User blog:Deathstalker666/How the Wikia Is Supposed to Look

Earlier this year, Wikia attempted to "fix" the problem of different platforms seeing different results, meaning that templates would be oddly spaced or that things would just not be compatible. In an attempt to make things work better for everyone, they ended up messing up some of the stuff on our Wikia, with the justification that it was always broken. The problem with this argument is that we have a small community and that the entire community had absolutely no problems with viewing content prior to this change. Luckily, most of the problems could be fixed up by modifying the CSS. The problem is that some of the fixes would go against Wikia's Terms of Service, meaning that not all intended changes could be indeed be done.

The fixes that are not prohibited by Wikia are quite well enough for a general viewing. However, the decreased space bugs me since I use a widescreen monitor and should therefore be able to see more of the text than someone on a smaller monitor. I also got more bugged by the amount of empty space on the Wikia, plus some extra little details that just tended to be annoyances for someone that spends a lot of time here. Perhaps it was similar to what we started with, but I had already adjusted the templates to fit a certain scale and so the limitation of not being able to keep certain lines of CSS would have resulted in a lot of reversions that I did not bother to make.

Most of you use what Wikia has permitted in the CSS. Viewers that don't log in have no way to change this view, meaning that they are required to view the Wikia with no personal customizations. As I have said, this is not a deterrent, I am unsure if anyone else besides myself has even been viewing the Wikia differently from the default setup, meaning that the lack of complaints must mean that the viewing experience is not terrible in such a form. Still, I find myself unable to view the Wikia like such after becoming accustomed to the custom settings I have. This lack of complaints or other mentions has resulted in me not bothering to talk about my custom settings or even suggest an alternative to the current viewing experience. Recently, I have decided I should share it with any interested, as it is the view I use when creating all pages. Ironically, by Wikia attempting to prevent a similar viewing experience between users, we end up with templates designed in two layouts with less of a similar experience than there was prior.

While the Terms of Service prohibit us manipulating the general layout for the non-registered viewer, it is entirely possible for any user with a registered account to personalize the Wikia's layout however they see fit. Generally, Wikia users are not expected to bother with CSS and I assume most beyond myself know how to access the area where you can type your personalized CSS. You must simply go to your profile, then add "/wikia.css" to the end of the URL. From here you can personalize the Wikia to look however you like, without the negative effects to other users since the CSS only changes what you see. Note that you can only change your own CSS, it will not work if you try to modify another user's CSS.

As I am responsible for the layout of several parts of the Wikia, it might be of interest to switch to the alternative view. Only a few things are generally off in the normal view, stuff that wouldn't deter from the overall experience, but it does have better compatibility with what I do. I have only tested these settings on one monitor, meaning it may be that these settings don't look good for everyone, but it is definitely something I would recommend trying just to see how you like the difference. I personally prefer the lack of wasted space and buttons that get in the way of viewing a page. Just copy the text below to your personal CSS page, try it out, and choose whether to remove it or keep it:

Also, USE UBLOCK ORIGIN. The advertisements are atrocious, as is the fan feed on the bottom, plus there seems to be issues with retaining consistency with the background theme. All these problems go away with a proper Adblocker.

/* Hides the "Add to Gallery" Button */ .wikia-photogallery-add { display: none !important; }

/* Hides the Share Button */ .WikiHeader .buttons .share-button { display:none; }

/* Full Width */ .WikiaPage { margin: 0px auto; max-width: none; width: calc(100% - 50px); border: none! important; }

.WikiaHeader .page-width-container { margin: 0px !important; max-width: none !important; }