Adding and Writing an Article

Hello Future Nation! Welcome to the **Steam Islands Galactic Cluster Wiki**.

You're here today to probably add in your Nation to this wonderful community. This guide will help you get started on adding and writing your first Overview Page of your Nation.

## **Adding Your Nation**

First off, I would recommend having a Nation on the web game NationStates. This will allow for an easier slide into this, as you'll have something to base your Nation off of. If not, it's cool too. Everyone is different, so you may not need that as a guide for getting started.

Once you come to here and have made an account, you're going to click the button in the Top Right-Hand Corner that looks like a piece of paper next to the PAGE COUNTER. This will allow you to make a new Article. Make the Article of your overview the name of your Nation like so: *The [NATION TYPE] of [NAME]*. My example of that is *The United Socialist States of Vodkaslavia*. This reserves your Nation a spot on this Wikia. Once that has been done, you'll be taken to the Editor Screen and will be able to start typing from there.

But first before you start typing! I would recommend going to the Top Right-Hand Corner of Editor Box and clicking the button that looks like three (3) lines and a down arrow and click on the option CATEGORIES. You will need to add two categories to your Overview for easy access and organization. The two Categories will need to be:

1. Nation
2. [NAME]

The Nation Category will put it into the overall category containing all Overviews. The [NAME] Category is just the shorthand name of your Nation. This will allow for a new Category for you to put in any other articles relating to your Nation into. If you called yourself *The Republic of Examplia*, you would put "Examplia" as your second tag. From there, hit Apply Changes, than you may get to writing.

If you truly wish, you can just add TEXT HERE onto the page, then click SAVE PAGE and add the text "Added [NATION] to Wiki". Then click edit again and begin typing.

## **Writing an Overview**

```
 **WARNING:** **Make sure you save on a regular basis!**

```

Wikia is prone to deleting information that has been left unsaved for too long. I've noticed that sometimes you have to save, go to the main page, then click on the link back to your page, as sometimes the editor will mess up if you save then go right back into it.

### **What must it contain?**

The Overview is a "basic" introduction of your Nation. If you look at Vodkaslavia's Overview, "basic" would not be the first word that comes to mind. But you don't need to be detailed your first time through. The Headings would remain the same, but the content doesn't need to be as detailed.

So what could the Headers be?

1. Etymology
2. History
	1. Early History
	2. Notable Events [*Take as many as you need.*]
	3. Today
3. Environment
	1. Geography
	2. Climate
	3. Wildlife
	4. Notable Systems [*If your Nation is Early-STL through FTL.*]
4. Demographics
	1. Population
	2. Language
	3. Religion
	4. Family Structure
5. Government
	1. States [*Sometimes called "Political Divisions"*]
	2. Political Parties [*If Applicable*]
	3. Foreign Relations
	4. Government Divisions [*Sometimes called "Government Structure"*]
	5. Government Finances
	6. Military [*This is sometimes its own Header instead of a Subheader.*]
6. Law Enforcement
7. Economy
	1. Income, Poverty, and Wealth
	2. Exports and Imports
	3. [#] Largest [TYPE] Companies [*Continue as Needed*]
8. Infrastructure
	1. Energy
	2. Transportation
	3. Communications
	4. Water and Sanitation
9. Education
10. Culture
	1. Food
	2. Literature and the Arts
	3. Music
	4. Sports
	5. Media
11. Health
12. NationTraits™

You don't have to stick to this. If you look at real life Nations, not all of them follow the same Pattern for their Wikipedia Articles. This is just the recommended so you cover all your bases. They can be put in any order you like, and you can add or subtract Headings and Subheadings as needed. Just make sure you have **NationTraits™** and it is somewhere towards the bottom (because otherwise it may disrupt the flow of your Article).

Certain pieces of Information are available at the National Statistics Page, so check that out if you have a NationStates Nation that has been added to it. If you're new, just tell me some things about your Nation and I'll add you as soon as I can.

### **What goes in the Introduction Paragraphs?**

Use your Imagination! It doesn't need to follow a strict format. I prefer it to be:

1. Full Name, Initials, Shorthand Name, and any other Names given to it. What the Government Type is. Where it is located. How many States/Districts/Territories it has and how many planets are under its control.
2. What Nations border your Nation, either officially or through Aerospace Borders.
3. Its Era and what it ranks in (either according to other Space-Faring Nations or Nations on the same Planet (depending on your Era)).
4. [OPTIONAL] What type of power it is, if any.
5. [OPTIONAL] [*If you have a NationStates Account.*] What, of the remarkable characteristics, describe your Nation.

Look at Vodkaslavia's or other well established Nations to get a feel for what this might mean.

### **How do I make the box on the side?**

That, my friend, is called the InfoBox. It contains specific characteristics about your Nation that need to be shown off immediately.

In order to add one to your Overview, go to the very first character on your Introduction (so before your paragraphs you just typed). Go to the button labeled INSERT, and click on the option INFOBOX. I would recommend creating a New Template that fits your Nation's needs.

So what characteristics must it contain?

