Template talk:DYK

So I saw something similar to this on another site, and thought it might work for us. It has the added benefit of filling in some very empty space on the Main Page. And it's interesting, quick facts, with links to articles. I just chose some random pieces of trivia -- I'm open to suggestions. :) — RyanGibsonStewart (talk) 18:35, 9 March 2007 (EST)

• Hey, that's pretty cool!Heroe 18:53, 9 March 2007 (EST)
  • definitely a cool idea :) --Frantik (Talk) 18:56, 9 March 2007 (EST)
• Great idea! And you're right, it does wonders to fill in that void of space on the front, without making it cluttered. Awesome little touch! --ZyberGoat 22:58, 12 March 2007 (EDT)
  • Thanks. What I'd really like to do is have a bank of trivia, and have it only pull up, like, 7 random ones ... but I'm not sure I am familiar with the technology to do that. — RyanGibsonStewart (talk) 23:27, 12 March 2007 (EDT)
    • Ryan, this should help: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:RandomInclude http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/RandomText is something that might also help.--Bob 03:12, 13 March 2007 (EDT)
      • Thanks, that looks pretty cool. Admin, any chance? — RyanGibsonStewart (talk) 05:04, 13 March 2007 (EDT)
        • The problem I see with either of those extensions is that there's no way to pull X (say, ten) random items from the same master list. That means either 1) pulling ten times from the same list, and risking duplicates, 2) creating ten separate lists and pulling one from each (ugh), 3) creating multiple sets of ten items and pulling a set at random using the extension. I think the third option is our best bet, but it's not really all that "random".--Hardvice (talk) 06:33, 13 March 2007 (EDT)
          • I'm updating my extension Winter to have a feature which will pull values from a set at random without repeating. :) I suggested the extension to the Admin already on his talk page and was going to say something in the admin portal once I made the update. :) --Frantik (Talk) 07:19, 13 March 2007 (EDT)
          • ...or, we could just leave one list of items, and change it every so often--nothing random, nothing to worry about. It'd be cool to have random stuff, but not necessary. — RyanGibsonStewart (talk) 17:46, 13 March 2007 (EDT)
            • You could always use the parsing functions to make sure the element in the list isn't already listed. I'm not too familiar with MediaWiki's coding structure, but I've seen references to if statements, so it shouldn't be too difficult to do. Once I'm done with my midterm on Friday (or even for spring break) I can probably pick up on the syntax and write something up (though I'm not sure where it's put on a php page, but it could be the algorithm that checks the list to see if it exists).--Bob 21:07, 13 March 2007 (EDT)
              • Unfortunately, Mediawiki creates the page all in one, not line-by-line, so at the time you'd need to test to see if an item has been randomly written to the page, it hasn't been yet. I think Frantik's extension is the way to go, since it has a straight-up random number generator. As an added benefit, it supports while loops, which might let us automate the portal subpages from a master page (have page 1 grab links 1 through 15, page 2 grab links 16 through 30, etc.) which would make updating them much easier.--Hardvice (talk) 02:45, 14 March 2007 (EDT)
• How you like them apples? --Frantik (Talk) 04:23, 18 March 2007 (EDT)
  • Hey, not too bad! Pretty cool ... can we incorporate that here? — RyanGibsonStewart (talk) 09:04, 18 March 2007 (EDT)
    • :) It's possible to incorporate here once i finish up my latest version of Winter Hopefully I'll make it available later this evening if I have the time --Frantik (Talk) 15:38, 18 March 2007 (EDT)

Why does Zach's sexuality always cause problems?

• "It was originally intended for Claire Bennet's friend Zach to be revealed as gay, but his storyline was later changed due to legal reasons?" Legal reasons? Really? Isn't that overstating things a bit? It wasn't even a contract issue, let alone a legal issue ... his reps just didn't like it.--Hardvice (talk) 22:39, 31 May 2007 (EDT)
  • I don't know how that snuck onto this page. Let's just remove it. I've read more talk about Zach being gay or not gay or whatever than I care to remember. RyanGibsonStewart (talk) 22:47, 31 May 2007 (EDT)