Template talk:Config

To Do

 * Add "Resolution" setting for titles like Mega Man, which are sensitive to particular resolutions.
 * Fix alternate row shading. Unfortunately the nested if's/tables make this complex.
 * Add pop-up descriptions to config settings
 * Address bolding of sections beyond first shown /wo including excessive white-space
 * The wiki will apparently only appropriately parse "===" enclosed titles as titles if line feeds occur between each section outside of the if's. This unfortunately inserts excess white-space in cases where no sections are shown. Attempted corrections that fail include:
 * Adding white-space to the beginning/ends of sections within ifs
 * Adding white-space between sections via a secondary set of ifs
 * Generate error category for non-compliant settings: Most settings have limited valid values (i.e. On/Off,RAM/Texture/"Texture/RAM";etc.). it would be good to parse for such and output error categories for non-complaint pages.


 * Is "fix alternate row shading" still an issue? Looks okay to me.
 * The table rows aren't alternately shaded, so yes, but it's a minor issue. Possible fix described at Wikipedia:Template:Alternating_rows_table_section. Kolano 04:37, 17 August 2011 (CEST)
 * Can you provide more detail for 'Address bolding of sections beyond first shown w/o including excessive white-space'?
 * I've updated the sandbox test page to show the problem. It's related to the spaces between config sections. I was able to resolve this by purging the whitespace but doing so resulted in the alternate issue of section titles not being styled as headings (i.e. bolded/font-size increased).Kolano 04:37, 17 August 2011 (CEST)
 * I've create Template:Config/sandbox-todo, Template:Config/sandbox-todo/testing specifically for work on ToDo list issues

--Keller999 02:35, 16 August 2011 (CEST)

19121 rollback
I understand a desire to not impact current pages, but we will need to deal with ongoing config changes. We probably need to address such in a manner that preserves old options as input, but displays new options as output.Kolano 04:01, 21 June 2011 (CEST)
 * I absolutely 100% agree that we will need to add new parameters to this template over time -- but simply removing and breaking existing parameters that are still in use on many articles is poor practice. This is why I reverted it (for now). The change also broke the feature I added that categorizes articles in need of some parameter updates (see Category:Pages with deprecated config template parameters). 18:20, 21 June 2011 (CEST)


 * Sorry for the troubles that was caused, the 19121 edit wasn't intended to cause problems, but a merge error in my text editor broke many things... I'll commit it again when I figure out what is going on on my editor, and after this the template will be as was on 19121 but without the compatibility issues and without breaking any new introduced features... Jhonn 21:18, 21 June 2011 (CEST)

Virtual EFB
I have a quick question, and don't really know where to go with it. In r7626, and assuming beyond, there are some new options. Instead of EFB copies to ram/texture, it has checkboxes, "Virtual" and "Ram". There is nothing in the TODO on how to do this. How should this be shown? Should I just wait for the TODO to be updated? MaJoR 18:19, 26 June 2011 (CEST)

22715 rollback
This appears to have broken the config template on many pages. Some attributes were in the page source, but were not showing up on the rendered page (something that, by my understanding, we're trying to avoid). Many pages had a Graphics heading with no entries. Feel free to undo my undo if there's a bigger project going on here that I'm not aware of. --Keller999 09:02, 11 August 2011 (CEST)
 * I'm reverting it back, the Native Mipmaps and Accurate Texture Cache options doesn't exist anymore on Dolphin, so I commented out these options on template source until we think in a solution (mantaining these options for reference in older revisions or dropping it at all). Jhonn 21:17, 11 August 2011 (CEST)
 * Jhonn (or anyone up for some template fiddling), if you refer to the ratings template you'll see a method of generating categories for erroneous pages. I'd advise we revise the template to handle these options similarly until pages using them can be cleaned up.Kolano 03:12, 12 August 2011 (CEST)
 * The ratings template is using the same method that I've implemented here for handling errors (checking the input parameters with "if" and adding the pages using the outdated (or deprecated) parameters on their respective category), for the outdated entries, I was thinking in some way of putting them in a small spoiler (for reference of older revisions), but probably implementing this would cause other issues... Should we maintain it or drop at all? Jhonn 21:25, 12 August 2011 (CEST)
 * I would say that most users are using latest SVN (which the template is already being updated for) or 3.0. The overhead of maintaining every possible old variable would be a lot of work for little payoff.  I'd suggest adding another section for Release 3.0 variables only, in spoiler form.  I would say any release before 3.0 is out of luck.  I may try to work up something in the template sandbox, we'll see what you think.  --Keller999 07:29, 14 August 2011 (CEST)
 * Just as a suggestion, keeping references for older revisions *only* when the games calls for it, meaning by this that the main pages, for example config and performance, should always be kept with cutting edge revisions and only when the game specifically calls for it, older revisions should be mentioned specifically on X game page needing those, of course this calls for a user looking to use X revision of dolphin for his favorite game.Otomo 18:39, 12 August 2011 (CEST)

