Hello!

Some of you may recall that in a thread I made earlier, I mentioned that I wanted to increase communication between the readers and the core leadership team of the wiki beginning 2016. Well, why not start earlier? This soon to be unorthodox post is coming a week earlier than it should be; it's also being made on a Sunday (or Monday for some of you), when I plan to pump these out on Saturdays/Sundays. So yeah, a bit unusual.

As you've no doubt judged from the name of this new board, these weekly posts will cover everything that's occurred on the wiki since, well, the past week. It won't be covering every single minor detail; that would be far too long, and besides, we already have Special:Recentchanges. It also won't be focused on Mineplex-related news, apart from some snippets. The weekly recaps will summarize the happenings on the wiki from the past week, and only the wiki. They will also include some polls and questions for the community.

So now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's dive in! And let me know what kind of format you would like to see in future posts; I'm still testing this idea.

Shoutouts

Please join me in welcoming new wiki member CasualBanter! He's been working diligently adding categories, images, and new information to pages. Make sure to say hi to him!

Peter79797 is responsible for updating the Cosmetic pages, including creating the Hats page. Thanks for everything that you do!

LeonMineplex just completed a huge update to the Application for Mineplex Trainee page, clarifying some statements and updating it. Much appreciated!

If I missed someone, please let me know.

Wiki news

Technical

Main page

A few weeks ago, I moved the server list of Mineplex to the top of the main page in the form of a banner and put all of the section headers in all caps. This decision was reversed when I realized that it was somewhat unwieldy and didn't look very nice on mobile devices. And the Ubuntu font isn't very well-suited for capital letters.

Updates to the main page are coming soon!

Wiki logo

As you've probably noticed by now, the wiki's logo has been slightly modified. Need I say any more?

<code> tag

When some of you went and used the <code> tag you might've noticed something different. That's because a gray background has been applied to it (duh!). This is to increase the contrast between the code and the screen; it also means that it can now be used for server commands on article pages. I initially planned to use a template in order to achieve the desired effect, but I realized that we already had the tag and it would be redundant and a waste of time to communicate the difference.

Using the power of CSS, I got the tag as it is now. The code is provided below for reference.

code {
    font-family: monospace;
    background-color: #DEDEDE!important;
    padding: 1px;
}

Wiki forum

I've fixed some grammatical mistakes for the different boards in the forums, but that's not the real reason I'm including it in the recap. Apart from renaming the Server News and Announcements board to weekly recaps (because let's be honest, no one was using it anyway), I've created a new suggestions board. Check it out here!

The main reason for the new board goes back to what I said in the thread I mentioned earlier. I want the community to play a larger role in influencing the decisions being made. Now, you can specifically request something be done differently, which will help the wiki cater more to the readers' needs rather than the editors' needs.

Ranks

YT rank

Mineplex recently announced the YT rank, which gives up-and-coming channels that aren't quite large enough for the full-fledged YouTube rank a chance to shine. The YT rank page was created and briefly described the new rank's function. However, a few hours ago I merged the contents of the YT rank page with the YouTube rank page, since the YT rank is really just a smaller version of the regular YouTube rank, and marked the former for deletion. If you disagree with this move, please share your thoughts below.

Normal YouTube rank

In the post by Strutt20 announcing the YT rank, he mentioned that the 15,000 views per one week-old video requirement for the regular YouTube rank still stood. However, the page that we had described this requirement as 25,000 views; clearly a big difference! Whether or not 15,000 was a typo, I updated the page to reflect this. However, at one point in time before the YT rank was released, players would receive different premium ranks based on the number of views they got on their videos if the number was less than the required amount for the YouTube rank. For example, you would get the Ultra rank if you received 5000 views on one week-old videos, and the Legend rank for 15,000. Wait a minute...

So do you see the problem? If the real requirement for the YouTube rank is now 15,000 views, what's with the Legend requirement? And that's not even factoring in the Titan rank, for which I have no answer for. And do players get both the YT rank (1000 views) and the premium rank? So yeah, if any of you reading this right now have answers to these questions, that would be much appreciated.

Staff and miscellaneous ranks

I want to differentiate between staff and miscellaneous ranks, because I've noticed that some of you have been confused as to what they are. Someone with a staff rank is responsible for creating and/or enforcing policies on the Mineplex website and server. Positions are earned through applications or personal selection and cannot be bought into; at the same time, there are different tiers of staff ranks, from Trainees to Leaders. Miscellaneous ranks, on the other hand, have all sorts of different requirements; it's not always as simple as an application. They don't have a clear, defined tier system; and, of course, they're not involved in policy creation. Ranks are as diverse as Developers to Builders to YouTubers. Let me know if you still have questions.

