Formatting and Style Guide

## How to Edit Using Wiki Markup

**Wiki Markup** (also known as **WikiText**) is, basically, the language most wikis (including Fandom.com wikis like ours) use to format pages on the wiki and create things like infoboxes, templates, directing the page to pull image files, mark text to link to other parts of the wiki, and all other sorts of formatting. Basically, it's what makes the page more than just an online text document, and turns it into a living, interconnected project. For complete detailed commands, see Wikipedia's useful Help page on Wiki markup here (Wikipedia also uses similar as well as more advanced syntax as Fandom.com). As noted on the Help page, Wiki markup is similar in many ways to HTML and includes some HTML elements, so familiarity with HTML should translate fairly well to wiki editing.

#### A quick note on the Visual Editor:

Updates to Fandom.com over the years include additional editing tools, including the Visual Editor. This is a separate text editor that Fandom.com uses to eliminate the need for Wiki markup in editing. By including many of the editing tools in the editing toolbar, it reduces the amount of markup needed to format the page, instead placing the markup for you on the back end when you select the option in the visual editor. For instance, instead of creating a template manually, then typing out the WikiText for it on the page source, you can just hit insert in the visual editor, select a template (or create a new one), fill in the infobox headings and your template will be saved and WikiText automatically put into the source for you.

This is very useful for creating and adding templates to the wiki. Personally, I find the actual page editing to be a little less intuitive, but the Visual Editor is key for creating and adding templates and page features. Since you can swap back between the two at will, utilizing both the Visual Editor and the Source Editor in tandem I find easiest, however if you find the Source Editor to be simpler to use, the actual editing is not that much different. The Source Editor is just what I have always used editing other wikis and I personally find it both easier to use as well as allowing a little more control over how a page looks. I'll be covering mostly syntax related to the Source Editor in this guide, but will note important features of the Visual Editor as well.

### Templates and Infoboxes

Setting up templates is a common practice on the wiki to add additional features to a page. It's possible to do this on fandom.com using the Source Editor, but it gets a bit more complicated (though adds more customizability) than the scope of this guide. The easiest way to add or create new Templates and other page features is to use the "Insert" function on the Visual Editor, or by copying and pasting Source text from a similar page. Finally, you can add these templates using the Source

##### Infoboxes in the Visual Editor (Recommended)

To add a template or infobox (infobox will be the most common template) that already exists to a page using the Visual Editor:

1. Click Insert on the Visual Editor
2. Click Infobox
3. This will bring up a list of Templates. Fandom has a bunch of default ones that we won't really need to use. Scroll down to ones marked Schoenwalde. I've set up a few already. Select the infobox for which page type you are creating.
4. Simply fill out the values and confirm. This should add the box to the page.

##### Infoboxes Using Copy + Paste (Recommended)

You can also copy and paste the Wiki Markup from an existing page of a similar type. We'll use the character page as an example, but you can do this with any page in the same category:

1. Go to the already existing page and click "edit".
2. Switch to the Source Editor
3. Copy the infobox starting with {{Schoenwalde\_Character (In our example). all the way until the }}.
4. Paste in the new page's Source Editor
5. Edit the values in the Source Editor on the new page to reflect the values you want.
6. Save

##### **Infoboxes using the Source Editor (Not Recommended)**

1. You can add existing templates to the Source Editor manually if you wish.
2. Begin your template with the {{ command.
3. Type out the template you wish to use. In the earlier example {{Schoenwalde\_Character.
4. Separating each value with | , you'll need to type in each heading manually.
5. End the template with }}

#### Editing Infoboxes

If an infobox is already in place, and needs to be updated, it's possible to do so in the Visual Editor, however it is much much simpler to use the Source Editor. In the source editor, all you will need to do is find the heading within the infobox Markup and just change the value from the old to the new. I highly recommend editing it this way as it is much much easier (changing a word compared to navigating through menus)

### Commonly Used Wiki Syntax

Below is some commonly used wiki syntax that you will likely use when editing on the wiki. These are what you will use in the Source Editor. Most of these are fairly basic commands, we are only 5 people, and are not trying to do anything fancy, so we really shouldn't need much more than these to make a nice looking project. This is not a comprehensive list, but should cover most of what we'll end up using.

##### **Headings**

Headings are useful to subdivide pages. You can see several at work on this page! To create a heading you'll use the == command in the Source Editor. To create further sub-headings, you can add more =. So === would be a small subheading to == which is the largest heading available. You can go as far as subheading 4. Just add additional = on both sides of the text. Text should be placed between two sets of command. This will mark the beginning and end of the heading.

The text should look like ==Heading Title== or ===Subheading Title=== in the Source Editor.

Any subheadings will automatically be placed as subheadings below the heading they are above. Be careful when adding subheadings to ensure they are placed under the correct heading.

##### **Bold and Italic**

Bold and Italic are pretty easy in the Visual Editor. But you can add them in the Source Editor as well. You can use two ' to mark Italic text and three ' to mark bold text. In the source editor, they look like this:

''Italic Text''

'''Bold Text'''

Make sure you are using two of the single apostrophe ( ' ) and not a quotation mark ( " ). The editor itself is colour coded to make this easy, but it's a simple mistake to make.

