Template talk:Did you know main

Rotating the facts

I don't think we have a proper rotation system in place for the "Did you know..." section on the home page. I've just rotated the facts now partly due to demand, partly due to them being there for a while;. I think we need an organised rotation system. What do you guys think would be a good interval for rotating the facts? I'm thinking every 2 weeks would work well, we'd have to document when they were last rotated as we do it - something which isn't currently done. What do you guys think? -RJ 17:51, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

I won't lie, I don't pay attention to it very often seeing as the same ones were there for ages. If you could make it so different ones were displayed every time, that'd be grand. It'd also let us see what are interesting tidbits and what isn't! --Vaught 18:18, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Wikis do have a random function, using <choose> and <option> tags. We can use them to make a random fact appear every time the page is loaded (maybe not every time, because of transclution physics). The problem is that it can only pick one thing at a time. Toomai Glittershine 22:51, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Why not just group them together in groups of ten or so, as they are now, and randomly select a set? -Nerdboy 00:49, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

That's a brilliant idea, thanks. I will look further into it tomorrow. -RJ 01:13, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

I too like this idea. I thought something like this was in place at one point back before the wiki went official, but I could be making that up. Either way, I think random facts would be great, saves it from the need to rotate them. Can use the full list and not have to "retire" facts unless they are no longer true or obsolete - K-Mac 18:06, 13 November 2010 (UTC)

One of the things I used to notice was that sometimes the facts would repeat, and it would get weird because I would think, "Didn't I seen that fact on the front page six months ago?" I think a two-week rotation would be just about right, possibly three weeks, but if it's possible, maybe each individual fact should be kept track of, and once taken off the front page, given lower priority below facts that have yet to grace the front page. --LordKelvin 04:51, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

In regards to the <choose> and <option>, that requires an extension that we do not have. I will put in a technical request for it because I think that would be the best way of displaying facts in the "Did you know..." section. -RJ 17:31, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

I don't know anything about the technical aspects of this, but as a person who frequents the wiki I think that it would make the main page significantly more interesting if you changed out the facts. Would it really be that hard to do? Can't we just designate a few people to manually do it?MR SLIN 13:13, 14 November 2010 (UTC)

 + I look there for interesting facts, but it has become the same old interesting facts, hence they are no longer interesting. Either someone assigned to rotate them, or code it to be random, perhaps each day. And to prevent too much blocky randomness, it could have 10 seperate times it calls the random function, so each fact is randomly chosen from the list, rather than seeing groups of facts. --Kurathedog 04:52, 17 November 2010 (UTC)

I can set up a pseudo-random rotation right now. The random extension is requested but the IT team at Valve are always busy so it might be a wait. -- Pilk _(talk) 22:39, 27 November 2010 (UTC)

Incorrect link

• ...that in the Razorback update, the Dead Ringer can be seen in the 'dead' Spy's hand before it was officially announced?[1]

This is the right oneKalev 22:34, 13 November 2010 (UTC)

Fixed, thanks. -RJ 23:10, 13 November 2010 (UTC)

• ...that in Sam & Max 304: Beyond the Alley of the Dolls, a BLU Dispenser makes a cameo appearance [2]?

This link probably used to work, but now shows an image saying "This popular image is available at: bit.ly/9ISrfy", and typing in that link redirects you right back to the Imageshack page. Could someone update this, and not use Imageshack this time? It's really a terrible host, I'm surprised it's still in use. This is why Wikis allow images to be uploaded directly to them. The Riet 08:09, 18 June 2011 (UTC)

I just uploaded a new image for the Sam & Max factoid and updated the corresponding entry in the main "did you know" page to link to it. But that doesn't actually change the version that is currently displayed on the main page of the wiki (which I gather is just a copy of the original factoid)... can someone with the ability to edit this template correct the one on the main page to match the new edit I just made to the original entry on this page? Noibn 13:53, 11 July 2011 (PDT)

I fixed it, thanks for the assist! -- Firestorm 14:22, 11 July 2011 (PDT)

Thank you both so very much! The Riet 04:08, 26 July 2011 (PDT)

Blank line between every item

Moderators, could you remove the blank lines between every item of this list? Blank lines make MediaWiki engine generate 1 list per list item (<ul><li>item 1</li></ul><ul><li>item 2</li></ul><ul><li>item 3</li></ul>), creating large and useless code. If you remove the blank lines, everything will be in a single list - <ul><li>item 1</li><li>item 2</li><li>item 3</li></ul>. SiPlus 03:30, 7 January 2012 (PST)

Thunder Mountain - pool with red mercenaries

There is a mistake - this pool is on the stage 2, not on the first stage (and not on the first red spawn). Also the fact itself duplicate the previously fact:

• that there is a swimming pool behind the RED team's spawn area in Stage B of Thunder Mountain?

So I suggest to remove it. -askarmuk, C? 09:00, 8 May 2012 (PDT)

 Done  –  Epic Eric (T | C) 10:32, 8 May 2012 (PDT)

Thanks. -askarmuk, C? 02:06, 9 May 2012 (PDT)