Cosmetics

There have been new Cosmetics announced, including Hats, Arrow Trails, and Taunts. Oh my, redlinks!

If anyone would like to, pages on these new Cosmetics would be much appreciated. The three that I mentioned aren't the full list, so be sure to check in-game to get everything.

Games and minigames

Clans

The game that's not a minigame (which has never happened before, as far as I can tell) was finally released on November 25th, 2015, almost a year in the making... for Legends and Titans only.

If you go to the page that we have for Clans, most of it is speculation; the page acts as if the game is still in development, which of course is not the case. But since it's still in Alpha, only a fraction of the Mineplex populace actually have access to it. Simply put, for those of you that have a Legend or Titan rank, the wiki needs your assistance in adding and updating the content in the Clans page; believe me when I say that you're the only ones who can do it.

Snow Fight and Snow Fight 2.0

There was an interesting scenario that happened with the Snow Fight minigame and its successor. For those of you that don't know, we currently have two pages on the minigame: Snow Fight and Snow Fight 2.0. The first page is for the old version of the minigame, the one that was removed quite some time ago. The second page details the new, recently refurbished version, complete with new kits and maps. The reason we sort pages like this is because in most cases, new versions of the minigame don't really resemble their older counterparts, so without any separation, we would, in effect, be writing about two minigames in one page. Think about it like you would a sequel.

Now then, on to the llama drama. Some of our extremely dedicated readers started pouring information about the new Snow Fight into the old page; I eventually had to copy over the old page into the new Snow Fight 2.0 page (which, at the time, wasn't created) and revert all edits back to the point where new information hadn't been added yet. So just to reiterate, when a remake of the same minigame comes out, create a new page for it. What should it be titled to differentiate between the old page? You can vote in the poll below that I've included. And some information on the new Snow Fight would be nice.

Experience points

Some minigame pages include an "experience points" section under the "rewards" header, which is supposed to detail the amount of experience you get towards your Mineplex Level and Gem Hunter achievement by doing specific tasks while playing a minigame. The problem is, all of these sections are empty! If anyone has any information regarding the amount of experience you earn for a minigame, please do contribute!

Type Wars

The Type Wars minigame page is finally up and completed in its entirety. Well, almost. Some more tips would be nice, and the experience points section is, of course, empty. But it's probably the first time I've completed a minigame page this much in one day.

Gladiators

Gladiators is almost fully documented as well, with the exception of the experience points, some Gem rewards missing, funky wording of the gameplay, and the absence of a good amount of tips. But again, another speedy completion.

Videos

A reminder that videos of playthroughs of a minigame are appreciated. However, just make sure that it's being played by someone that has the YouTube tag or a staff member.

Mineplex verified staff

First off, what is Mineplex verified staff? It's a program that fellow admin Xytl started a while back in order to get more recognition to the Mineplex staff members that edit on this wiki. More specifically, it confirms that an account used by someone to contribute is indeed associated with a staff account on the Mineplex website. Some benefits to being a part of the program include a tag next to their username, their wiki account listed on the wiki staff list, and (most importantly of all) having more weight given to their comments and remarks regarding information about Mineplex, since that is what they supposedly are an expert of.

Some users have been waiting patiently for their account to be confirmed. How it currently works is that a user interested in applying leaves a message on Xytl's wiki wall and Mineplex website wall/inbox. However, Xytl is currently busy with tasks in real life, including exams, a job, and other things that are a pain to deal with, which some people reading the wiki right now have the fortune of not having to worry about. So this is why I'm considering giving the confirmation job to someone else, but only for the time being; at least until Xytl returns. Let me know what you think of that in the polls.

Images

Just a reminder to name the images that you upload, and that the name describes the image. We don't have any sort of guideline or official page for the format for naming images, but at least make sure that the image name isn't just a random jumble of letters and numbers, an autogenerated name, or the time and date a (Minecraft) screenshot was taken. Something as simple as "Super Paintball logo" or "Jeffrey" (y'know, the horse) would suffice.

Polls

If you haven't already, please vote on whether or not we should have bolded sub-headings by default here. But now, on to the polls of the week. Again, if you have any specific remarks to share, do so in the comments. Polls will close next Sunday.

To reiterate, please inform me on I should structure future weekly recaps. Should I sort changes by date? Use bullets? Heck, do you have a better name than "weekly recaps"? Please share in the comments!

Cheers,
Amazorazer