Using the wiki / porting to the wiki

[Talaysen]

Eventually this will probably be a full tutorial of the features of the wiki and how to use them.  But Djinn put a gun to my head and told me to give some guidelines to porting to the wiki, and I don't like having bullets in my brain.  Strange, I know.

The BB->Wiki Converter
http://www.rpgdl.com/wiki/BBwiki.php

How to use: Copy text from stat topic to that box, hit Convert.  What you get next is text you can insert on a wiki page.  Pretty simple.  The format will be basically what it was in the topic, which is fine, but not really using the nice features of the wiki.

Where do stat topics go?
http://rpgdl.com/wiki/index.php?title=Stat_Topics

That is the index for the stat topic pages.  You'll need to add an entry for the page there, in alphabetical order.  Example:

Code: [Select]

* [[Mana Khemia 2|Mana Khemia 2 ~Fall of Alchemy~]]
The * makes a bullet point.
"Mana Khemia 2" is the name of the page.  Please use the name of the game, not an abbreviation.  "MK2" could mean more than one thing, such as Mortal Kombat.  You don't need to include the subtitle unless for some reason it's ambiguous without.
"Mana Khemia 2 ~Fall of Alchemy~" is the full name of the game.  This is what will be displayed on the link.  Please include subtitles and whatever here as well.  If the full game name was used for the page, then you don't need this part or the | before it.  Example:

Code: [Select]

* [[Labyrinth of Touhou]]
The complete process
This will get a quick, easy port of a stat topic.

1) Navigate to stat topic.
2) Hit Edit on the relevant post in the stat topic (usually the first, though sometimes there are multiple).  If you can't Edit (due to not being the creator), hit Quote instead.
3) Copy the text in the box.
4) Open http://www.rpgdl.com/wiki/BBwiki.php in a new tab/window.
5) Paste text into that box.
6) If you quoted the post, remove the quote tags.  Alternatively, you could've just not copied them in the first place.  Whatever, just get rid of them if they're there.
7) Hit Convert!  Wait for it to finish (may take a bit on longer posts or slower computers).
8) Copy the text in the box.
9) Open http://rpgdl.com/wiki/index.php?title=Stat_Topics in a new tab/window.
10) Hit edit.  If there is no edit button, you'll have to sign in.  You may have to make a new account, I don't remember for sure.
11) Add your game to the index.  Remember, alphabetical order.  The syntax is

Code: [Select]

* [[Page Name|Full Game Name]]Don't use abbreviations, please.  Well maybe if the game name is ridiculously long or something.
12) Hit Show preview.  Make sure it looks okay.  You should see a red link for your game.  If it's blue, the page has already been created, so someone may have already ported it but didn't link it or something.
13) In the Summary box, write "Added <game name here>."  Or something like that.  Just say what you did.
14) Hit Save page.  The index should now be updated!
15) Click on the red link you just added.  You should be taken directly to the edit page.
16) Paste the text you got from the converter (step 8) into the box.
17) Hit Show preview.  Make sure it looks okay.
18) In the Summary box, write "Created page."  Or something like that.  I usually put "Initial creation." myself.
19) Hit Save page.
20) Congratulations, the topic has now been ported!  It's not as pretty as it could be, but it's there!

[Talaysen]

Basic wiki syntax
Line Breaks
Wiki is weird with line breaks.  A single return in the code will NOT give a line break on the display.  You will either need to put in TWO returns or use the <br/> tag.  It's a bit of a pain, I know, but you get used to it eventually.  Running the text through the converter should add the <br/> tags for you though.

Indenting
To indent a line, simply put a colon (:) in front of it.  Like so:

Code: [Select]

:This line will be indented.
Headers
Headers are simple.  They are just text with two equals signs on either side.  Like so:

Code: [Select]

==Header1==Whatever you put for "Header1" will be the name of the header.  Subheaders work similarly, except they use more equals signs.  Using three on each side will be a subheader, using four will be a subheader of the subheader, etc.  Like this:

Code: [Select]

==Raquel==
===Equipment===
====Weapons====
====Armor====Here, Raquel is a "level 2 header" (level 1 being the page itself, I believe).  Equipment is a level 3 header, under Raquel.  Weapons and Armor are level 4 headers, both below Equipment.

