Wikiversity talk:Main Page/Archive 1

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 * Please archive conversations from September at Wikiversity talk:Main Page/Archive 2
 * No need to tag conversations archived

Spaces
Should a "School of X" be in the Wikiversity namespace (e.g. School of Engineering) or should it be called School of Engineering on its own? Or simply Engineering? --Fang Aili talk 17:26, 15 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Good question. Can you come to the chat? We're all here talking if you want to join us. -- sebmol ? 17:28, 15 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Can't right now, sorry. --Fang Aili talk 17:34, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Other languages
The other languages link to de: links to de:Wikipedia. Is there a way to fix this? --Fang Aili 15:35, 15 August 2006 (UTC)


 * It's being worked on. It depends on Brion's schedule since this requires a direct change in the database. -- sebmol ? 17:24, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

no www.wikiversity.org yet
FYI: There's no http://www.wikiversity.org yet... Katpatuka11:00, 17 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I think Brion or other technical developers will need to fix this, the page has been a domain name placeholder for at least a year so it predates our database wiki. He may be waiting for a preliminary logo. I suggest we request an immediate fix using the mortar board logo in the center with various languages around it as in the www.wikipedia.org portal. It seems good enough while we wait for logo designers to show and have a competition. Mirwin 03:04, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Page organization
I re-organized the layout of the main page. Done now.

To do (and "done" by various editors): Doug 18:52, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
 * edit the browse box (indent text -- remove rule line?)
 * Done - changed "open-content" to "free-content". decide on whether to use "free-content" or "open-content" in several places on page
 * Done - revise the links section (into 2 columns?).
 * Done - "department" changed to "subject". while "department" is used on wikibooks in the same manner as on main page, is this the correct term? (department usually means something more specific like physics or anthropology) would "study areas" be better?

PS. In the "Help develop Wikiversity!" box, an invitation could be made to edit the main page as in:
 * Help with Main Page/Design

A "stable" version of this page could be uploaded regularly. Or, along lines (less ponderously so) of the en.Wikipedia main page revision this Spring, perhaps revisions could be consensed/voted on by admins and/or all users. Doug 19:36, 15 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Good idea. It is after all the first page people see so it should always be in a presentable condition. I've moved the design page to Main Page/Design since it doesn't really belong into the main namespace. -- sebmol ? 16:09, 16 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Bad idea. It hampers non administrative editors.  Trash or vandalism on the main page will not damage a learning institution more than letting an initial unofficial clique get in the habit off controlling site activities.   Consider a brick in mortar.   When someone spray paints or taggs the administrative centers walls or a Department Head's car is all work and study at the institution immediately suspended and control handed over to the janitors or one Dept Head?  It is theoretically possible to define a human expert in encyclopedias, dictionaries, or publishing formats and procedures.  It is self evidently impossible to find or create an expert in all fields of human learning. Mirwin 02:41, 18 August 2006 (UTC)


 * The intent of the design page is to include everyone's input. A process for somehow regularly loading revisions doesn't exclude any input. The design page is a good idea for when it becomes necessary to protect the main page because of increasing traffic, just is done on Wikipedia now. This is a probability. I also feel it is a good idea to implement a design page for all edits soon because it allows people with page layout experience to clean up gently the page layout impact of substantial content edits (which often can mess up the graphical aspects of page layout) before going to the main page (and not even having the final say -- just a clean up that can be revised until page reaches a lull/stability for a day or two) -- without subtracting content or removing emphasis. Perhaps an example of this in practice for a limited time frame would demonstrate the benefits -- then the community could choose. Such a process would be a boon to the community and project - by keeping the design page attractive and user friendly. If people want to play with alternate page layouts, that is great and can be done better done on alternate design subpages where compromises and choices can be worked out. The wiki free form process on the main design page would be there -- supplemented by some planning subpages for more focused discussion of examples. Doug 01:32, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

