Gswiki:Style guide
This page lays out some of the formatting and layout guidelines we use on the GemStone IV Wiki (GSWiki) so that editors will be able to refer here for help creating uniform, organized, comprehensive articles that benefit the Gemstone IV community.
General editing
Please edit with an eye to consistency across the wiki. There are various templates linked here for you to use. When a template is not available, follow the format of pages similar to the one you will be creating or working with.
Every edit to a page should be accompanied by a brief summary of what you did. Use the "Summary" text box below the editing window to accomplish this. If you are making duplicate-type updates to multiple pages -or- multiple edits (as part of a full page update) to the same article over a series of consecutive days, the initial summary should describe what you are planning to do, while successive ones can be blank up through the final edit, where you would note completion of the project (and if any significant departures from the initial summary occur, note those as they occur).
Communication
There are several ways of communicating with one another as editors for GSWiki:
- The Talk (aka "discussion") pages for each relevant page being worked on. There are also contributor Talk pages that you can use to communicate with a specific user.
- The GSIV Forums. There is an Official Website, Wiki, and Forums folder under the "Help for Players" category.
- The Gemstone IV Discord has a "wiki-talk" channel that is specifically for wiki-related matters.
For GSwiki approval requests or issues:
- The GSWiki email address is gs4-wiki@play.net
Copyrights
- For GSWiki copyright policy, please see: here.
Remember that if something is written [read: originally created] by someone else, they technically own the copyright to it, even if there is no copyright notice posted in relation to it. Unless you have permission from the author, you may not use that text directly. Equally important to remember is that ideas are not copyrighted, only the expression of those ideas.
It is, however, permissible to copy information from the Simutronics website to the GemStone Wiki. Likewise, copying logs or captures of logs of in-game events from GemStone IV to the GSWiki is permissible. In both cases, note that the overall Simutronics Terms of Service (ToS) regarding copyrights apply, and GameMasters or other Simutronics employees may remove information that they deem violates the ToS or GSWiki Policy.
Images that adhere to the GSWiki copyrights policy should follow the below guidelines:
Copyright information should be noted on the image file page. It should state if the uploader is the copyright holder or if the uploader has received permission from the copyright holder to do so. This can be done in the format of Image uploaded by copyright holder or Image uploaded with permission from (copyright holder's name). If the artwork was commissioned, the copyright information should also be included as a caption to the image on all articles that use that image.
Image Attribution
For commissioned artwork, while not required, it is encouraged to attribute the artwork to the artist in order to ensure they receive continued patronage. This may be done on the image file page, and additionally added to the caption of the page where the image is used. If possible, please include a clickable link to the artist's commission page. This can be done as: Artwork created by [(website) (artist name)] on (website).
Signatures
If you edit an article on GSWiki, please refrain from including a signature in the article. The history feature of MediaWiki does an exemplary job of keeping track of edits and who last edited a particular article.
If you edit a discussion page, please include your signature at the end of any response using using the ~~~~ Wikitext markup.
Articles
Policy
All articles must pertain directly to GemStone IV (or earlier versions) or, where applicable, Simutronics Corp., in some way, and articles detailing third party programs are against the GSWiki Policy. There are two exceptions: (1) your "User:" namespace, which is the user's space to use as he sees fit, though it must still comply with the wiki's policies; (2) limited Lich information, as detailed here.
Main articles cover general GemStone IV gameplay information. This runs the gamut from mechanics to official documentation to in-game events. Articles that do not fit the criteria of a main article will be removed or, if appropriate, recommended as or moved into a subarticle.
Article titles
Like on Wikipedia, article titles should have the first letter capitalized and the remaining words in lowercase (such as SGE protocol saved post) unless the topic is a proper noun, in which case it should be in title case like usual (such as Wehnimer's Landing). The reason for this is so that if you link a title in the middle of a word, the link looks appropriate without any extra massaging. Avoid using A, An, and The as the first word of an article unless absolutely necessary. For these pages, add a defaultsort template (example: {{DEFAULTSORT:Swale, The}}) immediately above the line of categories to ensure they are properly sorted.
Similarly, article names should be singular (Rogue instead of Rogues) unless the item being discussed is always plural (such as the Elven Nations).
Nouns and noun phrases are preferred for article names, but in-game names take precedence (see below especially for Verbs and Spells).
Whenever possible, begin article titles with a letter or a number. Some punctuation marks, such as ..., can lead to unexpected errors if used before a letter or number to create a page.
Item script names
With few exceptions, item script pages should be named based on the proper name of the item script, including capitalization, if the script's ANALYZE specifically calls it out. As an example, the Fighting Knife page should have "knife" capitalized because the ANALYZE has the name "Fighting Knife." In contrast, the ANALYZE does not designate a proper name for MoonShard pendants, so it defaults to the standard naming convention.
Verb names
Verb article names should begin with the namespace Verb: followed by the verb fully capitalized. As an example, the verb APPLAUD has the article name set up as Verb:APPLAUD. Additionally, a redirect page should exist for the verb by itself. For more information on verb pages, see the verb page style guide.
Character names
Character page names should feature the first name of the character only, followed by the respective instance in parentheses (ex: Cylnthia (prime)). Additionally, a redirect page with just the character name is not required but can be helpful. When characters share a name between instances, a disambiguation page with links to each appropriate page should be created. For more information on character pages, see the character page style guide.
Skill names
Skill names should be the full name of the skill in title case.
