Difference between revisions of "Content Guides"

Revision as of 13:00, 14 January 2007

If a specific guide does not exist for the article you wish to create, please just refer to the others to get a general feel for things.

Generally speaking, new content guides/guidelines will be created as the need for them is discovered. If you find you are the first to write an article of a particular type, and have identified a set of specific guidelines for future articles - feel free to add it here.

As the name suggests, these are simply guidelines. They should be followed whenever practical, unlike the rules, which must always be followed.

Common Guidelines

Use Headings

Don't just paste massive blocks of text into the wiki. Try to break things up into a logical progression of information.

Categorize Pages

Wherever possible, content pages should be categorized. You can view a complete list of existing categories here.

As an example, at the end of each character page, the following should appear:

[[Category:Character]]

Possibly followed by:

[[Category:Canon]]

If no category exists, one may be created simply by listing the category as above (even though it does not yet exist), submitting your article, then clicking on the red link at the bottom of the submitted page and entering a brief description of the category. Please make every effort to verify that the category 1) doesn't already exist by another name, and 2) is actually needed.

Link To Articles

When discussing Monty, make sure you use wiki links, rather than just typing Monty. As you would have read in the MediaWiki User's Guide, you simply type [[Monty]] instead of Monty, and it will link the page automatically.

Create Redirections Wherever Possible

If you want to link to an article that doesn't exist as you wrote it, but exists in another form, you can create a redirection page. To do this, you simply click on the red link to go to the page that doesn't exist, and put the following code in:

#REDIRECT [[name of the page you want to redirect to]]

For example, Monty is a redirection page, which redirects to Monterey Jack. If you edit the page, you'll see:

#REDIRECT [[Monterey Jack]]

Redirections for things like acronyms (such as CDRR or OMAM) can help people search for things they have perhaps read or heard about, without knowing the full name.

OR Use Named Links

If redirection doesn't suit your case, you can do also do the following: [[Monterey Jack|click here]]

Which will do this: click here

Use The Discussion Pages

Want to suggest a change or talk about content? Use the discussion page on any article (see it at the top of the screen?) to do this.

Don't use the discussion pages to flame, or as a chat room. This is simply a less severe form of wiki vandalism, and will be treated as such, as per the rules.

If Uncertain: Leave Comments With Your Contributions

If you're unsure of something, or if a section really needs to be looked at, but you either don't have time or the info at hand... Leave a comment. Just use italics (and preferably brackets too) to separate your comment from the rest of the text.

Something like (Insert name of device here), or (More information needed...) is perfectly acceptable practice.

If you don't feel it's really that important, or you feel uncomfortable doing this... Use the discussion pages. =)

Images Should Be Resized Before Uploading

Unless it's absolutely necessary to have a larger image, images should be resized appropriately in advance (before being uploaded).

Specific Guides

Recurring Character Overview Guidelines

A recurring character appears in more than three episodes.

Header

If the character is a member of a team or gang, this is where to state that fact. Otherwise, just a simple statement highlighting who the character is would be sufficient.

Suggested Headings

• Canonical Information

  This should be purely made up of information from canonical (Disney) sources.

  • Appearance

    Should describe the character's gender, clothing, and physical characteristics.

  • Personality

    Describes the canonical personality of the character.

    • Quotes

      Quotes which may assist in highlighting aspects of their personality.

  • Role

    What role did the character play in the series? What was their relationship to the Rescue Rangers? And so on.

  • Episodes

    Which episodes the character appeared in. This should take the form of a wiki list where appropriate.

  • Other Appearances

    If the character appeared in a comic, for example, that might be listed here.

• Accepted Fan Fiction Conventions

  This should only appear where widely (near-universally) accepted conventions exist, such as the surnames of Chip and Dale.

Incidental Character Overview Guidelines

An incidental character appears in up to three episodes.

Header

If the character is a member of a team or gang, this is where to state that fact. Otherwise, just a simple statement highlighting who the character is would be sufficient.

Suggested Headings

• Canonical Information

  This should be purely made up of information from canonical (Disney) sources.

  • Appearance

    Should describe the character's gender, clothing, and physical characteristics.

  • Personality

    Describes the canonical personality of the character.

    • Quotes

      Quotes which may assist in highlighting aspects of their personality.

  • Episodes and Roles

    Under sub-headings for each episode the character featured in, a summary of the role the character played. What was their relationship to the Rescue Rangers? And so on.

  • Other Appearances

    If the character appeared in a comic, for example, that might be listed here.

• Accepted Fan Fiction Conventions

  This should only appear where widely (near-universally) accepted conventions exist, such as the surnames of Chip and Dale. No such conventions are known, but may foreseeably exist in the future.

TV Episode Overview Guidelines

Header

The following header should be included. Where information is unknown, simply write (Unknown).

'Writing Credits:

First Aired:

Title Reference:

Episode Number:

Season:

Production Number:

Suggested Headings

• Synopsis

  Brief and concise. See below for details.

• Characters

  A list of characters appearing in this episode.

• Devices

  A list of mechanical devices/inventions of interest that were used in this episode.

• Quotes

  Any "classic" quotes from the episode. Only a handful should be entered for each episode.

• Trivia

  Any tidbits of information about the episode in particular.

The Synopsis

Transcripts of the episodes aren't necessary, or even desirable. A synopsis should be short and concise, and simply cover the primary plot points.

Unlike Fan Fiction, there is no need to worry about spoilers.

What about lesser-known "official" stories like the comic book? For instance, I'd like to mention that someone is under Fat Cat's employ in the comic but doing so spoils stuff. Should we worry about this for comic books, etc.?

Fan Fiction Guide

(Under development...) I guess as things develop this will gain detail.

Header

The following header should be included. Where information is unknown, simply write (Unknown).

'Writing Credits:

First Released:

Title Reference:

Part of Series:

Avoid (Visible) Spoilers

If a spoiler must be given, try to use white text, like so: <font color="white">Spoiler</font>

Which gives: This is a spoiler! <--(Highlight this line to reveal)

Suggested Headings

• Synopsis

  Should be as devoid of spoilers as possible. If spoilers are not avoidable, they should be blanked.

• Characters

  A list of characters appearing in this story.

  • Canonical

    Characters seen in the TV show Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers or in official comic books regarded canon.

  • Canonical (CDRR)

    Alternative heading for Canonical to be used with crossovers

  • Canonical (Other universe)

    Characters from universes which are crossing over with Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers. To be used with crossovers only and once per universe.

  • Original

    Characters created by the author. Can be divided into different universes, too, if necessary.

  • Original, borrowed from author

    Characters created by another author.

• Devices

  A list of mechanical devices/inventions of interest that were used in this story. Optional heading.

  • Canonical
  • Original

    Things said in the characters section apply here, too.

• Trivia

  Any tidbits of information about the story in particular. Avoid spoilers as much as possible. Optional heading.

• External Llinks

  Link(s) to the story itself.