* The [NATION TYPE] of [NAME]
* Flag
* Motto
* POPULATION
	+ Demonym
		- Singular
		- Plural
	+ Population
		- Last Census
		- Estimate [*If not Current Year.*]
* NATIONAL INFORMATION
	+ Capital
	+ Official Language(s) [*If Applicable.*]
	+ National Language(s)
	+ National Animal
* GOVERNMENT
	+ Type
	+ Leader [*Add more as necessary.*]
* FOUNDING
	+ Founding Date
	+ Official Independence [*If Applicable.*]
* SOCIOECONOMICS
	+ Nominal GDP
	+ Human Development Index
	+ Currency
		- Name
		- Symbol [*If Applicable.*]
		- Example
* GENERAL
	+ Date Format [*If Applicable.*]
	+ Drives on the [*If Applicable.*]
	+ Phone Number [*If Applicable.*]
		- Calling Code
		- Set-Up
		- Example
	+ Internet TLD [*If Applicable.*]
		- Government
		- Standard
	+ SIID [*Absolute Must-Have for General.*]

With the Template, simply write all those things in (though make sure to replace some with the correct name, like if your leader is a President, replace "LEADER" with "PRESIDENT"). Then, save the Template and click okay. Then fill in the Information as desired.

### **How do I add a Table of Contents?**

No worries, Wikia does this for you! So long as you have at least three Headings/Subheadings, it will automatically add one before your first Heading.

### **So I get Etymology, but what goes into History?**

This is the History of your Nation. The more Advanced it is, the more History you'll have. A Nation doesn't go from Stone Age to Faster Than Light in a day, ya know.

So what would I recommend adding in? Start from the very beginning of written history. If your people know a little bit from even before that time, add it in and put an IC Note of something along the lines of "Validity of this Information not confirmed" or something along those lines. But start from the beginning and work your way up. You don't need every day in the life of your Nation, just Early History and Major Events. Maybe your Nation was a different Nation entirely and then fought in a major Civil War, and that's where it came into it's actual existence. Maybe your Nation has been around since the Stone Age and has fought in four World Wars and even a Stellar Neighborhood War. It's up to you, imagine what you want your Nation to be.

Now! There is one spot that all Nations in this Cluster will have in common (just to make the date system easier). All Nations will have been part of one giant Empire or another. All these Empires fell at about the same time, thus allowing the use of the Date Term *After Collapse*. A Nation stemming out of The Empire of Olsteam will have a section called "Olsteamian Rule" and "The Great Turmoil". Nations stemming out a different Empire will have different names for it, but will still eventually get into the Date System we have.

### **What if my Nation isn't FTL and only has one Planet/System?**

Then, instead of putting "NOTABLE SYSTEMS" in Environment, talk about your entire Home System and leave it at that. Probably, you may have neighboring Nations on the same planet then, so you may want to think about them too. You may not need as much detail, but at least knowing who and what your neighbors are would be pretty helpful.

### **My Nation is a Single-State Totalitarian Dictatorship that only spends on Military. What would I put for my GOVERNMENT section?**

Hi, Cuba. I'm Vodkaslavia. Let me direct you to reality.

A Nation can have a single Political Division, as your Nation may be extremely tiny (probably only possible for Pre-STL Nations). As a Galaxy-Spanning FTL Nation, I would highly recommend you have a few Political Divisions, otherwise you're expecting a single entity to run everything at the same time. State Governments help make it easier on the National Government.

You can have a Single Leader. That's fine. But you also have a military, who would be run by someone who has Military Knowledge. You may have science department, which would make sense if it was ran by a scientist. So, you'll have other department heads.

If you spend *solely* on Military, you'll never get anything done. Your Leader won't have a paycheck. Other departments won't get a paycheck. Suddenly, you've got a revolution. Or, if you don't have other departments, you won't have advancement in technology, so your Military will need to get used to outdated equipment.

### **Economics Help, Plz.**

For Economy, we've got a few resources. If you go to National Statistics (if you have already made a Nation on NationStates, you'll be in here eventually), find where the currency conversion rates are and GDP and all that wonderful stuff. If you do not have a Nation, you may need to run by me the basic industrial / economic standings of your Nation, so as to make this easier on you.

The InfoBox will contain the following Information:

* ECONOMIC INDICATORS
	+ Economic System
	+ Nominal GDP
	+ Real GDP Growth [*This is always a Percentage.*]
	+ CPI Inflation [*This is always a Percentage.*]
* WORKING POPULATION
	+ Labor Force [*Percentage of Total Population of Working Age and in the Job Market.*]
	+ Unemployment [*Always a Percentage. This means the percentage of the above.*]
	+ Workforce Participation
* CURRENCY
	+ Your Currency to Intergalactic Credits
	+ Intergalactic Credits to Your Currency

When it comes to the other fields, just think about your Country. Do you want there to be a normal amount of disparity between Rich and Poor? Do you want there to be castes, and each caste has a set level of wealth? Do you want your wealth spread evenly across everyone?

