LOTC:Wiki Rules
LoTC Wiki Rules
The Wiki Rules were created to ensure the safety of the Wiki and the protection of our pages. As such, every editor is required to follow these rules. If you have any questions, concerns, or would like to report someone then please contact HogoBojo#0001 on Discord or on the Forums.
Contents
- 1 LoTC Wiki Rules
- 2 What are the Wiki Standards?
- 3 LoTC Guide
- 3.1 Is it possible to work on the LotC Wiki?
- 3.2 What's the difference between joining the Wiki Team and just having a wiki account?
- 3.3 Are there rules I should follow?
- 3.4 Maintain a neutral and unbiased point of view
- 3.5 The wiki is not a battleground
- 3.6 Be willing to discuss your edits with your fellow editors
- 3.7 How do I create a page?
- 3.8 What are Backbones and should I use one?
- 3.9 How do I format my text?
- 3.10 How do I add categories?
- 3.11 How do I preview my page?
- 3.12 Can I post my page now?
General Wiki Rules
- We are an English speaking community and, as such, your edits must be in English and in a legible font.
- Measured criticism is welcome. Provocation, insults, and personal remarks are punishable.
- The Wiki is a source for new and old players alike to gain information about the server, as such, false information is strictly prohibited.
- Images, videos, and other sorts of media must comply with the LotC content policy. Graphic content is not permitted. Rule of thumb: keep it PG-13.
- Biased behavior of any way or form is not allowed on the Wiki. The Wiki is meant to be a neutral and unbiased database for new players to read about the server.
- Plagiarism is prohibited in any way or form. This is a tertiary resource, so if you do use someone's work, just credit it and only include it with permission.
- Do not advertise or solicit anywhere on the Wiki.
- Use common sense.
Punishments
Problematic editors will be punished according to their wrongdoings. Most of the time an individual will receive a simple warning from the wiki team for breaking a rule. If an editor receives multiple warnings, depending on the circumstances, they may have their account blocked or removed. However, for extreme cases, the editor will be blocked immediately to prevent further damage while the wiki team contacts them.
What are the Wiki Standards?
The Wiki Standards are the pillars of the Wiki, meant to be the quality standards for each page of the wiki, the Wiki Standards stand as a wall between good pages and bad pages. All wiki pages, new or old, must abide by these Wiki Standards or they'll face deletion from the Wiki.
Creating a new page
- Does the page already exist? It may exist with a different spelling, or a different name. You may just need to add a redirect from the page you are making to the extant page.
- Does the page need to exist? Consider that the thing you are writing about has enough information surrounding it to justify a page, and that the information is 'nonstandard' - i.e. Don't make a page about wheat which copy pastes information from wikipedia. Also don't create a page just for one sentence of information, look at including that information on other related pages.
- Similar to point 1. If you have determined that a page is needed, make sure that you are creating it with the correct title. A page title can not be edited, so make sure that spelling, capital letters, family names and so on are accurate before creating it.
- When making a page, make sure to use Category:Backbones where relevant. While not all of them are totallly accurate to every purpose, it is best to edit one of them than not use one.
- Immediately after making a page, if you have not done so already, make sure to add the relevant Categories. Dont create new categories for singular pages, rather discuss with other people that work on the wiki to see if a new category is needed. Adding categories makes pages easier to find and stops them from flagging up as Uncategorised.
- Add any necessary links to other pages via [[]] links. Use the tools at your disposal (categories, search bar) to find relevant page and how they are spelt, to make sure you aren't creating a link to a nonexistent page. Doing this adds more pages to the Wanted List, many of which can be rectified if they are linked to correctly to begin with.
- If you do add a link to a page you know doesnt exist, follow the previous steps here for all the same reasons. Similarly, if you know that this page should exist and have time, go and add links to it on other related pages - and ideally, make it yourself so it doesnt show up as a wanted page.
- Finally, when all is said and done on your page, make sure you go into other pages and add links to your page. This stops the page showing up as an Orphan (no pages leading to it). And makes it so there are no dead ends on the wiki.
LoTC Guide
This guide contains all the steps required for a player, such as yourself, to gain access to the wiki and submit their first wiki page. It will help you on how to start browsing the wiki, how to get an account, and of course, how to create pages with proper formatting.
Quick access to: Tasks and the Rulebook.
Is it possible to work on the LotC Wiki?