Further improvements
I've been working on this template a good bit. I've already committed the documentation page update, but I wanted to get your thoughts before making a big change to something as serious as Template:Config. Here's what already been commited:


 * Documentation page re-write. Only current variables are listed, the sample copy-paste block contains all current variables and is broken out so that the list at the bottom is no longer needed.

Here's what I've got teed up, if no one objects.
 * Reformatted Template:Config to be considerably more readable, with one variable per line and consistent tabbing
 * Put variables in the same order as shown in Template:Config/doc, with spacing to show General, Graphics, etc.
 * Verified and altered the if checks to see if a box needs to be displayed. They will only display if non-outdated variables are being used.

Proposed template: Template:Config/sandbox Implementation: Template:Config/sandbox/testing --Keller999 07:26, 14 August 2011 (CEST)


 * I merged my re-formatted template into the recent changes that Kolano made. The function should be the same, but please feel free to correct any errors I may have made.  Also, I added the following note to the template:


 * A full list of available options is available at Template:Config/doc


 * I know that Kolano has been doing a lot of work to remove non-used variables from wiki articles, which I think is great for cleaning up the source for each page. However, I am concerned that newbie editors won't have any idea what variables can be used for the Config template.  I know when I first started editing, I was actually picking random game pages trying to find one that used the parameter that I needed so I could copy their variable!  Template:Config/doc has a very accessible listing of all parameters, and should be quickly available to anyone who wants to add config information to a game, especially users who might not know enough about wikis to search for the appropriate template.  I think the other viable option would be to list all config parameters in each game, and let the user fill out the 'form', but that would cause major headaches whenever the list changed.  I think that a small note is a good solution.  --Keller999 22:15, 15 August 2011 (CEST)


 * I agree with your sentiment, which is why the full lists of options were originally included on each game page. The issue with such is that the options change more frequently than one might expect, which results in extensive effort to clean-up the out of date pages when they change. The solution we've used for other template complexities is to include a commented note pointing users to the Template/doc pages for details. BTW, thanks for your recent efforts to assist here, they are appreciated.Kolano 22:41, 15 August 2011 (CEST)

In the Graphics field where it says OpenCL texture decoder, perhaps it'd be better to include OpenMP texture decoder instead as that one is not (and quoting dolphin's description) "Experimental" and "known to cause texture defects on various games". Or maybe it's wiser to include both?? Otomo 18:52, 15 August 2011 (CEST)


 * Both should be included for as long as both exist within the Dolphin config options. Kolano 21:40, 15 August 2011 (CEST)

Okay, ready with another update for Template:Config. Here's what my proposed update does:
 * added a box for 3.0-Only Settings, which includes a note that they are only applicable to 3.0. Since newer users are told to use release 3.0 over the latest SVNs, I think it's important that we not remove 3.0-only settings until 4.0 comes out.  This also separates them in a way that lets svn users know that they're not applicable to them.
 * efbscaledcopy, accuratetexturecache, and fastmipmaps (settings that are in 3.0 but not latest svn) have been removed from Category:Pages with deprecated config template parameters and placed instead in a new Category:Pages with 3.0-only config template parameters
 * updated documentation to have a new section for the 3.0 variables
 * fixed a bug that was preventing pages from being added to Category:Pages with deprecated config template parameters (already pushed to live, sorry for the CPU usage on the recalc)
 * added a link to Template:Config/doc so that users have an easy reference to available variables (already pushed to live)

Anyone have any objections to these changes? If not, I'll likely push them out tomorrow. Please check/mess with the pages to ensure that I'm not missing any bugs, please!

