Welcome
Edit
Hi, welcome to Vintage Sewing Patterns! Thanks for your edit to the Favorite Fabric Stores page.
Please leave a message on my talk page if I can help with anything! -- Petite Main (Talk) 18:37, June 4, 2010
Hi Jeska, Welcome to your new charge! Thank you for asking about changes. The first thing that comes to mind is being able to add a new listing closer to the top of the page. I'll keep thinking about it. Thanks again. Mary MBchills
Hi Jeska, nice to have you here! I remember that at the beginning of this wiki on top of each page there was a link to the next pattern (for example, you were on "Butterick 6442" and there was the link to "Butterick 6443"). And it was very useful. It would be nice to have it back, if possible. Thanks a lot. Petite Main 07:19, June 16, 2010 (UTC)
I agree with Petite Main........I really miss the Previous and Next functions
OOPS forgot to sign that, it was meCemetarian 18:23, June 30, 2010 (UTC)
Loading photo problem. Edit
Hi,
When creating a new article I am having problems getting photos to load since it has changed to the new 'photo loader' format. They use to load no problem, though they were always a thumbnail, but now I hit 'upload' and nothing happens. Do you have any idea what the problem might be? I'm not very good at adding things so I may be missing something. Thanks for any help you might be able to offer. Finickyfinds 18:45, June 30, 2010 (UTC)
Hi JeskaD,
I was wondering if you could add frillygirlythings to the pattern sellers page for the new main page. It's on the main page already but you probably didn't see it because it's in a weird spot in the paragraph.
Thanks Frillygirlythings2 22:01, June 30, 2010 (UTC)
New Admins Edit
Hi JeskaD, I already voted for the new logo but didn't think about nothing special for the new template. As for the new admins, I think Tarna should definitely be an administrator, she's doing such a great jobs fixing everything. I also think that Cemetarian would be a great administrator. Bye Petite Main 10:54, July 5, 2010 (UTC)
No, Thank you! Edit
Dear Jeska,
I hope you have a great weekend, yourself. Things are looking good, and getting better.
Best wishes,
B
67.115.120.222 00:01, July 10, 2010 (UTC)
Hi Jeska,
I did take a look at the new way of entering, and it seems to work {although one of the pop-up hints had the word "recipe" in it - left-over?). This might help a lot of new users.
Now - ahem - how shall I put this... Is there any way I can go back to NOT having to go through a wizard? A hidden link to the old way of entering? I hate wizards with a passion - yes, that is personal preference. It is just an extra step, as far as I am concerned, prolonging the process of getting to the actual entering and adding categories (which I cannot do from there). Pretty please?
Cheers,
Birgit
tarna 02:13, July 23, 2010 (UTC)
User Input on New Template Edit
Here is input left on my talk page:
tarna 19:34, July 23, 2010 (UTC)
"The new template looks good and works well. The only thing that I see that might need a change is the year. It enters beautifully but I don't see it on the published article. I've found that I really like seeing it just before description. That way it shows up when I search. If the search returns Simplicity 9724 and Simplicity 9724 A, then I can quickly tell which is the pattern I'm looking for instead of clicking in to get the pictures. I really like seeing Simplicity 9724 1980 description in the search results vs Simplicity 9724 Description.
Now there's a thought...any way to get a thumbnail in the search results?
Nancy
Ornament gal 16:58, July 23, 2010 (UTC) User:ornament_gal"
Hopefully, I'll have something to add this weekend. I'll have to try it to like it.....LOL
I'll let you know after I give it a trial run. Cemetarian 19:35, July 23, 2010 (UTC)
Great!Edit
Thankies! I've asked the engineers where the date is going (it should be fed into the description field). Hope to have the fix soon. Keep the ideas coming! -- JeskaD 22:18, July 23, 2010 (UTC)
Adding vendor link in new template and...tags? Edit
Hi JeskaD-
I was trying out the new template, and I'm stuck when it comes to adding a wikitext link to my shop under Vendors. I get the little icon to make a hyperlink where I'm typing in the description, but I don't see that in the vendor line. I don't know how to format the text for my shop name so that I can link it to the URL where the pattern is listed. Also, is there a different place for adding tags to the pattern listing? I really liked that feature. I'd appreciate any help you can give! Thank you! P.S. Love the badges! KraftD 17:52, July 25, 2010 (UTC)
Reply (also on your talk page) Edit
Heya KraftD!
Thanks for trying out the new form and providing feedback.
