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{{Header Nav|game=StrategyWiki:Guide}} | {{Header Nav|game=StrategyWiki:Guide}} | ||
Due to the flexible nature of wikimarkup, there are many different ways articles can be laid out. However, only a few of them look nice, and only a couple out of those have been decided upon as the official standard for layout. An example of a well–laid-out article would be [[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time]]. | Due to the flexible nature of wikimarkup, there are many different ways articles can be laid out. However, only a few of them look nice, and only a couple out of those have been decided upon as the official standard for layout. An example of a well–laid-out article would be [[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time]]. | ||
A well–laid-out article will flow properly, with no awkward whitespace (blank areas), and equally no "piling up" of items such as images and boxes. In some cases – especially when the article contains a lot of content – this is hard to achieve, but by sticking to a few simple rules, it should all work fine. However, before an article can be written, you have to [[StrategyWiki:Guide/ | A well–laid-out article will flow properly, with no awkward whitespace (blank areas), and equally no "piling up" of items such as images and boxes. In some cases – especially when the article contains a lot of content – this is hard to achieve, but by sticking to a few simple rules, it should all work fine. However, before an article can be written, you have to [[StrategyWiki:Guide/Organizing the pages|make sure to put it in the right place]]. | ||
If you have any questions or suggestions regarding layout, bring them up on [ | If you have any questions or suggestions regarding layout, bring them up on [http://forums.abxy.org/viewforum.php?f=19 the forums]. | ||
== Text == | == Text == | ||
The text will form the main part of the article, and so it is important that it is laid-out properly. In this respect, good authorship comes into play, with well-written guides being more interesting and engaging to read, and thus being more useful. If you aren't too competent with words, however, don't worry. Just try your best, lay out the article properly, and put <nowiki>{{cleanup}}</nowiki> at the top of the article to signify that it needs cleaning up. | The text will form the main part of the article, and so it is important that it is laid-out properly. In this respect, good authorship comes into play, with well-written guides being more interesting and engaging to read, and thus being more useful. If you aren't too competent with words, however, don't worry. Just try your best, lay out the article properly, and put <nowiki>{{cleanup}}</nowiki> at the top of the article to signify that it needs cleaning up. | ||
One of the key points of laying out text well is the effective use of paragraphs. Separate each idea out, and put them in different paragraphs by splitting them with a double-line-break (i.e. press enter twice after the first paragraph, then write the second). Note that a single line-break won't work: it ''has'' to be a double one. Note also that the splitting of paragraphs doesn't just work for text: other items separated by a double-line-break will also become separate paragraphs, which is sometimes less than desirable, and something to look out for. | One of the key points of laying out text well is the effective use of paragraphs. Separate each idea out, and put them in different paragraphs by splitting them with a double-line-break (i.e. press enter twice after the first paragraph, then write the second). Note that a single line-break won't work: it ''has'' to be a double one. Note also that the splitting of paragraphs doesn't just work for text: other items separated by a double-line-break will also become separate paragraphs, which is sometimes less than desirable, and something to look out for. | ||
A further thing to watch out for when writing the text of a guide is drivel. This is extraneous and redundant text which just bores the reader and doesn't help the guide in any way. Examples of drivel would be: | A further thing to watch out for when writing the text of a guide is drivel. This is extraneous and redundant text which just bores the reader and doesn't help the guide in any way. Examples of drivel would be: | ||
* '''Contributor lists''': the | * '''Contributor lists''': the history does this | ||
* '''Editing guides''': we have a perfectly good [[Help:Contents|help and guidelines]] section | * '''Editing guides''': we have a perfectly good [[Help:Contents|help and guidelines]] section | ||
* '''"What this is/is not"''': again, we have a good guidelines section, and all content relevant to a game should be included in its guide | * '''"What this is/is not"''': again, we have a good guidelines section, and all content relevant to a game should be included in its guide | ||
