Formatting page

Fictional Ship pages should be formatted to a standard. Here we lay out what should be added and what constitutes proper pages. If you want a more direct example, please go to section 8 below

## Basics

These are some basic rules. Some of these are a few points that have been re-iterated from the Main Page:

* Unless a fictional calendar is provided, please use the scientific community's: B.C.E. (Before Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era) when discussing dates.
* Ensure that the title matches the medium it comes from. For instance, the USS *Nautilus* contains no periods in it's prefix. However the U.S.S. *Deadpool*, does. This is because that is how it is written in the works in which they appear.
* Ships that appear in manga and subsequently anime, or appear in books and subsequently cartoons should use the manga or book as the disambiguation. This means putting the name of the ship followed by (manga/book) after it and giving the cartoon or anime the precedence. This is because people are likely far more familiar with the anime or cartoon than the novel. Please ensure you link them to their counterparts at the top of the respective page though.

## What constitutes a "Ship?"

Some common sense is required. Things with arms and legs are probably just mechs, and anything glued to the seafloor is just a base. A ship should meet these requirements:

* It sails or sailed, either through the water, the air, or space.
* It is or was not tethered, either by anchor or by gravity.
* It is or was piloted either by a person or by an A.I.

### Exceptions include:

* Space stations/bases that can be moved freely through their respective medium.

## What is allowed?

While "ships" does pertain to larger craft, small craft such as the *Stanowar* are acceptable.

## What is not allowed?

The following should not be considered for this wiki:

* Parts of bases such as the row boat that makes up part of Finn and Jake's treehouse or the submarine that makes up part of KND's Deep Sea Science Lab.
* Do not include ships made by Youtubers *unless*, it is an entirely new ship that is named by them, or is part of a bigger production, such as the *Invincible II* from *In Space with Markiplier.* Please file small individual ships under Twitch Universe or YouTube Universe, respectively. If it is a bigger production name it under that, such as In Space with Markiplier Universe, under Markiplier Universe.
* Do not include ships that are unnamed and simultaneously do not impact their respective media. The *Unnamed Shrimp Boat* from *Dead by Daylight* is acceptable because it is a big part of the Pale Rose map.

## How do I use the infobox?

Every page should be equipped with an infobox. This includes the picture of the ship (if available) and a number of other notes, such as:

* **Commission Date:** This is used to state what year it was created. It should be formatted like so in the infobox: Example Year
* **Status:** These tells us what condition the ship is in, it should be formatted like so in the infobox: Example Status <small>(Exampel Year)</small>. The following are options to pick from:
	+ **Active:** The ship is currently in use and has not been decommissioned since it's commission or recommission.
	+ **Abandoned:** The ship was left, either the crew jumped ship to save themselves or they disappeared mysteriously.
	+ **Crashed:** The ship ran aground or collided with a planet, moon, or other satellite.
	+ **Decommissioned:** Nothing bad happened to the ship, it is simply no longer active and was pulled from service.
	+ **Destroyed:** Use this if the ship was irreparably damaged but was not recovered.
	+ **Dismantled:** Nothing bad happened to he ship, it was simply pulled from service and taken apart.
	+ **Foundered**: The ship took on water or slowly depressurized and sank.
	+ **Lost:** The ship has disappeared and it's location is not known nor can it be found.
	+ **Recommissioned:** The ship had been decommissioned but has been cycled back into service since then.
	+ **Recovered:** If it is known to have been recovered you can use this option. However, only use this if it's fate *after* recovery is unknown.
	+ **Sank**: The ship was damaged by an enemy or natural formation but remained *mostly* in-tact. It has not been recovered.
	+ **Scuttled:** The ship was intentionally destroyed not dismantled.
	+ **Sold:** If it is known that the ship was sold you can use this option. However, only use this if it's fate *after* being sold is unknown.
	+ **Wrecked:** The ship either crashed, foundered, or sank, but was recovered. Use this option if the recovered ship was irreparably damaged.
* **Usage:** This dictates the ship's purpose, be it piracy or as a cargo transport.
* **Type:** This is used to determine what kind of ship it is, such as "Spanish Galleon" or "Star Destroyer."
* **Class:** If you know the class of the ship, put it here, for example: "*Galaxy"* for the Enterprise-D
* **Registry:** It is unlikely you will come across many of these but if it is known or has a registry, put it here.
* **Length:** Self-explanatory, if you know it, write the length from Bow to Stern.
* **Width:** Self-explanatory, if you know it, write the length from Port to Starboard
* **Height:** Self-explanatory, if you know it, write the length from the highest point all the way to it's bottom most point.
* **Weight:** Self-explanatory, if you know it, write the weight in the measurement it is known in, Tons, Kilos, Pounds, etc.
* **Weapons:** This is the number of weapons the ship has and should be formatted like so (for the *Enterprise*-D): Phaser Arrays <small>(12)</small><br> Photon Torpedoes<small>(250)</small>.