If you're still having trouble with the link, there are two different ways to add it. Either simply type in the URL (the form will make it link correctly if you include the "http://" at the beginning). Or, you can also enter it as wiki text, so just type in:[http://www.example.com link title]. Does this make more sense? Let me know if you're still unable to get it to work.
The form will auto add the Vintage Sewing Patterns category (which I believe has all patterns in it), the Brand name (e.g. Butterick, Vogue) category and the Decade category (e.g. 1960s, 1950s) if you enter them into the form. These seemed to be the most common categories, but you can also add more categories after you've created the page itself (at the bottom, using the "Add category" button). The hope was to simplify pattern entry, while still allowing for customization.
Please let me know if you have any other questions or feedback!
--JeskaD 17:07, July 26, 2010 (UTC)
New templateEdit
Hi JeskaD, I've just tried the new "create an article" fonction, and it seems to work fine. Thank you!!!! --Petite Main 20:33, July 27, 2010 (UTC)
Bot Changes to Categories Edit
Hi,
I just realized that Bot changes were being made (did not know to turn on that view option in the "recent changes") to a large number of categories in the Bridal, Wedding area, and had a conversion with Game widow, who you had asked to make those changes.
Being in complete agreement that there are way too many redundancies, I am happy to hear that there is a way to make wholesale changes via automated bots rather than having to do it one by one - which I have spent a great deal of time doing. We are still rookies, and not always aware of the tools available...
That said, could we please discuss which categories to consolidate before going ahead? Do you have a list of what you wanted changed?
It is rather startling to realize that a category we had specially set up to supercede the others (i.e. Bridal), is just vanishing without notice, to be replaced by Vintage Wedding Dresses (the word Vintage being redundant, considering we are dealing with vintage patterns all along), which does not cover all bridal patterns (which also includes veils and accessories).
Completely understanding that is is difficult or maybe even impossible to find consensus on proposed changes with all involved, we should still try to involve at least the Admins, so that we don't end up changing things back, and potentially create more redundancies, and to keep some consistency. The original intent of a category may not be immediately clear to newcomers, but that does not mean that were was not a reason for setting them up that way, or to potentially keep them.
Let me know what you think.
Best regards,
tarna 02:34, August 22, 2010 (UTC)
Hi,
Sorry for the slow response. Got a little busy (both on and off the wiki), and I am actually trying to put together a list of current truly redundant categories for bot work - and there are quite few. I sent a message to cemetarian a couple of days ago, and will ping her again. I think Petite Main is still on vacation.
Cheers,
tarna 03:59, August 26, 2010 (UTC)
Bug in New Pattern Template? Edit
Hi there,
Several users have contacted me with issues entering vendor links in the new pattern template. When I tried it out (I don't usually add a vendor link yet when entering new patterns...), I got an error (error number 222) when trying to "publish" after entering a vendor link in the usual wiki format in the first text box under Source. When entering the same text into the second text box under Source, it worked, but it leaves a blank bullet and line on the newly created page... There is no "report a problem" link on that template, so I am writing you about it.
Let me know if you need additional clarification.
Best regards,
tarna 04:57, August 28, 2010 (UTC)
Headers in pattern template Edit
Hi Jeska, thank you so much for letting me know. Everything was really clear! Bye Petite Main 06:47, September 15, 2010 (UTC)
Images on Category Pages Edit
Hi Jeska, I like it very much to see the thumbnails in the Category pages, that's a great new feature, thank you!Petite Main 07:36, October 1, 2010 (UTC)
Vogue ParisEdit
Hi Jeska, I added some photos to the Vogue Paris Original page and must have hit the wrong button as patterns other than paris originals were added. sorry for my error. Mary mbchills
No worriesEdit
No worries! I'll take a look in the morning! - --JeskaD 02:12, October 7, 2010 (UTC)
Eeek - Nothing is displaying properly Edit
Hi, I am very much hoping that this is temporary, but none of the pages display properly anymore, as in, there is no real format, the Home page only displays partially, and there is no side navigation, or I would try to go to forums, etc.. This is happening in both Safari and Firefox (I am a Mac user and Internet Explorer no longer exists for me). Is this part of the transition to the new format? I have not had the time to look at it - kind of swamped and just trying to keep up on my usual edits. tarna 00:19, October 13, 2010 (UTC)
History Edit
Hi Jeska, I see we have a new look! I can't find the history when I view a page. Please let me know where to find it. Thanks. mbchills
Trouble with new page layout Edit
Last night I was having trouble with the Internet Explorer and Safari browsers. When I'd try to load the talk page, it would just hang and crash the browser. Same thing with both browsers. Safari is the latest version. I think that desktop has IE 8. Today, I'm on my laptop with Chrome as the browser and since I can leave this message, things are obviously working. So I don't if there's a problem with the IE and Safari browsers or if there's something on my desktop causing a conflict. I run the same virus scan on both machines. I wouldn't worry unless there are more reports of issues.
