StrategyWiki:Guide/Organizing the pages

Walkthrough
The heart of many guides is the walkthrough. For simple games, this page should include all the levels or stages needed to finish the game, covered in as much detail as necessary.

If the game is very complicated or the descriptions become very long it should instead cover only the introduction—e.g. the opening cutscene or character creation (unless that is involved enough to earn its own subpage)—or perhaps the first level of the game. The aim is to make the automatic Walkthrough link on All Game Nav as useful as possible.

Other walkthrough pages should be subpages of the main guide (e.g. Game/Level 1) rather than of the walkthrough (e.g. Game/Walkthrough/Level 1). If it has an official name you might consider using that instead a generic numbered page.

Remember to put All Game Nav at the top and Footer Nav on the bottom so that readers can easily progress through the pages.

As a general rule, if something is not necessary to complete the game ("complete" in this sense means seeing the ending if there is one) it can be considered a secret or sidequest, and should be covered elsewhere (although mentioning it with sidebar is still a good idea).

Writing aids
Over time, authors have developed many techniques to make writing the walkthrough easier:
 * two simultaneous saves: if the game supports it, have two save files ("A" and "B", or whatever). Play "A" to reach a certain point and write up that section, then play "B" to reach that point again and revise your description. Rinse, repeat.
 * multiple save files: if the game allows you to use multiple save files you might like to keep a completed one and then a second blank one for running through.
 * If the game allows savegame naming you should of course describe them appropriately for easy access
 * if the game allows infinite saves you can save at every important junction in the game, allowing you to easily go back through that section.
 * recording: if it's a console game you could consider recording the gameplay using a VCR or whatever device. You can then replay or even fast forward your way through your game play. Some PC games and most emulators support recording, and there are also many recording programs such as FRAPS that can export to a movie file for easier navigating.

Table of Contents
While the walkthrough is the heart, the Table of Contents is the veins. It should link to all the pages used in the guide to enable quick access from anywhere to anywhere else.

First of all, the ToC should be generic, simple and similar to other ToC's. For example, you should have a Getting Started (followed by basics) and Walkthrough page (an explanitory page followed by sections) and then an Appendices section with extra information. Usually controls, and background information is listed under the Getting Started section, guide areas are listed under the walkthrough sections and lists, maps and other information that wouldn't be considered one of the other sections goes in the Appendices section. Specific guides are also usually listed under Appendices (for example Mega Man 7/Boss guide).

Page links should be visually tiered, e.g.: However this is only the layout; as a general rule, the actual page locations only need to be tiered once (e.g. Game/Level 1 instead of Game/Walkthrough/Level 1). This prevents pages from having complicated titles (e.g. Game/Walkthrough/Core Missions/Ric/Bombs Away, Baby) and also makes linking easier.
 * Controls
 * Walkthrough
 * Level 1
 * Level 2
 * Items

To get you started, here are some generic ToC layouts for various genres:

Adventure RPG Racing Fighting
 * Characters
 * Commands
 * Game Overview
 * FAQs
 * Walkthrough
 * Items
 * Secrets
 * Characters
 * FAQs
 * Walkthrough
 * Sidequests
 * Enemies
 * Items
 * Weapons
 * Armor
 * Spells
 * Controls
 * Cars
 * Tracks
 * Cups
 * Controls
 * Moves
 * Tactics
 * Tips and Tricks

FAQ
A FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) is a list of common questions players ask (or might ask). These have gone out of style in the last few years, and gamers are now in the habit of looking for answers in the appropriate section. If the game is particularly complicated or has specific information that is constantly asked (e.g. which characters are in which version, or if the existence of a nude skin is a hoax) a FAQ might still be a good idea, but as a rule any FAQ entries that could be rewritten and placed on a subpage instead should be. Because the FAQ will be read by players at any stage in the game, use spoiler for spoilers of any sort.

Getting Started
An important page in many guides. This may go under different names depending on the game, but will always serve the same purpose: to describe the controls, gameplay and other general features of the game. New and returning players should be able to read or even skim this page to get a general refresher on the bare minimum of what's involved. Even things covered in the manual should still be covered in case players don't have the manual for whatever reason (sometimes, re-releases don't even include a manual).

Complicated games might need to have this separated into different pages, but a non-linked "Getting Started" header can still be used on the Table of Contents.

Controls
This page (or section) should cover controls in the following sort of format:
 * : Jump
 * + : Super Jump
 * etc.

For lists of large but irregular numbers of buttons, consider listing the description first and the buttons second. You can also use tables to line things up better.

If no template exists for this system, or you don't know what its controls are, use  to tag it.

Optional Activities
Things that are not required for completion of the main storyline go on pages like these. Activities that are required at one point of the walkthrough but can be optionally done at other times as well should be covered in both places. If the game has a lot of sidequests you should of course split the page accordingly.

Move lists
As a rule, only fighting games and beat-'em-ups have these. Handle beat-'em-up move lists much the same way as controls pages. Fighting games, however, are handled differently. Unlike most pages, move lists are instead placed at Move Lists/Company Name/Game. Check Category:Move lists to see the ones already made; if a variant of the game you're writing for already has some moves that are performed identically you can just duplicate them from there. You will also need to create a character page in the format Move Lists/Company Name/Character. Talk to Procyon for more information regarding Move Lists standards.

Strategy
Mostly used for strategy/tactical/simulation/squad-based games, this page should provide general strategies. Mission-specific strategies should probably be covered on the page for that mission. It's also useful to spread a few handy reminders (e.g. "remember, Night Elves deal only half damage against Fell Orcs unlike the rest of their race") throughout the walkthrough.

Cheats/Codes
This section can have either title (as they are mostly synonymous). As a general guideline, if a game has only button-press and cheat device codes, call the page Codes; if the game has glitches and other sorts of non-cheat cheats call it Cheats. As a rule patch codes cannot be copyrighted, so taking them from other sites is OK as long as you describe the code's function in your own words.

Lists
Lists are very helpful, and should usually be kept separate from any other page so they can be easily accessed from anywhere via the Table of Contents. As a rule, pages with large amounts of statistics should be presented in tables. If the lists become extremely long consider splitting by type. As a general rule, use an identical layout for each entry or section, leaving parts blank that don't apply to that thing.

Foreign Language guides
At present, StrategyWiki only hosts English-language guides. If enough interest is shown in other languages, support for them can be added much like at Wikipedia.