Gswiki:Style guide
This page lays out some of the style and layout guidelines we use on the GemStone IV Wiki (GSWiki). The purpose of these is to create uniformity, organize the information, and make things more comprehensive. As GSWiki is considered official documentation and the place where all players new and old are sent to read up on any topic, grammar, style, and formatting should be considered carefully in editing so that the site as a whole will be as professional-looking as possible.
NPOV and IUPOV
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.
In the prior iteration of GSWiki (as Krakiipedia), it was dictated that articles be written from an historical perspective (i.e. past tense). It will take some time to update the affected articles to present tense, but the current GSWiki administrators feel that it should not be ambiguous whether something or someplace still exists.
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.
Naming
Like on Wikipedia, article names 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.
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).
Verb names
Verb names should be the full name of the verb in capitals followed by (verb), for example the page for the INVENTORY verb would be named "INVENTORY (verb)". There should be a redirect from the fully capitalized verb name to the page name.
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:Style (spells) for more information on spell entries.
Repeated information
Information repeated on more than one page should be done using Labeled Section Transclusion (preferred), or via template.
Scripts
Scripts can be added to GSWiki following these guidelines.
Naming
Script articles should be named with a descriptive name for the script's function or content followed by the string "(script)". For example, you might name a script for traveling around the Elven Nations "Elven Nations travel (script)" or a script for getting deeds in the city of Ta'Illistim "Ta'Illistim deeds (script)".
Formatting
The article should start with the script template as a header (see Template:Script for details) and be followed with the contents of the script file enclosed within the <pre> and </pre> HTML elements, which will preserve the formatting of the text (including white space and newlines.) Inclusion of the template will automatically add the article to Category:Scripts.
An example of how to format a script article:
<pre>
# This is an example script.
if_1 goto %1%
echo Syntax: .example {argument}
exit
option1:
echo This is option 1.
exit
labelError:
echo The option you entered was not valid.
exit
</pre>
Saved Posts
Saved posts should be on the subject's saved post page (e.g. Spell Name (number) (saved posts)) or their own pages using the Saved Post Template (visit page to copy code to paste). Related posts should be grouped on the same page under a clear heading. The template will add the page to the Saved Posts category, and other applicable categories should be added as well.
Saved posts should be named something like "SGE protocol (saved post)", with a title describing the most relevant topic of the post followed by the string "(saved post)". Insert any appropriate formatting (headers, line breaks, etc.) to make the page easy to read, as well as appropriate internal links. Pages with multiple posts can indicate that by using "(saved posts)" at the end of the title.
Finally, saved post pages should be linked to from any applicable article pages, usually at the bottom of the article page and within the body of the saved posts page.
Game Messaging
When pasting game messaging use the <pre{{log2}}> tag. Typically no additional formatting is needed with that tag. Close with </pre>.
Logs
Format for log pages:
This log is from the {storyline/event} on {date} from the viewpoint of {character}.
<pre{{log2|border=none|font=arial}}>
PASTE LOG HERE (no <br> tags needed thanks to Doug)
</pre>
[[Category: Logs]]
[[Category: {Storyline}]] (if appropriate)
Signatures
If you edit an article on GSWiki, please refrain from including a signature (generally using the ~~~~ Wikitext markup) 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.
Copyrights
Remember that if something is written by someone else, they 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. Most importantly, this includes the official Simutronics website.
Equally important to remember is that ideas are not copyrighted, only the expression of those ideas. So just because the Simutronics website has a page on a subject doesn't mean there can't be one here as well. It does mean that you can't copy portions of the text from that page over to the page here, though. GameMasters will be posting official documentation on the wiki. Only GMs may edit those pages.
Categories
When creating new articles, or even updating older ones, please take a moment and check the category list and determine if any existing categories are 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.
Marking pages for deletion
Did you make a duplicate page or mess up the name? Putting [[Category:Marked for Deletion]] on a page will indicate your wish to have it deleted. Someone with the appropriate permissions will look at it in the near future.
Math
GSWiki has LaTeX code capabilities. Please use the following formats:
Non-inline formulas should be indented or wrapped in a box:
{{Equation box|<math> ... </math>}}
Multi-letter variables should be wrapped in a mathrm tag:
\mathrm{SkillRanks}—
For truncation/ceiling operators, use \lfloor ... \rfloor and \lceil ... \rceil. To wrap a multi-line expression (such as a fraction), use \left \lfloor{...} \right \rfloor.
For multiplication, use a dot \cdot () where necessary to avoid ambiguity. For purely arithmetic expressions, \times is also acceptable (), but prefer using a dot in algebraic expressions to avoid confusion with the letter x.
For division, use a slash / or fraction notation: \frac{...}{...}
To enter a space, use a backslash with a space after \
Other help pages
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.