I'm not sure how far down this can go, but I don't suggest going past five, as by that point the header text starts being smaller than normal text which kind of ruins the point.  If you really have to, I think you can, though.

Table of Contents
A table of contents will automatically appear after you put in enough headers.  I think it's four?  Subheaders count too, I think.  You don't have to do anything yourself.  Isn't that convenient?

Text formatting
To bold text, enclose it within three apostrophes:

Code: [Select]

'''This will be bolded.'''If you want to bold until the end of the line, you don't need the closing apostrophes:

Code: [Select]

"This whole line will be bolded.
To italicize text, use two apostrophes instead of three.  If you want both bold and italics, use five (two+three!).

To underline text, you need to use the HTML <u></u> tags:

Code: [Select]

<u>This will be underlined</u>You can also mix with wiki syntax:

Code: [Select]

'''<u>This line will be bolded and underlined.</u>
To color, I think you need to use HTML again:

Code: [Select]

<font color=#800080>This text is purple!</color>If there's a way to do that with wiki syntax, I don't know it.  If someone knows, tell me!

Lists
To make a list, simply put an asterisk (*) in front of each item in the list.  Like so:

Code: [Select]

Here is a list!
*Item 1
*Item 2
*Item 3
HTML
Most HTML (all?) syntax will work on the wiki, so if all else fails, try that.  If you don't know the syntax, ask someone!  Or Google!

---

And there's some basic syntax.  If anyone wants me to add more info to this, let me know!

[Talaysen]

Advanced wiki'ing
Page Format
In an attempt to make things more standard, I'm going to suggest a page format and structure.  This is not a strict requirement: If things look better with a different format for a given game page, then go ahead and use that.  I suggest asking around for opinions though, since something that looks nice to you may not look as nice to others.  Or maybe others have ideas on how to improve your design.  It's a wiki, the point is to work together.  I am merely setting down some guidelines in an attempt to keep page structures at least somewhat similar, which is generally a good thing for users.

By the way, I should not be the only one developing this.  If other people have complaints/suggestions/whatever, please submit them.  It's highly likely that others have better ideas than I do, so I'd like to hear them!

The game page
Each game should have a "hub" page.  This is where basic info of the game is shown.  It will then link to whatever other articles we have about the game: stat topics, reviews, random notes, FAQs, whatever.  This is why I refer to it as the "hub".

The title of the page will be simply the game name.  No abbreviations, but the subtitle is not required (and probably should be omitted due to length).  Something like this: http://www.rpgdl.com/wiki/index.php?title=Wild_ARMS_4

At the top, there should be some kind of info on the game.  Probably with a well named header.  Something like ==Basic Information== would work.  There, you can list what console the game is on, the genre, release info, whatever.  Other sections that could be added: Plot, Gameplay, Characters, etc.  Again, this would be just basic info on the plot, gameplay, characters, etc.  Don't go too deep into analyzing the plot or explaining mechanics here.  If you want to do some kind of plot analysis, make a subpage for that (and link it at the top of the Plot section).

If there is a stat topic (which there probably is!) or reviews, those will go under headers as well: ==Stats== and ==Reviews==.  Same with FAQs or whatever else we have.  Since it's likely these will be long, the section shouldn't have much more than just a link to a new page for the stat topic or reviews.  In the case of reviews or FAQs, put a link to each review in the Reviews section on the hub page.

