Gswiki:Style guide/Logs

Log pages are articles that mainly consist of text copied from the game instance depicting real events that happened in game which may be lightly or heavily edited. The format of these articles is specified in the Style Guide.

Article Title

Log pages (also referred to as an article) can be placed directly in the mainspace. The mainspace is any article placed immediately after https://gswiki.play.net/ without being placed into a category or other namespace. Other namespaces can be viewed when an article starts with something such as 'Category:', 'Help:', or 'Template:' such as this article, which is in the help namespace.

When you are titling your log page, you will want it to follow the style guide so that it is formatted like '[Storyline or Event Title, if applicable] - [Date] - [Title of Log, if applicable] (log)'. This means that one way you can create the page is by typing a URL into the address/search bar of your browser such as https://gswiki.play.net/Blood_Son_-_2020-01-01_-_Excitement_in_Wehnimer's_Landing_(log). In order to create spaces in the URL, if you are using this method to create the page, use an underscore (_). Once you hit enter, you will be brought to a new page that says there is no text created on the page and you can click the Create button on the top right.

The rationale for this method of titling logs is that:

• by having the storyline or event first, it will group all similar logs from the same storyline in category pages and sortable lists, which makes it easier for people to find logs from the same storyline or event,
• by having the date next in the format of YYYY-MM-DD, it will chronologically order all logs from the same storyline or event in category pages and sortable lists,
• by having the title of the log next, people will be able to see what the log is about from the category page or sortable list, and
• by having (log) at the end, people know that it denotes actual events that happened in game.

The preference is to use the real date in log article titles and not the Elanthian date. When there is a mix of both kinds of dates, they do not properly group in chronologically order inside of category pages and sortable lists.

Introduction

All log pages should start with 'This log is from the {storyline/event (page linked if applicable)} on {date} from the viewpoint of {character}.' This consistency helps people to find the information to place the log into context and immediately directs them where to go to find more information about the storyline or event. For example:

This log is from Blood Son on 01/01/2020 from the viewpoint of Motte.

Remember that if you are directing people to a category page, you will want to make sure you put the colon at the front of the link and then add a pipe (|) and the text you want for your link. For example: [[:Category:Blood Son|Blood Son]]. This is only necessary for category pages. The colon makes it so that instead of adding the article to the category, you link to the category.

Content

Below the introduction is the main content space. The bulk of the log article can be formatted however the editor prefers. Editors can use headers to break up the length of the log and to create a Table of Contents. Please remember that all headers on wiki pages should start with the level two header, which means they start with two equal signs on either side of the header. Example: ==Summary==. Another example would be: ===Blood Son Gets Bloody===. These headers can also be used to create links to direct people to content. For example: https://gswiki.play.net/Blood_Son_-_2020-01-01_-_Excitement_in_Wehnimer's_Landing_(log)#Blood_Son_Gets_Bloody would take you directly to that section of the log.

People may want to add additional headers so that their log has a summary, notes characters in attendance or their appearance, or some other valuable or interesting information. An example could look like:

==Summary==

In this log, the Blood Son proselytized to his followers and suggested that there would be some Big Bad Event happening later in the week.

==Characters in Attendance==

List of characters linked to their pages using the formatting shown in Help:Character_pages.

==Log==

===The Blood Son Proselytized===

<pre{{log2|border=none|font=arial}}>PASTE LOG HERE</pre>

===The Blood Son Gets Bloody===

<pre{{log2|border=none|font=arial}}>PASTE LOG HERE</pre>

While not required, using the log2 template provides consistency to readers that what they're reading inside of that visual block is text that came directly from the game. It also eliminates the need for people to place line break (<br/>) tags at the end of single-spaced game text such as room descriptions or character descriptions as the template will automatically ensure that it is formatted correctly.

Categories

Log pages should have the following categories placed at the bottom of the page:

• [[Category:Logs]]
• Storyline or event category, if applicable, such as: [[Category:Blood Son]]

Storyline logs should not be categorized into the town storylines or dated storylines categories. Instead, the storyline category page itself should be placed into both of those. So for example, this log would not be in Category:Wehnimer's Landing Storylines or Category:2020 Storylines. Instead, Category:Blood Son will be placed into both of those. This cuts down on clutter inside of the town storylines and dated storylines categories so that people can easily find the storyline they want without having to wade through pages of logs.

Example, All Together

The article title for this example would be: https://gswiki.play.net/Blood_Son_-_2020-01-01_-_Excitement_in_Wehnimer's_Landing_(log)

The formatting of the log for this example could look like:

This log is from Blood Son on 01/01/2020 from the viewpoint of Motte.
==Summary==
In this log, the Blood Son proselytized to his followers and suggested that there would be some Big Bad Event happening later in the week.
==Characters in Attendance==
List of characters linked to their pages using the formatting shown in Help:Character_pages.
==Log==
===The Blood Son Proselytized===
<pre{{log2|border=none|font=arial}}>PASTE LOG HERE</pre>
===The Blood Son Gets Bloody===
<pre{{log2|border=none|font=arial}}>PASTE LOG HERE</pre>
[[Category:Logs]]
[[Category:Blood Son]]

Questions?

If you have any questions, please leave them on the discussion/talk page.