User talk:Nathaniel

Math formulae

So, it was my impression that something like

<math>\sqrt{1-e^2}</math>

should look like a math formula and those tags should do stuff. But that appears to not be the case. How come? Elithrion 03:40, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Stuff like that works on Wikipedia because of an extension they manually coded in. I'll see if I can find a way to install it, but it doesn't come with MediaWiki by default. Nathaniel 03:45, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Upon looking into this deeper, it doesn't look like it's going to be possible on the current server setup, since we're on a shared Windows host. If the wiki becomes more popular then it may become worth it to move to a Linux and/or dedicated host, but until then this won't happen. Nathaniel 19:13, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for correcting mistakes I made when editing the spaceship page (I'm a bit new to this whole wiki business). I was wondering If there were a page on conventions and standards used in this wiki.

Sokwe 17:54, 18 April 2009 (UTC)

You may want to be alerted to the spam added to talk:Main Page by 211.240.14.91

Sokwe 23:17, 21 April 2009 (UTC)

Yep, it happens frequently enough, sadly. Thanks for deleting it -- I've banned that IP address. Nathaniel 23:22, 21 April 2009 (UTC)

Error in wickstretcher template

The wickstretcher template puts anything you write inside the infobox. This is because the table in the template has no concluding "|}". Please add a line containing "|}" directly above the <noinclude> tag.

~Sokwe 00:33, 25 April 2009 (UTC)

Whoops. Thanks for letting me know, it's fixed now. Nathaniel 03:02, 25 April 2009 (UTC)

Problems with forms

I somehow seem to have caused some problems with forms such as the oscillator search form. I was testing their functionality for other purposes, and somehow caused an error: %DPL-1.7.4-WARNING: Wrong '$0' parameter: 'uses'! Using default: 'Template:{#request:cat}'. Help: $0=

Note: "Template{#request:cat}" was part of the stuff I was doing. I never saved any pages, I was just viewing previews for testing.

Sorry about the mess!

~Sokwe 21:31, 25 April 2009 (UTC)

I'm hoping it's a caching issue... DynamicPageList loves giving cryptic error messages as a result of an invalid search that was performed hours earlier, so hopefully it clears up by itself soon. In the meantime, I'll look for a way to disable the caching so that this stuff doesn't happen. Nathaniel 21:46, 25 April 2009 (UTC)

Parameter search

I created a simple template to be used to look up which pattern pages are missing specific parameters in their templates (there may be some bugs, I haven't tested it much). This can be used to look up such things as which patterns do not have defined glider syntheses or bounding boxes. I was wondering if this template should be included on another page as a resource for other contributers if they feel they have the time to add information like this (for example, I recently added bounding box sizes to all of the still life pages).
~Sokwe 17:44, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

That's pretty excellent, thanks. I think that the most natural place for it is probably LifeWiki:Helping out in a new subsection. Nathaniel 17:51, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

I added it under Adding pattern information, but it requires Template:( to work; this template should probably be protected. I also created a new page for it: Template:PatternInfoSearch
~Sokwe 18:50, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

Error in GrowingSpaceship template

It's the exact same problem that the wickstretcher template had: Template:GrowingSpaceship puts information from the page inside the infobox. Please add the necessary "|}" above the <noinclude> tag.
~Sokwe 20:19, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, fixed now. It's a result of the new glider synthesis boxes -- I made the necessary change on most of the other templates (such as Template:Oscillator), but I apparently missed Wickstretcher and GrowingSpaceship. Fixed now. Nathaniel 20:26, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

Some suggested updates

I've created a template for reflectors because they currently all use the pattern template. Eaters also use the pattern template even though they are exclusively still lifes. I suggest adding support for type=eater to the still life template. I also suggest that you delete Template:People as it has been effectively replaced by Template:Person.
~Sokwe 13:58, 28 April 2009 (UTC)

Those changes have now been made. Nathaniel 14:31, 28 April 2009 (UTC)

Some more ideas for updates

First of all, I suggest that you replace the number of glider syntheses on the main page (currently "over 200") with the following:

{{#dpl:categorymatch=Patterns_that_can_be_constructed_with%|resultsheader=%TOTALPAGES%|format={{#if,:,,:|}}}}

Also, I have the basic design for a navigation box for oscillator periods. This would go on oscillator period category pages and would link to the nearest oscillator period categories (it does not link to pages that do not exist). What I haven't come up with is a good format for displaying this information, and I was wondering what you thought about it.

The basic idea:

p=2
Period 40894

p=18
Period 40894 - Period 40894 - Period 40894

p=144
Period 40894 - Period 40894 - Period 40894

~Sokwe 20:41, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

Very nice, made the glider synthesis change and inserted your template into the appropriate oscillator category pages. Thanks, and great work! Nathaniel 12:37, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

?

Why did you undo my edit?--71.80.49.38 14:09, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

The new agar

I found the agar in Serviettes (B234/S) rule!
please visit my user page.--David 13:53, 13 December 2009 (UTC)

And, would you change this agar to oscillator or spacefiller? --David 06:19, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Upload request

Please upload the file Diuresis.rle from http://www.conwaylife.com to the extant Diuresis pattern page. You were devising a method to let people upload .rles, weren't you ?

Thanks a lot. --Methodood 21:31, 16 December 2009 (UTC)