I have a problem with calling one of the schools "Professions". Professions can be found in all the other schools!! Also, I feel that Education should be one of the major Schools.--Ningbojoe 06:03, 19 August 2006 (UTC)


 * I thought the same thing about "professions" when I was editing some of content of that subsection. A more appropriate label for that category will surely pop up sometime. :) Education could be one of the Schools. So could others. I expect the list may grow longer... :) Doug 01:32, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Main page mission statement

 * Create and host open-content, multimedia learning materials and resources, for all age groups in all languages

Isn't this the mission statement for Wikibooks? Is there a link to the resolution from the board? - Amgine 22:11, 15 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Yes, here: Wikimedia Foundation approval of the project
 * The statement you quote reflects part of the mission of Wikiversity. Another major part of the mission is to create learning communities. As I understand it, Wikiversity projects can be partly based on Wikibooks in the same way that Wikibooks are sometimes partly based on Wikipedia articles. However, Wikiversity can be much more than a collection of curricula; it can be a network of learning communities, a creative university/multiversity without walls. --Doug 00:01, 16 August 2006 (UTC)


 * No. The effective mission of the Wikibooks project is to create textbooks.  A lot of other material people have typed in is routinely archived and deleted or perhaps merely deleted.  I am curious Amgine.  Do you intend to participate here at Wikiversity or do you view yourself as an interested Wikimedia Foundation member playing hall monitor to make sure we conform strictly to the letter of the approved proposal?  Are you a regular at Wikibooks concerned that we may host ebooks and other online materials that Wikibooks declines to host as outside their narror definition of what someone may use as a textbook or learning reference manual?  Mirwin 02:52, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Vandalism
Due to a wayward idiot, this page (the main page, not the talk page) is now being semi-protected against edits by anonymous users. I would imagine after a couple of weeks when this pages gets settled down that there will be no major reason to continue to edit this page, and it will turn to sysop-only edit protection.

If there are problems that you experience with editing the main page, please drop a line here and let us know what you want to see changed. --Robert Horning 04:32, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Move
Uh, why move this page? It's the *Main Page* :-) Cormaggio 16:00, 16 August 2006 (UTC)


 * I moved it to keep the purposes of the namespaces clear. If the main namespace is meant for learning and research materials, Main Page doesn't really fit into it. -- sebmol ? 16:33, 16 August 2006 (UTC)


 * I think it is only by historical tradition that wiki main pages are in the main namespace. The idea of having an introductory main page came before the idea of having a project namespace to hold the meta-pages about the project. I support having the main page be in a "meta namespace" such as the wikiversity namespace. Technically, I wonder if the main page should be thought of as a portal. --JWSchmidt 16:39, 16 August 2006 (UTC)


 * By having Main Page as a redirect, we are automatically making practically everyone entering the project coming into a redirect. I just don't think that's good design. Yes, the main page is many things - a portal, a meta page - but, most importantly, it is an introduction to the project. Why immediately scupper the design of the page by keeping to a strict plan of what a particular namespace is? *No* other project has a redirect from Main Page - and I don't think it's purely an historical thing either. Cormaggio 17:06, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
 * What redirect? It's fixed. ;-) -- sebmol ? 17:20, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
 * No, I mean, that you see underneath the page title: "Redirected from Main Page" - I just don't think it looks good. Cormaggio 17:29, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
 * You shouldn't see that anymore. Try entering just the URL or click on the image on the left. It should go straight to Wikiversity:Main Page without redirect. -- sebmol ? 17:30, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Ah, so it is :-) Cormaggio 17:37, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
 * So it's ok? -- sebmol ? 17:39, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
 * That redirect sign is back, by the way - not sure if it's something to do with the vandalism.. Cormaggio 07:39, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Maybe the "redirect sign" is seen if you came from Main Page to Main Page. --JWSchmidt 09:10, 19 August 2006 (UTC)
 * What I mean by the redirect sign is simply the words "redirected from Main Page", which I get when I type http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Main_Page into a browser (or follow that link, which I've bookmarked). I wonder how it is for people coming in on a link from any of our sister projects..? Cormaggio 09:41, 19 August 2006 (UTC)
 * If they come through http://en.wikiversity.org/ they won't see a Redirect. If on a sister project the link is made like this:, they will also not see the redirect. I would suggest you adjust your browser so that it links to http://en.wikiversity.org/ with nothing after the slash. -- sebmol ? 09:47, 19 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Ok, will do. Back to dissertation-land for me :-) Cormaggio 09:53, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Languages without content
...include Esperanto, Netherlands, and Japanese. Should they be taken off the main page? I don't see any use for them over any other languages that have no content. 219.255.192.201 19:02, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Link to DE
Can you change the link to DE from Deutsch to Deutsch?