Spell names
Spell names should be the name of the spell followed by the number of the spell in parentheses (such as Mana Leech (516)). A redirect page should exist for both the spell number (516) and the spell name (Mana Leech). Spells are proper nouns and thus should be in title case.
See Help:Spells for more information on spell entries.
Categories
When creating or updating articles, take a moment to check the category list and see if any existing categories would be appropriate for the article being edited.
For more information on how to use categories on wiki pages, see Wikipedia for technical details and style, as well as recommendations of categories versus lists. If a page is simply too sparse on information (this is common for pages on specific figures and events in Elanthian history who may only get a brief mention in official documentation), consider redirecting it to a list.
Linking
In order to avoid having the text become distracting, articles need only be linked to the first time they are encountered. Thus, a paragraph that mentions a spell several times need only have the first instance linked. If it has been a long time (several paragraphs or a screen worth of text) since something was last linked, it can be useful to link it a second time, but it doesn't need to be linked each time it appears.
Wiki formatting is relatively intelligent, so use proper grammar and capitalization when adding links into content. The names of all articles are forced to start with a capital letter as a result of how the software works. However, because of that, the case of the first letter in a link doesn't matter for the link target (thus, [[rogue]] will produce rogue, which properly links to the Rogue article). For plurals, simply place an s at the end of an otherwise singular link name; for example, if you are linking to the Rogue article to in the sentence "Rogues are great", you would use [[Rogue]]s, which will produce Rogues.
Arbitrary links are also perfectly acceptable. For example, in "Warriors have cheaper costs for some physical skills than the other square profession." you might want "other square profession" to be a link to the Rogue article. To achieve this, you would do [[rogue|other square profession]], which would produce a link to the other square profession.
Underscores (_) should not be visible; they are perfectly fine on the left side of the pipe (|) in an arbitrary link, but should not be to the right.
Repeated information
Information repeated on more than one page should be done using Labeled Section Transclusion (preferred), or via template.
Game Commands
When formatting verbs and game commands use the <pre{{log2}}> tag. Typically no additional formatting is needed with that tag. Close with </pre>.
Lich information
Third party program articles/information are not allowed on the Wiki, but there are some very specific exceptions for Lich-related material:
- Please see official policy for more information on Lich pages.
- BigShot strategy and room suggestions are relegated to the existing BigShot page; using either the main article or the BigShot talk page is acceptable for that information. Adding BigShot information or strategies to individual critter or other articles on the GSWiki is not permissible.
- Lich room numbers may be used in these specific types of articles: Festival/event pages; location-relevant information (such as NPCs, shrines, town landmarks, etc.).
Neutral/in-universe point of view
Articles written for GSWiki which are purely mechanical in nature should be written with a Neutral Point of View (NPOV), that is without bias or extensive use of subjective language. For mechanics articles, this is not generally an issue, as applying bias to mechanics is difficult at best, but the policy should be kept in mind none-the-less.
Example areas of concern include commenting on the usefulness of skills, spells or other mechanical systems in-general or in comparison to others or comparing professions or races, and features there-of, to one another.
Articles on topics not relating purely to mechanics, such as those about people, places and things, should not only be written with adherence to NPOV, but also adhere to an In-Universe Point of View (IUPOV).
The IUPOV dictates that articles which fall under it must be primarily written from the point of view of a person existing in the GemStone game world. Tense should be dictated by whether or not the person, place, or thing still exists.
Articles which fall under IUPOV, but could or should include information that is considered out-of-character, such as directly-related mechanics or mechanical constructs, may include a section titled Behind the Scenes, using == Behind the Scenes==, below which the IUPOV does not apply and information may be presented from a player perspective. The inclusion of such a section is not mandatory for an article to be considered complete (i.e. not a stub).
An example of the use of IUPOV along with a BtS section could be an article about an NPC in a town, where the main article includes information about the character the NPC represents while the BtS section explains the mechanical means of interacting with the NPC, valid ASK options, and so forth.
Special articles
If you're editing the following types of pages, please review the page going over Formatting Special Articles.
- Redirects
- Front End Scripts
- Saved Posts
- Logs
- Research Pages
- Concept Pages
- Other Help Pages
Additionally, formatting has been updated for events pages, and information on this can be found: events pages help.
User pages
In most cases, personal material should be created as a subarticle of your User page. This would include the following types of articles: unofficial guides and tutorials, gameplay strategies, character-written stories (poems, songs, etc.), game design or item proposals, logs that do not directly pertain to informational articles or BtS additions. Certain article types listed may be published as standalone articles with specific guidelines in place. Please see In-Depth Style Guides for more information.
Math
GSWiki's LaTex capabilities are currently disabled until an administrator can fix the issue. Please use the following formats:
Use the {{math}} tag around expressions.
Non-inline formulas should be indented or wrapped in a box:
{{Equation box|{{math| ... }}}}
For multiplication, use a dot · (a · b) where necessary to avoid ambiguity. For purely arithmetic expressions, * or × are also acceptable (2 * 3, 2 × 3, but prefer using a dot in algebraic expressions to avoid confusion with the letter x.
For division, use a slash /.
For very complex formulas, it is recommended to use an offsite LaTeX code to image converter, then upload the image and include it in the article.
Marking pages for deletion
Did you make a duplicate page or mess up the name? Putting {{delete}} on a page will indicate your wish to have it deleted. Then use the Talk/Discussion tab for leaving a reason for why so that the moderators can review and delete as necessary.
Tips and tricks
See the tips and tricks page for some advanced editing techniques, or post any questions on applicable Talk pages, or in the GSWiki Officials folder.