User blog:SlyCooperFan1/Acepedia Update: Into 2014 we go

Happy New Year's, aces! It's been a while since we've had any updates, and I decided to save some important stuff for this one to get them all at once and make everyone go, "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" after seeing each update. So... let's go!

Social Media
Acepedia finally, at long, long, long last, after seven years of operation, has an official social media presence! We can tweet and we can ... plus one? Well, anyway, we're on Twitter and Google+ (click those two links to go to their respective profiles)! Go social media!
 * For those of you who are on either Twitter or Google+, you can follow Acepedia and receive updates on important topics! Every one of these Acepedia Updates will be tweeted/plus-one'd (apparently, they're called either "shares" or "posts" on Google+... so boring), and the accounts will also promote random pages every day or so. (Example tweet/post: #didyouknow Pops was a runaway Belkan and used an assumed name in #AC5? Read all about it: http://acecombat.wikia.com/wiki/Wolfgang_Buchner)
 * It'll hopefully give us some more exposure to the rest of the internet and get some more people here.

Main Page
Another major update has been put to the Main Page. Not as drastic as the last big one, but this is still a pretty hefty one: All-in-all, I believe this update has given the Main Page a trimmed and slimmed look. Much, much less clutter than what it used to look like, while still providing access to important areas of the wiki.
 * The miscellaneous links to the Acepedia: namespace at the bottom of the header section have been removed, pending my overhauling of those pages. (see About Acepedia below!)
 * Those links have been replaced by a link to the Acepedia Updates blogs.
 * A link has been added to Acepedia:About (again, see below!)
 * The Ace Combat Infinity section has been modified so that everything is centered horizontally and vertically.
 * The Twitter Updates section has been replaced by the Social Media section, which now includes a Google+ Badge.
 * The Twitter custom timeline of Ace Combat news is now managed by @Acepedia instead of myself.
 * The Social Media section is now above the weekly blog section.
 * The Acepedia Updates and Helping Acepedia sections have been removed. (The latter will be re-instated in some way, but not as its own section at the bottom.)

Main Categories
The category buttons featured on the Main Page are not staying. As you can see, I replaced the text "Weapons" with "Squadrons" and "Nations" with "Locations". My next immediate project, top priority and should be done in the next couple of days, is replacing all of these buttons with shiny new ones. Let's get the Assault Horizon bias out of there and make the section actually look appealing!

Here's a taste of what's to come ;)

About Acepedia
Thanks to the creation of the Parent Page, it was fairly easy to develop a new Acepedia:About page. This one is very different from what it used to look like, which hadn't received any major updates since 2010.

This marks the second page in the Acepedia: namespace that has received an overhaul; after I complete the modifications to the categories displayed on the home page, all pages in this namespace are going to receive the SlyCooperFan1 treatment. Be prepared for an update to the policies of the site, which will be modified and all users will have to accept.

Wordmark
Yep, saving the best for last. Or at least, what I consider the best. Just like the Acepedia:About page, the logo has not been updated since 2010 (when the Oasis skin, now called the Wikia skin, was introduced). It was... very strange to see that there the first time I came to Acepedia.

With the new logo, I opted for simplicity over content. All it contains is the Project Aces logo, colored white, standing next to the title of the wiki, which is stylized like the Ace Combat title is (you guys really don't have any idea how difficult that was for me to do; I am so damn proud of myself for pulling it off XD). I think it fits very well where it stands, and it looks even cooler while editing a page (in source mode, or in the visual editor that will soon be replaced). It also fits very well on a mobile phone; I was surprised at that. There is also an edited version for the Monobook skin for the few of you who are using that.

The future?
2014 has just begun. Tomorrow there will be a new poll, this Saturday voting will begin on February's featured article (PLEASE note the new rule that is in place!), and I've got plans to remodel the category buttons on the Main Page followed by all articles in the Acepedia: namespace. After that, I'll probably begin a blitzkrieg on the mission articles or something. We shall see.

For now, I'm returning to base. See you later, aces!