• On The Foundation(About The SCP Foundation)

SCP Database

• SCP Series V
• SCP Series IV
• SCP Series III
• SCP Series II
• SCP Series I

Universe

• Foundation Tales
• Tale Series
• Canons
• GoI Formats

Site

• Top Rated New Pages
• Underrated Pages (Young and Under 30)
• Recently Created Pages(categorized on the page itself, with Contribute moved to the top bar)
• Random SCP | Tale
• Guides & Essays (possibly removed)

Community

• Forum | New Posts
• Chat With Us!
• Site Rules
• Contact Staff
• Criticism Policy

(everything else from guides/policy/user resources folded into the top bar)

Language bloc and social media pages remain in place.

TOP BAR CHANGES, new additions in blue

SCP Series I | II | III | IV | V | Library | Lore¹| Canons | Storylines (ongoing tale series) | GoIs | Info Pages²

e: changed the SCP Series from collapsible to a new section with bluesoul's point below.

I agree with proposals 1 through 3 on the sidebar, although with minor problems. Proposal 2's combination of the recently created and contribute pages is a bad idea, in my opinion, as it adds a barrier to posting certain forms of content for some people, even if it a minor one that is just one or two clicks away, but aside from that agree with it. Proposal 3's creation of a tale serials is a good idea, but I'd like to create a minor proposal for the creation of a dropdown tale menu, saying something like "All Tales, Tale Serials, Canons", in order to avoid it taking up too much real-estate.

Topbar proposal 1 is something I agree with, although I really disagree on including the background pages in the SCP library. Too me, it's there for people who need in-universe information, a baseline that all writers need (to a certain degree) to write articles on our site. Including that with a (relatively) elongated topbar with elements of in and out of universe pages. Topbar proposal 2 is something I can get behind, nothing really critical about that there. topbar 3 is one I really have a problem with. I don't know how many finished series there are on the site (if someone can find that I'd be really grateful), but I have the feeling it would probably be much longer than the Canon series¹. If tale serials are going to have a place (and I totally think they should), it should on the SCP library drop-down topbar.

At first, when I saw your "recently created page" thing, my first reaction was "fuck no" but as I came to think about it, I totally agree with it, although I am more hesitant to include recently posted GOI pages because, well, in relative comparison they aren't as posted as SCP and Tale articles, but, then again, the creation of a recently created GOI page would drive more traffic to GOI pages, increasing their demand. I'm iffy on GOI articles, but give a thumbs up to tales/SCP pages. However, in order to save space, the recently created page should be turned into a dropdown with "Recently created SCPs", "Recently created Tales", "Recently created GOIs".

I have another minor proposal: to get rid of the user resources page. All of the links there could be put into the info top bar and would free up room on the sidebar while also keeping the same info. Those things would only really be useful for someone who was already familiar enough with the site, and people familiar with our site would know what the topbar is.

However, I'd also like to keep the link to the Guide hub, as I feel it's important for people to be able to easily access that. I also see it as one of our major hubs, dude to the amount of essays and guides we have. If we keep it, I feel we should put it in the SCP-Library section.

With the combined background/info page/library section, I think that would be a good place to slot it in.

I'd rather we have like an "administrative section" that would contain things like the Recent Changes/Edits pages, the link to the staff site, the tag search, and that kind of stuff, and put it there.

I think that's definitely a better idea, with everything being removed from the sidebar I think we'd have room for such an addition to move stuff to.

Of the guides listed in that box, I think the criticism policy would be worth keeping on the sidebar as we are a writing community, and linking the criticism policy twice can help impart how important good crit is to the site.

Crit Policy might be a good thing to add to that hypothetical administrative section.

If anything, I'm not sure how much "Contribute" contributes to the sidebar. If we're going with the logic that we want the stuff on the sidebar to be more relevant to new users or non-contributing readers, then we could probably move it to the top bar. (If anything, it'd probably cut down on coldposting)

I think "New Pages | Contribute" wouldn't be too long, but I would also be amenable to adding it to the top.

I really disagree with this. First, it adds an extra dropdown which means the screenwrap would happen. Second, I dislike the idea of anything on our sidebar or topbar pointing to things that are not fully sanctioned by staff or created through significant collaboration by several users (like canons or GOIs).

I'm not the hugest fan of adding more dropdowns as I've already said, but I like the concept of "Ongoing stories", but I'd prefer it be inverted and tale series be added to the canon dropdown. Ongoing canons and series would be on the list, so they can get more attention, and finished series or inactive canons would be listed on the linked page.

An "Essays" section wouldn't take up much space compared to the four sections we'd be consolidating. I don't think it's a good idea to add Tale Serials to the Canon page since that section is also very long and it could be overwhelming to look at. I think if we edited the SCP Series to be one label of SCP Series with the dropdowns just going from the numbers, it would save a lot of space. "SCP Series I | II | III | IV | V" is a lot less space than "SCP Series I" "SCP Series II" "SCP Series III" etc. etc.

