Anthem Wiki/Wiki Guidelines

The Anthem Wiki **Guidelines** is a set of standards for editors, authors, and all Freelancers to keep the wiki in a consistent state of quality, so that all visitors have a pleasant time getting the information they seek about  the game, and its Official tie-in media. These guidelines will serve to help us all to make Anthem Wiki cleaner, homogeneous, and as beautiful as planet Coda.

Also, you're here because you have enjoyed Anthem, or have played it. So, remember to support the developers in any constructive way you can.

***Note:** The Guidelines below are updated regularly and could change at any time. Please read them regularly, especially when making edits to the wiki or using the discussion forums after a long time. No notifications will be provided when they are updated. However, a special banner pops up when newly visiting the wiki which has a link to this page. There is also the right side rail with a link to the guidelines for desktop view.*

Please contact an admin if you have any doubts or clarifications about anything on this page or any other page, or if you want to make suggestions to these guidelines. Suggestions will be considered on a case-by-case basis and will only be implemented if they are deemed to benefit the wiki by the admins.

## Everything Must Be About Anthem

Everything on Anthem Wiki must be related to  the game or its related media. Topics about other franchises, companies, people, activities are strictly **NOT** allowed. This applies to any type of pages: main namespaces, additional namespaces, discussions, talk pages, blog posts, interactive maps, and media (images, videos etc.).

**Off topic content will be deleted without warning.** Repeated inclusion of off topic content will be considered vandalism (see the last section in this page). Off topic content is only allowed on user pages, and they **must** be safe for work content.

## Allowed and Disallowed Content

There are certain items not allowed in the Anthem Wiki. this is to keep the topic consistent and safe for all users. Discussions regarding Anthem or related media can be done in the forum/discussion section of the wiki, or by commenting below in the relevant page.

How to keep good quality and the types of pages/contents/discussion threads/comments that are allowed or **not allowed** in the Anthem wiki:

1. Assume Good Faith and be civil.
2. Don't take removal of your work personal. And if you remove some work, make sure to explain why in the Summary section below the page. If a moderator or administrator makes changes to your post and the reason given is not satisfactory, you are free to discuss them on their Message Wall in their individual user page. Avoid creating a discussion thread for this.
3. You are welcome to talk about any Anthem related content in the discussions and create new pages or add content to any existing page. Do not create unnecessary new pages if a page related to that topic exists. See below on the guidelines for this particular topic.
4. Not safe for work (NSFW) content, including pornographic and explicit writeup/images/videos, both in articles and in discussions are **not allowed**.
5. Loadout and Build pages for any javelin are **not allowed**. Theoretically it is possible to have over 123,696,903,936 loadouts. However, you are welcome to discuss about them. This will be enforced seriously. Creating loadout or build pages for javelins will be considered vandalism (see the last section for details).
6. **Feel free** to post new images relevant to the topic the main namespaces. See below for image policy.
7. You are **not allowed** to post new videos of **any kind** in the main namespaces. See our video policy in a section below.
8. Biased or Subjective criticism of any person or content within the article pages, real or fictional, is **not allowed**. You are welcome to discuss them in the forum.
9. No talks about piracy is allowed in the discussions. Feel free to **talk about** data mining or modding. (Although, modding is not permitted in Anthem and it can result in a ban of your account by EA).
10. You are welcome to talk about future Anthem related events in the discussion, but mark them as spoilers.
11. You are **not allowed** to discuss about or sell any item or belongings (including game copies, shards, pirated content, comics, merchandise etc.) in any part of the Anthem Wiki.
12. You are **not allowed** to promote your content creator channel, social media account, or discuss about them in the discussions or the article pages. You have your own user page where you may do these things, but keep it safe for work.
13. You are allowed to post your fan creations in the discussions. Again, keep it safe for work.

Anyone breaking the above guidelines will be issued a warning. Repeated behavior of breaking them will result in a ban. See the last section for more details.

## Creating New Pages and Categories

New Pages created after **February 24, 2021** without at least **500 bytes** of data will be deleted and a warning will be issued to the creator.

New Pages created after **March 8, 2023** without at least **1500 bytes** of data will be deleted and a warning will be issued to the creator. If the available information is of fewer than 1500 bytes, please include it in a closely related page with an appropriate heading.

