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Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity

2010-01-30T05:15:05Z

99.58.112.223: /* The Transformers cartoon */ Clean-up

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[[Image:BumblebeelovesNY.jpg|right|300px|thumb|]]
He's [[Kid-appeal character|kid-friendly]] with a capital B!
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==''The Transformers'' cartoon==
:''Voice actor:'' [[Dan Gilvezan]] (English), [[Yoku Shioya]] (Japanese), [[Sandro Sardone]] (Italian)

[[Image:Bumblebee-CyberToon.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Bumblebee's Cybertronian form could give [[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]] a run for his money.]]
Four million years ago on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], Bumblebee was part of the Autobot army, stationed out of the city-state of Iacon. The war effort was marked by dwindling energy resources on both sides, and the Autobots routinely sent out patrols to search for untapped sources of energy. On one such mission, Bumblebee and [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] managed to scrounge up some [[conductor|energy conductors]], but not even enough to last a quartex. Bumblebee's sunny disposition kept Wheeljack from getting too maudlin about their long-term survival, and the duo began rolling back to Iacon. They were interrupted by a group of Seekers and got into a firefight that turned literal when one Decepticon fired a ring of flame around their position. Wheeljack managed to blow a path through the opposition, but Bumblebee caught some stray fire in his rear axle and had to pull inside Wheeljack before he spun completely out of control. Still, they managed to reach the underground tunnels in time, which deterred their pursuers from following any further.

Despite Bumblebee and Wheeljack's success in procuring more energy for the Autobots, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] determined that it was time to take the Autobots' search to other planets. Bumblebee was among the Autobots who boarded the [[Ark (G1)|spacecraft]] for this mission, but it was attacked in mid-flight by the Decepticons and crash-landed on prehistoric [[Earth]]. All the Transformers aboard were knocked offline by the crash and lay dormant until 1984, when the ship's computer, [[Teletraan I]], was jarred back to life as the volcano into which the ship had crashed erupted. Bumblebee was rebuilt to transform into a Volkswagen Beetle. {{storylink|More than Meets the Eye, Part 1}} After befriending the humans [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] and his father [[Sparkplug Witwicky|Sparkplug]] following a Decepticon attack on an oil rig, Bumblebee was part of the team of Autobots sent to stop [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] and the Decepticons from overpowering [[Sherman Dam]]. Bumblebee helped Ironhide carve out a new riverbed for the raging waters, saving a nearby neighborhood from being flooded. Such acts were some of the earliest that helped endear the Autobots to the humans.

[[Image:MTMTE3 Bumblebee labcoat.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The first attempts at "Robots in Disguise" were halfhearted, at best.]]
On their next mission, which was to the [[Ruby Crystal Mines of Burma]], Bumblebee and Sparkplug volunteered to sneak inside and plant Wheeljack's explosive device. On their way out after setting the explosive, they were stumbled upon by [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] and [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]], and so were still inside when the explosive went off. {{storylink|More than Meets the Eye, Part 2}} The pair fortunately survived the explosion and were retrieved from the rubble by the other Autobots. Bumblebee would later take part in a ploy to try and trick the Decepticons with a fake rocket base, dressing up in an oversized lab coat to pose as a human scientist. This was less than successful, and he and the other Autobots were forced to try and stop the Decepticons from taking off in their [[Victory (ship)|space cruiser]]. {{storylink|More than Meets the Eye, Part 3}}

[[Image:TransporttoOblivion Bumblebee rescues Spike.jpg|thumb|left|200px]]
During the Decepticon development of their [[space bridge]] program, Bumblebee and Spike were spying on the enemy for Optimus Prime. They accidentally tumbled into the ravine where Megatron was launching his test flights for the bridge, and they were almost forced to act as test pilots before the window of operation closed. The two heroes briefly escaped but were recaptured, and Megatron altered a bank of Bumblebee's memory circuits to lure the Autobots into a trap. Bumblebee was injured during the Decepticon ambush, giving Ratchet a chance to examine his circuits and discover the altered portion of his memory. Bumblebee recovered in time to alert the Autobots to the true location of the Space Bridge and rescue Spike before he was sent on a one-way trip to Cybertron. {{storylink|Transport to Oblivion}}

Having bonded after their adventure with the space bridge, Bumblebee and Spike were virtually inseparable for the next 20-odd years. Bumblebee escorted Spike and his boy-genius friend [[Chip Chase]] to the laboratory where Chip was assisting [[Doctor Alcazar]] in developing his antimatter formula. On their way back, they were attacked by [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]], alerting them to the fact that the Decepticons were after the antimatter formula on which Chip had been working. After Chip was captured by the Decepticons, Bumblebee and Spike mounted a rescue with the help of [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] and [[Hound (G1)|Hound]]. {{storylink|Roll for It}}

After Optimus Prime was dramatically injured by an explosion, Bumblebee volunteered with [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]], [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] and [[Bluestreak]] to take the Decepticon space bridge to Cybertron to retrieve a new [[cosmotron]]. Though they gained entrance to [[Wheeljack's shop]] with Chip's help and retrieved the required component, the group was debilitated by the [[Rainmaker]]s' acid rain. After a pep talk from Chip, they were able to return to Earth through the space bridge, and Bumblebee rushed the cosmotron back to headquarters. {{storylink|Divide and Conquer}}

[[Image:FireInTheSky Bumblebee in cave.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]
A freak snowfall saw the Autobots enjoying a snowball fight, and Bumblebee managed to take out a whole group when a snowball he threw ended up growing to a huge size. Investigations of what was causing the freak weather took the Autobots to the Arctic Circle, where Spike and Sparkplug were captured by a new Decepticon, [[Jetfire (G1)|Skyfire]]. Bumblebee was part of the team who rescued the pair, and he caused a cave-in to prevent [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] from following them during their escape. {{storylink|Fire in the Sky}}

When the newly built [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobot]]s ran amok in headquarters, Bumblebee tried unsuccessfully to prevent [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] from wrecking [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]]. Subsequently, an attack on the [[Great Falls]] went unreported until Hound detected it, and Bumblebee was left back at base while the rest of the Autobots went to investigate. Luckily, he disobeyed Prime's orders and was able to pick up Spike after Megatron managed to defeat Optimus's group. Back at HQ, Wheeljack decided to reactivate the Dinobots, despite Bumblebee's protests. As it happened, the plan worked, and by the time Bumblebee, [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] and Spike arrived at the falls, the Decepticons had already been defeated. {{storylink|S.O.S. Dinobots}}

[[Image:FireOnTheMountain Bumblebee fights Ravage.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Biting the arm that feeds him.]]
Bumblebee was part of the team of Autobots who flew to [[Peru]] in the reactivated Skyfire to investigate Decepticon activity, helping Spike to rescue a native girl named [[Luisa]] during a pitched battle. The trio were able to locate Skyfire, who'd been captured by the Decepticons, and Bumblebee wrestled with Ravage while Spike struggled to reactivate the fallen warrior. After the expected defeat of the Decepticons, Luisa suggested they could introduce Bumblebee to her brother's convertible. {{storylink|Fire on the Mountain}}

Bumblebee was present at Autobot Headquarters when Sparkplug was kidnapped by Laserbeak, but was unable to stop the Decepticon. He later tried to comfort Spike and took part in a diversionary attack on the Decepticon base while a team broke Sparkplug out. They were all taken by surprise when Sparkplug subsequently let the Decepticons into HQ and went with them when they retreated, unaware he was under the influence of [[Doctor Arkeville]]'s [[hypno-chip]]. The Autobots attempted unsuccessfully to prevent Megatron's latest plan, and Cybertron was brought into close proximity to Earth. {{storylink|The Ultimate Doom, Part 1}} During the retreat through harsh conditions, Bumblebee was hampered by a flat tire, which Spike soon changed. The pair were caught in an earthquake before they could get underway, and with Spike snatched by Laserbeak, Bumblebee tumbled into an opening chasm. He was later fished out by [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]], after Spike had been rescued and alerted the other Autobots to 'Bee's predicament.

[[Image:Ultimate Doom 3 Bumblebee Tarzan.JPG|thumb|right|200px|If George Lucas produced the ''Transformers'' movie instead of Spielberg, we would've had this scene.]]
Back at HQ, Bumblebee volunteered to be part of an expedition to Cybertron to try to save Sparkplug. There they learned about the hypno-chips, but were discovered by Sparkplug, who raised the alarm. {{storylink|The Ultimate Doom, Part 2}} The group escaped to Wheeljack's shop. There Wheeljack created a counter-device for the hypno-chips, subsequently allowing them to rescue Sparkplug and take him back to Earth. During the inevitable battle, Bumblebee employed a Tarzan technique to avoid [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]]'s pile drivers. He was disappointed when the wave created by Megatron's exploding spaceship dissipated before he could try out his boogie board. {{storylink|The Ultimate Doom, Part 3}}

[[Image:PlagueOfInsecticons Bumblebee and Spike hide.jpg|thumb|left|200px]]
During the aftermath of the chaos Cybertron had wreaked, Bumblebee and the rest of the Autobots were caught up in foiling [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]]'s plan to destroy Earth using an [[Exponential Generator|exponential generator]]. {{storylink|Countdown to Extinction (episode)|Countdown to Extinction}} Bumblebee, Windcharger and [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] traveled on Skyfire to [[Bali]] to investigate reports of giant, mechanical insects and found themselves tangling with the [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticon]]s. Once the rest of the Autobots caught up, the Insecticons and Decepticons retreated to a nearby oil refinery, pursued by the Autobot forces. When [[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]] unleashed his ability to control lightning, Spike suggested Bumblebee transform to vehicle mode, as his rubber tires would insulate him from the lightning bolts. {{storylink|A Plague of Insecticons}}

During one Decepticon plot, Megatron challenged Optimus Prime to a one-on-one contest, and all of the Autobots were on hand to cheer him on. Though Optimus lost, it turned out that Megatron had cheated, so the Autobots were free to blast the Decepticons into an open crevasse full of lava. {{storylink|Heavy Metal War}}

Bumblebee and Spike were on hand to watch the activation of Sparkplug's experiment, [[Autobot X]], and its total failure. When the pair were subsequently injured during a Decepticon attack on a rocket base, Spike's life-threatening injuries resulted in another experiment: transferring his mind into Autobot X. The process damaged Spike's psyche, and the boy fled headquarters. Bumblebee forwent further repairs on himself to go looking for Spike, and he found him...being conned by Megatron into joining the Decepticons. The diminutive Autobot sped back to find Optimus Prime, and the Autobots were able to talk Spike around. His mind was subsequently returned to his regular body. {{storylink|Autobot Spike}}

[[Image:ChangingGears Gears Bee acrobatics.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]
While the Autobots were gathering for another mission, Bumblebee teased [[Gears (G1)|Gears]] about the latter's grumpy demeanor. Despite this, when Gears was captured by the Decepticons, Bumblebee was as concerned as anyone for the Autobot's safety. Certain subtle clues lead the Autobots to a Decepticon installation in [[Africa]], where they attempted to stop Megatron from destabilizing the sun. Bumblebee saved Gears's life during the battle by ramming Starscream from behind, and he ended up struggling with Ravage. When everything was wrapped up, Bumblebee and the others were keen to keep Gears's less abrasive personality, but Gears's wishes prevailed. {{storylink|Changing Gears}}

[[Image:BumblebeelovesNY.jpg|thumb|left|200px]]
Investigating reports that the Decepticons had made the [[Empire State Building]] disappear, Bumblebee was part of the contingent of Autobots who went to the city. He carried Spike on his shoulders as he, Mirage, Hound and Ratchet ventured into New York's scenic sewer system and were pursued by an [[alligatorcon]]. As it turned out, the creature was build from Optimus Prime's parts, as the Decepticons had captured and disassembled him. After fighting [[battle taxi]]s, Bumblebee and Spike broke into the Decepticon control center and tricked Megatron into destroying the control device for Optimus Prime's arm, which had been attached to the top of a tower as a gun emplacement. Later, Bumblebee was seen sporting an "I &hearts; NY" license plate. {{storylink|City of Steel}}

A new Decepticon plan involved turning the Autobots evil by installing a [[personality destabilizer device]] in the Autobot [[recharging chamber]]. Luckily for Bumblebee, he was out messing around with [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]], Spike and Sparkplug, and so was spared the treatment. When he returned to base, Bluestreak tried to force him into the recharging chamber, but Jazz intervened in time. While Sparkplug worked on a solution, Bumblebee tried to reason with the evilified Optimus Prime, only to be batted aside. Fortunately, Sparkplug's [[attitude exchanger]]s worked, and Bumblebee himself was able to bring Optimus back from the dark side, earning himself a hug. {{storylink|Attack of the Autobots}}