I think the second way looks better.

-- MichaelFrey 17:11, 18 August 2006 (UTC)


 * I fixed all of the links from external to internal links. I agree, they look better that way.  I think I messed up the Japanese link, so if anybody knows where in ja.wikibooks the Japanese Wikiversity pages are, it would be appreciated.  --Robert Horning 06:12, 19 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Thanks :-) -- MichaelFrey 18:04, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Welcoming Committee
Do we have a welcoming committee here yet? If not, how should one be started? (Or, alternately, would it be appropriate to start one?) --Qwerty 00:28, 20 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Please start welcoming committee. There is this: --JWSchmidt 21:45, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Welcome page
I've just created Welcome, newcomers and i suggest it be linked to in the Main Page title, just as the other projects are. Can an admin please do this? - Trevor MacInnis 22:31, 20 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Done. --JWSchmidt 22:41, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

What is up with this skin?
What's up with the rounded edges of this skin? It totally does not fit in with any of the other English Wikimedia projects. It looks plain ridiculous, especially since the rounded edges are not anti-aliased. I believe that it should be changed back to normal. 85.147.58.212 21:41, 20 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Each Wikimedia project determines its look separately. If you do not like the rounded edges, you are free to register and adjust your Monobook.css. -- sebmol ? 21:44, 20 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Ah, so you're the admin who made the change, I see. So instead of actually taking the time to discuss this change with me, you simply say "shut up and make your own exclusive override if you want to". This is terrible! You just made this change because you like it, and you don't seem to care about the fact that square edges have become the standard across almost all Wikimedia projects. What is your reason to do this? What do rounded corners add, besides your personal opinion of design? I am a graphic designer and I cannot fathom what rounded corners could possibly add. All they do is show how utterly clueless browsers are at rendering rounded corners. It's all jaggy and aliased, and there are even a few "gaps" in there. Anyway, if you really like this change, then it's okay to add it as you're legally entitled to do so (as admin) but please at least have the decency to discuss it rather than just telling people to go make their own override. 85.147.58.212 21:48, 20 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I do have the decency to discuss it. But if you're already making the point that it looks "plain ridiculous", what's the point of dicussion? You have not made any contributions to this project yet you feel the need to call something that meets the consensus of the project ridiculous. If you expect AGF, you have to start by asking, not judging. -- sebmol ? 21:53, 20 August 2006 (UTC)
 * P.S. Rounded corners do exist in Wikimedia projects, Wikiversity is certainly not the only one. It's also been around for a few days without anybody complaining. Rather the opposite. -- sebmol ? 21:53, 20 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I just gave you plenty of reasons if you'll read my previous message.
 * Jaggy edges
 * Bad browser support
 * Not the standard (consistency is important for Mediawiki as a whole)
 * Not the way the Monobook skin was meant to look
 * I have not contributed to this project yet (I did vote for it to be started, though) but I believe that there is no problem with me pointing out what I believe to be a problem of this site. In a way, that is contributing as well. Also, you tell me one single other English Wikimedia project that also has rounded edges. There are none. This was my point. I realize there are non-English Wikimedia projects that do. I also cannot see how this decision can prevail in the long run, seen as how the other Wikimedia projects are much larger than this one, and any attempt to add rounded corners there would immediately be rejected via the Snowball clause. 85.147.58.212 21:58, 20 August 2006 (UTC)
 * you are right, they are ugly. Still, that's not the end of the world, or even this project. If this is going to fly, there will be more than enough people to talk it over anyway, at length (and as soon as there are, the round corners will go out the window of course), and if it isn't, nobody will care about it anyway. 83.78.187.95 22:38, 20 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I don't even know what these rounded corners are - I've never seen any difference between all other WMF projects. What skin are you talking about? But please, whoever you are, don't get discouraged from discussing changes - for general issues, please bring them up on the Colloquium. Thanks. Cormaggio 12:05, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Cormaggio, view the wiki in a Mozilla-based browser like Firefox. You'll see that the global CSS has been edited to force tab and box corners to be rounded, among other things. robchurch | talk 12:10, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