The New Page criteria mentioned above does not apply to pages that use the page design templates (see below for details). This is because the actual template files themselves are often several thousand bytes in size. Some are even over one hundred thousand!

Pages with fewer than 500 bytes created before the above mentioned dates will be repurposed or remade or deleted depending on what is needed to keep the Anthem wiki with a consistent level of quality. Any page that glorifies non-Anthem related content, pages, images, categories etc., will be removed and its creator will be warned. Stay on topic— **the game and its related media only**. See Anthem Universe for a list of related Anthem Media.

Make sure spoilers are tagged appropriately (see below for the template).

**Categories** are automatically added when a page design template is used. New categories **must not** be added. Any new category added will be deleted and its creator will be warned. Use the categories available in this list. Any category with fewer than 5 entries will be deleted (this is an ongoing process).

**Do not** use a category that has 0 items in it if you go through the aforementioned list. If you want to add a new category, ask an administrator, and provide a valid reason. This doesn’t guarantee that a new category will be permitted.

## Page Names

Page names and page headings must use Title Case (i.e., capitalizing the first letter of the first word, and capitalizing the first letter of each word which is not a preposition/article/modal subsequently) there are some exceptions like Death From Above because that is how its name is written in the game.

Page names can have Additional information inside parenthesis to provide additional context, for example Echoes of Reality, Echoes of Reality (Game Mode), and Echoes of Reality (Conjunctions) talk about a certain aspect of the Echoes of reality Cataclysm, but each of them is different. It also becomes easier to add a disambiguation on the top of such pages.

There are certain page names that may end up having additional punctuation marks to denote a specific type (such as colons :). See Cortex Entry: What Does It All Mean. Avoid this unless it is a part of a large number of pages in a particular category like Cortex.

Most page names do not need additional information within parenthesis. Page names with spellings and cases (upper or lower) found within the game **must** be prioritized over other spellings.

Redirects for pages of spelling or slight grammatical variations could be used. But use caution to link to the appropriate page only.

## Page Layout and Templates

There are certain types of pages that use templates and certain other types that don’t use them to design a page. This is done to keep the pages of similar type consistent. Templates are designed with care to make sure there isn’t too much styling needed, and to not put stress on an editor. It is easy to simply type the information needed and the template will automatically take care of the rest.

It is recommended to edit articles in **Source Mode** as it is easier to visualize how the page is structured. Templates also have a preload which can be inserted by choosing the right template name before editing, or copied from the template’s documentation.

When not using templates, use a limited flow of style with an appropriate heading. See Javelin or Coda or Echoes of Reality pages for inspirations.

The following type of pages **must** use templates to design their page. New pages created that are related to such types, which do not use the templates will be deleted and a warning will be issued. Each Template page has a guide on how to use it correctly.

Only the below mentioned templates can be used. Pages using other templates that may have been used previously, will be moved to these templates in due time. If any parameter isn’t needed, simply leave it blank.

The templates have appropriate documentations that will provide information on how to use them:

* **Expeditions**: Use the Template:Expedition to design all types of expeditions, missions, freeplay events, strongholds, cataclysm events, you name it, the template is designed to accommodate them all!
* **Cortex**: Use the Template:Cortex to add or modify any cortex entries found in the game, including those for challenges.
* **Enemies**: Use the Template:Enemies&Creatures to add or modify newer enemies and creatures.
* **Weapons**: Use Template:Weapons-Legacy to add or modify any weapons: guns and melee.
* **Gear**: Use Template:Gear-Legacy to add or modify any gear types: 1, 2 and support.
* **Components**: Use Template:Component-Legacy to add or modify any component: universal or javelin specific.
* **Sigils**: Use Template:Sigil to add or modify any sigil type.
* **War Chests**: Use Template:Warchest to add or modify any War Chests.
* **Armor Packs and Armor Parts**: Use Template:ArmorPacks&Parts to add or modify any Armor Pack or individual Armor Parts.
* **Materials**: Use Template:Materials&Platings to add or modify any material applied to a javelin.
* **Vinyls**: Use Template:Vinyls to add or modify any vinyl: decals, graphics, and wraps.
* **Animations**: Use Template:Animations to add or modify any animation: arrival animations, emotes, victory poses.
* **Locations**: Use Template:Location to add or modify any location or explorable areas.
* **Characters**: Use Template:Characters to add or modify any infobox in any character page. This particular will be remade in the near future to become a full-page template. Avoid creating pages for any characters or making changes to existing character pages. When all these characters are added, then this remark will be removed.
* **Javelins**: Use Template:Infobox Javelin to add or modify any infobox in any javelin page. This will be remade in the near future to become a full-page template.
* **Quotations**: Use Template:Quote2 to add quotes on top of a page. Use Template:Quote to add conversational quotes that are centered (or avoid using Template:Quote if possible).
* **Snippets**: Use Template:Snippet to add multiple pages of same types of Flora or Fauna with fewer than 500 bytes of information on them. See Other Flowering Plants for inspiration.

