Talk:Welcome to MEpedia

Tutorial on Portal pages: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Portals

Please update
Hi User:Kmdenmark! I have addressed the four remaining issues listed on this talk page. The mitochondria image has been updated. The Immune system portal now has the requested image. The Pathogen portal now has the requested image. Instead of two confusing search buttons, there is now one search button and a link to "Advanced Search" below it. The links to Portal:People_and_history have been updated. The new version is at User:Pyrrhus/Main. At your convenience, could you copy the contents of User:Pyrrhus/Main to this main page? Thanks again for all your help! Pyrrhus (talk) 21:25, July 20, 2019 (EDT)
 * Done! Kmdenmark (talk) 17:48, July 24, 2019 (EDT)
 * 3 tasks all done and working - History and People links, plus 2 Portal images - they also look great on the dark Timeless skin.

Main page changes aren't quite right - the main search and advanced button both search everywhere - and the advanced button goes to a separate page where you have to type again what you are search for. I don't know the code to fix this. I also think Advanced search should be on its own line ideally, under the main search. I think it might be better to use larger text for the main search button, which will make it wider - the use the "big" tag maybe? The buttons for Random and Popular pages have gone from there - they are now only on the side bar, and that's hidden on mobiles. Was that intentional? notjusttired (talk) 18:50, July 24, 2019 (EDT)
 * Sorry, I don't know if it was intentional or not. Kmdenmark (talk) 14:14, July 30, 2019 (EDT)
 * User:Pyrrhus do you know about the change above? What about larger text too?  ~Njt (talk) 19:44, November 9, 2019 (EST)

Search Full Text clarification
Originally, I was confused by the search box buttons. I didn’t understand the difference between “Try exact match” and “Search full text”. I think it would be clearer to new people if we changed “Search full text” to say “Search anywhere”. (Simply add  to the inputbox.) Pyrrhus (talk) 16:23, 26 April 2019 (EDT)

change mitochondria image -- notjusttired (talk) 09:14, July 6, 2019 (EDT)
Please change the mitochondria image - it currently isn't copyrighted for reuse. Please change the for name to: File:Mitochondria-white.png in the source code view. This was previously raised on Slack and Talk page, without objections. User:Kmdenmark notjusttired (talk) 09:14, July 6, 2019 (EDT)
 * Done - thanks User:Kmdenmark

Change immune and pathogen Portal images (repost from Slack)
Both the Immune system and Pathogens portals have very similar topics for their images even though the images look different (the Pathogens one shows an immune system cell attacking a virus, the immune system shows just a virus stain and it's not very good quality). I think we should also look at replacing both the Immune system and the Pathogens portal images: could be used for Pathogens and  for Immune system - also not sure how other editors view that. User:Pyrrhus has also suggested the Enterovirus drawing. Thoughts? User:JenB User:Kmdenmark User:Canele User:Sisyphus User:DxCFS User:MEandCFS User:JaimeS notjusttired (talk) 10:22, July 6, 2019 (EDT)
 * Done - thanks User:Kmdenmark

Admin request - link to be Portal
Can you link the newly created Portal:Treatments with the image and text on the main page? I've created the content for it but the main page is protected so I can't edit it. Feedback would be appreciated on the layout - wider image section and several unused sections removed User:Kmdenmark User:JaimeS Thanks Njt notjusttired (talk) 18:27, 5 May 2019 (EDT)
 * Done!Kmdenmark (talk) 17:04, 11 May 2019 (EDT)
 * Thanks! notjusttired (talk) 15:02, 14 May 2019 (EDT)

Contents link exposed to general public?
The main page is attractively laid out with portals, and appealing to a viewer wanting to browse through major topics. However, I’m not sure there should be a link to the ‘Contents’ page available to the general public. My impression of the unsightly Contents page is that it is primarily for contributors, not the viewing public. I don’t see a need for a public-facing Contents page when we already have a great Main page such as this one. Perhaps we could move the ‘Contents’ link to the ‘Contribute’ page instead, so that it's available to contributors there? (Another option is to move the link to the left-hand sidebar under "Tools".) Tagging page editors and administrators for discussion: User:Bill User:JenB User:Brettz9 User:JaimeS User:Ollie Pyrrhus (talk) 00:32, 26 January 2019 (EST)