Absolutely! Anyone who isn't currently banned on the server or the wiki can apply for a wiki account in the #wiki-account-request channel of the main LotC Discord, or apply for the Wiki Team here. After receiving your request, a Wiki Team Member will create a temporary password for you, which will be sent to the email you entered. With that, you can log into your Wiki Account and edit your password. You have now gained access to edit the Wiki!
What's the difference between joining the Wiki Team and just having a wiki account?
If you get an account through #wiki-account-request, you’ll get a standard wiki account. The differences between these and those provided to Wiki Team members are:
- Standard accounts can’t edit protected pages, such as the Main Page.
- Standard accounts do not have bot privileges, and can’t use automated editing tools.
- Standard accounts can’t create new accounts, block or delete accounts.
- And, standard accounts can’t delete, move, or protect wiki pages.
Otherwise, you can do anything not mentioned. You can edit and improve any unprotected page (94.9%, or about 100 out of 2500 are protected), create new pages, upload images you need for pages, etc.
Are there rules I should follow?
Wikis are all about everyone coming together to make a fantastic, collective source of information. But, there are a few rules we must follow, to ensure everyone can work together on this massive project. The full list of rules can be found at this section.
Maintain a neutral and unbiased point of view
This especially applies to pages on nations, wars, battles, and guilds. The pages should remain factual, clear-cut and neutral to avoid conflict with other players.
The wiki is not a battleground
The wiki is not about winning or losing. Holding grudges against other editors who disagree with you only creates unnecessary drama and negative effects that distract others from improving the wiki. If you believe that a user is only making edits out a grudge or is only making certain edits just to agitate another user then please contact a Wiki Caretaker about such.
Be willing to discuss your edits with your fellow editors
No matter how mundane your edits or how right you think you are, there will be times when other editors will object to, revert, or otherwise question your edits. In these cases, you must be prepared to discuss and justify your contributions. This is the role of "Talk page" discussion, don't be afraid to use it or contact an editor directly if you disagree with their edit. Please remember to keep it civil. If an agreement can't be met then please contact a Wiki Caretaker to serve a verdict.
How do I create a page?
To create the page, first search the title you want for the page in the search bar. Make sure to use the exact wording that you wish the final title to have. If a similar topic appears in the results and has already been covered, do not create a duplicate page. Once confirming that the page has not been created yet, the option to create the page should appear in red at the top of the list. Clicking on this red link leads to the creation box. From there onward you can begin building your perfect page.
What are Backbones and should I use one?
Backbones are pre-coded formats that people can use on the wiki to keep pages on a similar topic formatted the same, and to give newer editors a place to start building their page from. Most are designed to let you start filling out tables without knowing any Wikitext (the code of the wiki), which makes them very user-friendly. Though not required, it is encouraged to use them as a base for your page, to keep all pages on a topic looking somewhat the same. Backbones are in no way set in stone, and can be modified as seen fit to improve the page. If pages do not meet our standards or are straight out ugly, it shall be flagged for deletion until someone will fix it either by editing the format or using a proper backbone.
How do I format my text?
There's no reason to rewrite the book on this one, Mediawiki has a fantastic resource to get you started with basic formatting on Mediawikis like this one. At the bottom of the page, you'll find lots of useful links going into other areas as well, such as formatting with images and using links.
How do I add categories?
Adding one or more categories to the bottom of your page is essential. It makes things more organized, of course also means it's easier to find your page. To add a category simply put [[Category:categoryname]] at the bottom of your page. We are using the following categories for our pages:
If none of these categories apply to an existing page, or a page you'd like to make, contact a Wiki Team Member. We're trying to keep the categories uniform so that it's easy to always find what you're looking for, and want to keep it clear as possible, with little overlap.
How do I preview my page?
Preview all your changes to ensure they are appearing as intended by clicking the Show preview button at the bottom of the edit window. This is highly encouraged over saving multiple times to correct errors as this is a burden on the people trying to sort through the recent changes.
Can I post my page now?
After putting in all of your information, one last thing to do when using a backbone is to go to the very bottom and make sure to remove <noinclude>[[Category:Backbone]]</noinclude> if you haven't already done this. This is to help with the organization and categorization of the wiki, as leaving it labels the page as a backbone, which can be confusing to others looking for backbones themselves.
Once that is done, if the page is unfinished, don't be afraid to add a template to the top of the page letting people know. You can add {{stub}}, which will encourage others to add more to the page if the come across it, or just let them know it's not complete. Then, do one final preview, and if everything's the way you'd like, you can finally click the Save changes button.