[[Image:Arcade Hahaha.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]
Spike and Bumblebee volunteered to go into town to get a new [[polarizer]] for Wheeljack's latest experiment, the [[Immobilizer]]. While stopping off in a [[Robots Video Arcade|video arcade]], they encountered [[Carly]], who expressed her interest in the Autobot. Continuing on, they were attacked by Ravage, who planted a spycam on Bumblebee, allowing the Decepticons to spy on Wheeljack's demonstration and eventually steal the Immobilizer. Carly was also kidnapped by the Decepticons when she attempted to check out their base, and Spike and Bumblebee helped Ironhide mount a rescue mission. {{storylink|The Immobilizer}}

When Megatron's [[Transfixatron]] was used to lock the Autobots in their vehicle modes during a charity event, Bumblebee was the only one there not to be affected. He returned to base with Spike and Chip to raise the alarm, and once Ratchet and Wheeljack had come up with a device to counter the Transfixatron's effects, took part in the rescue mission. {{storylink|The Autobot Run}}

[[Image:AtlantisArise Bumblebee spygear.jpg|thumb|left|200px]]
Bumblebee took his life in his hands by joining the other Autobots in playing football against the Dinobots. Their match was interrupted by an alert which lead them to find the Decepticons helping to raise the underwater city of [[Sub-Atlantica]]. The city moved to the coast off Washington, D.C. so the Sub-Atlanticans and Decepticons could invade America's capital. Bumblebee and Spike entered Sub-Atlantica to free Wheeljack, who'd been captured, and returned to Washington to help fight off the enemy forces. The trio tried to stop [[Nergill]] from destroying Sub-Atlantica, but failed and were only snatched away from certain destruction at the last moment by Optimus. {{storylink|Atlantis, Arise!}}

Much like the other Autobots, Bumblebee was surprised when soon after one battle, a second Optimus Prime turned up at headquarters. He asked Teletraan I to scan both Optimuses, but the computer was unable to work out which was the real thing. Both Optimuses subsequently lead the Autobot forces into battle against the Decepticons, but it was Bumblebee's query about Spike, disregarded by the fake, which finally proved which was which. {{storylink|A Prime Problem}}

Checking out strange reports of chewed redwoods, Bumblebee, Hound, Beachcomber and Spike found the source of the problem: the Insecticons. Having avoided certain death in the form of a rolling log, the Autobots overheard the Insecticons discussing their plans with the Decepticons, and they radioed HQ. They joined the other Autobots at the [[Nova Power Plant]] a short time later, but were unable to prevent the Insecticons from devouring the power core. After discovering that the Insecticons were going to explode due to the energy they'd eaten, the Autobots traveled to [[Iron Mountain]], which the Decepticons were attacking, to try and prevent the disaster. {{storylink|The Insecticon Syndrome}}

[[Image:DinobotIsland1 jetpack Bumblebee.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]
Teamed up with Powerglide, Bumblebee used a jet pack to keep up with his flighty comrade. The pair investigated some strange energy readings and discovered [[Dinobot Island (G1)|an island full of dinosaurs]]. After a close call with some hostile saurians, they retreated back to Headquarters to report on what they'd found and were in time to watch a demonstration of the Dinobots' skills go horribly wrong. Spike and Bumblebee visited a local library to check out some [[Ere Cenozoique Periode Tertiaire|dino-related books]], but were attacked by barbarians on mammoths, who knocked a building over on them. {{storylink|Dinobot Island, Part 1}} Fortunately, they were both OK, and the rest of the Autobots dug them out before dealing with the mammoths. {{storylink|Dinobot Island, Part 2}}

Strolling into the laboratory one day, Bumblebee was surprised to find Brawn badmouthing [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]], and he defended the scientist. The altercation was interrupted by a mission to [[South America]], where the Autobots failed to stop Megatron retrieving the [[Heart of Cybertron]] and powering himself up to ridiculous levels. Perceptor came up with a cunning plan: He, Brawn and Bumblebee were miniaturized and inserted into Megatron, then managed to retrieve the Heart of Cybertron from inside him. {{storylink|Microbots}}

[[Image:MMP2 scorched Bumblebee.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Bumblebee, you're supposed to wash after you wipe!]]
After having helped foil an attack on a solar energy plant, Bumblebee took part in the [[Autobot Day]] parade, but things soon turned sour when Megatron's latest plan framed the Autobots. The humans turned against them, and the Autobots were soon all shot into space. {{storylink|Megatron's Master Plan, Part 1}} They almost crashed into the Sun, but made it back to Earth safely and kicked the Decepticons back to their undersea base. {{storylink|Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2}}

On their way to pick up Sparkplug from the airport, Bumblebee, Spike and Carly stopped off at the [[Fun A Rama Park]], where Bumblebee couldn't see the point of the teacups ride until Carly disabled his [[equilibrium chip|equilibrium circuit]]. While at the airport, they spotted [[Thrust (G1)|Thrust]] and [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]], and the Dinobots were duly called in. Unfortunately, just as it seemed they'd won, Megatron triggered a huge explosion. Bumblebee shielded the humans, but the Dinobots were badly damaged.

Following repairs, the Dinobots stormed off, and the Autobots were subsequently left in the lurch when [[Cybertonium]] depletion disabled them. {{storylink|Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1}} Spike, Carly and the Dinobots were able to bring more Cybertonium back from Cybertron in time to repair all of the Autobots, including Bumblebee. {{storylink|Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 2}}

Bumblebee was among the Autobots who went to [[Haley Observatory]] but arrived too late to prevent the Decepticons from stealing the [[Voltronic Galaxer]]. {{storylink|Blaster Blues}} He was also among the Autobots who coated themselves in [[electrum]] to battle the Decepticons, {{storylink|The Golden Lagoon}} and he battled drones in New York during a Decepticon plan to convert stolen cars into troops. {{storylink|Make Tracks}}

[[Image:ChildsPlay Bumblebee thumbsup.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Cookies and Cream is my favorite!]]
A space bridge malfunction hurled Bumblebee, along with Optimus, Inferno, Perceptor, [[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]] and a group of Decepticons, across the galaxy to a planet where the local life forms were huge in comparison with the Transformers. After befriending a [[Aron|young boy]] and having a series of misadventures, the Autobots were ready to return home. However, the Decepticons took Bumblebee as a hostage, forcing Perceptor to use up the energon sending them home. Luckily, Perceptor's alternate plan to modify a toy rocket for space flight also worked. {{storylink|Child's Play (episode)|Child's Play}} On the way back to Earth, the Autobots were intercepted by the bounty hunter [[Bosch]], and all of the Autobots bar Smokescreen were liberated of their free will and sold as slaves. Smokescreen was fortunately able to free them before they came to harm. {{storylink|The Gambler}}

Returning from a mission in [[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]] to [[Floron III]] to find [[robotic insecticide]] for use against the Insecticon army, Bumblebee and Spike discovered that they had unexpected fellow passengers in the form of [[Morphobot]]s. Cosmos was overcome by the creatures and crashed on Earth, but not before ejecting his friends, who returned to Autobot HQ to get help. There, Bumblebee discovered that several of the Morphobots had attached themselves to his back, providing Perceptor with a sample to study. After being decontaminated, Bumblebee joined the expedition back to the crash site to retrieve Cosmos. A battle with the Decepticons destroyed the insecticide, and it looked like their mission had been rendered a failure until the Morphobots solved the Insecticon problem by eating the whole clone army. {{storylink|Quest for Survival}}

One of Megatron's wilder schemes involved inflicting a small energyvore named [[Kremzeek]] on the Autobots. Luckily for Bumblebee, he was one of the few Autobots to be protected by Sparkplug's insulating compound. After a chase in [[Japan]] which resulted in Kremzeek growing to giant size, the Autobots found a way to inflict him back on Megatron. Human scientist [[Sōji Yoshikawa|Doctor Yoshikawa]] came up with a way, much to Bumblebee's discomfort, to disperse the critter's energy. {{storylink|Kremzeek!}}

[[Image:SeaChange Bumblebee wipeout.jpg|thumb|left|200px]]
After indulging in a spot of water skiing and stargazing with [[Seaspray (G1)|Seaspray]], Bumblebee and his comrade accompanied Perceptor and Cosmos to the far-off world of the [[Tlalakan]]s to investigate a distress signal. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a ''Decepticon'' distress signal, and Bumblebee was captured while trying to escape from Megatron's forces, who had also turned up to answer it. With the help of the shape-shifting Tlalakans, the other Autobots mounted a rescue, and Bumblebee was pressed into service defending the natives' city while they overthrew their Decepticon overlords. {{storylink|Sea Change}}

Bumblebee was once again abducted, this time by [[Lord Chumley]] while out on the town with [[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]]. Placed in specially constructed devices of torture along with other captured Autobots, Bumblebee was forced to transform back and forth continously to avoid swinging axes. He was able to use his radio long enough to contact Optimus, but this was what Chumley wanted, as the big game hunter aimed to lure the Autobot leader to his compound and indulge in some sport. Optimus, of course, won and freed Bumblebee and his fellow captives. {{storylink|Prime Target}}

Despite being around in Autobot HQ when Ironhide gave the order to roll out for Cybertron, Bumblebee didn't go with him, possibly because he didn't have a girlfriend back on his home world. {{storylink|The Search for Alpha Trion}} He was one of the Autobots who entered the [[Europa 2000]] after rumours that the Decepticons were after [[Auggie Cahnay (G1)|Auggie Cahnay]]'s super car. Augie's impolite driving habits at one point drove Bumblebee to yank the human from his car for a stern scolding.

[[Image:BumblebeePearl.JPG|thumb|right|200px|He's got the touch, he's got the...well you know the rest...]]
As it turned out, Megatron was after the [[Pearl of Bahoudin]], an ancient Cybertronian weather control power core in a containing shell. Bumblebee snatched the pearl from him, breaking it open and creating a huge vortex when he found the Autobots were outnumbered. To destroy it, he was forced to throw himself into the tornado, riding it until he was able to get a clear shot and blast the power core. {{storylink|Trans-Europe Express}}

After Perceptor used [[corrostop]] to cure a [[Cosmic Rust (disease)|cosmic rust]] brought to Earth by Megatron, the Autobots were able to defend the [[Statue of Liberty]] successfully from the Decepticons, a fact Bumblebee was particularly pleased with. {{storylink|Cosmic Rust (episode)|Cosmic Rust}} After a bizarre attack on Autobot HQ which led to the Decepticons turning tail as soon as they'd arrived, Bumblebee wondered what the heck was going on. As it turned out, Starscream had built the [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticon]]s to try to usurp Megatron's leadership, and Bumblebee and the other Autobots used the battle between the two factions to rescue Jazz and [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]]. {{storylink|Starscream's Brigade}}

The [[Stunticon (G1)|Stunticons]] began stealing components for Megatron's latest super weapon, and the Autobots set out to stop them. Bumblebee, Spike and Blaster spectated as Optimus took down [[Motormaster]] himself. They put a counter-plan into effect, wherein the Stunticons would be held captive, while five Autobots would pose as them. However, Spike and Bumblebee discovered that the Decepticon group had escaped. After picking up their trampled comrades, they went to provide reinforcements for Optimus's group and arrived just in the nick of time. {{storylink|Masquerade}}

Sent with Ironhide and Gears to investigate an SOS from [[Benjamin Franklin Pierce High School]], Bumblebee met [[Martin and Roland|Martin, Roland]] and [[Elise Presser|Elise]] and chased around the [[B.O.T. (robot)|robot]] they'd built from [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]]'s brain until [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] snatched it from under their noses. With [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]] repaired, the Decepticons took their latest superweapon to Autobot headquarters. The obligatory battle ended with Elise using B.O.T. to destroy the cannon, leading Bumblebee to apologize for the loss of their robot. {{storylink|B.O.T. (episode)|B.O.T.}}

[[Image:Spike ospit.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Spike is about to corrupt Bumblebee's audio receptors forever...]]
By 2005, the Decepticons had retaken Cybertron. Spike and Bumblebee were stationed on [[Moonbase Two]] on one of the planet's moons when the huge, planet-devouring [[Unicron]] appeared and made short work of the first moon. The pair rigged the second moon to explode and began to make their escape...but the explosion barely scratched Unicron, and their ship was sucked into his maw. Luckily, Unicron takes some time to digest things, and the two (as well as Jazz and Cliffjumper) were spared an acid-bath in Unicron's guts by the timely arrival of Spike's son, [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel Witwicky]]. As Unicron began to explode, they were led to safety by new leader [[Hot Rod (G1)|Rodimus Prime]]. {{storylink|The Transformers: The Movie}}

For a short time after, peace reigned, and Bumblebee was stationed on Earth at [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], apparently under Blaster's command. He and [[Warpath (G1)|Warpath]] watched the broadcast of Rodimus opening the [[Galactic Olympics]], {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1}} and he was later seen running for battle stations as Blaster sounded an alert. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3}} Bumblebee was part of a squad of Autobots who failed to defend Autobot headquarters against the giant Decepticon [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]]. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5}}

{{note|An animation error meant Bumblebee could also be seen on Cybertron, defending the planet against the Decepticons.}}

As chronal forces ripped across the galaxy, causing havoc, Bumblebee became trapped in a time loop while racing with Jazz and [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]]. {{storylink|Forever Is a Long Time Coming}}

He was present in Autobot City when [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]] and [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream's ghost]] came to attempt to steal the giant's eyes for Unicron. When the Decepticons' invasion set the city on red alert, Bumblebee and Spike teamed up to search the complex for the attackers, just like old times. Running across Scourge in Metroplex's brain, they managed a drive-by ramming that knocked the tracker off balance, but ended up crashing and locking themselves inside Metroplex's voice control room. Guess they were really out of practice with their teamwork. {{storylink|Ghost in the Machine}}

He was stationed on Cybertron when the energy creature [[Tornedron]] attacked the planet. {{storylink|Call of the Primitives}}

[[Image:Goldbugtroop1.jpg|left|thumb|135px|See? He still looks sorta friendly.]]