Because of that, I almost feel like it would be wise to put the SCP series links behind a collapsible, cause at the very least it will look cleaner.

I don't think we've quite reached the point where that's necessary yet, unless we wanted to add Joke and Explained articles to the sidebar along with them, at which point I could see a collapsible being necessary. If we did so I would lump them in with the Tales and GoI Formats on the sidebar.

Lastly, I want to point out my own small complaint about the side bar. I don't feel we need the link to the home page and the link to the Site News. The Site News is less of an actual news bulletin and more of just a monthly recap, so I don't know how useful it is on the sidebar.

I agree, this might be better on the sidebar instead. I do like having something above the SCP Series links, maybe the "About the SCP Foundation" page would be better under an "About" link or somesuch thing.

Move the list of guides not already included there to the Info Pages tab on the Top bar, links like the Guide Hub, licensing, etc. are redundant on the sidebar because they're already present on the Top bar.

As useful as I feel the Guides and Policies box is, I find myself agreeing with this. Of the guides listed in that box, I think the criticism policy would be worth keeping on the sidebar as we are a writing community, and linking the criticism policy twice can help impart how important good crit is to the site.

However, I'd also like to keep the link to the Guide hub, as I feel it's important for people to be able to easily access that. I also see it as one of our major hubs, dude to the amount of essays and guides we have. If we keep it, I feel we should put it in the SCP-Library section.

Some links, like the Site Rules and Contact Staff pages, I think we should keep due to their importance to day-to-day users.

I will be seriously concerned if anyone suggests we remove the Rules from the side bar, and people knowing who staff are is also important.

Authors' Pages I think could go under the Library heading of the top bar since things like contests and audio adaptations are there, but that's just me.

I'd be amenable to this.

Combining the Top Rated Pages This Month and Lowest Rated Pages

I think the top rated and lowest rated pages make sense to put together, as both are pages we want people to go and look at.

No. This is a very bad idea. Doing this puts the Top Rated page and the Lowest rated page on the same footing, and I'm fairly confident that people would end up using it as a downvote list. As we already have a problem vote snowballing, this would just exasperate the issue.

I'd rather we have like an "administrative section" that would contain things like the Recent Changes/Edits pages, the link to the staff site, the tag search, and that kind of stuff, and put it there. The main reason the lowest rated pages is even on the side bar is because staff and users use it to see what's in the deletion threshold, and what (if anything) needs crit. As that's more of an administrative/clerical thing, I think it would fit in that kind of section.

as well as Recently Created and Contribute

Ehhhhhh

I can see the logic, I'm just not sure I agree, and I'm worried that it might be a bit too long for a single line.

If anything, I'm not sure how much "Contribute" contributes to the sidebar. If we're going with the logic that we want the stuff on the sidebar to be more relevant to new users or non-contributing readers, then we could probably move it to the top bar. (If anything, it'd probably cut down on coldposting)

I also think we should add GoI formats to the Contribute page in some way but that's a discussion for another day

Maybe. It wouldn't be difficult to add an extra "new page" module to the page that does the same thing as the "new tale" button, but with a GOIformat tag instead.

The SCP Series section is soon to have five links

Because of that, I almost feel like it would be wise to put the SCP series links behind a collapsible, cause at the very least it will look cleaner.

Combining the SCP Library and Tales sections, as both are somewhat stunted on their own but make sense to put together, in my opinion.

I'd be ok with this, as with a smaller screen size the top bar actually wraps to the next line.

We could also go a step further and combine the "Background"

I also agree with this as we're getting Series V soon which would cause the topbar wrap again. But I would like to rename the section then.

Creating an Essay drop-down menu

I really disagree with this. First, it adds an extra dropdown which means the screenwrap would happen. Second, I dislike the idea of anything on our sidebar or topbar pointing to things that are not fully sanctioned by staff or created through significant collaboration by several users (like canons or GOIs).

Would also ensure that good essays get attention while being easier to spot those which are outdated or no longer provide good and useful information.

This is a secondary goal of my Guide Rewrite project.

Adding a tale Serials drop-down, with all the complete series from the page I propose for the sidebar and a link to that page with an "Ongoing stories" link.

I'm not the hugest fan of adding more dropdowns as I've already said, but I like the concept of "Ongoing stories", but I'd prefer it be inverted and tale series be added to the canon dropdown. Ongoing canons and series would be on the list, so they can get more attention, and finished series or inactive canons would be listed on the linked page.

Lastly, I want to point out my own small complaint about the side bar. I don't feel we need the link to the home page and the link to the Site News. The Site News is less of an actual news bulletin and more of just a monthly recap, so I don't know how useful it is on the sidebar.

As for the link to the home page, tapping/clicking on the site's header/title will take you back to the home site, so having the link is just completely redundant.

My guiding principle in amending the sidebar are removing any pages that I don't think people would need to have immediate access from on every page. Moving some of these links to the Topdown menu helps in this, as that menu is only visible if you wish to see it, whereas the sidebar is visible no matter what.

