Page Editing Guide & F.A.Q.

This guide will attempt to explain how to create and edit a content page here at Videogam.in. There are four page types in the database: games, people, categories, and topics.

Linking Pages

You can easily link to a Videogam.in content page by enclosing any page title in double square brackets [[like so]]. For example, [[Super Mario Bros.]] produces Super Mario Bros..

You can (and should!) utilize such linking in just about any instance that you're writing about a game, person, category, or topic, including forum posts, Sblog posts, and page content articles.

Pages that have coverage appear in the default link color (blue). Pages without coverage, like Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, appear in red, while pages that are redirects (see Redirecting below) appear in purple. If your link is purple, consider changing the link the the more appropriate redirected page. For example, link to Super NES instead of Super Nintendo or SNES.

Editing Pages

All content pages on Videogam.in are editable. Once you start a new edit session, your changes are saved automatically as a draft every few minutes, though you can also manually save a draft any time. These drafts are saved in that page's History section and can be viewed and built upon at a later date. With drafts, you can develop your article with less risk of deletion, ask other editors to help work on it, and publish it when it's ready.

Naming Conventions

On properly naming a page:

• Besides the first letter of the first word, only proper nouns should be capitalized. For example: Super Mario Bros., Parappa the Rapper, Hironobu Sakaguchi, Double Fine Productions. Examples of titles that aren't proper nouns: Mustache, Final Fantasy series, Handheld game console.
• Abbreviations should never be used, though acronyms are acceptable on long titles, especially if part of the title is spelled out. For example, Nintendo EAD (instead of "Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development"); But Personal Computer and Nintendo Entertainment System, etc. are preferred.
• As a rule of thumb, Game pages use the title listed at Wikipedia, though the subtitle can be dropped if it's not commonly used (for example: Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Halo: Combat Evolved)
• A Person page is titled according to their commonly-credited English name, for example: Koji Kondo, Alexander O. Smith, George Kamitani). Phonetic symbols shouldn't be used (i.e., "Kondō Kōji")
• Category names should be singular nouns. For example, Music composer, Fairy, Indie game, First-person perspective, Anthropomorphism.

Categories

Categorizing pages relates them with other pages. To be succinct, category pages list games and people. A category could be a console, company, group, series, franchise, genre, character, or reoccurring concept or theme. For example:

• Capcom -- A category that includes company information and lists game pages, people pages, and other pages that are categorized as "Capcom".
• Final Fantasy series -- A page that lists all games, people, characters, and other pages categorized as "Final Fantasy series"".
• Mustache -- Mario, Luigi, Solid Snake, Hironobu Sakaguchi...
• Fan game, Indie game, Pussy (lists games about cats, of course)

Proper category names are always singular nouns. Additionally, besides the first letter of the first word, only proper nouns should be capitalized.

Category pages are different from Topic Pages in that a category page lists games and people as well as discussion topics, news, and blogs, whereas a topic only lists related discussions, news, and blogs.

Designating Categories

Any page can be categorized, even category pages themselves! For example, Super Mario 64 should be categorized under Nintendo EAD, which should be categorized under Nintendo, which should be categorized under game developers. To categorize a page, designate them in the Parent Categories field in the edit form.

Alternatively, you can designate a parent category anywhere in the edit form with the [[Category:]] namespace shortcut. This is helpful if you're already linking to the parent category. For example, if you're linking to [[Nintendo]] already, use [[Category:Nintendo]] to categorize that page under Nintendo. That being done, you don't have to designate a category in the Parent Categories field, because you already used the namespace shortcut. Handy!

That said, the Parent Categories field should only contain category pages. Parent categories that are games should be listed and categorized with the [[Category:]] namespace in the Page Content section.

.incyclopedia Article

This is the main section of any content page: it supplies general information, story, synopsis, biography, facts, and trivia about the subject. Every page should have at least one paragraph introducing the subject and/or summarizing the whole article. More details can be included in supplementary paragraphs and sections, but the introduction is key in any article.