If you have a new suggestions or ideas to improve or modify current templates, or want new templates for any valid reason, please contact any administrator.

## Objectivity

Anthem the game has been subjected to a lot of criticism since its launch. Hence writing information objectively without showing bias, so that the readers themselves decide about the content is very important. We can create a fandom with far less toxicity and controversy if facts are presented objectively, rather than trying to push an agenda.

Try to make sure everything is written without bias. Make sure everything written is Safe for Work. You are free to use all the adjectives and adverbs to describe the setting, but unwarranted criticism will not be allowed in the main article. It can be written in a trivia section by citing appropriately, following the citation guidelines. If it is not cited properly, it will be removed!

## Citations

Citations are very important when it comes to legitimize any claim within a page. To make the job easy, instead of adding references to a page, simply link it to an appropriate Cortex Entry found here. This makes additional references obsolete. This can be used for any non-meta pages, i.e., pages that explain how Anthem’s features and in-game content or lore work.

Now, meta pages will definitely need references. Use legitimate sources, such as official forums where community managers have explained something, official website, Bioware’s website. Twitter posts from any person who has worked on Anthem and is verified can be used as a reference.

*Other lesser gaming journalism sites can be used as references if they have interviews with any person who has worked on Anthem, otherwise, don’t bother. Try and avoid this as most of them aren’t truly from the official developer or publisher, so that we can avoid conspiracies. Reddit links aren’t allowed even if the community managers or developers themselves have made some post. They might be allowed under extremely limited circumstances like in Elysian\_Caches; ask an administrator if your claim is valid.*

For other tie-in media or expanded universe of Anthem (i.e., outside the actual game), such as comics, books, live action, trailers, dev streams, simply reference their official web pages or links. Datamined sources must be legitimate, such as Anthem Archive.

## Header Images, Introductions, and Hatnotes

**Header Images** are special images that are shown on the top of a page to emphasize the context behind that particular article’s content. Most templates automatically provide them. Often, an appropriate image must be used in a particular field to stop the template from forcibly providing a default image (the same image used at the top of this page). Make sure the right image is used and it is named appropriately.

**Introductions** are brief descriptions about what the main idea of the page is supposed to be. This is always something that is written before the main contents of a page. Make sure it is clear and concise. Also make sure to **bolden** the relevant word or phrase in the page’s name found in this section, regardless of it being the first word or if it comes later. Most template pages have a place to specify this. All gameplay related templates for Combat Equipment and Cosmetics have an introduction given directly by the template, so additional details aren’t needed in these two cases.

**Hatnotes** are used to annotate or emphasize any differences or variations when it comes to the page’s contents. They are always placed on the top of the page, before any content, including Header Images or Introductions. The following hatnotes are allowed in the Anthem Wiki. Make sure to check their template documentation to get the best use out of them:

* **Disambiguation**: Template:Disambiguation
* **Store**: Template:Store
* **Help**: Template:Help
* **Notice**: Template:Notice
* **Spoiler**: Template:Spoilers
* **Missing**: Template:Missing
* **Stub**: Template:Stub

## Interactive Maps

Since the addition of Interactive Maps features to FANDOM, there are new ways to help visitors enjoy the information found on Anthem Wiki.

Currently, because there are still improvements to be made to he Interactive Maps feature by the Fandom Staff, the addition and removal of maps is allowed to Admins only. However, everyone is allowed to make suggestion on what changes could be made to improve the user experience.

Please contact any admin if you want to discuss more on this topic.

## Good Spelling and Grammar Practice

Although, this is self-explanatory, it is important to understand we are all humans, and some human factors are involved when it comes to typing and proofreading. It takes a lot of effort to write content, and even more to make sure it is perfect. Try your best to make sure the quality of the article is as good as it can be. Reading it once after typing can help you correct any mistakes. Mistakes could still be found after that, which is still all right.