The stat topic should go to the page named game_name/Stats.  For example: http://www.rpgdl.com/wiki/index.php?title=Wild_ARMS_4/Stats

Reviews should go to pages named game_name/Reviews/author.  For example: http://www.rpgdl.com/wiki/index.php?title=Wild_ARMS_4/Reviews/Talaysen
There should probably be a review page (game_name/Reviews) that also links to the reviews, but it's not too important since they should be linked on the hub anyway.  FAQs work similarly to Reviews, though if an FAQ is more specific, say a "grinding FAQ", you can use something like http://www.rpgdl.com/wiki/index.php?title=Wild_ARMS_4/FAQs/Grinding.  Just use whatever you think is best.

The Stats page
The Stats page should be at game_name/Stats (e.g. http://www.rpgdl.com/wiki/index.php?title=Wild_ARMS_4/Stats ).

The basic structure isn't too different from forum stat topics, really.  First, you'll start out with an explanation on how the battle system works, some mechanics info, what stats mean, and what assumptions are made.  Not necessarily in that order.  On the forum, these sections are generally shown by bolding and/or underlining the section names.  On the wiki, you use the headers (e.g. ==Mechanics==).  You can even use subheaders there if you want.

After all that info would be the characters.  On the forums you would just bold "Characters" and then start tossing in character stats right after.  On a wiki, it's a bit different.  You would do a ==Characters== header like normal, but underneath it you would just create a link to a separate character page.  The page name should be game_name/Stats/character_name (e.g. http://www.rpgdl.com/wiki/index.php?title=Wild_ARMS_4/Stats/Raquel ).  On THAT page, you would put the characters stats.

After the Characters there should be a link to the averages used in the stat topic.  I say link because the best way to do averages is in the form of a template and linking it makes it easier to edit said template.  Templates will be covered later.

After that, if there are boss stats, make a section for bosses (==Bosses==) and do the same thing as for characters.  Bosses that have multiple forms should have all their forms on one page, regardless of if they are fought consecutively or not.  You can link to the page multiple times if you  want a chronological listing of boss fights though.  On a boss page, I suggest making a new header for each form, too.  This allows one to directly link to a certain form if one chooses.

After that... you're probably done.  But if you have stuff that seems better going at the bottom, go ahead.  Maybe a blurb saying who did the topic, what resources were used, "thanks" to people helped with it, etc.

Here is an example of a Stats page.  Note that the page name and the subpage names have not been standardized yet, so ignore those, but the basic structure is a good start: http://www.rpgdl.com/wiki/index.php?title=Mana_Khemia_2

The Character page
The character page name should be game_name/Stats/character_name (e.g. http://www.rpgdl.com/wiki/index.php?title=Wild_ARMS_4/Stats/Raquel ).
This does not need to use the full character name (and probably shouldn't due to length).  Nicknames are fine too (e.g. http://www.rpgdl.com/wiki/index.php?title=Mana_Khemia_2/Stats/Raze ).

This will be the place for character stats.  Stuff like characterization analysis, bio, and stuff should be on a separate page (game_name/Characters/character_name would be a good page name I think).  There can be a little bit of that on here but don't let it take up too much space.

The first thing on the stats page should be their full name, maybe their title or job, and optionally a battle quote or something.  If a bio is small, it COULD go here.  Rule of thumb: if you don't have enough non-stats character info to make a new page, go ahead and put it here.  If we eventually do get enough, we can always move it later.

Next is the character's stats.  There are a few ways to do this.  The way I usually do it is to just make a line for each stat and put in parentheses their "base" stat (the stat before equipment bonuses and skill bonuses).  You can also make a table.  I'll go over tables eventually, but as far as I know, wiki table syntax does not currently work on our wiki, so you'll have to use HTML.  Hopefully we'll get the software updated and wiki table syntax will work then.  Regardless of how its done, it should be in a ==Stats== header.

Next is the character's default equipment and notable alternatives.  Use the ==Equipment== header.  Do NOT put every alternate setup here.  There will be a place for that later.  But alternative equips that will be used fairly often can be listed here as well, just clearly note which are default and which are alternative.  I usually use the ===Default setup=== subheader and ===Alternatives=== to list the alternatives.  Also, clearly note what the stats of the equipment are, including any special effects they may have.

