Board Thread:News and Announcements/@comment-15636815-20131111185541/@comment-15636815-20131118041901

Wow, plenty of feedback! :-D

1. I didn't really categorize the themes. Basically, I used the categories already in the game, which also matched the categories on the old Themes page.
 * I agree that the "Limited" category looks awkward with only one entry. "Limited" really isn't the same as "Seasonal", though.  How about I rename the category to "Seasonal and Limited"?
 * I put Black Hills in "Extra Themes" because Pixel put Black Hills in "Extra Themes". That's where it is in Storage, so I think that's the proper place for it on our page.
 * The game uses the simple term "Themes". I have no issue with renaming it to "Basic Themes", though.  Probably a bit more clear.

2. I disagree with putting Notes in a third row. The primary reason for this is sorting. MediaWiki's sorting function doesn't play nice with rowspan. When someone sorts by name, they currently get two completely separate rows: one for gems, one for mats. If some entries have a row for Notes, then people will get three completely separate entries when sorting, and the third one really is of no value when separated.

In addition, moving Notes will cause MAJOR issues with consistency. For example, look at Meadow Buildings, where Stock Exchange and the Royal buildings are listed. The Notes column for each of those buildings contains a single icon to indicate that each is a Special Building. Yes, we could reformat the buildings pages--and we probably will, since that is the main reason I got involved with the Themes and Extensions in the first place. On the other hand, I also noticed how infrequently this column has an entry. I'll come back to this subject in a moment.

3. I coded these tables to right-align all cells by default because almost all the cells contain numeric data. Level, Cost, D.Cost, and XP all focus on numbers. Although Level is the only numeric field with no icons, I always prefer seeing numbers right-aligned. When the cells are centered, short gems numbers look really weird next to long gold numbers. I honestly do not understand why you would say that the gems entries are "aligned very differently" from the materials entries when all of them have exactly the same right-alignment.
 * In most cases, the Name column is left-aligned. I centered it on the Themes page because the images, combined with the links below the images, looked better that way.
 * The Notes column is always left-aligned. So far, the only exception to this is the "Maglev 1st Rail" column on the new Extensions page in my Workshop E.

4. The font face in the tables is the same font face used in the rest of the Wiki. The difference is the size. The tables reduce the font size to 88%; otherwise, the data would not all fit in one row. Going back to #2, here's an idea that addresses several issues at the same time:
 * Kill the Notes column.
 * Use font size of 100%.
 * Replace the Notes column with footnotes for the very few items that need additional information. For pages that have multiple tables, like Themes, such footnotes would show at the bottom of each table.

Kata did mention to me earlier that he disliked the header for the D.Cost column connecting to a footnote, and told me he was sure we'd find a different use for them. I think we just did. :-)

5. I agree with you about the horizontal lines separating the two types of costs. Kata didn't like them, so I got rid of them. We can all talk about this, if you like. The only other solution that keeps things separated is to create two completely separate entries on separate rows for each dual cost item. The major drawback is that they no longer look "connected" (because they aren't connected). The major advantage is that all sort functions will work properly, and we can use the parameter "data-sort-value" to keep the two entries next to each other when users sort the tables.

Looking forward to responses from you and the rest of the community. :-D