Nancy
67.171.170.145 17:33, October 22, 2010 (UTC) ornament_gal
Login TroubleEdit
Hi - I'm having trouble with my ID and heard you may be able to help. My ID was changed (at my request) from CTStudios to Todaystreasure. I was able to get online for a couple days, but changed to a new computer todays and it was not recognized as todaystreasure (in any form, capitals or not, spacing or not). It kept saying there was no such user. And then, somehow, I managed to set up a new ID with everything reset to zero.
Can you help fix my ID situation ?
Lorrie @ TodaysTreasure
Escalating...Edit
Hiya Lorrie - sorry you're having trouble, I'll escalate this to our community support team who will hopefully have a fix for you!
- JeskaD 18:08, December 20, 2010 (UTC)
Hi. Your name was changed to "Todays Treasure", with 2 words, 2 cap Ts, and a space between. --Uberfuzzy 21:55, December 20, 2010 (UTC)
Search IssueEdit
Hi Jeska, I seem to be having alot of problems with the search. Used to be able to type in a number and would get all patterns with that number. Now seems as if you have to type in exactly the pattern company name and number. is this something that can be looked into? Thanksl Mary at mbchills
Need More infoEdit
MbChills - Could you please file a ticket explaining what is happening? To do so, simply access the http://vintagepatterns.wikia.com/wiki/Special:Contact while logged in and provide a detailed explanation of what is going wrong. Then I will follow up with the Community Support team. JeskaD 22:16, January 3, 2011 (UTC)
Cannot write Ticket / Search Broken / Images Partly Broken Edit
Hello Jeska, 1)To follow up on previous messages by members, we are having a number of issues, and I have actually looked for the page to write a ticket (it was easy to find in the old skin, not there in the new skin), and was unable to. The link you left for MbChills is broken and not usable. 2)The search is sporadic at best. One needs to type in the entire pattern name (including additional letters, etc.) to find anything, and the navigation to the special pages where people could just look up the index is gone in this skin, and not everyone understands how to set up "tools" or what to even look for. We are getting a lot of duplications because of this, and it is getting very frustrating. 3)Some pictures are no longer showing up. They only display as a clickable link to the file page, but when you click there, the picture still does not display. I would absolutely love to write tickets on all of this, but there is no functional link anymore, so that needs to be the first ticket... Thank you in advance for anything you can do for us. Best regards, --tarna 23:21, January 8, 2011 (UTC)
Submitting a TicketEdit
First, apologies, I pasted in the wrong link, the link to contact our community support team is http://vintagepatterns.wikia.com/wiki/Special:Contact, I've also added this to the top level navigation at the top so it's easy to find in the future (under "Community" --> "Help & Contact Wikia").
Once you've submitted the tickets (be sure to include specific examples for each issue) I will follow up with the support team to ensure they're handled. JeskaD 21:25, January 10, 2011 (UTC)
Hi Jeska, Thank you for this information. I just followed your link and submitted a report. Hope it helps. --[[User:|Mbchills]]
Re: Update on Template Edit
Hi Jeska, Thank you so much for the follow-up, and for creating a new template. The Blank page still worked, but is fraud with potential pit-falls (duplication, etc.). Adding the categories manually is not a big issue, since we had to add all the other ones anyway. Is there a way for the new template to allow adding categories right at the bottom, just like in the Blank Page creation? Cheers, --tarna 19:18, February 3, 2011 (UTC)
Some issues with the new template Edit
Hi Jeska,
I just tried out the new template, and it added the pattern, but there is an issue with editing the pattern page afterwards - after clicking "Edit" it goes right back to the pattern template, rather than show up as a normal, editable page.
- I cannot get rid of the annoying thumbnail format that has the "added by..." box around it (very undesirable that it defaults to that)
- I cannot go to "Source" mode at all
Check it out - the new page is Vogue 8762.
Also, the Add page button at the top of the main page works, but the link on the main page to create a new pattern (image box on the right) still leads to the old, broken template.
Best regards, --tarna 20:07, February 3, 2011 (UTC)
Re: Template Feedback Edit
Hi Jeska,
Thank you for the explanations and the temporary Main page fix. It is much appreciated.