If you find any mistakes in any page, feel free to correct them. If the page is protected from editing, let an administrator know about it.

## Image Policy

This is very important. Images make an article more interesting. PNG, JPG or GIF are the 3 most popular image formats used. Avoid GIF images as much as possible, as they can be finicky and have some special dimensional requirements. The maximum file size is 10 MB. Make sure that your image doesn't not exceed this value. The smaller the image size, the faster it loads.

If there are lots of images in a page, please add new images to the gallery in the bottom. You may have to create a new gallery. Only replace existing images in the non-gallery part of the page if a higher quality alternative image is available, otherwise, leave the image alone.

In-game images can also be screenshot with several external applications, including the in-built functions in:

* PC (press **[Windows Button]** + **[Print Screen Button]**). The saved images can be seen in the Screenshots folder in the Pictures folder on Windows 10.
* Playstation 4 (press and hold the **[Share Button]** on the controller). The image is saved in the Capture Gallery.
* Xbox One (press **[Xbox button]** + **[Y Button]**). The images are saved in the Capture & share menu's Recent captures section.

The game also provides options to disable individual or all UI elements from the screen by going into the settings menu.

The following are mandatory requirements for images in Anthem Wiki:

* Low quality images are only allowed when there is no other source, such as in the case of pre-release images. Otherwise they will be removed or replaced.
* High quality, of 100 dpi or greater for created images lower than 600x600 (width x height) dimension.
* High quality, of 72 dpi or higher for images captured from when in-game.
* Images must not have any unnecessary UI elements like texts in them, otherwise they will be removed.
* The minimum width of any image used in infoboxes must be 300px or higher in width.
* The header image used at the top of any article must be 800px or higher in width.
* Any page that has an infobox will need to have an image. Make sure they are of good quality. Use 16:9 (widescreen) resolution for non-character pages, and 9:16 (or height > width > 300px) for character pages. For Gameplay elements, the resolution must be 1:1 inside an infobox.
* Only in the case when alternative images aren't available, images with other dimensions are permitted inside the infoboxes as main images. This is usually true only for images obtained from outside the game.
* The main infobox image should be a recognizable image that represents the regular/default/standard look of the character or object (see Scar Scrapper for example). Image gallery can be used to provide other variations.
* Outside the infobox, high quality images of any dimensions are allowed. They must be made into thumbnails when using inside an article. The exceptions for this are GIF files, which must be avoided unless some motion has to be shown.
* Concept Art must be credited appropriately, and the link to where the image was found must be provided.
* Promotional images may contain text or UI elements, but they must be updated when the content is fully released, otherwise they will be removed.
* Do not obscure or crop out backgrounds or stretch them to fill space.
* Do not change the orientation of the image or mirror it.
* Do not remove text from speech bubbles when images from comics are used.
* Fan Art are **not allowed** in any article. We all like seeing cool artwork, so you are welcome to show them off in the discussions. The same goes for fashion related posts.
* Using images with default Ranger, Colossus, Storm, and Interceptor designs, even when taken as a snapshot from when in-game will be prioritized over those with customized designs, unless they do not have an appropriate image available. When available, it is important to change or update the image.
* **Galleries:** Image galleries can be used to show any number of images. But the rules of quality, UI-free, and minimum width must be adhered.

Images must be named appropriately so that they can be distinguished.

* For example:
	+ Jarra's Wrath’s infobox image says Legendary\_Jarra's\_Wrath.png for the legendary variant
	+ Seeker Armor Pack’s main infobox image is called Seeker\_Armor Pack.png
	+ Cortex Entry: The Anthem of Creation (3)’s header image is called Cortex\_Histories\_Anthem\_of\_Creation\_The\_Anthem\_of\_Creation.png *(Yes, it’s a long name, but it is consistent with all non-default cortex header images)*
	+ Outlaw Elementalist’s 3 types in the infobox are named Outlaw\_elementalist\_1.png or Outlaw\_elementalist\_2.png or Outlaw\_elementalist\_3.png

A better naming convention is as follows. This hasn’t been enforced yet. The eventual goal is to set all images to be renamed into this convention for convenience:

* For pages using templates:
	+ Templatename\_PagenameWithoutPunctuationMarks\_ImageName\_ImageNumber.png
	+ Templatename\_AppropriateSubSectionName\_PagenameWithoutPunctuationMarks\_ImageName\_ImageNumber.png
* For pages not using templates:
	+ PagenameWithoutPunctuationMarks\_Imagename\_imagenumber.png
	+ If the same image is used in a different page, ideally a new image with a new name is preferred. However, an existing image can still be used.