When the body of Optimus Prime was retrieved by [[Gregory Swofford]] and [[Jessica Morgan]], Rodimus Prime led a team that included Bumblebee to investigate. However, Bumblebee and his teammates were attacked by a [[Hate Plague]]-infested [[Superion (G1)|Superion]] and heavily damaged. {{storylink|The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1}} After Optimus Prime was rebuilt by the [[Quintesson|Quintessons]], so too was Bumblebee into a more powerful but similar form. Bumblebee remarked that he now looked like a "gold bug". Optimus Prime decided this would be his new name.

[[Image:Goldbugtroop2.jpg|right|thumb|Eeeyeeaaggh!]]

Goldbug journeyed with Optimus Prime and the other survivors to [[Chaar]] in search of a heat-resistant alloy that could insulate Prime from the Hate Plague. However, infected Decepticon forces attacked and contaminated Goldbug as well. Goldbug and all other contaminated beings were restored when Optimus Prime retrieved the Matrix and unleashed the remainder of its energy. {{storylink|The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2}}

While discussing the marked absence of the Decepticons over the last few months, Goldbug, [[Strafe (G1)|Strafe]] and [[Lightspeed (G1 Technobot)|Lightspeed]] were alerted to an incoming incursion by their enemies. The [[Throttlebot]]s attempted to defend the city alongside the [[Technobot (G1)|Technobot]]s, but failed to prevent the Decepticons from getting away with the key to the [[plasma energy|Plasma Energy Chamber]]. {{storylink|The Rebirth, Part 1}} Goldbug was among the cheering crowds after the Plasma Energy Chamber ushered in a new Golden Age of Cybertron. {{storylink|The Rebirth, Part 3}}
{{note|In an animation error, Bumblebee was ''also'' among the cheering crowds. Oops.}}

==Japanese cartoon continuity==
{{note|The events of the Generation 1 cartoon occur in Japanese animated continuity as described above, except that the events of "The Rebirth" do not occur. Additionally, this continuity moves the events of 2006 forward to 2010, and inserts several additional events into the newly-created intervening years.}}

===Fight! Super Robot Lifeform comic===

[[Image:Bumblebee_and_kenji.jpg|left|thumb|135px]]

In the late 1980s, the Autobots and Decepticons conflict expanded to include regular skirmishes in Japan. When the Decepticons staged a major attack on [[Ark (G1)|Autobot Headquarters]], the absence of Soundwave and his cassette minions made Optimus Prime suspicious, and he dispatched a unit including Bumblebee to search for them in Japan. While searching with the Autobots' newest human ally [[Kenji]], Bumblebee was stopped by the police who believed Kenji was driving while underage. After Bumblebee transformed for the officers, everyone had a good laugh at the misconception. After resuming their patrol, the human and Autobot were attacked by Ravage. Kenji told Bumblebee to transform, but 'Bee gently informed his passenger that Kenji wouldn't survive the process if he did. Luckily, Powerglide swooped in just in time to whisk Kenji to safety, but he also left Bumblebee behind to face Soundwaves and his Cassettes alone. But Bumblebee had no fear -- he unleashed the awesome and terrifying [[Bumble Kick]]!, destroying Soundwave's chest compartment. After the Cassettes fruitlessly (and hilariously) bounced off Soundwave's chest while trying to hide from the arriving Autobot reinforcements, Bumblebee was congratulated for his victory. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers issue 2}}

Bumblebee was also present when Optimus Prime gave Kenji a tour of the Autobot's Japanese base. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers issue 4}}

When Powerglide was trying to stop the [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticons]] from murdering a [[murdered puppy|dog]] that had been experimented upon by the Decepticons, Bumblebee and the Minibots arrived to back him up. By harnessing the amazing cyber-powers of the super-advanced puppy, the Minibots gained Scramble Combination Power, and powerdrilled straight through [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]]. The puppy died, but man -- what a rush! {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers issue 8}}
{{-}}
===Scramble City===
[[Image:Scramblecity_spike_and_bee.jpg|right|thumb]]
:''Voice actor:'' [[Yoku Shioya]]

Bumblebee took part in the secret Scramble City project to construct Metroplex. His building efforts appeared to consist of lugging equipment around and suggesting to Spike that they should slack off. {{storylink|Scramble City}}

===Full Throttle Scramble Power===

When the Decepticons threatened the world with the power of their [[Omega Whip]], Bumblebee and the entire Autobot army joined [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] in attacking their base to stop them. {{storylink|Full Throttle Scramble Power!}}
{{-}}
===''The Stargate Battles''===

[[Image:Bumblebee stargatebattles peace.jpg|left|125px|thumb]]

In the 1990s, Bumblebee was part of a delegation of Autobots who attended a press conference to announce the creation of the interstellar teleportation system known as "[[Warp Gate|The Trigger]]" to the world. As Optimus Prime delivered his speech to the assembled masses, Bumblebee encouraged Jazz to lighten up, and posed for his legions of swooning fangirls in the audience. A few days later, when the Decepticons attacked the Trigger in an attempt to take control of it, Bumblebee was among the Autobots who helped repel their assault. {{storylink|First Contact}}

[[Image:Angry sgb bumblebee.jpg|right|135px|thumb|I Am Furious (Yellow)]]

Three months later, Bumblebee joined Optimus Prime, Wheeljack and Bluestreak to a military testing site, where Prime was to help the human scientist [[Professor Adle]] test-drive his new invention, the drone [[C-X]]. The site, however, was besieged by protestors who objected to the presence of the Autobots and their war on Earth, and Bumblebee was particularly annoyed by the hateful slogans they shouted. Bumblebee had little to contribute once the test of C-X began, and when the robot ran amok during the trial, he was injured by its rampage. Prime was able to subdue the rampaging drone, but this display only added fuel to the protestors' fire, and Bumblebee was ready to snap until Bluestreak reigned him in. {{storylink|Divided Views}}

Some time later, when the Decepticons staged another attack on the Trigger, Bumblebee again tried to defend the installation. During the attack, Starscream fused himself with the Trigger, transforming it into a massive misshapen robot form for himself, and it took the combination of Optimus Prime and Megatron's power to destroy it. The backwash of the explosion was so great, however, that Bumblebee and the other Autobots and Decepticons were all caught in it and sent plummeting to Earth in freefall, burning up as they went. The Transformers were all badly injured and not seen on Earth for months. {{storylink|The Stargate Battles (issue)|The Stargate Battles}}
{{-}}

===''Kiss Players''===
[[Image:KPPrimeGoldbug.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Sometimes, toy-accuracy is a strange, strange thing.]]
In the year 2011, after the resurrection of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee's transformation into Goldbug, the two Autobots traveled to the planet [[Quintessa]] and rescued the [[Kiss Players (singing group)|Kiss Players]] and their partner [[Sparkbot|Sparkbots]] from the [[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticons]] pit, also freeing their [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|spaceship]] from the Quintessons' trap. {{storylink|Kiss Players (manga)|Kiss Players}}

{{-}}
===''The Headmasters'' cartoon===
:''Voice actor:'' [[Michitaka Kobayashi]] (Japanese)
[[Image:CassetteOperation Throttlebot fight.JPG|right|200px|thumb|]]
In 2011, Goldbug and the Throttlebots tried to defend [[Vector Sigma]] from the Decepticon [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]], but were defeated. {{storylink|Four Warriors Come out of the Sky}} They later failed to stop the [[Madmachine]]'s rampage across the planet, and were beaten up by the Headmasters again until Goldbug got it together and organized his team to fight properly. {{storylink|The Great Cassette Operation}}

Their only real action of note, however, was attempting to deal with a strange, metal-warping asteroid and being horribly twisted and warped by it. {{storylink|Approach of the Demon Meteorite}} They were apparently retrieved and repaired, and much later, the whole Throttlebot team tried to stop a [[Predaking]] bent on sinking ships and raiding villages, but were again defeated. {{storylink|The Final Showdown on Earth (Part 1)}}

[[Category:Autobots]]
[[Category:Generation 1 characters]]

MediaWiki talk:Community Portal

2009-12-29T14:54:07Z

99.58.112.223: /* Password Failure */ new section

__NEWSECTIONLINK__

This is the place for discussion of topics that affect the entire wiki. Some topics that would ordinarily be here have merited their own pages:

{{chapters|title=Specific Discussion Subjects|align=left|content=
<div class="list-header">'''Moving From Wikia:'''</div>
* [[Transformers Wiki talk:Community Portal/Arriving|Arriving]]
* [[Transformers Wiki talk:Community Portal/Leaving|Leaving]]
* [[Transformers Wiki:Community Portal/Complaints|Complaints]]
<br/><div class="list-header">'''New Ad Policy:'''</div>
* [[Transformers Wiki:Ads|Ads]]
<br/><div class="list-header">'''Bookworm Database-Crash:'''</div>
* [[Transformers Wiki talk:Community Portal/Damage Control Central|Damage Control Central]]
* [[Project:Bookworm Crash]]
* [[Transformers Wiki talk:Community Portal/Leaving2|Leaving Take 2]]
<br/><div class="list-header">'''Server Move:'''</div>
* [[Transformers Wiki talk:Community Portal/Arriving2|Arriving Take 2]]
<br/><div class="list-header">'''Relicensing:'''</div>
* [[Transformers Wiki talk:Community Portal/Relicensing|Relicensing]]
<br/><div class="list-header">'''Dealing With Vandalism:'''</div>
* [[Transformers Wiki talk:Community Portal/Vandalism|Vandalism]]
<br/><div class="list-header">'''GoBots Sister Wiki:'''</div>
* [[Transformers Wiki talk:Community Portal/GoBots|Discussion on the place of GoBots in this wiki]]
}}<br/>

{{:{{FULLPAGENAMEE}}/Archive}}


== Boxes gone from disambig templates? ==
I noticed the disambiguation templates don't seem to have those gray boxes behind them anymore. Is this intentional? Because it's confusing. -[[User:Mazenoise|Mazenoise]] 08:16, 17 September 2009 (EDT)
:Derik shifted the CSS styling into the stylesheet. Your browser probably had the old stylesheet cached, but a shift-reload should fix it. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 08:20, 17 September 2009 (EDT)
::Yeah, it did actually. Thanks! -[[User:Mazenoise|Mazenoise]] 08:29, 17 September 2009 (EDT)

And they (well, the ones Derik hit anyway) sprouted a thick grey left border in the transition because...? - [[User:SanityOrMadness|SanityOrMadness]] 11:34, 17 September 2009 (EDT)
:I forget the reason. Rest assured that it did make sense though!
:Main advantage of switching the disambig boxes to CSS: When you have multiple in a row, they stack prettier without a double-outline between them. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 19:47, 17 September 2009 (EDT)
:::''I forget the reason. Rest assured that it did make sense though!''
::If that's not a Derikism, it deserves to be. (And is the main reason why I'm scared of changing to external CSS rather than inline CSS - you having the keys to the styles virtually unfettered, since those admins who could either override or yank the emopanda CSS mostly either don't know how or are absent much of the time)
::So now we have disambig templates that are unique amongst messageboxen in a particularly... nondescript way. Different enough to be irritating, not different enough to serve any real purpose. - [[User:SanityOrMadness|SanityOrMadness]] 21:09, 17 September 2009 (EDT)
:::Eh? Oh, I thought I changed it back. (I remembered why they had a border on the left... I was testing something and decided it didn't work, I didn't realize it was still on.)
:::In theory Scout was going to make some changes last week to move us out of the existing CSS situation with much less living in my dev file... but she seems to have forgotten... -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 21:24, 17 September 2009 (EDT)
::::What was she planning to do? I can have a crack at it. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 21:29, 17 September 2009 (EDT)
:::::Move a bunch of stuff to [[MediaWiki:common.css]], I expect.
:::::(Note the difference between Common.css [all skins, including the ones no-one uses like Simple and MySkin], Monacobook.css [Monacobook only] and Monobook.css [Monobook only]. Scout [[User_talk:Suki_Brits#.22Fixed.22_Monobook|forgot about Monobook]] the last time common.css was edited. Incidentally, where did she ultimately put those changes? They ain't in the empty Monacobook.css.) - [[User:SanityOrMadness|SanityOrMadness]] 21:44, 17 September 2009 (EDT)
::::::I have a suspicion that the plan may be to create a new user class with rights to edit css files here (in which case I don't have the necessary access rights to do so)... --[[User:Abates|abates]] 21:59, 17 September 2009 (EDT)
:::::::That was the one. :) Either she forgot, or she tried and it didn't work. I'll bug her when I remember. (It's not like it's pressing... it's been needing doing for some time so it can wait a bit longer.) -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 22:33, 17 September 2009 (EDT)
::::::And to answer the css question, the changes are in [http://tfwiki.net/w2/skins/monacobook/tt1.css this file] which isn't editable through the Mediawiki interface. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 00:03, 18 September 2009 (EDT)
:::::::"Scout, I have 3 requests."
:::::::"No, no, yes if I don't have to do any work."
:::::::-[[User:Derik|Derik]] 01:51, 18 September 2009 (EDT)
::::::::Did that ever get done in the end? --[[User:Abates|abates]] 19:45, 19 October 2009 (EDT)