##### **Bullet points**

Bullet points are simple and easy help make lists and divide information distinctly. To denote bullet points in the Source Editor, use \* . Add a \* on the next line below to make a list.

\*Entry 1

\*Entry 2

\*Entry 3

##### **Internal Links**

Internal links are one of the most important features of a wiki. It is what connects pages together, indexes pages, and provides convenience in navigation on the wiki. Internal links can link text to any other page on the wiki. Markup text will tell the page to display the text as a link directly to that wiki page. It is critical that internal links are utilized on all wiki pages. More details below on when to use Internal Links. To create an internal link, use the [[ ]] command.

The text between the double brackets should match the *exact* title of the page you wish to link to. [[Characters]] will link you to the Characters page for instance, while [[Charecters]] will look red like this Charecters. You can also set a link to display different text from the page title. This can be useful to help keep the flow of text going while still linking to the proper page. You can do this by dividing the link and the text you want to enter with a | . For instance:

The adventurers travelled through the mountain path from the [[The Kingdom of Olden|kingdom]] they set out from

Will display as "The adventurers travelled through the mountain path from the kingdom they set out from"

Another important thing about internal links is that they will automatically update from red (page not created) to green (direct link to page) when a page with that title is created. So if you know a page will eventually need to be made, you can still go ahead and link to it. Once the page is created, the link will already be in place, and that will save a lot of time in the future, going back and making sure internal links are set properly.

## Creating New Pages

To create a new page, you can either hit the create a new page button in the top right on the main page, or you can click a red link and hit create new page.

When you create a new page.

**Always always add the link to it to one of the index pages (found on the Main Page)**

Characters go on the Character Index Page, Locations on the Location index page, etc. It is critical that new pages are also added to these indices otherwise they might end up lost. If a page is not linked to by any other page it can easily become lost.

Once the page is created, It's a good idea to start with the relevant infobox (instructions above), then set up your headings (instructions below).

## Formatting Guide

In order to maintain consistency on the wiki, it's best to ensure pages are formatted similarly.

##### **General Formatting**

Across all pages, keeping some similar style will make the wiki read much better and make editing easier.

* Always begin every page with the age's subject in bold.
	+ **Brother Mort** is a Lichtheim monk, caretaker and religious leader, presently serving as the head groundskeeper of Lichtheim Abbey.
* If the subject of an existing page is referenced in the page you're editing, always use an internal link to link to. Only link the first mention of any other page.
* Do not add information that was not discussed in-game

##### **Character Pages**

Start with the Schoenwalde Character Infobox, fill out the relevant information as needed. Some notes about the Infobox:

* Affiliation refers to what faction the character is with. If a character is associated with more than one faction, either use the most prominent, or display the relevant factions. Factions a character previously belonged to but does no longer can be listed with (formerly).
* Status should be Alive, Dead, or Unknown.
* You can add internal links to any relevant subjects mentioned in the infobox.

Once you've got your infobox, place text below it (check in the Source Editor to make sure, sometimes it can fuck with the page layout if you don't). Begin with a single, short paragraph giving an overview of the character and their role in the story.

Use the following headings for character pages:

* Physical Description
	+ A brief description of what the character looks like
* Early Life
	+ A description of what is known about the character's childhood and formative years. Do not add anything that was not discussed in-game. Use past tense.
* *Schoenwalde*
	+ A detailed recounting of the character's role in the story, what they did, how they affected events in the story. Use past tense, and describe only events that the character was involved in, but make sure to cover everything the character did.
* Personality
	+ A brief summary of the character's personality traits. Feel free to add examples and be descriptive.
* Relationships
	+ Using subheadings choose 3-5 relationships the character has, typically the most prominent, especially with the player characters. In a short paragraph, briefly describe the character's relationship with that character from their own perspective.
* Trivia
	+ Any useless or interesting fact about the character, including meta information, memorable moments, etc.
* Always set the page to be sorted in the Character Category at the end.

##### **Chapter Pages**

Start with the Schoenwalde Chapter Infobox, fill out the relevant information as needed. Some info about the Chapter Infobox:

* The "Chapter Guide" section should link both to the chapter before and the chapter after. You should copy paste the arrow icons and place them accordingly (use an existing chapter page to copy and as a reference for placement). Always link to the relevant chapter page here. This makes navigation easier.
* Starring should always list the main characters present for that chapter.
* Also starring should list every NPC in order of appearance.

Use the following headings for Chapters:

* Plot
	+ A short 2-3 sentence overview of the chapter. Think of this as the episode description on the DVD or Netflix entry.
* Synopsis
	+ A complete detailed summary of the events of the chapter. Be as descriptive and detailed as possible. Don't editorialize but do include everything you can remember. This essentially is the full record of what happened in our game.
* Bestiary
	+ A list of every new monster encountered in the Chapter.
* Trivia
	+ Fun incidents or memories about the session itself, including metagame information.
	+ The first entry should note the first appearances of any characters introduced in that chapter.
	+ Any character deaths should be noted as "Last appearance of:"
* Always set the page to be sorted into the Chapter category.

Locations

Use the Schoenwalde Location infobox