After the introduction, you can choose to continue writing in paragraph format, or you can split the rest of the article into sections with the == and === heading tags. For more information on using these heading tags, see the BB Code Guide. The <!--toc--> tag can also be used here to automatically output a table of contents that reads all the == and === tags.

Suggested Sections for Game Pages

• Story - The setting, plot, characters, etc.
• Gameplay - How to play the game, control scheme, etc.
• Development - information about the developers and development process
• Versions and Re-releases
• Trivia - tidbits, facts, easter eggs, etc. about the game and its development

If the page content is too long, include the <!--more--> tag after the introduction or table of contents to initially hide the article body.

Writing Style

There are several simple rules of thumb when writing the page article:

• Don't include spoilers, or if you absolutely must, hide spoilers with the [spoiler] tag.
• Write subjectively; refrain from opinion and bias.
• Write in the third person (Don't use language like "I", "me", "us", etc.)
• Don't use dated language; Try not to give any indication of the time in which you're writing the article. Saying "Hideki Kamiya's current project is Bayonetta" was fine in 2009, but in 2010 and beyond it makes the article look dated and out-of-touch.

Citing Sources

When using information from another source, it's important to cite the source for several reasons: 1. It gives credit to the author. 2. It validates your writing. 3. It informs your readers. A Videogam.in editor may be inclined to remove unreferenced material, and unsubstantiated articles may end up getting deleted.

We don't suggest you copy and paste other articles from the internet for Videogam.in articles. However, sometimes you may want to use a publisher's description, official biography, or use a parcel of text that was very well written or contains an original idea. In this case, you must always cite the source using the [cite] or [source] tags. (See the BB Code Guide for use of these tags.)

Adding Media

To add screenshots, artwork, and videos to a content page, use the Upload Manager to upload images and create embed codes to display them.

If you'd like to display a selection of screenshots for a game page, we suggest you display only three with a width of 180 each. The following example has five screenshots, but only the first three will be initially shown. Once a use clicks a screen, the image navigator that pops up will show all the screenshots.

[gallery|screenshot|180|show=3]
{img:gfs_47405_2_19.jpg}
{img:ePSXe_2010_03_27_19_40_29_29.png}
{img:ePSXe_2010_03_27_20_10_24_64.png}
{img:ePSXe_2010_03_27_20_24_26_06.png}
{img:Vagrant57_640w.jpg}
[/gallery]

Background Image

A background image can be added to give the page some extra character and style. However, this feature should be used sparingly and thoughtfully. Backgrounds should meet three requirements:

• The image must must flush with the background. Therefore, image manipulation (i.e. Photoshop) is required. A PNG-24 with transparency is recommended.
• The image cannot conflict with the readability of the text on the page.
• The image should be non-intrusive; it shoulf not detract from the visual flow of the page. For example, it should not be dark or have a high contrast.

Follow these links to see some ideal examples of background use: Katamari Damacy series, Mustache, Animal Crossing, Bayonetta, Luigi, Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3.

Redirecting

Use the following code in the Page Content field: #REDIRECT [[PAGE NAME]]

A redirect is a page which has no content itself, but sends the reader to another article or page, usually from an alternative title.

For example, if you type "The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons" in the search box, or follow the wikilink The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, you will be taken to the article The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages, with a note at the top of the page: "Redirected from The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons". This is because the "The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons" page has the wikitext #REDIRECT [[The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages]], which defines it as a redirect page and indicates the target article.

It is also possible to redirect to a specific section of the target page, using the [[Page_name#Section_title]] syntax.

Reasons for redirecting include:

• Alternative or foreign names (for example, Biohazard redirects to Resident Evil).
• Less specific forms of names or subtitles.
• Alternative spellings, punctuation, or numerals (for example, Final Fantasy 7 should redirect to Final Fantasy VII.
• Representations using ASCII characters (for example, Brutal Legend => Brütal Legend).