I have now added a link to the Contents page on the Contribute page, so contributors will have it available there. Pyrrhus (talk) 01:15, 17 February 2019 (EST)


 * I would prefer the Contents link to stay - if you know roughly what you want or want to browse through what's available that is the best place to go. notjusttired (talk) 18:17, 26 February 2019 (EST)


 * Thanks so much for the feedback, notjusttired!
 * Pyrrhus (talk) 20:53, 26 February 2019 (EST)

Treatments Portal
Can the main outline page(s) be added for this plus the link to them? I know how to complete some of the content like Featured pictures and Featured articles but there is no skeleton there.

I think a link to clinical trials from here might be helpful too.

Tagging page editors for input User:JenB User:Brettz9 User:JaimeS User:Ollie

notjusttired (talk) 18:17, 26 February 2019 (EST)
 * Now done notjusttired (talk) 10:22, July 6, 2019 (EDT)

New portal pages and some questions
(Repost from Slack) Sorry for the length of this. I've been making some changes to the empty sections/broken links in the Portals. Tagging those who haven't seen this elsewhere. User:JenB User:Kmdenmark User:Canele User:DxCFS User:MEandCFS notjusttired (talk) 20:02, 6 May 2019 (EDT)
 * Portal:Treatments is new and not linked in yet - disclaimer needs shortening though! What wording to use?
 * I've chosen some Categories andTopics for each section for all portals, which has been tricky for those that don't cover much. Edits / ideas welcome.
 * Two new navigation pages - List of Portals and MEpedia Portals  (which I don't like as much).
 * I would like empty sections to be removed from portals (OpenTasks, WikiMedia, Projects, Events plus WikiNews (except for Missing Millions on ME page).
 * Changing pictures to full width and tweaking the layout - see Treatments Portal. Layout is awful on small screens and many images are overlapping other sections.
 * Also the Template:browsebar at the top now of all portals is updated (History and People combined, ME added, ME Portals link). I just need to add Treatments.
 * The Portal:Energy metabolism main picture needs changing due to copyright. Alternatives are these Poss - labeled drawing (can be changed to black and white) or digital mitochondria image in either dark or light   or cropped CPET exercise test image.
 * Done except for mitochondrial image, which has been requested. notjusttired (talk) 10:22, July 6, 2019 (EDT)

Links on lefthand sidebar
The lefthand sidebar of the main page contains links for the public and links for contributors. Perhaps the links for the public should be on top, above the “Donate” button. And the links for contributors should be below the “Donate” button, labelled “Links for editors”? The top links for the public would include “Main page”, “Random page”, "Popular pages". The bottom links for contributors would include "Contents", “Recent changes”, “Help”. (The lower "Tools" section would continue to include “What links here”, “Related changes”, “Upload file”, “Special pages”, etc.) Thoughts? Pyrrhus (talk) 20:20, 28 February 2019 (EST)
 * Fine by me. Possibly add the most popular pages link? Some of those aren't in the current side bar. Tagging some  other editors for views User:MEandCFS User:Kmdenmark User:Canele User:Hip User:Samsara
 * notjusttired (talk) 06:30, 7 March 2019 (EST)
 * Thanks so much for the feedback, User:Notjusttired! The popular pages link could certainly go above the "Donate" button.
 * Do you think this task would go in the Dev queue or the Admin queue?
 * Pyrrhus (talk) 16:34, 12 March 2019 (EDT)
 * I didn't realize there were 2 separate queues. It just needs the order of the lines changing in MediaWiki:Sidebar so I think Admin probably? Tagging others on this too User:JaimeS User:Ollie User:Brettz9 - Njt notjusttired (talk)
 * Thanks Njt! Now all that needs to be done is to replace the contents of MediaWiki:Sidebar with the contents of User:Pyrrhus/MediaWikiSidebar
 * Pyrrhus (talk) 22:34, 17 March 2019 (EDT)
 * Update: I have added 2 more links for the public: List of abbreviations and Glossary
 * I have also added 1 more link for contributors: MEpedia:Pages in need
 * The currently proposed list is available for review here: User:Pyrrhus/MediaWikiSidebar
 * Pyrrhus (talk) 00:00, 29 March 2019 (EDT)
 * Hearing no objections, I am going to request an admin to replace the contents of MediaWiki:Sidebar with the contents of User:Pyrrhus/MediaWikiSidebar
 * Pyrrhus (talk) 12:04, 12 April 2019 (EDT)