If you don't like the rounded corners
You can have the default square ones instead by adding the following lines to your monobook.css: .pBody { -moz-border-radius-topright:0em; -moz-border-radius-bottomright:0em; }
 * 1) p-cactions ul li, #p-cactions ul li a { -moz-border-radius-topleft:0em; -moz-border-radius-topright:0em; }
 * 2) content { -moz-border-radius-bottomleft:0em; }

– Gurch 10:54, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

BTW, Internet Explorer ignores "-moz-" declarations anyway because they are Mozilla experimental stuff. That's why they start with "-moz-". I don't use IE myself and don't mind a bit of Mozilla activism. Just FYI, :-) Rogerhc 19:44, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

Move main page content to subpages?
I think there is too much information on the front page: 4 screen fulls.

I reorganized some of the content on the main page. We could reduce content by putting the "Services" section (which is too long for front page) and moving the "Background and Proposals" section to separate pages. Then, we can put links on the front page to those. This would get down to about 3 screen fulls. Reswik 01:46, 22 August 2006 (UTC)


 * I made the edits suggested here and created the 2 new subpages. I think this improves the front page. With editing work, I think the presentation of the information on the subpages will much improve. Reswik 03:49, 22 August 2006 (UTC)


 * I think the morphing and move of the "Background and Proposals" main page sub-section into a new History of Wikiversity page (linked on main page) has some potential for generating insight and involvement. It only needs a good intro and a story line. Reswik 04:04, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

New page layout?
This looks better: User:Trevor MacInnis/MainPage, hit it on a random page--134.48.245.4 21:41, 21 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Not sure. I think some of the elements of this revised page are interesting but the bold orange colors and rounded graphics don't appeal to my eye. Reswik 01:46, 22 August 2006 (UTC)


 * I've changes to more muted colors, is that any better? - Trevor MacInnis 15:15, 22 August 2006 (UTC)


 * This looks better. I like some of the ways you have rearranged things. Other things probably could be adjusted. Some suggestions -->

Suggestions for your draft page:
 * Move the sister projects back down to horizontal bar at bottom.
 * Replace the round corners with square ones
 * Drop the entire services section and just have a link -- too much content
 * Put Other areas above Library and rename Other areas to something like "Communications and Community"
 * Try a version without the little icons in the middle column. not sure abou those.

