can cause issues. Some titles are a little strange, like "Example:_Display_images_used" but that type of categorization and/or page might be a good idea for when users want to see different ways to display images! Relevant examples, to the task at hand, just need to be way easier to find, which is why I'd need some time to think about approaching this systematically.

Templates using Variables and Loops
The following were found to use other extensions, see Category:Templates to simplify or eliminate for which uses which. Variables extension's future is uncertain, so these templates may need to be simplified, adjusted, or eliminated:

Note: I still need to go back through to determine which requires string functions to be enabled for Parser Functions extension. Once determined, should make sure it is also noted where pertinent.
 * Merged with string functions and need it enabled:
 * len, pos, rpos, sub, replace, explode


 * Not merged, need to make sure not used:
 * pad, urlencode, and urldecode