So my proposal is as such:

SCP Wiki Sidebar:

1. Move the list of guides not already included there to the Info Pages tab on the Top bar, links like the Guide Hub, licensing, etc. are redundant on the sidebar because they're already present on the Top bar. The upper drop-down menus are less clogging visually to the site, as they are only visible when you want them to be and are divided into sections that aren't all visible at once. These links are also present in the guide to newbies(I think the latest iteration in the works also has them there) so those joining the site would have every opportunity to see them.

Some links, like the Site Rules and Contact Staff pages, I think we should keep due to their importance to day-to-day users. Things like the Licensing Guide and Image Use Policy are only really relevant to writers, so inclusion in the top bar would still mean writers who are at least somewhat familiar with the site would know where to find them. Authors' Pages I think could go under the Library heading of the top bar since things like contests and audio adaptations are there, but that's just me.

2. Combining the Top Rated Pages This Month and Lowest Rated Pages, as well as Recently Created and Contribute. I think the top rated and lowest rated pages make sense to put together, as both are pages we want people to go and look at. Top Rated because we want folks to see our newest and best content, and lowest rated because the pages there are under-appreciated, in need of feedback to fulfill their potential, or are bad articles that need eyes in order to get them into deletion range.

Recently Created are newly created pages, and the Contribute page is the easiest way to contribute new content to the site. I also think we should add GoI formats to the Contribute page in some way but that's a discussion for another day(unless people want to discuss it here, idk not here to dictate your thoughts on where this should go).

3. In the SCP Library Section, adding a page for Tale Series. But wait, I hear you say, I thought this proposal was about consolidation and removing links? Yes, but also about balancing out the number of links in each section. The SCP Series section is soon to have five links, and I think that having however many links are in the SCP Series section is a good place to guide our actions in the rest of the sidebar. (Thought for the future, if it ever gets too unwieldy we can always collapse the scp series links if we get to like, Series 8 or something and they start taking up a lot of real estate.) This would look something like THIS.

I feel like it would ensure the visibility of more long-form tales that don't fall into canons while also making it so the SCP Library section isn't undersized compared to everything else on the page. The rule for contributing could be something like active serials go at the top, with any finished series going in another section beneath. Authors add their own hubs when they have enough of a series to make a hub for it, Canons not included(I know there are some canons included in this page, it's a mock-up). If you update your serial, you can put it back at the top of the page.

Could also have some links to the most recent stories in the little boxes instead of the blurbs, if people wanted to.

SCP Wiki Top Bar:

1. Combining the SCP Library and Tales sections, as both are somewhat stunted on their own but make sense to put together, in my opinion. We could also go a step further and combine the "Background" pages with that, so that it would stand on par with the really long sections like the SCP series and the GoI/Canon drop-downs. This would leave the info pages looking relatively short by comparison, which is good, as we'd prefer people to have a wide breadth of content to choose from while not being overwhelmed by things like important guides.
2. Creating an Essay drop-down menu - I think having a list of the numerous essays written by site members accessible from every page while also not making them mandatory to look at would give them more visibility and allow users to find help they need without needing to dig through hubs and sub-hubs to find what they're looking for. Would also ensure that good essays get attention while being easier to spot those which are outdated or no longer provide good and useful information. I use This test log yoric turned into a -J lecture as an example of a guide which has not really stood the test of time and still exists due to no attention really being paid to it.
3. Adding a tale Serials drop-down, with all the complete series from the page I propose for the sidebar and a link to that page with an "Ongoing stories" link.

Recently Created Pages:

I think we should break down Recently Created into four boxes like we've done with the Top Rated Pages By Month, with Tales, SCPs, GoI Formats and Other pages(Essays, Author Pages, Etc.) to increase their visibility and make sure that everything gets a fair shake at attention. Right now there's such a glut of content coming from Recently Created, so organizing that somewhat would help with allowing people to find content they want. Things like Tales, GoI Formats, and everything else that isn't an SCP gets forced off Recently Created pretty quickly due to how many SCPs get posted, so allowing them to stay up for longer would ensure that they get more eyeballs on them.

Wow, that's a lot of proposals at one time, how the heck do I ever respond to your nonsense, Rogay?

Well, here's how I think you can respond quick n easy to this. My questions are:

How can we make the Sidebar more organized and compact? Do we go with Sidebar Proposal #1, #2, and/or #3, some of those, or something else?

How can we make the Top bar more organized? Do we go with Top Bar Proposal #1, #2, and/or #3, some of those, or something else?

How can we make Recently Created more organized? Do we go with the suggested categorization breakdown, or something else?

After this discussion, I will put whatever form of the top/side/recentcreated proposals people think are best and any further good suggestions that come up in this page discussion up for a vote. I think all of this put together will result in a good amount of consolidation and give us room to add more things in the future as we continue to grow. Looking forward to hearing what you guys think of all this.