After that, the character's skillset.  Use something like ==Skills== or ==Skillset==.  This is for ALL skills, including passives.  If the character has both Active and Passive skills, use ===Active Skills=== and ===Passive Skills=== subheaders for clarity.

Under skills would go the averages.  Like I said before, averages are best done with a template.  The reason for this is that the averages should be the same for all characters, but will be placed in each character's page.  Instead of copy/pasting it every time, you can make it on a template page and just type in {{game_name/Stats/Averages}} and have the wiki automatically input it for you.  In addition, if you need to edit averages, you can just edit the template instead of having to edit the 93 character pages you made.  Convenient, huh?  But more on templates later.

UNDER averages go the character's other lesser used alternativee setups.  The reason I say these should go UNDER the averages is so people don't have to scroll down through a long list of alternatives just to find the averages.  If the alternatives are sufficiently long, you can also put them on a different page (game_name/Stats/character_name/OptionalSetups or something) if you want.  Up to you.

An example page is here: http://www.rpgdl.com/wiki/index.php?title=Mana_Khemia_2_Raze
Note that the page name is not standardized yet, so ignore that.  But that's the kind of structure I think people should follow.  I probably should've put the alternative setups in a different page, but at the time I didn't think about it.

As an aside, character pages are often better done as templates as well.  It makes them easier to modify in the future.  If you want to rearrange what order sections are in in the future, you would have to rearrange them on every single page normally, but if you use a template you only need to do it once.

Boss pages would be very similar, just removing some of the irrelevant sections (equipment, for example).

Conclusion
And that's it for the basic page structure.  Eventually, I think all game pages should use this structure, but when just porting stuff over, the whole structure need not be followed right away.  For example, a quick stat topic port could just be dumped into game_name/Stats instead of breaking off into character pages.  Eventually, the character stats would be moved over, but when just trying to get things onto the wiki, a dump like this is fine and is much quicker.  But please keep in mind what the final structure should be and try to do the easy parts right away.  Such as dumping into the page game_name/Stats instead of game_name.

I'll go into templates in the future.

[Talaysen]

The main tutorial and basic wiki syntax sections are up.  I'll get to the advanced stuff later.

If there are things I missed or things people want me to add, let me know and I'll put them in.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Line breaks and indentation.

Those are somewhat more complicated than they seem.

[Talaysen]

Indenting has been added.  Line breaks were already there so though...

[DjinnAndTonic]

I was referring to how single-spaced text shows up as a single line of text.

As in:

This is a list!
Yuri Hyuga
Millenia
Shady Thousand

Shows up as:

This is a list! Yuri Hyuga Millenia Shady Thousand


And how double-spacing shows up as 1.5 spacing, etc.

[Yoshiken]

Line Breaks
Wiki is weird with line breaks.  A single return in the code will NOT give a line break on the display.  You will either need to put in TWO returns or use the <br/> tag.  It's a bit of a pain, I know, but you get used to it eventually.  Running the text through the converter should add the <br/> tags for you though.

Isn't that what's there already?

[DjinnAndTonic]

Well, yes... but it's so easy to overlook and it's the most easy to make mistake for someone who doesn't know wiki formatting already.

[Talaysen]

Well, there's a reason I put it as the first thing in that post...

[Talaysen]

Put up a standardized page layout and attempted to explain some more things in the third post.  Haven't got to templates but they'll probably be next!

[DjinnAndTonic]

We actually already have some standardized 'Game Pages' under the 'Game Guide Links' section from the old days of the Wiki. There's a lot of good information still on those (and links to things like the FE7 stats databases and VP2 walkthroughs and such)... but also a lot of outdated links. I suppose we could try to reorganize all of that stuff?

http://rpgdl.com/wiki/index.php?title=RPGs

[Talaysen]

They're not really standardized since they don't use the format and naming structure I proposed, but they are hub pages that we should start from.  Reorganizing them would be a worthy early project.