Template:Config/sandbox Template:Config/sandbox/doc Template:Config/sandbox/testing

--Keller999 01:55, 16 August 2011 (CEST)
 * I agree with all of the current changes of sandbox, but I think that the link to Template:Config/doc wouldn't be in the Game Pages (or on pages that use the template)... Clicking on Help on the Navigation sidebar or using the editing help link when editing pages redirect to the Help:Contents, that already have a link to the template documentation... Jhonn 03:24, 17 August 2011 (CEST)
 * Ah, perfect -- I had no idea the help page existed. It looks like it's a bit outdated too.  I'll see if I can work on it to make it more user-friendly for wiki newbies.  When I first started contributing to the wiki, the place I looked for information like that was the front page.  Right now, it just has the generic Getting Started section that does not really say how to contribute.  I may see if I can improve that too.


 * Once those section are a little more helpful, I'm fine not having the link to Template:Config/doc on every game page. It WOULD be nice to have a "New to the Dolphin Wiki?  Visit our Getting Started page to learn how you can contribute!" on the very top/bottom of each page in a non-intrusive way, but that's a project for another day.  Since there is some disagreement about the Template:Config/doc link, I will remove it for now.  ((EDIT: Strike that, I just saw where Kolano put the link, and I think that's a good solution for now.  I'll still work on getting the documentation to be more accessible.  --Keller999))


 * Yeah, The duplicate content in the template had bothered me. I'd actually prefer if it wasn't shown that way though, as the config template doc isn't really a good config reference (i.e. for end users), but I was also too lazy to add it as a comment to every game page. If we can improve the Help documentation and etc., I'm happy as that being an alternate plan.Kolano 04:48, 17 August 2011 (CEST)


 * Let's plan on doing a good "Getting Started" or "How to Contribute" guide and having that replace all the comments and links that have to be manually managed per-game page. For now, I'll leave the link in place, but will start working on better guides ASAP. --Keller999 04:57, 17 August 2011 (CEST)


 * Thanks! --Keller999 04:08, 17 August 2011 (CEST)

fpsforlimit ?
There's a conflict with the current (and my proposed) Template:Config. fpsforlimit is both in the current variables section and the "Pages with deprecated config template parameters" section. I infer that fpsforlimit would indicate what FPS number should be set for FPS limiter, which is definitely still an option in Dolphin. However, you could also argue that that information should be under Framelimit. Is this an option we should keep?

In the meantime, I'm going to remove it from Template:Config/doc so that pages aren't being added to that category left and right. We can alter Template:Config once we know which way we fall on this one. --Keller999 07:56, 14 August 2011 (CEST)

It's still a valid config setting in recent Dolphin releases, so it should be kept. Kolano 07:53, 15 August 2011 (CEST)
 * I propose that we merge fpsforlimit into framelimit, much in the same way realxfb has been merged into xfb. Since the variables are basically a free-form text field, it would be simple to indicate what fps the game should be limited to either in framelimit or framelimit notes.  I also think that the variable 'fpsforlimit' is somewhat confusing, and may throw off novice wiki editors.  --Keller999 22:07, 15 August 2011 (CEST)
 * Two options are needed as they are separate options, one specifies the framelimit to set (Off,Auto,10-120) the other specifies to use FPS for limiting rather than the games internal frame rate. In theory, since I don't think "framelimit" will ever be relevant to compatibility, it could be dropped, but it's probably best to not get into such fine grained analysis of this (i.e. it would likely be painful to work out which settings are compatibility related vs not). Kolano 22:27, 15 August 2011 (CEST)
 * Okay, then there's the confusion. There are THREE options.  framelimit, limitbyfps, and fpsforlimit.  I totally agree that framelimit and limitbyfps need to stay.  I think that fpsforlimit overlaps with framelimit.  framelimit should be used to indicate Off, Auto, or 10-120.  fpsforlimit should be deprecated.  --Keller999
 * Ah, now I see and agree. fpsforlimit should be deprecated, and limitbyfps preserved. Kolano 22:45, 15 August 2011 (CEST)

Skip EFB Access from CPU
This option was renamed from "EFB Access from CPU" to "Skip EFB Access from CPU", but the current config wasn't changed to align with such. I just got done aligning pages using the option as best I could, but we should rename the option here to prevent confusion and add it to the deprecated list.Kolano 21:25, 16 August 2011 (CEST)
 * It seems to be a performance option, at the expense of compatibility, it can be mentioned it in the performance guide and nowhere else.Otomo 21:49, 16 August 2011 (CEST)

"Dolphin 3.0 Specific Settings" section deprecated
According to GIT revision f2848b6a2554 (see the comments), the options of this section are back on the master branch since all texcache-rewrite work was moved to a new branch... Should we merge these options back on "Graphics" section? Jhonn 23:43, 24 August 2011 (CEST)