Upgrades are all in. If anyone wants descriptions on the pages, though (besides the basic info-in-a-box) you'll have to do it yourself, or give me an idea of what you want.

I don't know what I'll work on next, probably decide (and maybe get started on it) over Thanksgiving.

Edit: I noticed that everything but upgrades is listed out on the "Table of Contents"-type page. Upgrades just have the categories. Is there a reason for that?

Hmm, Firefox removed it, but I can't remember why.
It is a pretty massive list.
Should I revert the edit?

I rather think so. My impression was that that's supposed to be a more organized version of the "list of all pages".

Done.
See http://skyrates.wikia.com/wiki/Ribeira_Decimal_Cabinet .

1) I didn't ask for an index linked off the main page. I asked for the main page to be useful, because right now it's not. And an Index, by the way, is not a ToC or other useful way to introduce new readers.

2) Awesome.

3) I'm aware of both of those things, and yet my question stands.

Anyway, whatever, it's not like you or anyone was or is obligated to make the Skybrary useful to me

Oh, I see what you were saying. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

First off, the search bar is where it is because we cannot move it. That was a choice by the Wikia designers themselves. Secondly, all of the upgrades should now be in place thanks to Kyra for inputting all the data, and Calvin for upgrading my overly bulky and n00bish template. Same info, better layout.

As for the Main Page, I understand what you mean now. What is it you believe that should be there, to help newcomers to better understand Skyrates or the Skybrary? As a veteran (and speaking for myself), I often overlook the simplest things that could be useful to someone just coming into the game, or even for the moderately experienced Skyrate, and a fresh perspective is always nice and useful.

As for making it useful for you, it is not my obligation, but I try to do my best!

*offers FF a cookie, since she'd asked him to write the template 'cause she didn't even know where to start* XP

Perhaps have the front page be very flavorful, with links input into the flavorful-ness? So, maybe talking to the head librarian, who directs you over to the index cards/computer system that will help you find things (with a link that points to the "table of contents" page, which does exist, but is not currently labeled as such). And then other references to things that people are likely to find useful, with appropriately imbedded links there as well.

Yeah the Main Page is a disaster. I can't see a single useful link in the main content area, there's a giant image of some books, it's crazy cluttered, etc.

Almost everything that is on the current main page should probably go, I assume most of it is part of some Wikia template? The featured article is okay, but the part about signing up for an account is far too prominent. The Create an Article box is a waste of space -- do people ever create an article straight from the front page of a Wiki, instead of in response to a stub or a missing link? That whole top section may contain some useful links but it needs to be reorganized and reformatted before anybody will be able to see them.

Things that should be linked directly and prominently from the front page (some of these things are there already):

A link to the Skyrates main site.
A link to the Skyrates Manual/Tutorial.
Planes. Surely the plane pages are 90% of the traffic.
Upgrades. The remaining 10%?

The navigation that is currently concealed in the bottom right should go in the top left, as is conventional -- I'd never even noticed those links were there before, and many of them are useful. I'd put Navigation above Most Popular Content.

Bleh, this is starting to feel too much like my day job. But yeah, main page? Needs work!

I'd be happy to do it, but I would like some input from others who use the skybrary on how it should be. I usually make these kind of libraries for myself, but whenever I submit them to others they usually don't see my way of linking stuff. To me it might make sense, but to others it usually seems disorganized

Yeah, those boxes go on the right side, courtesy of the Wikia designers. I'm not sure I share your desire to move them to the left side, but its a mute point because I don't believe we can change it. However, you can change the order yourself by clicking on the name of each box and dragging the boxes up or down.

As for linking to the planes/upgrades, I'll talk to Calvin and Alonso as to what the have to say.

*pokes the Skybrary main page* It says it's locked to editing... is there a way I can get authorized to mess with it?

Why not make a mock-up "Main Page" in the Sandbox (at http://skyrates.wikia.com/wiki/The_Skybrary:Sandbox or, better yet, use http://skyrates.wikia.com/wiki/The_Skyb ... /Main_Page )?
That way everyone could tinker with and edit the layout to find something that works better.