How to contribute to the Wiki

*This article is actively being  **renovated**. Its contents is likely to be updated regularly to better the quality of the article.*

**We're Renovating**
*This article is actively being  **renovated**. Its contents is likely to be updated regularly to better the quality of the article.*

*See:* How to use the Wiki

## Table of Content

**Welcome Editors!**

Introduction for people who want to get active, but never edited a Wiki or the Journey Wiki.

* If you need support, click here.
* "Got an Idea. Don’t Know How to Start - Is This Already Covered or In Progress?"

**Guidelines for Editing on the Journey Wiki**

**Tips for editing** - General Tips - getting started

* Templates
* Uploading Images
* Categories, Category Tree
* Roles for the Wiki

## Welcome Editors!

Thank you for your interest in contributing to the wiki.

**Read this and you are ready to go. Detailed information and further help are below.**

 **Copy/paste** is your friend. **Example:** Implementing a video, like it is on another article. Go to editing mode, copy the text, paste it to the article you are working on and change it accordingly.

No one will be bashed on for simple mistakes or lack of knowledge; though we expect the will to improve and work in a team.

Please follow the specific **Guidelines for this Wiki and Fandom Style Guide.**

If you are planning to work on a big project, create a new section, do mass edits, etc., please contact the admin team.

### If you need support:

* reach out to us on the Wiki Discord Server. The Journey Wiki Team is **organizing edits and making plans there.** Join us and be part of the team. Descriptions of the  Discord Wiki Roles here.
* use talk-pages, to **speak with your fellow editors**. Ideas for improvements, suggestions, problem reporting for certain articles.
* talk to Community portal or Admin team.

### To-Do List

Journey is an old game but **there's still a lot we may not know or haven't yet written about** on this wiki.

* Spellchecking, making existing text more understandable.
* Under Investigation: Be a Journey Detective and help discovering, verifying, and documenting Glitches.
* Many articles got created to show that "this exists", but specific explanation or videos are missing. Feel free to share your knowledge!
* Video tutorial base: If you see a video that can explain the article or a portion of it, please feel free to include them and write a brief description of the video content.
* Expansion of Common behaviors by editors with their own behaviors they show to indicate certain things (break, happy, want to travel alone, what are we doing?, I don’t want that..). Other Travelers can pick them up or at least have better guesses on what the other might “say”.
	+ There is a Journey etiquette to which many people stick to make the Journey for others enjoyable.
	+ We will not force people to stick to it, but it could be helpful for those who want to know more about "how to travel with a companion". The variations are endless.
* Create specific spoiler free guides for newcomers.

### "Got an Idea. Don’t Know How to Start - Is This Already Covered or In Progress?"

Recent changes for an article are shown in the history of a page. There you can find out who is working on it or if it has been abandoned.

#### "Got no idea, where do i start?"

Get in contact with the people working on the wiki, they know best about open topics and things that need to be fixed.

Use Special:Random, see if there is something to add or improve, spellchecking etc.

# Guidelines for Editing on the Journey Wiki

### Verification Needed

It may happen, that you write something that others didn’t know about. You might get asked to share where you got your information from, contribute an image or video. **We want to make sure that the information given on this Wiki is verified by several people.**

A bug might occur once or twice, but it doesn’t mean it happens every time, maybe a little thing is missing or not possible on another device.

If you are not too sure about something, but still want to write about it:

**Use the Template:Investigation-box**. Summarise your observations, clarify what should be investigated.

You can also post on the Wiki Discord #content-verification-talk.

### Spelling, Writing Style

Many English words have **different correct spellings**. For instance, "color" (U.S. spelling) and "colour" (British spelling) are both correct. Either may be used here. But after one or the other is used on an article, please be consistent. Try to stay away from "slang" spellings. So, use "light" rather than "lite". Over time some slang spelling become accepted.

**Non-native-Wiki-users** want to understand the texts too. Try to keep a simple English style. Technical terms, that are not commonly known, should have a footnote (cite) to an explanatory link or contain clarification, to help non-digital-natives.

#### Date Format

**Year-Month-Day (yyyy-mm-dd)**

On some wiki pages you will find dates in "dd-mm-yyyy", "mm-dd-yyyy", or "yyyy-dd-mm" formats. Please **change them to the format mentioned above** for a better coherence!