This is good work. I wonder what others think. Thanks, Reswik 15:54, 22 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Ps. I was thinking today that it would be interesting to turn the main page text blocks into templates. Then we might be able to design different skins, fitting in the templates (with a few template alternates perhaps) as needed. Then, the skins can be options for viewing the current template content. What do you think? Heck, folks could design their own skins and portals -- many of them. We could vote on what skin to be default at any one time. Reswik 23:55, 22 August 2006 (UTC)


 * I've implemented your comments, and the text block skin is basically what I'm doing with the page (see:Template:TrevorMainPageBox). - Trevor MacInnis 03:18, 23 August 2006 (UTC)


 * I did not like it at first. It was a bit garish to my eye and I could not easily find stuff I was previously using.  I noticed that after I systematically located the old links I was depending on knowing where they were then the whole thing settled in nicely.  The old one looks drab now! lol  Nice work!  Mirwin 06:56, 23 August 2006 (UTC)


 * I think this is a very nice design. Let's implement the text block templates so we can have option to use more than one skin -- if no one objects -- guess we can go back if they do.  With more tweaking and polish, I think the very plain current design and your colorful and creative design can both improve further. However, I think we could upload your design now without a vote, if no one objects. I think I'll mention that as a 24 hour thing for feedback. OK? Reswik 18:06, 23 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Ooops, I think the other language versions of Wikiversity were left out of your design (unless I missed them). But, those are easy enough to add. I'm doing so at bottom of your design page. Below, I made a new post to call for approval to upload your design soon. Reswik 18:17, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
 * A non-table Layout: click here

Motto?
Are we going to create an equivalent of the catchy-but-cheesy-yet-perhaps-useful slogan that they have in Wikipedia? Yes, I am talking about a “Welcome to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit” kind of thing. An obvious advantage of something like that is to remove some of the pressure already placed on defying the mission of wikiversity. Maybe a combination of a good graphic logo, a banner along the lines of “the free encyclopedia”, and a promotional slogan just like “that anyone can edit” could help in clarifying what this thing is all about. After all, many universities out there have silly Latin mottos and they even put them on t-shirts. Perhaps we should include banner proposals in the logo contest. What do you think?Aldenis 23:56, 22 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Refine Wikiversity mission <--> Develop slogan/motto. We are working on the first step of this here -- the idea is first to refine our mission statement, from which and on the basis of which then we will all together try various slogans/mottos:  Wikiversity mission.  But, perhaps this is to complex. Refining  might be something we can do in tandem (hence the double arrow above <-->) -- perhaps by writing up a bunch of very short mission statements and then both translating those into slogans and refining mission through insights. Whatever works! Feel free to dive in there to try that... I was thinking of inviting people to lob short missions/slogans onto that page. Reswik 00:24, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

A suggestion for Wikiversity motto "Opening minds through open learning". Mos87


 * Howabout: "Reasonably free thinking, freely pursued." or "Free thinkers learn free." or "Pursue free thinking freely." or we could request Wikibooks find a new and use theirs: "Learn free, think free." or to further confuse the ongoing "but what is Wikiversity exactly" issue we could go with: "Think freely, but learn free."  or howabout:  "Free wiki mentors, learn freely."  Mirwin 07:13, 23 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Well, the revise the mission page is not working so far -- so perhaps we need a motto contest page, as suggested in the post below. Reswik 13:33, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Motto and slogan contest
Please list your suggestions for mottos and slogans here: Motto and slogan contest.

The short motto will go with our logo (yet to be chosen) for listing on wikimedia sister projects. The slogan or descriptive phrase will go on the top of our main page with "Welcome to Wikiversity."

A simple contest process is suggested:
 * list as many mottos and slogans as you wish
 * add *one* vote for one motto and one slogan
 * feel free to change vote and add mottos at any time.
 * winners are the motto and the slogan with strong majority of votes. (there may need to be a run off if a strong majority is not achieved).
 * voting ends in 15 days: 5:00 pm GMT September 7, 2006.