== WTF? ==
Why does [[Transformers Wiki talk:Community Portal/Archive11|Archive 11]] even exist? --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 12:35, 1 October 2009 (EDT)

== Obscure BW comic, anyone? ==
Alright for the past while now, I've been looking up and adding in obscure Beast Wars products. I remembered both the Mutating Card Game and both Jigsaw Puzzles, and I've already taken note to add those in. But one piece of memorabilia that has still eluded me is a really old comic... My memory's a bit fuzzy on this one, and I can't quite recall if it was a seperate mini-comic from the two-pack of "Optimus vs. Megatron!" or if the scenes I'm remembering are part of that comic as well.
The only scenes I recall from said comic are the opening, where a pre-earth mode Cheetor peeks through some vegetation to reveal a (very small) crystal. The subsequent dialog explained that they had to take on beast modes to overcome the toxic radiation of the crystal (much like the tv show).
Anyone has any similar recollection? Or if anyone has scans of the "Optimus vs. Megatron!" mini-comic to clear up wether or not it is a scene from that comic that I'm remembering, I'd appreciate it. In any case, I hope I'm not going crazy and remembering a comic that doesn't exist, because as far as I can tell, it's not listed on the Beast Wars comics page. Thanks --[[User:Ascendron|Ascendron]] 14:23, 3 October 2009 (EDT)

:It's not the "Optimus Primal Vs. Megatron!" comic, that one starts with Primal(in beast mode) flying in the sky, and then Cheetor running in the dark with a glow in his eyes. Unless you mistake the sparkle in his eyes for a crystal, it's not the same comic.--[[User:Sunjumper|Sunjumper]] 13:41, 5 October 2009 (EDT)

::I vaguely recall something similar to that being used to advertise the first Beast Wars video game on PC and PSX.--[[User:MCRG Again|MCRG Again]] 15:23, 23 October 2009 (EDT)

== Categories for modes? ==

I've been trying to find out which transformer one of my old toys is, and I'd hoped I could compare it against each of the transformers with an aeroplane mode - but I couldn't find such a list. So I wondered whether it would be a good idea to have categories for the transformers' modes, so I could go to "Category:Aeroplanes" and look it up like that. Good idea? I'm not volunteering to do the legwork :-) [[Special:Contributions/86.7.22.40|86.7.22.40]] 06:50, 5 October 2009 (EDT)
:[http://tfu.info/ID/index.htm This external link] might help. - [[User:Starfield|Starfield]] 09:56, 5 October 2009 (EDT)

== "Notes" ==
When did we start changing all the "Trivia" subheaders to "Notes"? ...And why even bother?--[[User:MCRG Again|MCRG Again]] 20:17, 6 October 2009 (EDT)
:Someone stated that they hated the header "Trivia" as it made the info seem inconsequential when sometimes it was actually useful/relevant, and those of us who thought they had a point started going along with that thought. (Although much to my annoyance I don't recall off-hand who said it or where, other than I think maybe it was on one of the Shattered Glass articles.) --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 20:34, 6 October 2009 (EDT)
::It becomes irritating to me since "Notes" was solely confined to the comics and media articles and "Trivia" was confined to character and toy pages, so now we've got a bunch of random character pages with a "Notes" section (Hot Rod character page, for instance) and others with a "Trivia" section (Hot Rod toy page, for instance) for no particular reason. It looks sloppy and I have no idea whether I should be trying to track down and reset the headings to one or the other or if I'll get warned for it.--[[User:MCRG Again|MCRG Again]] 23:32, 6 October 2009 (EDT)
:::"Someone" was probably me. -- [[User:Repowers|Repowers]] 00:16, 7 October 2009 (EDT)
::::Yeah, you're our resident cruft inquisition!--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|<sup>Talk</sup>]] 00:18, 7 October 2009 (EDT)

:::I think some page's contents in the Trivia sections is, um, mixed up with notes (relevant but can't be put in other section) and trivia (a little irrelevant BUT notable) things. So, maybe page like this would still need a trivia section, that is, separate their Trivia section into Trivia and Notes section. Of course, that may involve subjective view of the users who edit the page.--'''[[User:TX55|<span style= "color:#00FA9A">TX55</span>]]'''<small><SUP>''[[User talk:TX55|<span style= "color:#0000CD">TALK</span>]]''</SUP></small> 21:19, 7 October 2009 (EDT)

:::::So are we going to decide on some form of consistent change or just use the two words randomly?--[[User:MCRG Again|MCRG Again]] 02:31, 7 October 2009 (EDT)
::::::I've been changing pages to "Notes" as I work them. --[[User:M Sipher|M Sipher]] 12:34, 7 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::::It'd also be a fairly easy bot request.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|<sup>Talk</sup>]] 13:38, 7 October 2009 (EDT)
::::::::Easy as long as you have a full list of the pages on the wiki. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 14:39, 7 October 2009 (EDT)
::::::::It's not as simple as it might appear - we have [[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1|episode pages]] with Notes sections with Trivia subsections, so the bot would have to take that into account (and a blanket change of #Trivia anchors wouldn't be possible because some will be legitimately pointing to those Trivia sections). --[[User:Abates|abates]] 15:56, 7 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::::::In the case of the bot request I made, I specifically said to replace <nowiki>==Trivia==</nowiki> with <nowiki>==Notes==</nowiki>. The pages you reference have <nowiki>===Trivia===</nowiki>, which should be possible to exclude in a search.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|<sup>Talk</sup>]] 16:54, 7 October 2009 (EDT)

== Preventing direct image linking ==

As we know, the wiki costs a fair bit to run and early on in our post Bookworm crash server move, it used more bandwidth than our bosses calculated, so the last thing we need is people going around directly linking images off of our server for forums or even their blogs or whatever (The [[Mountain Dew Robot]]s logo was one of our most popular articles... because some idiot linked the image to his website). Is there any way for us to prevent this? --[[User:FFN|FFN]] 11:54, 9 October 2009 (EDT)
:Yes and no.
:Yes in the sense that it's pretty easy to create an .htaccess file that redirects hotlinks in some way.
:No in the sense that it might break the GoBoxes, if there isn't some way to make it so that the rewrite rules allow just the GoBox images to be hotlinked. Hrm. Although I think the GoBoxes are all PNGs, and we have very few PNGs as normal images, so it might not be ''that'' big a workaround problem. --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 17:40, 9 October 2009 (EDT)
::Well, all the gobox images are in their own folder anyway, so it's simple enough to exclude them. This is probably a REALLY good idea; somebody give me a suitable (and tiny) replacement image and I'll try to make it so. --[[User:Suki Brits|Suki Brits]] 08:45, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
:::Depends on what you had in mind. You could either go the route of just making a one pixel GIF (i.e. smallest image possible), or maybe use our logo with "no hotlinking permitted" written on it. --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 09:01, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
::::Goatse. Or the nearest TF equivalent of "ridiculous shock image." [[User:Hooper X|Hooper_X]] 10:00, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::Anything from Kiss Players, then. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 10:09, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
::::::...can we still let me inline images on my blog? Can we make exceptions? Because sometimes I do that, because it's technically me paying for the bandwidth anyway. --[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 10:17, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::::Whitelisting domains is easy. --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 10:36, 11 October 2009 (EDT)

:::::::I'm not extremely savvy with that kind of stuff (most of my knowledge coming from archived talkpages on this wiki), so I have no idea whether it's possible.
:::::::What ''is'' a goatse, anyway? --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 10:24, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
::::::::You don't want to know if you don't already. Trust me. --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 10:36, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::::::Sorry I asked.
:::::::::*remembers the vandal that came in and messed with some talk pages* --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 10:39, 11 October 2009 (EDT)

:::::''"Or the nearest TF equivalent"'' - Something like [[:Image:Tftm1986e.jpg|this]], you mean? - [[User:Magnus Maximus|Magnus Maximus]] 10:50, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
::::::Something more like [[:Image:LegionRape1.jpg|this]] would be "the nearest TF equivalent", surely. [Or, potentially even more disturbing, [[:Image:AtariScream.jpg|this]].] - [[User:SanityOrMadness|SanityOrMadness]] 12:07, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::Even Kiss Players is only about a 3 on the shock meter compared to Goatse. An image of Pat Lee might be appropriate... I suggest sticking to something small anyway, otherwise the bandwidth problem is still there. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 15:41, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
::::::How about [[:Image:Siestacron.gif|this]] with something like "You have found The Void." -- [[User:Semysane|Semysane]] 15:52, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::::I vote for Pat Lee. That's awesome. BANDWIDTH SUPERSTAR! [[User:Hooper X|Hooper_X]] 18:06, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
Well, the GoBoxes are fairly bandwidth-light, right? What if we did a variation on them, with the leeched image replaced with a notice that the image was leeched, and encouraging them to go to TFWiki.net to learn about Transformers?--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|<sup>Talk</sup>]] 15:57, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
:I stand by my Kiss Players suggestion. That or the image of dead Prime from TFTM with a tagline at the bottom saying "This image is dead due to hotlinking." --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 01:37, 12 October 2009 (EDT)
::Rosicrucian has the right idea. We make it work for us, rather than just 'punish' the people doing it. We don't try to shock or dismay, just state that hotlinking is bad (m'kay?) and that tfwiki.net is the place to learn about Transformers. --[[User:Jimsorenson|Jimsorenson]] 11:44, 17 October 2009 (EDT)

:FFN brought up an important issue! (FFN also totally forgot about this immediately after posting the original question and only just read this discussion.) And yeah, I totally forgot about the Go-Box. Since I'm not on the Allspark, I've never really seen the go box in use, other than Derrik Wyatt's blog. --[[User:FFN|FFN]] 01:22, 18 October 2009 (EDT)
[[Image:Quintessa.jpg|thumb|250px]]
::'''This''' is about the most vindictively confusing thing you could spike someone with, IMO. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 11:47, 19 October 2009 (EDT)
:::USE IT. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 11:58, 19 October 2009 (EDT)

{{-}}

:So... did we get around to doing anything about this or what? A couple of readers on Kotaku (a popular gaming site) have direct-linked some images. The Allspark crashing yesterday because of Kotaku and other sites linking to it shows those game sites have major readership numbers, so I'm concerned people doing this sort of direct linking will cost us significant bandwidth, and I'm getting tired of asking people to do the right thing and just upload it elsewhere if they really want to direct-link an image. --[[User:FFN|FFN]] 17:30, 9 December 2009 (EST)
::Enjoy having your bandwidth wasted. --[[User:FFN|FFN]] 02:38, 23 December 2009 (EST)
:::The only ones who can actually do anything about this are McFly and Scout, so unless anyone's talked to them directly about it... --[[User:Abates|abates]] 03:37, 23 December 2009 (EST)

== GoBots on this wiki ==
{{main|Transformers Wiki talk:Community Portal/GoBots}}