## Video Policy

As of December 2021, new videos of any kind through any links may not be added to the main name spaces. Only official videos posted in the Anthem Youtube Channel and the Bioware Youtube channel are currently allowed to be posted. Additional videos posted by Bioware on other channels are also allowed, if they are related to .

Videos posted by Gaming Journalism websites are **NOT** allowed, but they can be used as references to **meta pages** only. Meta pages are pages that give a broader information not found within the game or its tie-in media. Such references are taken from such as from interviews, tweets etc.

Currently, only Anthem and Anthem (New Game Build) are Meta pages. No new meta pages may be created until new information on the currently existing or future of  will become available.

Videos are allowed in the discussions as long as they are not used to promote a user (This will be strictly moderated).

This policy may change in the future if there are new developments to Anthem as a franchise, or if it benefits the wiki. But even then, a user will have to contribute significantly to the Anthem Wiki to receive such permissions. And, there will be a set of guidelines to be followed for the video to be considered appropriate.

## Icons

There are many icons available to use when writing a page. Feel free to use the appropriate icons wherever needed. Here are the various types of Icons used in the Anthem Wiki:

* **Icons**: Template:Icon
* **Damage Icons**: Template:Icon-Damage
* **Enemy Icons**: Template:Icon-Enemy
* **Gameplay Icons**: Template:Icon-xp
* **Rarity Icons**: Template:Icon-Rarity
* **Special Icons**: Template:Icon-Special

## Plagiarism

**Never** steal written content from any other sites. People take time and effort to write them, and we must respect that. If such text is found, please correct it or let an administrator know.

There will always be some exceptional circumstances (for example, Short Stories) where text from official sources must be directly taken. In this case, cite the source. If possible, rewrite it in your own words.

## Protected Articles and items

Several high traffic pages and items of interest are locked so that only administrators can edit them. This is done to prevent vandalism. If any changes are required to these pages, let an administrator know and they will help you.

## Anthem Wiki's Discord Server

Follow the standard guidelines presented by Discord in the Anthem Wiki Server. Other restrictions may apply which can be found after joining the server.

## Warnings, Bans, and Vandalism

Those that do not follow the mentioned guidelines will be issued warning. It is understandable that often we can make mistakes, even Owen did that. But we can also learn and try to avoid repeating the same mistakes. We want more Freelancers who learn and help make our world better. So no, you won’t be banned for accidentally not following the guidelines. But, make sure you read about and familiarize yourself with the allowed and disallowed content (the very first section) in the Anthem Wiki to keep the topics non-disruptive.

However, Vandalism is a different situation. Accidental vandals will be warned. Anyone who vandalizes multiple pages at once will be banned temporarily with a warning. Anyone who shows behavior of serial vandalism will be banned permanently from the Anthem Wiki.

Repeatedly including off-topic content (i.e., content that is not related to Anthem the game and its related media), is considered vandalism. Warning will be issued at each offense. More then 3 offenses will result in a temporary ban. If such behavior continues, then the user will be banned permanently.

Making several minor changes to a page in a short span of time is **not** considered vandalism in Anthem Wiki. It is understood that minor mistakes can be made, and they can be corrected only when they are seen. But, making consecutive null edits (5 or more, and in a short span of time) without a valid reason is considered vandalism.

Adding non- related content to main namespaces repeatedly (more than 3 times) will be considered an act of serious vandalism and such users will be banned from the wiki. Depending on how serious this act was, the concern could be raised to the staff of Fandom, which could potentially get the perpetrator's IP banned from making edits on any Wiki across Fandom.

Temporary ban from Anthem Wiki means suspension of the account for 1 week.

Please don't do ban evasion by creating Sockpuppet accounts. It is embarrassing when people do that. Such behavior could get your entire IP address blocked from editing all across Fandom. Instead, appeal to the administrator who banned you. They will consider it on a case-by-case basis.

See Fandom’s article on Vandalism for more information.

Ban appeals may be made to the Admin or Moderator who performed the ban. This will be considered on a case-by-case basis.