We may use ideas from the motto and slogan contest to help refine the Wikiversity mission. Feel free to post mission statement revisions there too. --Reswik 13:32, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

What's the aim of Wikiversity?
I don't understand, what is the difference between Wikiversity and Wikibooks? Under Wikiversity/Modified project proposal I learn, that it is about learning about a topic (Wikiversity) and reading about a topic (Wikibooks). But this "difference" seems a bit made-up to me. Wikibooks at the moment features the book Movie Making Manual. A how-to on movie making. What would be the difference to a course "film making" or "movie making" on Wikiversity? Okay, I see that a Wikiversity maybe would have a slightly other focus on some aspects, but is it useful to create two independant projects? I can't think, that this was not a topic already before, so please point me to the discussion (but if it is a typical endless wiki discussion, I would be happy if you could give an outline of the main arguments, that were crucial to the decide). --84.143.6.71 19:55, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Just take some time here and relax for a moment. Yes, this was a major criticism to the proposal, although if you look at b:Wikibooks:Votes for deletion/Wikiversity you will see at least some of the justifications to delete Wikiversity in the first place, and also see some replies and rebuttals at Wikiversity/Vote/en.  This is certainly an issue that has been rehashed multiple times and deserves FAQ level answers.  --Robert Horning 23:34, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Compare What is Wikibooks to Wikiversity project proposal. The content of Wikibooks is textbooks. The content of Wikiversity does not include textbooks. --JWSchmidt 03:11, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
 * It is of course possible to fork an FDL book and add features that the Wikibook's project has decided it will not allow authors to use.  For example, extensive links within text materials.  They  have decided they wish to be closer to formal textbooks easy to make print ready than online sets of notes.  Extensive problem sets or quizzes.  In line clickable animation or audio or analysis programs or other electronic extenstions available to a properly equipped computer via data on same CD or the internet.  An example would be an enginneering text with clickable access to stress/thermal analysis finite element packages or other numerical methods.  Mirwin 02:48, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

MIT has a program known as OCW(Open Course Ware) which provides course materials online for nearly all of the courses currently offered at MIT and for a select few courses even includes video lectures. I was wondering if anyone was aware of whether or not it would be possible to integrate these already available resources into the Wikiversity project? I feel that it would be a waste of time, that could be better spent on improving and supplementing these resources, to recreate them. Mos87


 * It is unfortunate but MIT's OCW program is under a special MIT license that is incompatible with the GNU FDL we are using. MIT is giving away the free use of the material via the Internet.  It is not allowing others to download and modify the materials as they see fit.  We can however use the materials at MIT for research and then include any distilled understanding of the subject gained here at Wikiverisity as long as the user is careful to use his own wording, examples, creativity to express the understanding gained at MIT's web site. Mirwin 06:44, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Why cannot Wikiversity give a certificate or start a certificate or diploma program on its own? The students can view the content, read it, download books, after that the exams should be conducted. That is what I feel Rich_richie

New banner graphic
There are 4 white guys (yes?) in the banner at the top of the main page:. That won't do. Please fix. --Doug 03:52, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Yes. And one of them is holding a big stick and pointing his finger :-) Thanks for raising this, Doug. Cormaggio 10:35, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Actually, I think it's a quill, rather than a stick - but I still advocate a better image for the main page - something more along the lines of "learning together". Cormaggio 11:22, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Maybe a simple stylized image of a galaxy would work -- this being in part a metaphor for many bright lights shining and living together and also a metaphor for exploring the universe? Until a banner more representative and less male and euro-centric (which only fits maybe 10% of the global population) is created, is a banner needed? Is one needed at all? Also, I question the use of a graduation hat as the WV logo if the statement of what WV is not includes not granting degrees. Perhaps a galaxy could be a logo option for WV. Doug 13:24, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Oh yes, the logo is wrong - I just put something there as a placeholder (to replace Wikipedia's logo, which was there originally), with the full intention of opening a logo contest to decide our real identity :-). There have already been a few suggestions - so maybe we should get going on it soon - I know my girlfriend is keen to have a go. As for the banner image, no, we don't need one - though images are useful - I'll pooch around for something better.. Cormaggio 16:14, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Yah, some graphic or photo would be nice up top. What you have now is better. It might be hard to find a banner that makes everyone happy by various criteria. A pluralistic option: Perhaps we could rotate (even automate the rotation) of the top graphic amongst a dozen or two dozen photos (or more) of people from different cultures in schooling/learning/research contexts -- one could have a blurb about the inclusive nature of wikiversity and reaching out to many contexts -- off and online. A logo contest soon sounds good. Doug 16:45, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Interesting. How do we know they are "white"?  My impression was Spanish from about the 1600s.  Conquistadors learning how to get to the "New World".  By all means pick something politically correct for China and North Korea.   Maybe a CD or IC under the arm of a scholar escaping from Alexandria burning?  Maybe the scholar could be plugging a light fiber into the internet?  Mirwin 02:58, 18 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Perhaps someone knows the identities of the persons in the orginal picture but I couldn't be sure -- that is why I wrote "yes?" with a question mark above. We can't be sure they are all guys either -- another reason I wrote "yes?". But, something that looks like it could be 4 white people who happen to be all guys (yes? no?) sends the wrong message. I hope we have a community process to develop and pick a graphic. Doug 01:42, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