== Audio file problems - they don't seem to work ==
I don't think we ever resolved this when Derik brought it up a long time ago, but whatever script we use for audio files doesn't work, at least it doesn't work the way it's supposed to. On Wikia wikis, when you click on a "listen to this audio file", your browser should activate java, buffer the ogg file and play it. However, on TFWiki, the browser merely tries to download the file, not play it. If you choose to open the file via your browser's download dialogue, the file downloads into your temp files and plays it off the nearest compatible media player, which is a *''remarkably''* roundabout way of doing things. Is there any way we can fix this? (I'm using Firefox 3 and Internet Explorer 6)--[[User:FFN|FFN]] 01:19, 18 October 2009 (EDT)
:I'm assuming that Wikia must have some embedded audio file player installed or something, which is probably doable via an extension. I have to admit I don't see it as a high priority... having the browser call up a helper file is a normal way of handling such things, plus I like being able to download and save the file.
:Not only that, but we barely have any audio files to worry about... I think the Scene Transition page is the only article I've come across that has an appreciable number of audio files on it. Although now that I think about it, I wonder if creating WAVs of characters' main quotes where possible might be an interesting idea, to give samples of what characters sound like. --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 03:09, 18 October 2009 (EDT)
::Downloading - well, there's the minor issue that the majority of our users will be unable to play .ogg files anyway, for even if codecs are easily had, it's a fairly obscure format. Hell, I never even heard of it until 2005. --[[User:FFN|FFN]] 03:27, 18 October 2009 (EDT)
:::WinAmp plays OGGs just fine out-of-the-box, among a number of other media players out there, so I don't see an issue. --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 03:35, 18 October 2009 (EDT)
:In case we want to install an extension to handle this: [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:OggHandler] --[[User:Abates|abates]] 04:50, 18 October 2009 (EDT)

== Editing Go Boxes? ==
I've utterly failed at finding a guide to editing a Go Box address, so I figured I'd just note that the Go Box for "Tankor (ROTF)" instead links to a blank "Revenge of the Fallen Tankor" page for some reason. {{unsigned|MCRG Again}}
:Fixed. Someone put the destination page down as "Revenge of the Fallen Tankor" in [[Template:Goicons]], thus causing the GoBox to send you to a non-existent page. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 02:51, 19 October 2009 (EDT)

== When was the last Database backup? ==

Just curious. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 12:10, 20 October 2009 (EDT)
:That is exactly why we need that "Database last backed-up by: (insert-person-here) on: (insert-date-here)." thing someone suggested a long time ago. That way, we may avoid Bookworm Crash 2.0. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 12:15, 20 October 2009 (EDT)
:::Of course, one of the major causes of The Bookworm Event was that corrupt or otherwise failed backups were being registered as successful. That backups are regularly checked is just as important as backups being made in the first place, and "(insert-person-here) on: (insert-date-here)" wouldn't prove that. - [[User:SanityOrMadness|SanityOrMadness]] 12:31, 20 October 2009 (EDT)
::::At least we know if there ''is'' a backup to check at all. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 13:02, 20 October 2009 (EDT)
::By us, manually? I dunno. We pay for automatic backups every week as part of our hosting. --[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 12:22, 20 October 2009 (EDT)
:::Ah, that last one is slightly more reassuring.
:::I mean-- they're the same automatic backups Bookworm was theoretically making, but IIRC the current host was picked (in part) for having a good reputation for such things. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 14:32, 20 October 2009 (EDT)
::::McFly confirmed [[Transformers Wiki talk:Community Portal/Archive41#Googlejuice_-_Bad_News_Everyone|a while back]] that the auto backups were working, so hopefully they still are. Good news for when we eventually upgrade the software! --[[User:Abates|abates]] 15:57, 20 October 2009 (EDT)

==Self-sufficiency==
It's come up that the hosting costs for this site exceed the revenue generated by this site. That's a bad situation, not sustainable in the long run. Because I don't want to see the site go away, addressing it should be a big concern. Is there anything we can do to generate extra revenue?
I see a few potential avenues:
:a: more advertising or better advertising.
:b: licensing out some of our content. This is tricky, since it's partially not owned by us. But what about something like an iPhone app that pulls in our This Day in Transformers History? That should be ok if we don't use the name Transformers - it'd be a kind of news service.
:c: some kind of virtual gifts or badges perhaps? I'm thinking like the gigantion award for contributions, but where users have the option of paying a dollar to send another editor a token of some sort. Cons are that it would require some sort of transaction engine and coding.
Any other ideas?--[[User:Jimsorenson|Jimsorenson]] 16:53, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
:Another idea - best one yet, maybe. Add in amazon links to all products, and set up an affiliate account. --[[User:Jimsorenson|Jimsorenson]] 17:47, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
::The hosting costs for this site SOMETIMES don't exceed the revenue generated. And the difference is usually by $5-10 if so. We're not in a crisis by any stretch. But I do have some ideas. I'm thinking of putting a minimum bid on the top ad. I've been told that having a minimum bid reduces the amount of bidders, but in my experience with Shortpacked!, the opposite is true. I lost a lot of money by removing the minimum bid for a few months, and stuff shot right back up to normal when I reinstated it. The only problem I see with that is that our top ad IS kind of unstandard-sized, so that means we're aiming it at a smaller pool of advertisers than most. But I'm gonna try this thing. The top ad's only bringing in $1.60/day at this very moment anyhow, and so that's not a huge investment to lose either way. --[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 17:59, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
::The unfortunate underside to this is that you have to cancel all of the spot's current bids to change the minimum bid. It'll take a day or two for ads to show up again as folks return to it. But I'll throw up an ad on there myself to bridge the time.--[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 18:03, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
::And just like that we're in the black. --[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 18:05, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
:::Segue-touring out of crassly commercial concerns into site-content concerns that ''overlap'' crassly commercial ones...
:::Our "year" pages are a mess. No one works on them, and they're just kinda... there and useless.
:::For months I've been toying with a suggestion that we re-format them (dumping what we have, which isn't much in most cases) and re-do them as a cross between the old "annual assortment" pack-in brochures and the old TSarchive wave listings. (Which I always found useful for gettign a picture of what came out when.)
:::For the old pages it'd basically be a wave listing, but for the current year, you'd have a functional "What's out/what's upcoming" list, which could be updated with dates a wave was first sites, when a product was available online... Including Amazon-icon links after character names is a ''plus'', because it give users the ability to see the gallery, read reviews, etc.
:::I just think it could be really ''useful'', I often feel swamped by the sheer volume of TF merchandise being offered, and I'd love to have a large central page that keeps track of it all. That such a page might serve as a revenue stream is pure gravy on top. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 18:16, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
::::I'm willing to use my existing Amazon seller's account for this.--[[User:Jimsorenson|Jimsorenson]] 18:21, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::We could implement this idea without totally scrapping the year pages couldn't we? Split out the toy pages for more recent years so you don't have to browse way down the page to get to the Amazon links and such, while still keeping our other info. As for nothing being done with them, I've been looking for a new Wiki project to work on. I'll start tackling these, once we have a consensus on what to do with them.--[[User:Tigerpaw28|Tigerpaw28]] 23:26, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
::See, the difference between being in the red and in the black is like 50 cents a day. I don't think we need to try that hard. I don't think the Wiki needs to be a For-Profit business. What would we even do with the money? Advertise more? --[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 18:24, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
:::Depends on how much money we get. I mean, dovetailing with the BG wiki idea... --[[User:M Sipher|M Sipher]] 18:53, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
::The whole financial "crisis" came out of the notion that we might not be able to afford a GoBots Wiki. Thus bringing to light the sudden reality that we might not be able to exceed Super Jawsome levels and reach Mega Jawsome status because of cash strappitude. If maintaining the TF Wiki as-is isn't a financial bother, if the GB Wiki (should it ever happen) does turn out to create an issue, I'm still willing to donate and I'm sure a handful of chums around here are also up to the task. --[[User:DrSpengler|DrSpengler]] 19:06, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
:::Yeah... I don't think that people are realizing that running another wiki on the same server, on a subdomain is ''literally'' free. I mean-- it will have to share bandwidth with TFWiki... but that's no different than if we documented the material within this site! They're just logistically separate. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 06:25, 22 October 2009 (EDT)
===Analytics for October 2008 - October 2009===
[[Image:Analytics october2009.png|thumb|250px|What are you squinting at this for? click on it to get the full-size version!]]
Discussing site promotion prompted me to take a look at our analytics again.
*Traffic dipped 20% in mid-September, finally shedding most of our movie bump... but stayed above where we were in May when the bump began. (Translation: We gained.) The economy's pinch on people's free time, plus the relative lull in TF news is probably a factor here.
*In the last 3 weeks, we've had a surge in search-engine traffic-- vast numbers of which ('''much''' moreso than normal) are leaving right after getting here, meaning we don't have the information they're looking for.
*This spike is almost certainly related to people searching for information about the ROTF DVD release. Not information on the film itself... because traffic on our film page has seen no corresponding spike.
I suggest we create a "ROTF DVD field guide" page, listing all the different versions, what features come with what, pictures of the box (if possible) where they're available, etc. (We're talking about ~2,500 people every day that come here looking for this, then immediately leave because we don't have it.) The traffic spike around the DVD promotion seems to be mirroring the one around the film (though to a much smaller degree) which means it's about halfway through. But-- these bumps have a "long tail," especially going into the holiday shopping season. We can expect a page like this to yield significant traffic dividends over the next 80-odd days.

So.... yeah. [[Revenge of the Fallen DVD field guide]]. Big blinking neon sign in the analytics. We should make this. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 08:10, 22 October 2009 (EDT)
:I heartily concur, my good man. --[[User:FFN|FFN]] 08:19, 22 October 2009 (EDT)

::Well don't look at me! I have no idea how many versions exist! Here, whoever wants to block it in can use this image. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 08:51, 22 October 2009 (EDT)
:::You can put it back now, mostly, Derik. I put in the main details. It needs some pictures that I don't have, but it's ready enough to release, I think. [[User:Hooper X|Hooper_X]] 15:05, 22 October 2009 (EDT)

==(Universe) identifier==
:''See also: [[Talk:Universe (2003 franchise)]]''

We are currently using (Universe) as identifier for both characters from the 2003 line and the 2008 line. This does not look like a fine situation to me. Proposing change to (Universe 2003) and (Universe 2008), or perhaps something shorter. I'm not sure if and how this should effect such identifiers as (Universe Micromaster). [[User:Geewunling|Geewunling]] 02:54, 27 October 2009 (EDT)

:I think "Name (Universe 2003/2008)" would be a nice idea. As for some characters who have two counterparts within a franchise... it surely need some discussion. --'''[[User:TX55|<span style= "color:#00FA9A">TX55</span>]]'''<small><SUP>''[[User talk:TX55|<span style= "color:#0000CD">TALK</span>]]''</SUP></small> 04:34, 27 October 2009 (EDT)

:We already have a few with the year in the name, e.g. [[Treadshot (Universe 2008)]], which is disambiguated with [[Treadshot (Universe)]]. I don't know if that's strictly a good precedent... --[[User:Abates|abates]] 04:42, 27 October 2009 (EDT)
:::That's a terrible precedent. If both toys are trying to occupy the namespace "Treadshot (Universe)" '''both''' get disambig'd, and neither gets the no-year slot. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 17:13, 27 October 2009 (EDT)
::Well, what's the alternative? List the "series" and have (Universe Classic)/(Universe G1)/(Universe Cybertron)/etc? - [[User:Mammalian Verisimilitude|Mammalian Verisimilitude]] 06:05, 27 October 2009 (EDT)

