TF2Tags Lore Wiki:Guide to Editing

This is going to be a basic guide to the setup of wiki pages, and a layout of what is expected to be included in them. Wiki pages on TF2Tags Lore Wiki follow a few basic categories: Mechanic, Meme, History, and Tagger. All templates include a Trivia section for little fun facts.

**A NOTE BEFORE READING FURTHER:** With the recent implementation of Page Tabs linking users to the versions of pages based upon their TF2Tags and Tags.tf versions, the visual editor is bugged (shocker, the main wiki contributor is not a good coder). You will have to click the triple-bar dropdown menu and open the Source Editor, and remove the "Page Tab" template inside the double curly braces {}. These tabs will be refined and fixed at some point but for now, you have to do this for any page with such tabs.

## Mechanic

Mechanic-style pages cover site mechanics, such as Crits and Misses, Comments, Item Creation, Profiles, etc. These pages are the most objective on the wiki, and should generally include three different sections.

First, a description of the mechanic and how it works. This can include a guide as to how to use said mechanic, in the case of the more complex mechanics such as Item Creation. It is often best to implement images in this section to give the reader a visual representation of what is being explained.

Second, the mechanic's importance to the site and its community. You explained the what and how, this is where you explain the why. Explain the mechanic's impact on the Taggers, how the Taggers have used this mechanic, and how they view it. For example, comments were used as the primary means of communication between Taggers before Discord became the primary means. Profile rankings were the primary motivation for many Taggers to post tags in the first place, as a means to reach the prestigious Hale's Own Club.

Finally, any events from the site's history that feature a mechanic as a primary or supplementary feature should be mentioned, and the mechanic's role in this event should be explained. For example, there should be a brief section about The Removal of Misses and the subsequent Bring Back Misses movement in the Crits and Misses page. There should be a section mentioning the Taggening in the Submission Limits page.

## Meme

Memes are the injokes and intrends of TF2Tags Lore. They are recurring types of Tags with similar jokes. These include Tags such as Emoji nametags, as well as in-site trends such as Factions, Taggers Against Humanity, and NTF2Tags.

There aren't many pages included in this category (which should change in the future) but in general these are the sections that should be included:

First, history. Where did the meme come from? Did it already exist outside the site? Was an innocuous tag or comment turned into a running joke? Explain where it came from and the meme's rise (and potential fall) in the community.

Second and related to above, reception. How are these memes generally perceived by the community? Positive? Negative? Mixed? Explain why this reception was gained.

Third, some examples of this meme. Include the scores as to show whether the example is good or bad.

Fourth, potential tips for creating a good version of the meme.

The more complex site trends such as Factions, NTF2Tags, and Series, exclusive sections may need to be made (such as NTF2Taggers, plot explanations for Series, etc.)

As a final note for this category, these pages do not need to be long or complex. Don't feel you need to put more than you need to. As a golden rule, the more you explain the joke, the less funny it becomes.

## History

Many events have occurred over the life of TF2Tags, and as such we have documented a somewhat extensive catalog of our history, from the birth of our community in Team Legownz to the site's closure in the Tagpocalypse. Events worthy of being recorded as a piece of history varies in qualification. The timespan of an event can last many months, like The Colorless Times, or merely an afternoon, like The Ulyssesstorm. Likewise, the impact of any historical event can be large or small.

Unlike the other categories, historical events have no set categories. Instead there are two goals: chronology and archival. When explaining a community-wide event, it is important to write down as much as possible in the order in which it occurred to get the most objective understanding of the event. This includes not only the tags that occurred during the event that are relevant, but the comments as well, perhaps even Discord snapshots. In the same vein, if the event in question left any sort of impact on the community after its occurrence, it would be proper to mention them as well. Alongside chronology is archival, which involves archiving the relevant Tags on archive.org, freezing the Tag forever in Internet history, so even if the site goes down, the Tag will remain.

It is important to note that creating or improving any history page that occurred during the TF2Tags is very difficult (though not impossible) on account of the site being, well, dead. Though many, many pages have been archived, and it is indeed possible to gain some snippets of history from them, getting particularly detailed in such events is almost impossible. Treat our "Old Testament" so to speak with some leeway.

## Tagger

Taggers are the people who give this wonderful community life. They are also by far the most common page category on this wiki. Oftentimes, they either heavily influenced or written by the Tagger themselves. However, since many of them really don't know what they're doing, their pages often end up being stubs. Though it is preferable that one should reach out to either Walumancer or TGRobert to make their wiki page, if you simply must do it yourself, here are the sections you should include.

At the beginning of the page, give a very brief (5 sentences max) overall description of the Tagger, as well as listing their Tagger generation (for info see the Tagger category page).

Infobox. An infobox is a snapshot of a Tagger at a glance, and can be copied by going into any wiki page of a Tagger that already has one, going into the source editor, and copy/pasting the code into their own page's source editor. Once changes are applied, the infobox can be edited in the visual editor by double clicking it. An infobox contains the following information: A user's most recognizable profile picture, their number of points on the site, their number of tags, their crit/tag ratio, their representative item, and a link to an ***ARCHIVE*** of their best tag. Optional information includes the Tagger's IRL first name, their birthday, their country or state of residence, and their main TF2 class.

History. This is the meat of a Tagger page. It involves their place on TF2Tags. When writing a Tagger page, it is important to first explain how they came across the site, followed by a chronological account of their experiences on the site, from participation in historical events to more minor events that don't warrant their own page. This section explains that little piece of this community the Tagger has carved out for themselves.

Style. This is the Tagger's style of Tagging. Each Tagger has their own method of Tagging, some being more unique than others (See: AFI). One's style can be anything, from making legit renames to making visual gags, making the latest meme or striving out making their own jokes, to having a knack for telling stories via a series. If you don't think you have a style, think of it like this: When you make a tag, what type of tag do you most often find yourself making? And to be clear, one's style need not be concrete. Even AFI made a normal tag every once in awhile.

Relationships. These are the friends and rivals of this Tagger, as well as a brief description of how the rest of the community perceives this Tagger as a whole. It is a common practice to list all the people this person has friended on Steam, but this not necessarily a reflection of who they are friends with. Not every page has to go into so much detail as TGR's relationship section, but some details would be nice.

Trivia. Though all pages should include a trivia section, it is probably most important that a Tagger has one, for this is the section where they can put little fun facts that otherwise don't belong in the above sections. It adds a bit more personality to your page!