=== Headings === | === Headings === | ||
Another important part of writing good article text is splitting it up into useful headings. These allow the user to quickly navigate to places in the document using the table of contents automatically generated by MediaWiki, and also provide separation between sections. | Another important part of writing good article text is splitting it up into useful headings. These allow the user to quickly navigate to places in the document using the table of contents automatically generated by MediaWiki, and also provide separation between sections. | ||
When writing headings, an important thing to do is get the capitalisation correct. StrategyWiki has decided upon using | When writing headings, an important thing to do is get the capitalisation correct. StrategyWiki has decided upon using lowercase titles with a capitalised initial letter (and also capitalised proper nouns), apart from specific examples in the standard headings list (such as <tt><nowiki>==Table of Contents==</nowiki></tt>. So, instead of <tt><nowiki>===Blue Balloons in March===</nowiki></tt>, the heading would be <tt><nowiki>===Blue balloons in March===</nowiki></tt> — "Blue" is the first word in the heading, so should be capitalised, and "March" is a proper noun, so should also be capitalised. Note that the largest heading used is <tt><nowiki>==Level two==</nowiki></tt>: it is policy ''never to use <tt><nowiki>=Level one=</nowiki></tt> headings. | ||
For more help on headings, try the [[Help:Heading|headings help page]]. | For more help on headings, try the [[Help:Heading|headings help page]]. | ||
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It has been decided that headings such as "Introduction" are redundant, and so you should ''never'' put an "introduction" heading. Similarly, headings duplicating the page name should never be used, as that's just reproducing the title generated by MediaWiki for the page. Such headings also make pages less maintainable, as if the page is moved, the "title" heading can't be changed without additional work. | It has been decided that headings such as "Introduction" are redundant, and so you should ''never'' put an "introduction" heading. Similarly, headings duplicating the page name should never be used, as that's just reproducing the title generated by MediaWiki for the page. Such headings also make pages less maintainable, as if the page is moved, the "title" heading can't be changed without additional work. | ||
For more information on sub-paging, see [[StrategyWiki:Guide/ | For more information on sub-paging, see [[StrategyWiki:Guide/Organizing the pages]]. | ||
== Images == | == Images == | ||
In general, images should be floated to the left or right, so that the text wraps around them as appropriate. To this end, they should be placed just beneath headings, with the text underneath them as follows: | When including images in a guide, you must always make sure they are presented properly. After [[StrategyWiki:Images|uploading them properly]], they should be included in the page with (usually) the following wikimarkup: <nowiki>[[Image:image_name.png|thumb|left|Image caption goes here.]]</nowiki>. Note that the caption is a complete sentence, including a full stop at the end. It should convey the meaning of the image, or describe what's happening in a succinct manner. In general, images should be floated to the left or right, so that the text wraps around them as appropriate. To this end, they should be placed just beneath headings, with the text underneath them as follows: | ||
<pre>=== A heading === | <pre>=== A heading === | ||
[[ | [[Image:image_name.png|thumb|left|Image caption goes here.]] | ||
This is the text; it will continue for several paragraphs.</pre> | This is the text; it will continue for several paragraphs.</pre> | ||
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If many images are required for one section of a guide, a <nowiki><gallery></nowiki> tag is more appropriate than many floating thumbnails. This should be (most likely) placed at the bottom of the section, but any other placement between paragraphs is acceptable. It uses the following syntax: | If many images are required for one section of a guide, a <nowiki><gallery></nowiki> tag is more appropriate than many floating thumbnails. This should be (most likely) placed at the bottom of the section, but any other placement between paragraphs is acceptable. It uses the following syntax: | ||
<pre><gallery> | <pre><gallery> | ||
Image:image_name.png|Image caption goes here. | |||
Image:image_name2.png|Second image caption goes here. | |||
Image:image_name3.png|Third image caption goes here. | |||
</gallery></pre> | </gallery></pre> | ||
{{Footer Nav|game=StrategyWiki:Guide|prevpage= | {{Footer Nav|game=StrategyWiki:Guide|prevpage=Image naming|nextpage=License}} | ||