:::Probably best (and simplest) to change any Universe tags to include the year. While not strictly needed if there is only one character of that name in any Universe line, it would save time if another character of that name appears in a Universe line later (Short aside to anyone who says the Universe line is over: Hasbro has stated that the concept is a good one, they may bring it back as Universe (2015) and store exclusives [such as Powerglide, Hardhead, and Skyfall] may be released under the universe banner even if no new Universe product is shipping). As for Universe Micromaster, this could probably stay as is but I'm not averse to changing it to something else. [[User:Khajidha|Khajidha]] 08:28, 27 October 2009 (EDT)
::::Our ''existing'' policy '''had''' been "The line is called Universe, therefore that is the disambig." That Hasbro was obnoxious enough to gift us with a second Universe line, with oodles of name-reuse... hh.
::::Let us be clear on what we are discussing-- a proposal to '''change''' the disambigs of both the 2003 and 2008 lines, such that we will, in the future, treat them as is there was '''always''' an invisible qualifying subtitle (at least as far as the disambig is concerned) much like how "Star Trek" slowly drifted into being called "Star Trek: The Original Series" even in official products simply for clarity/sanity-- picking up an after-the-fact subtitle 25 years late.
::::I would ''generally'' oppose that kind of thing... because it errs to far on the side of "disambigs should provide information" (which inevitably leads to obnoxious [[Project:Deckchair edit|Deckchair edit]]s-- it's simply ''not'' the purpose of disambigs.) But both the 2003 and 2008 lines are sweeping toylines with a hodgepodge of mostly-absent fiction and a cast of characters creeping into the triple digits with a lot of name overlap. For our '''sanity''', this might be a good move.
::::Phrasing this as an implicit subtitle of the franchise is important, IMO. Because it means we're '''not''' turning disambigs into information-delivery systems (e.g. "Prowl (Universe 2003)" even though he came out in 2004) but merely recognizing the need to more clearly seperate these two unrelated franchises.
::::So, um... tentatively in favor? Provided the actual move doesn't happen until November. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 17:11, 27 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::Surely there's a set of '''ex'''plicit subtitles for the 08-09 line in the form of the classic/G1/etc series? - [[User:Mammalian Verisimilitude|Mammalian Verisimilitude]] 22:16, 27 October 2009 (EDT)
:::: So like how everything done before 1992 is retroactively "Generation 1"? Aheh. Seriously, though, I currently have no problem with (Universe 2003)/(Universe 2008) as opposed to a sloppier (Universe Cybertron) or (Universe Generation 1) or (Universe Classics). We've already done this for [[Ransack]] and [[Treadshot]], and given that catch-as-catch-can store exclusives (not to mention the discount-market repackages) came out in 2003-style ''Universe'' packaging well until ''2008'', it's not insane to think that we won't get a continued trickle of 2008 ''Universe'' toys for a while. That being said, the biggest difference between 2003 ''Universe'' and 2008 ''Universe'', to me, is that 2003 ''Universe'' has a specific attached fiction, with Unicron and the interdimensional battle and all that - it's right there on the package, whereas 2008 ''Universe'' is literally a catch-all line where it can be explicitly said "This is the same team of Aerialbots you remember from G1, just in new bodies" whereas with the 2003 line, you have a bunch of dudes whose origins are virtually unknown. When you look at it like that, it seems like "2003" vs "2008" is a reasonable breakdown, as if we get, say, another green construction vehicle named "Scavenger" in Universe 2008 packaging, it'll likely be marked "Generation 1 Series", meaning that we don't have to disambiguate between this theoretical new Scavenger and the Mini-Con wolf. [[User:Hooper X|Hooper_X]] 09:26, 28 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::I agree with Hoop. Using (Universe Cybertron) and such would be terrible. --[[User:M Sipher|M Sipher]] 19:28, 28 October 2009 (EDT)
::::::Yes, because that would be the opposite of a franchise-identifier, that would be a continuity-identifier. Thus my long-winded schpiel above about re-naming the ''franchise'' identifiers. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 01:59, 31 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::::You'll find, Derik, that I was pretty much agreeing with you re: "Universe (2003)" and "Universe (2008)," especially given that it appears, based on a thing from the DVD press junket, that we may be adding "Universe (2010)" to the mix. I'm assuming we're considering each one a new "Universe" series every time... there's a stop in product? There's a packaging change? What's the delineator? Like I said above, the 2003 packaging stayed in use until very very recently... [[User:Hooper X|Hooper_X]] 08:32, 2 November 2009 (EST)
::::::::I've kind of gathered that the delineator was the change in logo/packaging. But if Hasbro is going to trot out a new version of Universe every few years, perhaps that should be reexamined. [[User:Khajidha|Khajidha]] 11:41, 2 November 2009 (EST)
Just noticed this: when talking about anything called "Universe", we put the year in front in the disambig (like "Universe (2008 toyline)"). But the current Universe characters are dismabig'd with the year at the end (like "Treadshot (Universe 2008)"). Should this be made the same or is the difference between them good enough to keep things this way? [[User:Geewunling|Geewunling]] 05:46, 15 November 2009 (EST)
:Nobody says "2008 Universe or "toyline 2008". [[User:Interrobang|—Interrobang]] 06:50, 15 November 2009 (EST)
::And I see no reason to make disambigs longer than necessary, nor anybody agreeing with the point enough to move pages like [[Universe (cartoon)]], which nobody talked about at all. [[User:Interrobang|—Interrobang]] 06:59, 15 November 2009 (EST)
:::I'm quite under the impression that the above conversation is about the year as invisible, retroactive name element to both and all possible future "Universe" franchises. Hence, even if there is only one "Universe" character/element, it will still get the franchise's year in its identifier as part of franchise's name. And no, nobody spoke about the cartoon, but is that such a different thing from character pages when only talking about its part in either of the Universe lines? [[User:Geewunling|Geewunling]] 07:38, 15 November 2009 (EST)
::::I'm so not going to let this discussion die off like this. [[User:Geewunling|Geewunling]] 01:49, 4 December 2009 (EST)
:::::So, should we add years to any Universe tag or only if there are 2003 and 2008 figures? [[User:Khajidha|Khajidha]] 01:02, 6 December 2009 (EST)
::::::No, because it's ugly and unnecessary. [[User:Interrobang|—Interrobang]] 01:28, 6 December 2009 (EST)

== GoBots faction symbols? ==

Ages ago, I remember reading a toy review (probably by Zobovor) that mentioned the [[Guardian_(GoBots)|Guardian_(GoBots)]]s and [[Renegade]]s had faction-symbols. Specifically, IIRC "tiny stickers with bad glue that liked to slide around and fall off."

I don't ''think'' they've appeared in TF Fiction... but how would I know? (Maybe an artist modeled one of Cy-Kill's cameos on a toy with stickers intact?) Can anyone tell me what they looked like? Are [http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/skywarp2/Gobots/challengeofgobots11.jpg these] them? -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 02:07, 31 October 2009 (EDT)
:Hrm, [http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/81b1fc7cdafbb765?hl=en&dmode=source this] is the review I remember with "friendly" and "enemy" stickers of dubious relevance... I wonder where the slidy-stickers memory came from? -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 02:16, 31 October 2009 (EDT)
::Not sure if this helps, but TFU's entry on Tonka GoBot [http://www.tfu.info/Gobots/Guardians/Rumble/rumble.htm Rumble] has a 'Guardian' sticker on it, and ToyArchive's review of the Gobot [http://www.toyarchive.com/Gobots/Blast.html Blast] has a Renegades sticker on it. Not sure if these are the slidy stickers you refer to, but they do resemble some kind of formalized faction logos to my inexperienced eye -- [[User:G1MarvelBlaster|G1MarvelBlaster]] 02:39, 31 October 2009 (EDT)
:::I remember them being triangular, so those are likely them! -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 01:44, 1 November 2009 (EST)
:::FYI,. the same symbols are on the Power Suit Combiners. So yes, they're definitely faction symbols-- however infrequently-used. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 01:53, 1 November 2009 (EST)

== Privacy policy ==

Since we currently have a link in the footer of every page of the Wiki which leads to a blank page, I thought I'd have a go at bashing out something resembling a [[User:Abates/Privacy policy|privacy policy]]. Thoughts? Please feel free to make changes to it.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV, however I did watch all of ''Boston Legal''. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 01:29, 2 November 2009 (EST)
:Can we write it as if we were Captain Kirk? --[[User:FFN|FFN]] 09:41, 2 November 2009 (EST)

Having a privacy policy is kind of a big deal. It's a legal document that 'we' the wiki have to follow. I'd recommend against having anything other than the most general text. There's little to gain for us (How many of our users, really, won't browse or edit due to privacy? Not a lot I'd wager.) but a lot to lose if we promise more than we can deliver. --[[User:Jimsorenson|Jimsorenson]] 10:34, 2 November 2009 (EST)
:So it should be shorter and vaguer? --[[User:Abates|abates]] 14:59, 2 November 2009 (EST)

== 10000th page ==

Is there anything special planned for the ten thousandth "real" page? [[User:Khajidha|Khajidha]] 22:25, 2 November 2009 (EST)
:I could see a little template to commemorate it.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|<sup>Talk</sup>]] 22:47, 2 November 2009 (EST)
::I don't imagine anything CAN be specifically planned, like say making a specific character or something the 10,000th page. It'll probably wind up being something incredibly obscure and wiki-tastic, like the manufacturer of the Optimus Prime lollipop from that one BotCon. [[User:Hooper X|Hooper_X]] 22:52, 2 November 2009 (EST)
:::Yeah, our last milestone articles were a [[Ego|TFCC TransTech character]] and a [[Michael York|famous actor who got a whole one line of dialogue in a bit of TF fiction]]. If our 10000th article ''isn't'' obscure, I'll be surprised. --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 23:07, 2 November 2009 (EST)
::::I have created [[:Image:Wiki10k.png|a proposal]] for what I wanna stick on the 10k article. It'll be smaller when we actually do it, though.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|<sup>Talk</sup>]] 00:26, 3 November 2009 (EST)
:Our article count is currently inflated by about 75 due to the macron issue, so it'll be when the counter hits 10075 or so. :O --[[User:Abates|abates]] 23:55, 2 November 2009 (EST)

[[User:G1MarvelBlaster|G1MarvelBlaster]] asked on [[Image talk:Wiki10k.png|here]] about marking previous milestones. As accurate as I can work it out:

* 1000th: [[Shooting Star]] on 17 May 2006
* 2000th: [[Beast (planet)]] on 30 September 2006
* 3000th: [[Altered Image!]] on 3 February 2007
* 4000th: [[Noise Effect]] on 25 June 2007
* 5000th: [[Planet-Destroying Fortress]] on 2 November 2007
* 6000th: [[Larry Leahy]] on 24 March 2008
And then 7000 was sometime in September 2008, followed by:
* 8000th: [[Ego]] on January 25th, 2009
* 9000th: [[Michael York]] on June 28th, 2009
--[[User:Abates|abates]] 05:46, 3 November 2009 (EST)

:Is it weird that both the 1k and 5k milestones I mentioned are space-based objects of some kind? --[[User:G1MarvelBlaster|G1MarvelBlaster]] 13:28, 3 November 2009 (EST)
:Ideally, I think we could make a milestones page that links to all of these, and the milestone icons on each of them link back to it for easy navigation. Maybe put it at [[Transformers Wiki: Milestones]]. --[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|<sup>Talk</sup>]] 14:01, 3 November 2009 (EST)

::More importantly... what will be the ''last'' article on TFWiki? Mu-hu-hah-ha-hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahha! [[User:Hooper X|-hx]] 15:42, 3 November 2009 (EST)
:::"Axanite". --[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 16:13, 3 November 2009 (EST)
::::Mr. Willis, you do realize that by including that red-link there, you're just begging for an editor with too much time on their hands to prove you wrong, right? --[[User:G1MarvelBlaster|G1MarvelBlaster]] 16:20, 3 November 2009 (EST)
:::::I don't think you understand what [http://www.worlds-worst.com/worldsworst/fanfic/idea_detail.php?LinkID=147&CatID=2 Axanite] is. --[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 16:23, 3 November 2009 (EST)
::::::Gah, here I am trying to pare down the wanted pages, and then you go and do something like make a fake link. DYW *Fixed* --[[User:Bluestreak7|Bluestreak7]] 16:25, 3 November 2009 (EST)
::::::At least the author put an exclamation mark at the end of the title to make it easier to disambiguate with the character. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 17:52, 3 November 2009 (EST)
:Surely the 1st page is also a milestone, but I suppose it is just something boring like the main page or something. 10,000 is a lot of pages! - [[User:Starfield|Starfield]] 16:17, 3 November 2009 (EST)
::Not counting the main page, the first article was (unsurprisingly) [[The Transformers (cartoon)]] --[[User:Abates|abates]] 17:52, 3 November 2009 (EST)
:Hey, I made the 2000th article! I feel so special! Not really, but still. --[[User:DrSpengler|DrSpengler]] 12:37, 5 November 2009 (EST)

A couple thoughts: One, if the count is off by 75 due to the Bookworm crash, I would think that means the 9000th article was actually something else, as it happened after the crash. Two, we should make a milestone list, some little icons for each milestone, and co-opt the custom Factions icons option. --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 18:00, 3 November 2009 (EST)
:I just tried a little investigation as to what it really was. Unfortunately, the new pages log was ''extremely'' uncooperative. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 16:07, 6 November 2009 (EST)

::FWIW, the 75th article after Michael York was [[Ryan Church]] on the 9th of July. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 23:45, 13 November 2009 (EST)

== Wanted pages? ==

Yesterday we had over 4150 wanted pages. Now we have ~4012. I've seen nothing in the deletions or page creations that would cause such a sudden shift in the numbers. Is there anything odd going on here or did we really knock out over 100 wanted pages in the span of a day?
I'll also take this moment to point out that we still have the duplicate "special character" pages cluttered up the orphaned pages since the bookworm crash. --[[User:Bluestreak7|Bluestreak7]] 12:04, 5 November 2009 (EST)
:Name variations were consolidated and links made more consistent. [[User:Interrobang|—Interrobang]] 12:34, 5 November 2009 (EST)

:I discovered that sorting the list of wanted pages alphabetically makes it a ''lot'' easier to spot duplicates. :) McFly has said that he'll apply the fix for the macron pages when he and Scout get the time to upgrade the wiki software... --[[User:Abates|abates]] 14:34, 5 November 2009 (EST)
::Ah, so the upgrade is still in the pipe?--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|<sup>Talk</sup>]] 14:39, 5 November 2009 (EST)
:::Well, I'm only assuming, admittedly, given it's a couple of months now since [[Transformers Wiki talk:Community Portal/Archive41#Googlejuice_-_Bad_News_Everyone|he mentioned it]]. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 14:50, 5 November 2009 (EST)