I'll have to say that this is something that needs to be fixed again, as the current image is something that is for a classroom in South Africa and it doesn't make it all that clear. Of course, we could do a "rotating" image that would have something from different regions of the world that would rotate in and out depending on the day of the week. That might show a little more diversity anyway. Kinda like the "pic of the day" images. --Robert Horning 04:18, 18 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I see this as early ranging fire lacking proven ballistic analog computers. A few more attempts and we should start tweaking newcomer's interests .... say that could me in that picture! Mirwin 06:47, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Logo
Lose the "Beta" from the logo. Wiki-based projects are by definition never finished, so "beta" labels are unnecessary. (We might as well label all the projects "beta" if they were). Also, I'm sure there must be a better colour than bright blue to use for the name. Black, or Wikimedia grey, perhaps? – Gurch 10:39, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
 * The board decided, that this project is in beta mode for 6 months so we can't really just get rid of it. The logo is indeed not the best one I've ever seen; we're planning on having a logo competition soon however. -- sebmol ? 11:00, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Can someone please organise this logo contest? Meta Logo is probably the best place. Thanks. (FWIW, I agree that the current logo is bad - for more reasons than just the colours.) Oh, and yes, the "beta" should be there for the beginning, as it was for Wikinews in its beta phase. Also agreed that the same could still be done for Wikipedia ;-) Cormaggio 12:00, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I've changed the logo (with a bit of help) - though this should not stop us from making a new one. Please continue... Cormaggio 12:50, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Those colours are definitely better – thanks Cormaggio. A logo design discussion is now underway at Wikiversity/logo, submit any ideas there – Gurch 12:26, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Portal Addition
I created a Fine Arts portal, and since the schools'll have (at the very least shells) functioning pages as soon as I get my 4 hours of sleep, I was wondering if someone with the access wouldn't mind putting the portal up amongst the other schools on the main page. +Bozaloshtsh 08:38, 30 August 2006 (UTC)
 * done - Trevor MacInnis 16:06, 30 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Great, thanks. +Bozaloshtsh 16:19, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

ERROR on front page
I registered for an account but cannot edit the front page. There is an error in the link to subscribe to the wikiversity mailing list. The URL should be: http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikiversity-l

p.s. I created the first draft of the Wikiversity front page like two years ago. I had to quit working on it while I finished my phd, but I'm glad this project finally got approved and I hope to contribute to it. DouglasHolton 16:44, 17 September 2006 (UTC)


 * I fixed it. Thanks for the hint. I'm looking forward to your contributions. -- sebmol ? 18:29, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

Unlock the Main page
Greetings all! I think we need to make the Main page more immediately visually accessible - in other words, what Wikiversity is and what you can do there. I'm not such a whizz at Mediawiki design, so I'd appreciate any help in making a better page layout. I can then help with adding and creating links.. Cormaggio 12:30, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Main page (lowercase p) should be the name of Wikiversity's Main page. --Rogerhc 19:09, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 1) Wikiversity page naming conventions suggest Main page, not Main Page. Someone with admin status please make page lowercase.
 * 2) Wikiversity's front door belongs at the front -- in the main namespace -- not burried in the Wikiversity: namespace. Someone with admin status please make it so.