Incorrect page counter?
Last year, MEpedia announced on facebook that more than 4500 pages had been created. The page counter on the main page is only 2590. Is the page counter inaccurate or was the facebook count inflated by including category pages, etc? Pyrrhus (talk) 19:15, 7 April 2019 (EDT) The page counter uses a variable called, which counts all pages in the main namespace that are not a redirect or category or talk page, and contain at least one link. This includes stubs containing a link, and disambiguation pages. The Facebook announcement obviously included all pages, including talk pages, categories, user pages, etc. Case closed. Pyrrhus (talk) 23:41, 9 April 2019 (EDT)

Layout change for all portals notjusttired
I think both Selected pictures and Topics should be the full width of the page rather than just across one of the two columns. See different layout on the new Portal:Treatments compared to the current layout on Portal:Nervous system - this will make a huge difference in mobiles and should also grab more attention. User:Kmdenmark User:JaimeS User:JenB User:Pyrrhus User:Canele User:DxCFS User:MEandCFS User:EscapeTheFog User:Sisyphus Thoughts? notjusttired (talk) 15:59, June 7, 2019 (EDT)

Re: Layout change for all portals -- Pyrrhus (talk) 19:23, June 7, 2019 (EDT)

 * Interesting, it’s hard to make decisions on layout when the content can change randomly. I could certainly see why some images might benefit from a full-screen view, especially on a mobile screen.  Not so sure about the “Topics” box, though, that just seems to be a vertical list of text, like the “Categories” box.  Hope this helps.
 * Now done notjusttired (talk) 10:22, July 6, 2019 (EDT)

Change to search box area
Can you please add some code to the first part of the search box code, to help it always be centered? User:Kmdenmark Look for this (without the 'pre'): {| class="wikitable" style="margin: auto; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle Then add in 2 parts, a unique ID, plus the !important (no space before or after the exclamation mark), this should always center the table, regardless of which skin is being used. It's very important to use the double-quote (speech marks) rather than a two quotes, and to put a space before the id= and class= sections. New code should look like this {| id="searchtable" class="wikitable" style="margin: auto; text-align:center!important; vertical-align:middle It will probably look identical after, unless you try pivot skin. Thanks notjusttired (talk) 08:47, June 12, 2019 (EDT)
 * Done! (Hopefully it's done correctly!)Kmdenmark (talk) 17:45, June 12, 2019 (EDT)

History and People Portal links -- notjusttired (talk) 18:18, July 5, 2019 (EDT)
Please change the 2 links for History and People to link to Portal:History_and_People - the link goes to the old page name of "History" at the moment, which is redirected. There's the portal image link and linked the words under it. User:Kmdenmark Thanks notjusttired (talk) 18:18, July 5, 2019 (EDT) Updated notjusttired (talk) 09:04, July 22, 2019 (EDT)

Poor quality treatments image
The yellow pill bottle / container looks a little blurred and doesn't stand out well enough from the white background. We now have several other images of pills uploaded that are better quality, can we use a different image? Besides pills we could think about a prescription bag, doctor's bag or general hospital / pharmacy image. ~Njt (talk) 20:04, November 9, 2019 (EST)

Please review -- Pyrrhus (talk) 15:21, January 18, 2020 (EST)
Hi User:JaimeS, I made some minor changes to the main page, so if you have time, could you review them? Per a talk page suggestion, I replaced the image of pills for the "treatments" portal. Per the Manual of style, I moved the one external link to a "Learn more" section. Thanks. Pyrrhus (talk) 15:21, January 18, 2020 (EST)

Treatments image link problem
The link direct from the image goes to a portal called "Potential treatments", rather than "Treatments". Please can this be fixed. Old code:

File:Pillbottleonblack.jpg|link=Portal:Potential_treatments|Treatments| to

File:Pillbottleonblack.jpg|link=Portal:Treatments|Treatments| User:Kmdenmark User:Pyrrhus Thanks ~Njt (talk) 17:13, April 15, 2020 (PDT)