== Skin problem in Chrome ==

Have any changes been made to the site skin in the last 24 hours? It's currently misbehaving for me in Chrome (no problems in Firefox and IE though). Everything in the left-hand column from the navigation menu down is being pushed down below the content area. It was working fine last night! --[[User:Abates|abates]] 17:06, 7 November 2009 (EST)
:After further investigation, it appears that Google recently released a new version on the beta channel, which is probably behind the problem. I'll have to see if I can find somewhere to report Chrome bugs. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 21:08, 7 November 2009 (EST)

== An Idea ==
Would it be possible to somehow code a searchbox thingy for this community portal? Because having to look through tons of archives to find something takes a while. I tried stealing the code from Wikipedia, but (oh the horror) it's HTML. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 06:59, 8 November 2009 (EST)
:Go to Special Pages>Search, uncheck "(Main)", check "Transformers Wiki talk", then run your search. --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 12:29, 8 November 2009 (EST)
::Thanks. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 13:01, 8 November 2009 (EST)
:::No problem. Not that a Community Portal searchbox isn't an interesting idea, but with how slow our tech admins have been in responding lately, I figured I'd mention that workaround.
:::If you find yourself frequently searching other namespaces, you can change what you search in by default by [[Special:Preferences|going here]] and clicking "Search". --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 13:46, 8 November 2009 (EST)
::::As I said, I stole some code from Wikipedia, but apparently our wiki doesn't like HTML. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 13:48, 8 November 2009 (EST)
:I've added a Community Portal search box to the [[User:Derik/kired_tools|Kired Tools]] utilities. Bug reports welcome. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 18:13, 11 November 2009 (EST)
::<s>Well, here's a bug report for ya. I just spent five minutes reloading the site so it would work after I used your Kired Tools utilities. I may have screwed something up, so I'll keep trying.</s> --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 11:46, 12 November 2009 (EST)
:::Ignore that. It was caused by me screwing up. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 11:50, 12 November 2009 (EST)

== Unreleased toy sections ==

I've noticed that on some pages unreleased toys are integrated into the overall toy sections, while on others they are separate. Personally I find it more useful if they are separate, as it keeps confusion as to what's really out there to a minimum. Is there a standard position? If not, should there be a standard? [[User:Khajidha|Khajidha]] 10:46, 16 November 2009 (EST) (sorry if this is the wrong place to bring this up)
:Could you provide examples? From what I can tell, usually we integrate them and add a unreleased toy template (the one with Unicron). --[[User:FFN|FFN]] 02:05, 18 November 2009 (EST)
::On the [[Unicron/toys]] page there is a separate section for the unproduced toys. While on [[Arcee (G1)]] the unproduced Headmaster starts off her toys section (which also includes an unproduced Titanium series toy). These are the two pages that brought the question to my mind in the first place, but I'm sure there are more. [[User:Khajidha|Khajidha]] 18:22, 18 November 2009 (EST)
:::The unreleased toys should be listed under their intended release toyline, not segregated under "Unrelease toys." Unicron's page in that section is really old and needs to be updated to reflect this. It's funny, because it's his template. --[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 21:20, 18 November 2009 (EST)
::::I just updated it. Still need pics of the Japanese version of G1 Unicron. --[[User:FFN|FFN]] 22:56, 18 November 2009 (EST)
::::That's what struck me as so strange, that his section of all the pages would be different. As I said before, I find the standard set up somewhat strange but consensus seems to be against me. Anyways, thanks for the clarification. I'll try to fix any more such problems that I come across. [[User:Khajidha|Khajidha]] 00:12, 19 November 2009 (EST)

==CSS not working?==
I'm not able to see the blue boxes around the disambig templates, and the featured characters template doesn't have lines around the columns. Neither Firefox or Internet Explorer display it correctly. [[User:Interrobang|—Interrobang]] 19:10, 17 November 2009 (EST)
:I purged cache and refreshed, and am unable to reproduce the issue.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|<sup>Talk</sup>]] 19:14, 17 November 2009 (EST)
::That's what I did when it first came up. The issue persists. (My computer has been having file system problems lately, but I doubt that's the cause here.) [[User:Interrobang|—Interrobang]] 19:22, 17 November 2009 (EST)
:::I think Derik broke the CSS file on his server. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 20:19, 17 November 2009 (EST)
::::Wait, I did what?
::::...do you actually think that, or is that just the automatic first assumption? -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 06:23, 21 November 2009 (EST)
:::::It was indeed an assumption, but it was based on looking at the tfwiki_tmp_global.css and seeing it ended with a couple of code fragments. Admittedly, since no one else has complained about anything being broken, I have to fall back on the assumption that it's a problem at Interrobang's end, so my apologies for the accusation. :) --[[User:Abates|abates]] 16:54, 21 November 2009 (EST)

== Question ==

Is there a feature in the software that allows you to find all pages created by a specific user? Just curious. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 15:17, 20 November 2009 (EST)
:Nope, I don't think there's even an extension to do that. I think the only way to do it at the moment would be to download a backup (if we had a way to do so) and run a script on it to check who did the first revision of each page. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 16:14, 20 November 2009 (EST)
::Even if we could do that, sadly any page created between June and March wouldn't would just say that Maintainence Script was the creator. --[[User:Bluestreak7|Bluestreak7]] 21:45, 21 November 2009 (EST)

:You could try simply scanning through the User Contributions pages of the user in question, as any pages they've created are marked a "New page:" prefix in the edit summary. Though as Bluestreak says, it'll only work so far back due to the crash. --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 18:57, 22 November 2009 (EST)
::That ''would'' work, though it would be a very time-consuming process, depending on the user's number of edits. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 07:13, 23 November 2009 (EST)
:::And contribution != creation. The first page creator might not be the one who does the lion's share of the work on a given page. -[[User:Derik|Derik]]

:::True, but it's the only way I can think of to do it. Out of curiosity, was there any particular reason you wanted to know about new pages? (Maybe we can help?) --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 18:08, 24 November 2009 (EST)
::::Just wondering. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 08:09, 25 November 2009 (EST)

== We're Number One! ==

Go to google.com and do a search for transformers wiki. For me, tfwiki.net is showing up first. Awesome! Can someone else confirm? (We're still lagging on Yahoo search.) --[[User:Jimsorenson|Jimsorenson]] 13:31, 24 November 2009 (EST)
:Has been happening occasionally for months. If it's doing it consistently now, that's awesome. As I've said many times, we've got momentum on our side.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|<sup>Talk</sup>]] 13:33, 24 November 2009 (EST)
::Hmm, I'm still consistently getting wikia as the number one hit. Might be different since I'm Canadian. -- [[User:Semysane|Semysane]] 18:03, 24 November 2009 (EST)
:::It's still Wikipedia then Wikia then us for me (Google seems to treat "wiki" and "wikipedia" as synonyms, which is a bit like treating "Windows" as a synonym for "operating system", but hey...) --[[User:Abates|abates]] 19:16, 24 November 2009 (EST)
::::Over on Google.ca, at least, we're now ahead of Wikipedia for Transformers Wiki. Still have Wikia to beat, though. --[[User:Detour|Detour]] 19:23, 24 November 2009 (EST)
:::::First the tf-wikia, then tfwiki.net for me (then the dutch wikipedia, then the english wikipedia, then the dutch tf-wikia... there's a dutch tf-wiki???). [[User:Geewunling|Geewunling]] 01:24, 25 November 2009 (EST)
::::::Always Wikia first down here. TF Wiki is fifth. --[[User:FFN|FFN]] 02:09, 25 November 2009 (EST)

::::::Wikia provides multilanguage versions for all its wikis. Most of the non-English TF ones aren't very busy though. The largest seems to be the Hungarian version (hu.) with 661 articles. The Danish version was vandalized in 2008 and has been sitting that way ever since! --[[User:Abates|abates]] 02:20, 25 November 2009 (EST)

:::::::Was it the usual FUCK DETOUR guy I wonder? Has Detour been policing all the wikis? :) [[User:Drmick|Drmick]] 14:41, 26 November 2009 (EST)
::::::::Actually, it was Kremzeek, our ''other'' notorious vandal. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 14:13, 27 November 2009 (EST)

==Suggestion for a new project: The Quote Hunt==
I think it's clear that there are a number of pages that really need decent quotes. Some lack them and some have terrible ones ([[Divebomb (G1)|case in point]]). I'd like to put forward an idea to go over as many pages as possible and ensure that any quotes used are suitiable and if not that where possible a good one can be found. Obviously, one person could do this but I thought a consensus on which quotes worked might be better. Maybe a systematic approach. People take specific eras and work with them. Opinions? [[User:Eire]]

==Advice requested==
Hi people. I'm relatively new to the Transfandom and I didn't really know where to put this. This seemed as good a place as any. BTW I think this wiki probably surpasses anything else as the repository of TF knowledge. If only we could fit all this into Furmans ''Ultimate Guide''. A few questions:

1. What's the best and most widely used forum? I currently use IDW's but not sure if it's best
2. Is deviantart a good fanart display place? (my page is [http://www.minimus-minor.deviantart.com])

Thanks. [[User:Warpspeed Hellscream|Screamer]] 13:46, 27 November 2009 (EST)

:Those sorts of questions don't really suit this site, since this is a wiki dealing in the TF fiction, its history, the toys and so on, rather than a forum for us to have a chinwag about things that are unrelated to this wiki. Besides, the first question is also unanswerable - there is no "best" forum. The "big four" TF sites seem to be allspark.com, TFW2005.com, tformers.com and seibertron.com. I do not believe we can make a recommendation for you. As for your second question, I assume so. --[[User:FFN|FFN]] 15:33, 27 November 2009 (EST)

==Wal-Mart Black Friday exclusives==
For those who haven't seen them, the Wal-Mart exclusives this year were straight repackages of the Target-exclusive Scouts from 2007 (Storm Surge, Clocker, Air Raid and Hardtop) in Universe packaging. This wouldn't really be a thing, except that they're all explicitly stated as being from Energon or Cybertron on the card back. So do we have to create four new articles or what? [[User:Hooper X|-hx]] 09:20, 28 November 2009 (EST)
:That seems pretty unusual as far as I know. Usually if they are going to re-release a figure they slip it into the current line, and we don't consider them to be actually part of that toyline, just a re-release in different packaging (example: "Cybertron collection" legends [[Leo Prime]]). I don't know what to do in the case of repackaging into a past toyline. - [[User:Starfield|Starfield]] 09:36, 28 November 2009 (EST)
::They even have Sector 7 markings on some of the figures. Is there a Sector 7 in Cybertron now? [[User:Khajidha|Khajidha]] 10:33, 28 November 2009 (EST)
:::Taking a second look at it, it appears they were deliberately put into Cybertron. They are in the Universe "Cybertron Series" I believe. I think they are Cybertron characters. (I never did figure out what those Sector 7 insignias were supposed to mean, even in the movie universe. They don't appear to be part of the Sector 7 faction.) - [[User:Starfield|Starfield]] 10:42, 28 November 2009 (EST)
::::All that needs to be assumed for movieverse figures with Sector 7 insignia is that the vehicles scanned were issued by Sector 7.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|<sup>Talk</sup>]] 10:45, 28 November 2009 (EST)
:::::But how does that relate to these new Cybertron releases? [[User:Khajidha|Khajidha]] 10:47, 28 November 2009 (EST)
::::::Probably the same as Cyber Planet Keys relate to the Movie Universe. That is to say, just pretend they aren't there. - [[User:Starfield|Starfield]] 11:05, 28 November 2009 (EST)

== Proposal ==

So, in the wake of the Bookworm crash, we have had to reupload hundreds of images, perhaps more. A lot of those currently have no description save "Uploading image file". Couldn't we run a bot to at least append <nowiki>{{bookworm|5}}</nowiki> tags to them? --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 12:30, 28 November 2009 (EST)
:It'd be handy if there was some way to sort them into different categories by type, so we could have a "screencaps needing descriptions", "toy images needing descriptions", etc categories. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 18:47, 28 November 2009 (EST)
::That would be very diificult. We'd need to have people running around listing all the toy images so we could then feed the list to Deceptitraan. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 14:07, 30 November 2009 (EST)
:::Sure, but if we simply stick the bookworm tag on them, all we're doing is shifting them from [[Special:Uncategorizedimages]] to [[:Category:Recovery-5]], which I can't see much advantage in. Sorting them into categories by type may be extra work now, but it should hopefully encourage more people to take a crack at putting descriptions to them later. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 15:11, 30 November 2009 (EST)
::::The advantage is that, Uncategorized images implies to me that only a category is lacking (since there are images that at least have descriptions, just no categories), while having it in Recovery-5 tells that the entire description is missing, and thus it's higher on the "needs attention" scale. --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 17:50, 30 November 2009 (EST)
:::::That's one way to look at it. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 01:42, 1 December 2009 (EST)

== Reprolabels ==

...my God. ''Finally'' they advertise with us. I love the company, but it was downright ''mystifying'' that they hadn't hit up our Project Wonderful before now.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|<sup>Talk</sup>]] 03:05, 6 December 2009 (EST)
: I don't think they do a lot of advertising, period. I can't say I've ever seen a banner ad for them or anything like that. 99% of what I've heard from them has been either because I'm on their mailing list, from Delta himself posting on various fan forums with updates, or from the various fan forums frontpaging his updates. Word of mouth, essentially. (I also can't believe they don't offer gift certificates.) [[User:Hooper X|-hx]] 05:20, 6 December 2009 (EST)

== Bot activity ==

''Deceptitran''-ish <small>(it's the new 'bot, but it's using Deceptitran's account)</small> is currently adding images which lost their descriptions to [[:Category:Image import error]]. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 13:50, 7 December 2009 (EST)
:That should help clean-up what's left of the aftermath of B-C. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 14:02, 7 December 2009 (EST)
::Bot has finished sweeping. It may have missed one or two here or there (I'm working from an outdated list,) but the '''vast majority''' of the import-error images should now be listed. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 12:44, 8 December 2009 (EST)

== Some thoughts on Infoboxes ==

I've been picking away at some ideas for [http://www.emopanda.com/tmp/infobox2_proposal_derik.pdf a redesigned infobox]. The idea isn't to ''change'' what we have so much as to standardize it, clean up the code, make it more immediately useful, etc. The biggest change in this proposal would be some top-level metadata-- "type of media," "language," "year produced."