Is it really necessary to protect the main page in its first few days of existence? --Fang Aili talk 17:20, 15 August 2006 (UTC)


 * I just undid it, but it should probably be redone tonight whenever the last admin goes to bed. Right now there are plenty around to take care of any vandalism that may happen. -- sebmol ? 17:23, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Sounds good. --Fang Aili talk 17:24, 15 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Main Page/Design could be used for edits. This idea is discussed in Page organization subsection below. Doug 19:37, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Unlock the Main Page please. Alternatively, please give me admin power so that I can edit it. Thanks. --Rogerhc 00:50, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * What's wrong with it? The main page is open for editing by all users, but the pieces are templated in from other locations.--Rayc 00:57, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Thank you for pointing this out; I hadn't thought of that. I am satisfied to edit the relevant template and can find it. I'd like to move some pages so that their titles follow the lowercase second and subsequent words, except proper nouns naming convention and update links to them in the template. If the templates are not locked I will do so another day. Ran out of time today. Thanks! :-) Rogerhc 06:25, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Why do you want to do that? -- sebmol ? 08:04, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * See Wikiversity_talk:Naming_conventions for why. :-) Rogerhc 18:44, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * I'm sorry but I don't agree with that reasoning. Personally, I prefer title case because it's what people are used to when reading titles. That may not be a very strong argument but neither are the ones for lower case that I've seen at that page. Anyway, I'm also not a fan of someone writing a rule that differs from convention and subsequently referring to it as the basis for changing things. Nor do I find it particularly appealing to run around policing page titles and section headings. -- sebmol ? 21:37, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * I don't see why it has a title at all. The main page at wikipedia is a special page that doesn't even have a title.--Rayc 23:15, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Actually, it does but it's hidden through some clever scripting. Is that done at any other Wikimedia project besides en-WP? -- sebmol ? 07:33, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

Images on Main page
Can we protect the image that is on the main page as well? --HappyCamper 17:38, 23 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Image:Discoveryclassroom.jpg -- I like this woman and girl at a computer image on the Main page. Thanks for putting it up! Very nice. --Rogerhc 05:05, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Image:Missione_del_Guaricano-bimbi_a_scuola.jpg -- This one is great, too. Nice work. --Rogerhc 23:25, 3 October 2006 (UTC)


 * I've changed some other ones (ie Image:ScienceOlympiad.jpg and Image:Learning bongos.jpg), mainly because I felt that the ones that I replaced (Image:Computer lab showing desktop PCs warwick.jpg and Image:Internetcafe.png) didn't reflect learning of any kind. I'd also prefer to find a 'better' lecturer than the founder of IKEA for Friday's image, but maybe that's just my non-business personality talking... Cormaggio 10:40, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Should we have images that "reflect learning of any kind" on the main page of Wikiversity? Wikiversity is about using computer-based technology to support learning. An image showing people using comuters makes me think of online learning by Wikiversity participants. I have been trying to keep a record of past and current main page images. --JWSchmidt 12:56, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
 * The images I replaced were of 1) an empty room of computers (ie no people, no learning), and 2) an image of an internet cafe (where the content on the computers looked a bit more like gaming than learning). Now, obviously, gaming can include learning and vice versa, and people can learn (formally and informally) whilst in internet cafes, but I just didn't (personally) feel that it was a good image for someone to see, in an image, what Wikiversity was about. Maybe a better image from an internet cafe might be better? But, anyway, thanks for keeping that list - that's useful. Cormaggio 20:51, 4 October 2006 (UTC)