### Note

If a ship is based on a real ship with minimal changes to itself, such as the USS *Nautilus*, you are welcome to use the real world statistics. It is important however, that any fictional changes take precedence over the real deal. For example, the *Nautilus*' real world captain was Hymen G. Rickover, you can put this information in as canon. However, if the same ship's captain is something like Bob Doe, then use Bob Doe instead of Hymen G. Rickover.

If however, a ship like the SS *Poseidon* is based on a real world ***equivalent*** to itself, do ***not*** use that real world ship's statistics. Only use real world statistics if the fictional ship and the real ship share everything except a historical inaccuracy.

Additionally, if the ship class was a real world ship class, you may use the real world measurements (height, length, width, and weight.) If nothing else about it existed in real life however, use the fictional information.

## These Categories are confusing, which do I use?

Categories come in many different types and are used to group ships as thoroughly as possible. They are divided into a few main groups which are divided up themselves:

* What's their status?
	+ See the above section about infobox status and use the appropriate tag
* What owns them?
	+ **Humans**
	+ **Aliens**
	+ **Robots**
	+ **Animals**
	+ **Transgenics** - This is used for creatures that don't fit into any of the above. Such as candy people. They aren't aliens but they aren't *not* aliens. Due to this confusion, they are classified as transgenic and ships belonging to such creatures should include this tag
* Who owns them?
	+ **Companies** - These are people like Alterra or Spectre TV
	+ **Organizations** - These are people who act like governments such as the Wall (from Henry Stickman) or are a government (but the ship or government is not militarized.)
	+ **Military** - This is used if a ship belongs to the military, if the ship is not used for military engagements but once was, use this alongside Organizations. If the ship belongs to an individual but is a military ship like the *Chimeran Hammer* which is a battleship, use this alongside Privately Owned.
	+ **Privately Owned** - These are ships that are owned by a particular individual or their close family and/or friends but does not belong to a company or organization. A mafia owned ship would count as an organization but a family houseboat would be privately owned.
* What medium do they belong to?
	+ **Animated** - Use this in conjuncture with the other medium tags.
	+ **Anime** - Yes this is distinct from TV
	+ **Comics** - Yes this is distinct from Manga
	+ **Crossover** - Use this when a ship exists as a crossover between separate franchises. More importantly use this in conjuncture with the other medium tags in this segment.
	+ **Live Action** - Use this in conjuncture with the other medium tags.
	+ **Manga**
	+ **Marketing** - This is used when a ship is used for the purposes of marketing. This can be either in TV commercials or video games promoting a product. Such as the *SS Guppy*.
	+ **Movies**
	+ **Stage** - This is used when a ship is part of a production such as the *Jolly Roger.* In the case where another *Jolly Roger* exists, use the new appropriate tag. Do not create separate instances of Stage ships as set pieces should not be considered separate entities.
	+ **TV**
	+ **Video Game**
	+ **YouTube** - This was mentioned earlier. Use this for when a ship originates from a YouTube video under the guidelines listed above.
* What are they?
	+ For this it is effectively a matter of what kind of ship are they? Are they spaceships? Space fortresses? Airships? Sailing ships? Only one of these will typically be used but some ships may qualify for more than one of these.

### HOLD ON! What about the Famous Ships category?

That tag is used specifically for ships that are well used in multiple instances. The *Nautilus* is an excellent example. Many ships are named *Nautilus* and the actual *Nautilus* appears in many different media in many different forms.

Use this if a ship qualifies as the above BUT ONLY on the original ship's page, such as the link above for the *Nautilus*.

## Additional Formatting Rules

* Weapons count: When describing weapons, use twin to denote one set of double launchers/blasters/cannons/etc. Use Triple, Quadruple, etc. for higher counts. Do not include the prefix mono to describe singular weapons.
* Remember to add a appearances section listing ***ALL*** the episodes the ship appears in, books, novels, comics, manga that it's seen or mentioned in, every movie, etc. If it's there, include it in the sightings section. (More information available in the example page.

## What about Ship Systems?

Ship systems are designed to explain...well, ship systems.

Editing or creating these is a matter of historical documentation. That being said, there's no reason to create a page about a system if it is simply mentioned. For example sonar has a real life history and thus should exist, if it has a fictional history that should be included as well, separate from the non-fictional history section. A good example of a page can be found here. It contains a non-fictional, fictional, and a references section.