More feedback on the "features":
- Image attribution would be fine, if it did not leave that ugly (I know - subjective) yellow box around the image. The old template DID put that in.
- Not being able to edit the picture size directly in source mode when users add the picture in a tiny size or thumbnail is definitely a loss of functionality, and makes things more difficult for admins. I understand that we have eliminated the oversized pictures with the max width, but that does not take into account the other end of the spectrum.
- How do we easily add another picture to the page (and I am not talking about a gallery photo)? Sometimes there are alternate envelopes, backs of envelopes, etc. While I can think of typing in the image link into the description box as a work-around, that is definitely more difficult than before, when we had the edit button bar available - it is no longer available in Template format in the text boxes.
- With the new template, we no longer have the automatic check for duplicates. Since Search is still quite broken (it no longer returns any results when just typing in a number - mbchills submitted a request to have it looked at a while ago), there is a huge potential for duplicates and maybe even overwrites (could warnings be in bold, obnoxious red?).
More feedback in general (Warning - a bit of a rant):
There does not seem to be a way to track problem report status anymore (or actual problem reports, i.e.), and users have to keep bugging the admins for updates. Or is there, and nobody told us?
Sorry if I sound a little frustrated. With all the so-called improvements with the new look, it feels like we keep chasing our tail, and spend more time trying to catch up on changes, work around things that are now broken, and answer related questions from old as well as new users - lots more of the latter as well, since the Facebook reach-out campaign, etc. (which is great, but still - more work).
Most of us are not really computer or software geeks (and having worked in high tech for many years I use that term in the most loving way possible), don't understand or want to understand the ins and outs of code and formats or policies for that matter, and just want to create and maintain a great resource in the easiest way possible. This is not our job or way of life - most of us have a full-time occupation outside. Having to relearn everything over every few months is not particularly productive or encouraging. I find myself running out of time, patience, and/or motivation lately. Here's hoping there is an end in sight.
Phew - if you made it this far, thanks for letting me vent...
And no, of course, none of this is a reflection on you. Thanks for all your help.
Best regards, --tarna 02:15, February 4, 2011 (UTC)
ErrorEdit
Hi Jeska, I am getting these messages when updates are made to listings and wonder if they mean anything. See Prominent Designer A830. Thanks. Mary at mbchills Invalid tag extension name: expansion depth limit exceeded
My feedbackEdit
Hi Jeska, I must admit I'm not very happy with the new template because everything becomes more difficult, and much frustating. The loss of the automatic categories is a big issue because you can't check the right categories (and manually it's even longer). The new template has lost the "wishlist" section which was useful. Well, I know you're doing a lot of work for this wiki, but I'm not quite sure it was really needed (I much prefered the former layout) and the creation of a new page was much easier (and allowed to check if the page already existed). All the best, Petite Main 17:53, February 15, 2011 (UTC)
Jeska,
I've been away for a month and came in today to add some patterns, and I can't figure out how to do it. I had finally gotten used to the new template and now it is gone and all I get is a bunch of html that doesn't make sense......
When are these changes going to stop? When is this going to get easy instead of difficult? At this point I don't really care if I ever add another pattern and I've been here since the first week.
I can't imagine new people trying to navigate this ridiculous format.
Sorry but I couldn't think of a better or nicer way to present this. This new method is just very very difficult. And not user friendly at all.
Rita/cemetarian
Hi Jeska, Hope all is well with you. I am writing today to see if you can help me with an issue. I have a Pattern Gate shop at Art Fire and when I insert a listing from my product at Art Fire (a specific pattern)on to Wikia, I am finding that it converts, at some point, to the Art Fire homepage. Simplicity 8920 is one example. I have since changed it back to the original product listing. I have contacted Art Fire and they say it is an issue with Wikia. Any help with this matter will be appreciated. Thank you. Mary at mbchills
Hi Jeska, Thanks for getting back to me. I will follow up on this the next time I see it occur. Regards, Mary mbchills
Hi JeskaD, Hoping you can help me. I am unable to add any pages because the photos will not load. --Mbchills 14:18, February 20, 2012 (UTC) mbchills
Edit
HI JEASKA
WAS WONDERING WHAT PATTERN COMPANY AND NUMBER OF PATTERN YOU POSTED ON 6-30-2010 AT 18:58. 5 DRESSES ARE SHOWN, ONE OF WHICH IS WHITE WITH GOLD TRIM AND FLARE SLEEVES . WOULD VERY MUCH APPRECIATE YOUR HELP. THANKS 72.85.148.132 09:15, July 28, 2012 (UTC)BJM