YMMV Continuity Lockout

It just occurred to me what the whole YMMV system must look like to an outsider who just arrived at the site.

They search for their favorite work (or just some work) and then they see a list of tropes and lots of tabs. One of the tabs is called "YMMV" and has a picture of scales near it. If they click it they see another list of items (which they'll naturally assume are also tropes). Nothing is there to explain why the items are spread all over the place, or what "YMMV" stands for or what the scales are about.

At this point it might occur to them to type "YMMV" into the search box, but TV Tropes Is Not An Interactive Fiction Puzzle. I think it'd make sense for YMMV tabs to have a banner at the top explaining shortly what the tab is for and what YMMV means.

edited 9th Feb '11 4:20:11 AM by TripleElation

That's a good idea.

Agreed, definitely. It's one of the more obtuse aspects of the wiki right now, created as it was via historical imperatives.

That would make a lot of sense.

I think it's been dealt with -

the banner at the top of every YMMV page now reads:

These are what we call the 'YMMV items' that some people find in $WORK_NAME. We call them 'your mileage might vary' because not everyone sees these things in the same way. This starts discussions in the trope lists, a thing we don't want. Please use the discussion page if you'd like to discuss any of these items. [This banner indicates that this entry is sometimes only in the eye of the beholder.]

Although I might personally have put that less wordily, along the lines of "The items where Your Mileage May Vary. Some people see things this way, some don't. When that happens we get discussion in the trope lists, a thing we don't want; use the discussion page if you want to talk about any of these."

edited 9th Feb '11 11:59:42 AM by aishkiz

Seconding that, or a variation on that (Plus a pothole to Natter somewhere), because Brevity Is Wit. But it's good to see this has been taken care of!