Talk:Passwords, Logins, and Codes (DX)

Table Layout
I have created a table layout but it has been reversed. I would like to reinstitute it. I believe it is more readable and easy to browse. Currently the semicolon system makes the username and password bunch up and very untidy. It is much easier to see them line up in a table and run your eye across them if they each have their own cells. Everything else is in its own cell, so why not this? Thank you.

Reply
Individual logins are not listed in separate table rows because each entry may have many logins. Also, most of those logins for UNATCO computers are redundant, and are there only for completeness. Thus, having each login in a separate row would make the interface look bloated, especially when only one row is of interest. Additionally, the current page is generic to both keycodes (which have no separate login/password fields) and computer logins (which have separate login and password fields). So using a separate column for logins and passwords would also cause the interface to look larger than necessary. For these reasons, this page for DX is not the same as the corresponding keycode/password pages for DXMD.

The semicolon might make the data look a bit cramped. Hawk proposed using the em dash (—). I think it looks a lot better. Let me know what you think.

--Aeratus (talk) 15:02, 22 September 2022 (UTC)

Improvement
I think the dash is something of an improvement, yes. I think on smartphone screens, the run-on sentence cramps up even more. It looks very squished on the entries with 5 or 6 logins. I do not think a separate login column and password column is too cramped at all you can easily run your eye across the lines and see each piece of info clearly. It does not prevent showing multiple logins accurately, as per my rewrite. I merged cells and created clearly defined cells that showed all of the logins available for each computer. you could easily tell whether to use Reyes or Denton or Mandeley on Liberty Island, for example. The only issue for me is either merging the cells into a big list or having each entry in their own cell. I prefer the latter. Please reconsider this and try a layout for yourself that looks a little better, but right now, longer entries look like pure gibberish.

Reply
Fandom in general isn't well optimized for smartphones, and the mobile view might differ depending on your specific device. Could you post a screenshot showing what you mean by entries being squished in mobile, or explain what device/parameters you are using so that it can be simulated on my end?

Also, on mobile, separating the login data into two separate columns for the login and password makes it so that the page does not fit in one vertical screen on my smartphone (Galaxy S21) due to the increased horizontal width of the table. But this could differ depending on the specific device, I'd imagine.

In any case, its also nice that you brought up the smartphone issue. I've just noticed that our citation template "reflist" does not work on mobile when there are custom group names. Not sure if this is a new issue but it'll have to be fixed as well.

--Aeratus (talk) 14:55, 23 September 2022 (UTC)

Smartphone
I am using an S22 Plus so slightly larger screen, but the passwords are squished on them and would benefit from a clear login column and password column. Even if that means having to side scroll, at least it doesn't mean run on sentences. My last reply was not just about smartphones though. I believe with correct cell merging and individual cells for each password and login (like in DXHR and DXMD but with the cell mrgers I used) multiple logins can be easily and elegantly displayed in a neat and precise grid. Please take a look at my last edit from several days ago again. One edit I mead gave them individual cells, the edit before that I listed each login and only put passcodes in the new column. Both were much more uniform and precise, in my opinion.

Changes to column widths
I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "run on sentences," but I think you probably mean line breaks resulting from long lines. I've increased the width of the last column in the mobile view to what appears to be the maximum column width. So the mobile view now has more horizontally-scrollable width. As a result, most of the previous line breaks have been resolved, except for a few entries with very long logins/passwords and entries for ATM accounts that list the number of credits. I'm thinking that the number of credits may be removed from this page or displayed in a different manner to reduce clutter.

The width of the last column has also been increased to 46% in desktop view. So on desktop, the last column no longer has any line breaks, except for one entry.

To further help reduce clutter, the descriptions in the first column have been simplified. This was done in conjunction with the addition of a table header row for each mission map (this was Hawk's edit). So overall, visual clutter has been reduced quite a bit. Please take a look!

--Aeratus (talk) 03:52, 24 September 2022 (UTC)

New Width
Yes I believe this looks much better. Particularly the map names that have been integrated into the table. The removal of ATM amounts makes sense to me also. I am glad the layout is now more horizontally readable on desktop and mobile. Thank you for taking my criticisms and suggestions on board. I am still of the opinion that separate columns for the login and the password would make it a perfect page, as it would be very neat and visible at a glance. If you disagree with this, however, then that is fine. I shall leave that decision to you, as the moderator. Either way, it is still much better. Thank you and let me know if you reconsider a login column and password column.

Reply
Thanks! Yes, I think having separate columns would look a lot better, but if we go that route, it should be implemented in a way that doesn't increase the vertical sparsity of the table, which is the challenge. It is something worth looking into once the data on the page stabilizes. Once the content is complete, we would have a better idea on how to implement a two-column layout.

--Aeratus (talk) 19:54, 26 September 2022 (UTC)

Late Reply
Apologies for the late reply I have been away. Yes that sounds good. The two columns is the best benefit, I think. I will leave this to you though. The new width and the - over a ; is a preferable change too. Thank you for all your hard work!