Template talk:Did you know main

Rotating the facts

I don't think we have a proper rotation system in place for the "Did you know..." section on the home page. I've just rotated the facts now partly due to demand, partly due to them being there for a while;. I think we need an organised rotation system. What do you guys think would be a good interval for rotating the facts? I'm thinking every 2 weeks would work well, we'd have to document when they were last rotated as we do it - something which isn't currently done. What do you guys think? -RJ 17:51, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

I won't lie, I don't pay attention to it very often seeing as the same ones were there for ages. If you could make it so different ones were displayed every time, that'd be grand. It'd also let us see what are interesting tidbits and what isn't! --Vaught 18:18, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Wikis do have a random function, using <choose> and <option> tags. We can use them to make a random fact appear every time the page is loaded (maybe not every time, because of transclution physics). The problem is that it can only pick one thing at a time. Toomai Glittershine 22:51, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Why not just group them together in groups of ten or so, as they are now, and randomly select a set? -Nerdboy 00:49, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

That's a brilliant idea, thanks. I will look further into it tomorrow. -RJ 01:13, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

I too like this idea. I thought something like this was in place at one point back before the wiki went official, but I could be making that up. Either way, I think random facts would be great, saves it from the need to rotate them. Can use the full list and not have to "retire" facts unless they are no longer true or obsolete - K-Mac 18:06, 13 November 2010 (UTC)

One of the things I used to notice was that sometimes the facts would repeat, and it would get weird because I would think, "Didn't I seen that fact on the front page six months ago?" I think a two-week rotation would be just about right, possibly three weeks, but if it's possible, maybe each individual fact should be kept track of, and once taken off the front page, given lower priority below facts that have yet to grace the front page. --LordKelvin 04:51, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

In regards to the <choose> and <option>, that requires an extension that we do not have. I will put in a technical request for it because I think that would be the best way of displaying facts in the "Did you know..." section. -RJ 17:31, 12 November 2010 (UTC)