I'd also like to suggest we add a "Format:" (?) field the data below. e.g. ( SD/HD for videos, color/b&w for comics, probably size for books. ) I was flipping through some of our UK stuff yesterday and it wasn't clear if it had ever been republished in color... because we don't have a standard scheme for addressing republishing (which I only touched on in the abstract in the PDF above.) When republishing data was included ''at all'' on pages... there was no consistent section title, language or treatment to it. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 15:14, 7 December 2009 (EST)
:My suggestion for a tweak is that I wonder if there's some way to create production order/reading order lists that can be called up automatically by the series, prev, and next links in the infoboxes. Most of them match up OK, but there's things like the Timelines stories where it's getting kind of snarled up.
:The continuity area also gets out of wack sometimes in terms of consistency. --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 16:07, 7 December 2009 (EST)
::''Part'' of that can probably be attributed to the fact we lack an example page that give a clear guideline how to implement these things. -[[Special:Contributions/150.253.70.235|150.253.70.235]] 19:15, 7 December 2009 (EST)

== Transformers (2007) BD-live content? ==

So apparently ppls who picked up the '''2007''' Transformers film in blue-ray were able to access [http://tformers.com/transformers-/11768/news.html exclusive content] starting in June, including the (previously IMAX-exclusive?) [http://transformerslive.blogspot.com/2009/06/transformers-bd-live-breakdown.html intro scene for Maggie and Fig's death.]

Do we / can we have this documented and screencapped? -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 12:13, 8 December 2009 (EST)
:Four of those things--Metal in Motion, Stunts 101, Choose Your Weapon, and Voices--sound like they might be the same as the four featurettes that were available on the Circuit City website if you bought the Circuit City version of the DVD.
:If so, I actually have them on [http://www.youtube.com/JeysieC my YouTube account], as I uploaded them after Circuit City went bye-bye to ensure they were still archived somehow.
:...which, er, doesn't help with your specific request, but I thought I'd mention it anyway in case someone else found it useful. *ahem* --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 12:56, 8 December 2009 (EST)
::I agree the concent listed seems liek a lot of shovelware. (The walmart ROTF "transforming megatron case" videos are in there too) unfortunately these two deleted scenes are actually important. :( -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 13:04, 8 December 2009 (EST)
:::I will attempt to get a hold of this content once I can use my friend's PS3 as a player if no one else has done it by then. Could be tomorrow if I'm lucky. --[[User:Tigerpaw28|Tigerpaw28]] 22:10, 8 December 2009 (EST)

==Video game plot box?==
Not sure how to actually title that, but what I was thinking was there are quite a few TF games where you play the same story potentially as multiple characters (the console versions of ROTF, the Armada game, the BW games, etc.) so theoretically most of those games' plot could happen to any of the playable characters. In that case, on each character's page, you put a rough summary of the plot and above it, a box like "This character was one of several playable options in a video game - the events described below form a very specific [[micro-continuity]]" or words to that effect. [[User:Hooper X|-hx]] 16:30, 8 December 2009 (EST)

==Blocking Spam Accounts==
First, apologies if this is in the incorrect place, but I am trying this on Walky's advice. I'm running a different wiki at The Mega Man Network called [http://www.themmnetwork.com/wiki/ The Mega Man Universe], and we've been constantly plagued by tons and tons of spambots signing up and creating spam entries in the Wiki, trying to pawn medications and such. This has forced us to shut down registration, which has slowed production considerably. We have attempted to install anti-spammer software, but to no avail; Walky said that you all seemed to have something well in place, and so I've come for any help or advice on the subject that can be given. If this matter is bettered discussed in another avenue or by e-mail with one of you, please let me know where to go and I can proceed there. [[User:LBD Nytetrayn|LBD "Nytetrayn"]] 20:43, 8 December 2009 (EST)
:You'd be best off starting off by setting up CAPTCHAs on account creation. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 01:48, 9 December 2009 (EST)

==10,000 pages and numbering==
So, we should probably make the main page say that this is an editable resource of 10,005 pages, rather than 10005 pages.--[[User:Jimsorenson|Jimsorenson]] 16:20, 16 December 2009 (EST)
:<nowiki>*</nowiki>makes it so* --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 16:27, 16 December 2009 (EST)
::Thanks for the quick response.--[[User:Jimsorenson|Jimsorenson]] 16:34, 16 December 2009 (EST)
:::You're welcome! :) --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 16:37, 16 December 2009 (EST)

::What about users from those parts of the world that use periods for digit grouping instead of commas? [[User:Khajidha|Khajidha]] 16:30, 16 December 2009 (EST)
:::You'll have to take that one up with Mediawiki, unfortunately... the comma is the only option for place separation that I can see off-hand on the list of "magic words". --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 16:37, 16 December 2009 (EST)
:::Ah, wait, I see. "The input with decimal and decimal group separators, and localized digit script, according to the wiki's default locale." --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 16:42, 16 December 2009 (EST)
::::If possible wouldn't a space be the best option?[[Special:Contributions/81.108.237.26|81.108.237.26]] 03:48, 24 December 2009 (EST)

== Foreign name format (3) ==

:''[[Transformers Wiki talk:Community Portal/Archive23#Foreign name format (2)|Old discussion 2]]''

I've found a, um, problem? with the character foreign name. By far, it seems we have an old format and a new format {{m-}} both seems contain respective problem, especially if the character have a bunch of name.

*[[User:TX55/Sandbags 7#Testing|Example]]
**The old one is simpler in reading (in some way) but is '''vertically too crowd''', sometimes it would just like building a tower.
**The new one is simpler in format and suitable for a character with not-so-many-foreign-names. However, if it comes to a character with bunches of foreign name, it will became '''horizontally too crowd''', especially for a character who has a tall picture (like Sixshot, but thank God that he doesn't have too many names.)

So, are we going to use the new/old format depending on pages or unification? For me, if I had to choose only one, I would choose "depending on pages". Or any better idea/solution is welcome. --'''[[User:TX55|<span style= "color:#00FA9A">TX55</span>]]'''<small><SUP>''[[User talk:TX55|<span style= "color:#0000CD">TALK</span>]]''</SUP></small> 07:10, 17 December 2009 (EST)

== Redeco names for the same character. ==

It seems to me we could be doing more to highlight the different redeco names of characters. (Freeway Jazz, Buster Optimus Prime). People might be looking for them and there are no shortcuts to finding them. Suggestions: 1) give them a section heading to make them show up in the page's TOC. Also give their original name a section heading, so there would be a "Autobot Jazz" section and a "Freeway Jazz" section. 2) Make "Freeway Jazz" (etc.) redirects. Isn't it possible someone would try typing that in? - [[User:Starfield|Starfield]] 13:01, 17 December 2009 (EST)
:I [[User:Starfield/Sandbox|sandbox-ed]] what Jazz would look like. See how the different versions are in the TOC? I think it works that way, but it does break up the size classes. - [[User:Starfield|Starfield]] 21:48, 17 December 2009 (EST)
::I don't like how it mixes the size classes together. Also, if you just put "Freeway Jazz" (including the quotation marks) in the search box it gives a list of pages that have that term on them; so I'm not sure if it is really needed. [[User:Khajidha|Khajidha]] 21:53, 17 December 2009 (EST)PS Maybe the redirects are the best way to go.[[User:Khajidha|Khajidha]] 21:55, 17 December 2009 (EST)
:::It would get crazy fast with someone like movie Bumblebee. I really like the clickable list of the different names in the TOC though. Too bad it is impractical. - [[User:Starfield|Starfield]] 22:09, 17 December 2009 (EST)
::::This is not really something we should be caring about. [[User:Interrobang|—Interrobang]] 12:35, 18 December 2009 (EST)
:::::Call me weird then for finding the redeco names interesting. Each one represents a version of the character with his own slightly different bio card. Seeing them in a list is kind of neat. Here is movie Bumblebee:
{{collist|3|
:::::*Bumblebee
:::::*All Spark-Enhanced Bumblebee
:::::*Stealth Bumblebee
:::::*Plasma Punch Bumblebee
:::::*Rally Rocket Bumblebee
:::::*Recon Bumblebee
:::::*Cannon Bumblebee
:::::*Alliance Bumblebee
:::::*Battlefield Bumblebee
:::::*Ultimate Bumblebee Battle Charged
:::::*Pulse Blast Bumblebee
:::::*Sand Attack Bumblebee
:::::*Bolt Bumblebee
}}
::::: - [[User:Starfield|Starfield]] 13:21, 18 December 2009 (EST)

== Images with no descriptions or copyright (mainly Marvel stuff) since the Crash ==

When we crashed in March, we lost the descriptions/copyright info for images we uploaded since July 2008, if I recall correctly. While we've cleaned up a significant portion of them since, most of the Marvel G1 US/UK images have been neglected since March. Might I suggest the people who uploaded those images or the ones who have the know where the images come from/what is going on fix these pics? For example [[Death's Head (G1)|Death's Head]] pics are unfixable by somebody such as myself (who has never read the Marvel stuff), because I don't know the context of what is happening in the panels, or the exact issue the panel is from. --[[User:FFN|FFN]] 02:37, 23 December 2009 (EST)

== Server Slowdown ==

Still getting some periodic lag during access, though I'm not accessing regularly enough to discern a pattern yet. It's been transient enough most times that I wouldn't even mention it, but it lasted at least 10 minutes or so today, as opposed to the usual 5 or so. The error message I got was as follows:<br>

=== ERROR ===

===The requested URL could not be retrieved===

While trying to retrieve the URL: http://tfwiki.net/w2/index.php?

The following error was encountered:

:''<nowiki>*</nowiki> Read Error''

The system returned:

:''(104) Connection reset by peer''

An error condition occurred while reading data from the network. Please retry your request.

Your cache administrator is webmaster.<br>
''Generated Mon, 28 Dec 2009 02:26:56 GMT by 174-143-26-81.slicehost.net (squid/2.7.STABLE3)''

I'm guessing the lag isn't news in and of itself, but I couldn't find recent mention on this page, so I figured it couldn't hurt to bring it up.--[[User:Apcog|Apcog]] 22:46, 27 December 2009 (EST)

:The strange thing is that traffic isn't any higher than usual. In fact it's actually down, I presume because people are on holiday. So what's causing this latest spate of slowdowns is a mystery! --[[User:Abates|abates]] 23:30, 27 December 2009 (EST)
::Maybe it's because of the direct image linking I was complaining about above? --[[User:FFN|FFN]] 02:39, 28 December 2009 (EST)
== A question to all!! ==
Hi, I want to ask anybody! Today is a new kind of Russian youth folklore - the jokes about the Transformers. What do you think about to add such a page to the Transformers Wiki? I know a lot of these funny stories, and I'm ready to translate them to English…--[[User:He-l-en1959|Waz-z-z-zpinator59]] 03:15, 28 December 2009 (EST)

:Since they aren't officially released material, they aren't really the sort of thing we cover. that being said, I know I think it sounds interesting - post them to your User Talk page, maybe? or create a break-off from your user talk and host them there? [[User:Hooper X|-hx]] 08:33, 28 December 2009 (EST)

== Password Failure ==

Just tried to log in several times and the wiki wouldn't accept my password. My cookies are working, the caps lock is off, I'm typing the password correctly, and nothing in the computer's settings has changed since I logged in yesterday/earlier this morning. Do I just need to be patient until whatever it is passes? Or does this actually require some higher-level attention?--[[Special:Contributions/99.58.112.223|99.58.112.223]] 09:54, 29 December 2009 (EST) (Apcog, unable to log in.)