Guide to contributing to the wiki
Welcome
I'm a wiki editor, and this is the Skyrat wiki. I got this job though admin erp cronyism, and I work here by myself. In this business, content comes first, drama comes second, depending on who you ask. If there's one thing I've learned after 6 years of wiki editing, you never know what is going to come from unregistered users.
Wikicode
Wikicode is the syntax used by all Mediawiki sites. It's quick and concise to use while being fairly flexible. The lack of customization is actually a feature, as the design philosophy is to prevent people from fiddling with the formatting, and to focus on productive elements, such as content and substance.
Getting an account
Good luck, buddy! I got mine right before the last admin stepped down, and unfortunately I'm way too much of a tider with too many notes in-game to ever get my admin application approved by the staff. That being said, you can always just post your edits in the discord wiki-talk channel and I'll add them to the wiki.
What needs doing?
Skyrat Content
TG station's wiki already exists. All the upstream stuff is already (mostly) documented. What we really need, are guides on the sever-exclusive mechanics. If you know how to do something obscure that isn't from TG, we would really appreciate if wrote wrote a bit about it.
Code Dives
A list of pages which need revisions can be found here.
Updates are frequent and we need people to update the information on the wiki. Downloading the source code and reading about the items themselves is a great way to get useful info on whatever you're writing about.
Images
Uploading new images
If you have new, relevant images then upload them and add them to the page they're intended for. It is appreciated if the pictures of items you add have a blank background and are in the .gif or .png format. The easiest way to add images of items is to download the source code, open the icons .dmi files and export images as .gif's or .png's from there.
Then upload them here: https://tgstation13.org/wiki/Special:Upload
Updating existing images
It is possible for an image to become depreciated following an update to the source code. To update an existing, obsolete image you can visit the upload page, upload your new image, and then add the filepath of the old image you want to substitute. You can also visit its page on the wiki (by either clicking the image itself or searching for its name using the "File:" prefix in the searchbar), click on "upload a new version of this file" under "File history", and selecting your new image on the upload page.
All depreciated versions of the image will remaing in the File's history page for posterity.
IMPORTANT: Images can only be updated with files of the same format: .png images cannot be updated to .gif, and viceversa. This is because files are saved on a page which include their format in its name.
Tabs
Any page can have tabs added to it through the <tabs> function. This function has the known problem of displaying correctly in a page edit preview, but incorrectly once an edit is applied. To fix this, the page's cache has to be flushed; One easy method is adding ?action=purge at the end of a page's URL. If the problem persist, leave a post on the forum.
Marking for revision and deletion
If a page is up to date when you read it, please put the following tag at it's top (with the correct date):
{{Lastrevision | date = 15. 1. 2012}}
If a page is out of date or doesn't have a reason for existing, add one of the following tags to the top of the page:
{{Needs revision}}
{{Needs revision | reason = Out of date.}}
or
{{delete}}
Talk Pages
When writing on a page or user's talk page (for example Talk:Main_Page), there are a few things you need to know.
Signature
Always end of your message with your signature, so everyone knows who wrote what (without checking the edit history).
This can be done easily by using ~~~~ after your message. You can customize your signature on your user preferences page.
| Code: |
Look. ~~~~ |
|---|---|
| Result: |
Indentation
When replying to another user's message, be sure to indent your message so it is visibly a reply to the above message.
This is done by simply adding : at the start of the line will cause this effect.
| Code: |
Look. - [[User:Deantwo|Deantwo]] ([[User_talk:Deantwo|talk]]) 10:35, 30 November 2013 (CET) |
|---|---|
| Result: |
Headline
If you are starting a new topic, add a headline with the name of the topic. If a talk page is used a lot, it can become confusing if the topics aren't separated with headlines. It also allows for section editing, which makes editing long talk pages a lot easier.
This is one of the most basic things on a wiki, and are used by typing ==Topic== on the line above your message.
| Code: |
==Look at this tutorial== |
|---|---|
| Result: |
Look at this tutorial [edit] |
Jokes
Some pages are intended to be entertaining but when writing guides, remember that a newbie might not realize something is a joke or sarcasm, even if it's blatantly obvious to the rest of us. Think where jokes fit and where they don't. Also, if you're updating someone else's joke, think whether yours is actually funnier.
Guide to Writing and Revising a Guide
Always keep in mind what these guides are for; they're so newbies can quickly skim across them so they can have half an idea what they've just been selected for.
A good guide needs, by order:
- A brief one-two paragraph description of what the mode is.
- A bullet point list of short to the point key points of key mechanics, these should be no longer than two sentences each. And remember: key points means the important shit you need to know to atleast bumble fuck your way around at round start, you should be able to read and understand it within 5 minutes.
- A more meaty section detailing the game mechanics in depth (this is where you explain what all runes and talismans do, including the ones that are barely used), it should still be clear and concise.
- A summary of the key points, yes - one at the start and one at the end. Reiteration helps to hammer things home. This one will more or less be simple list to remind the reader of things, it wont explain them.
- Further reading - this is where you link to the pages that detail advanced strategies for fighting for and against the cult. No you don't put them on the main page because that will clutter it.
- Links! Remember to add links to game modes, antagonist roles, jobs, items and guides you mention! Simply do it when you re-read your content before submitting.
A bad guide is one that's a giant wall of text that's overly fluffed up and full of opinionated bullshit.
A newbie is going to take one glance at it and shit their pants out of fright, and advanced player is just going to go "Yeah.... I'm not reading someone's sperg page".
[At the moment]Template:Citation needed Security's guides are good. Space Law is unfluffed and tells plainly the basics of what a security officer needs to know to start patrolling and robusting greyshirts. The Guide to security is more fleshed out and explains things more in depth and lists strategies to counter antags.
Cult, Malf, and Traitor are bad because they're giant imposing walls of text that reads like a newspaper: squished up text that obscures the facts with needless opinions and blurbs that you don't need to know off the bat.
So remember:
- Facts good, opinions bad.
- Keep your facts clear of irrelevant fluff and other bullshit.
- Keep the basic guide basic, keep the advanced stuff on a separate page.
- Important stuff first, depth and explanation and unimportant things second.
- White space, tables, sections, and formatting are essential for ease of reading. We're not print media, space isn't at a premium so use it freely.
- Links!
- I just used the above template to write this guide.
Useful pages
Categories: Used, unused and wanted
Templates: Used, unused and wanted
All pages: All existing pages and Wanted pages
/tg/station wiki specific markup
To create a BYOND hyperlink, use the <byond> tags. The specific syntax is <byond server=servername.com port=4000>Link text here</byond>.
The wiki also supports the features of the ParserFunctions extension.