This will determine your Nation's Standard of Living. Nation's with a high average income will have a better SoL. Conversely, lower average income will have a lower SoL. Now, you may have a strong currency or a weak currency. You could have an average income of 1,456,243 Monetary Units, but ⩉1.00 (IGC) is worth 10,000.00 Monetary Units. You've got a high inflation rate, and so thus your average income isn't as high as you think. Another Nation may have an average income of 150,000 Monetary Units, with ⩉1.00 (IGC) being worth 0.62 Monetary Units. Thus, it is much stronger and has actually a higher value.

In terms of exports and imports, this will need to be carefully looked over in the National Statistics page, as no two nations can be a top exporter for the same thing.

The Companies are your choice. A Communist/Socialist Nation would have state-owned Industries, and as such would only need to rank what industries are the most used. A Capitalist would have a little more diversity, as it will have State, Public, and Private Sectors. Use your best judgement, or ask for help.

### **My People are Uncultured Swine, can I get away with not filling out Culture?**

\*Shrug\*

You could probably get away with not doing most things, but this is what gives your Nation flavor. By setting it in Stone, your Nation will have an actual feel to it. Now, you don't need to be entirely detailed.

For Food, you can either tell us exactly what and when your People eat, or you could simply say that all your people are herbivores and leave it at that. The amount of detail is up to you.

For all of these, it's basically the same way. Just change the subject. Be detailed, or be simple. The only one I recommend writing something about is Media, as you should say whether or not it's State or Free, and if you have Information Policing.

The Overview is designed to be OUT-OF-CHARACTER. So, because of that, put as much information here as you can/want. In reality, a Nation wouldn't say whether they tracked its citizens' every moves or not, but we want to know for the sake of knowing.

### **What is NationTraits™? Does it really need to be Trademarked each time?**

To answer the second question first, yes it does. It's mine.

As for what it is, it's a system that allows for easy identification of a Nation. Using this system, a Nation can be easily broken down into numbers on a Spreadsheet. At the time of writing this guide, there is an Application being made that will allow for this to be done even easier and do the math for you, but it's still a long ways away at the moment and may not be done for a little while.

Simply, for your Overview, create a Table and put the Traits in the Table in a way you want. Here are some examples:

Vodkaslavia's NationTraits™

Ori's NationTraits™

Potatoniztan's NationTraits™

Also at the time of this writing, all of these are using NationTraits™ V1.0. The version on the Wikia is NationTraits™ V2.0. V2.0 has more content, allowing for a more detailed description. I have been told it's a little overboard due to this, but V1.0 had the constant complaints of not being detailed enough. So, let's go to the other extreme, all the detail.

### **What is the SIID?**

This is the Steam Islands Identifier. It is a very quick system of a number, a few letters, a roman numeral, and then another letter. It displays whether a Nation is PC (1) or NPC (2). It then displays National Government Type. Followed by Era (the higher the number, the less advanced). And lastly has the economic system. Very quick and easy. If you went through NationStates first before coming here, you'd have received that alongside a place on the map.

### **Overview Finished!**

Having gone through all this, you should be able to complete your Overview of your Nation. Remember, keep extreme detail (like Military equipment or every Solar System you own) out of the Overview, as it's only supposed to talk solely about the Nation as a whole. The next section will cover the extreme details.

## **Giving More Detail Where Needed**

You probably want to tell the world you have Starships capable of defeating entire Armadas or you want to get into extreme detail about one of your Companies. Do not fret, you can! Just don't do it on your Overview. In each section, you can put just after the Header a link to another page containing more detailed Information.

Simply use BLOCK QUOTE from the Header Dropdown Menu to make indented text and add a hyperlink like so:

> I link to the Map!
>
>

Now, don't be that informal. If adding more about your Military, I would recommend typing:

> More Information about Military Equipment here
>
>

Or simply something like:

> Military Ranks
>
>

Then, using the New Page button, make a new page containing the Information. When you open a new page, go back to the three bars and arrow and go to CATEGORIES. Remember how I made you add your Nation's Name as one for the Overview? Well put that name here.

**DO NOT PUT THE CATEGORY "*NATION*" IN THIS SECTION, AS THIS IS NOT AN OVERVIEW OF A NATION.**

If you're writing a Law, put LAW here. If it's about your Military, put MILITARY here. Put what you need, but do not put the tags NATION, OFFICIAL, or STEAM ISLANDS DOCUMENT. Those are reserved for Overviews and Official Documents, respectively.

### **So what can go on this page?**

If you're writing about Military, put as much detail and as many pictures as you want!

If you're writing about a Company, put the logo, as much history as you want, and what they currently deal in.

If you're writing a Law in your Nation, put a brief overview about it, then put the actual Law as if it was written In-Character. If your Nation's primary language isn't English (Stemel), you can put the original Language and a Translated version. I just recommend always having an English (Stemel) copy, so people can read it.

If you're writing Solar Systems, get as detailed as you want. The more details for a Solar System, the more realistic and easy it is to imagine. Plus, this gives your Nation a legitimate base to live on.