#### Directions, Compass

We chose the **Mountain** to be our **North** on the Wiki.

Left and right should be used in context.

**Example:** Then move left (from a certain point). Using West means: to the left side of the Mountain.

#### Mentioning Buttons and Keys (Movement, Options, Menu, etc.)

The game is played with:

* Controllers for PS3 and PS4
* XBOX controller or other brands
* Keyboard / keyboard and mouse
* Touch screen (iOS)

**Example:** Press X --> Do not do this.

Use "fly" or "jump", "menu button" etc. instead of the device specific terms. Makes sense for every platforms on which Journey is played.

The same goes for the use of "left stick forward" for example, as there isn't any stick if played with a keyboard. You could use "move forward" instead, or anything that would make sense on all platforms.

**Warning: Work In Progress** Some buttons on various wiki articles are referred to as **"start", "select"** or other.

These button names should be changed to **"screen saver button" or "main menu button"**, considering that the controllers used on different devices have different button names.

Please be **careful when renaming the correct buttons**, as the X button for example could mean X on PS controller BUT A on XBOX controller, depending on the platform for which the article was originally written for.

 Overview about Controls, buttons used on each device on standard setting.

### Keep newcomers safe from advanced stuff

* Glitch, OOB, Fancy flying, if not directly related to that article, also FPJ, Zen Jump), they may like to find out by themselves, exploring Journey or the Wiki itself.
* Guide users gently to advanced stuff. Provide links, so they have the choice to see it (put a warning or spoiler tag there).
* Keep up the Journey spirit of “There are no mean companions” by explaining how others may travel or communicate
	+ Include specific behaviors or explanations where possible as helping someone to become a "good companion" might be different for each person.
	+ Assign difficulty levels - if they are missing (so that we do not lead first runs to OOB, just as an example).
* Most of the knowledge about Glitches/OOB/Flying comes from long-term players.
	+ We would like to honor them by keeping the terms they used and redirecting other alternative names.
	+ This could lead to discussions (i.e. “why is Zimcloak named after a player?”, because no one can be sure if there wasn’t another player finding it first).

### Alternative Names

Use the terms used in article titles, see also Category:Glossaries.

**Example:** Use "War Machine", do not use "Krill".

**Abbreviations:** Some Expert Mode articles are very long already and its assumed that people know the terms already, thus usage of existing abbreviations for Journey terms is even recommended. Try to avoid abbreviations on articles that are made for newcomers.

Generally, alternative names do not require a sub-header. However, many alternative-names sections are a level 2 heading.

* When adding another alternative name, prefer to do addendum in the article it belongs to, not a new article, the name should be redirected to the article if there's actual traffic.
* Whether to use **bullet points** depends on how many alternative names there are.
* Three and fewer look better in a sentence (e.g. "*White Cloak, also known as White Robe...*" or "*...it is also called Chinese Lantern or Mushroom.*"
* For longer lists bullet points are recommended in which case they should be included in the introduction rather than separately.

## Tips for editing

### Visual and text editor

There are different editors, each has its pros and cons:

* **Visual editor**
* Pro:makes adding images, copying templates and formatting text easy. Closer to a writing program, like Microsoft Word.
* Con: You only see the surface of the code behind it. Some specifications of style, options for templates etc. are only visible in the:

* **Source editor**
* Pro: if you know how to use it, its a mighty tool. It allows editing of pages via wikitext or some HTML.
* Con: It needs some knowledge about wikitext and HTML (coding). Though with some research or trying out, its still helpful for "normal people".

You can easily **switch between the visual editor and source editor,** by clicking the pen on the top-right corner while working on an article (save before switching to the other).

### Sandbox Article

"Sandboxes, are pages designed for testing and experimenting with MediaWiki syntax and the VisualEditor. They were created as a place with **fewer rules and policies than other pages** on Fandom. For example, you don't have to follow the Manual of Style or reach community consensus before making a major change. However, they must not be used for malicious purposes, and **policies such as no personal attacks, civility, and copyrights (such as non-free content criteria) still apply.**"

On this Wiki, there are two options:

**1.** Your personal subpage-sandbox, that will not show up on the Wiki, unless specifically searched for.

**2.** Under Construction, see description on the article for more information.

Create your **sandbox article** **on your user page** to test out editing, without the fear of ruining things or having tests showing live on the wiki:

1. Click "create new article". How to description here.
2. Title: User:YourUserName/test. Or any other /text. Save the changes.
3. Options to find your user-page:
	1. Account icon in Fandom left sidebar -> View Profile
	2. Special:PrefixIndex or Special:AllPages, search in Namespace: User.
	3. Save a link or remember the name.
	4. You can use the following transclusion in your user page to add a list of your subpages: `{{Special:PrefixIndex/{{BASEPAGENAME}}/}}`

### Creating a New Article

Before creating an article, make sure to check first if the thing you want to describe is **already in the Wiki**. Try some keywords and search or go through a certain w:c:community:Help:Category category that you think could match your article or **come to our Discord Server** and ask in the appropriate channels!

We suggest making a sandbox as outlined above for your drafts.

There are two easy ways to create a new article:

1) Tool Bar Method:

* Click the page icon in the menu bar
* A pop-up window will appear asking "Write your page title here".
	+ Note: You will not be able to change the page title after it gets entered here. Please be careful when writing your title.
* Enter your new page title and click "Next"

2) Wiki Home Page Method:

* Go to the Journey Wiki Home Page
* Scroll down to the "Wiki Information" box
* Type in the title of the article and press "Create Article".

More information can be found here: Fandom: Creating a Page.

### Under Construction pages

 When creating a new page consider placing it in the Under Construction sub page directory if it is not yet suitable for viewing as a main page and you will be actively building on the page after its been created.

Creating the page within the directory using the input box on the Under Construction page will automatically append an " Under Construction " header template to the page and list it in the sub page directory.

Moving pages OUT of the Under Construction directory:

Pages can be moved from the sub-page directory to the main directory by the user once the article is ready for viewing. Remember to remove the "Under Construction" template and category from the article before the move, and to move all sub-pages and talk pages related to the article being moved.

Admins may review pages moved out of Under Construction to determine if they are "OK" for viewing within the main directory or if further improvements are needed and should be moved or remain in the Under Construction directory. In such a case where a page is reverted back to the Under Construction directory, commentary will be given to clarify what improvements are needed.

Moving pages IN to the Under Construction directory:

Occasionally, a main article that should undergo improvement may be moved to the Under Construction directory for the following reasons if the page:

* contains no information, at all, or in regards to the main article topic
* presents content that has been duplicated from another page in a misleading manner to the article topic.
* lacks identifiable unique information to the main article topic
* does not meet bare minimum standards for page format and article accessibility

Any user may move the page to the Under Construction directory. The user must include a valid reason for move within the Description Summary or on the associated Talk page for the move. Remember to move all sub-pages and talk pages related to the article being moved.

Admins may review pages moved in to Under Construction to determine if they are suitable to be moved. An Admin may revert the move, in such a case where a page is reverted back to the main directory, commentary will be given to clarify why the move was reverted.

Links and redirects:
Main articles should not link nor redirect to an Under Construction sub page. Pages moved in or out of the Under Construction directory should be moved without leaving a redirect behind.

### File system / categories

Help others to find your article by put it in one or more categories. We suggest these categories to start:

* Under Construction
* Stub

Remember: Everything needs a category, so it can be found again.

* Categories could be seen like folders in a file system.
* Please search and add the right Category for your article in the Category Tree, see below.

### Templates

#### Adding a Template

Depending on your preference, it may be easier to work with one or both types of editors - Source or Visual. However, it is recommended to use the Source Editor when possible.
In Visual Editor its easier to find and click a template, to copy it to where you want it to be. Then change the parameters.

* For a general guide on how to, please visit the Fandom's Guide to Templates.
* lists icons, disclaimers, and Wiki Navboxes templates that are specific to this wiki.
* Browse Templates,
* General Category:Templates should have full list of templates.

#### Commonly used templates to create content for the wiki

* Infoboxes : Creates a box with quick summary of specific details.
* Notices : A custom notice will appear (e.g. citation needed, request for deletion, renovating ).
* Video with Caption: Generates an embedded video object with specified captions.
* Template:Icon/doc to add icons
* Quotes:
	+ Simple Quote: Best for short inline text.
	+ Complex Quote for "Quotes section" at the bottom of articles.
	+ IF you think something is a spoiler or you want to give people a chance to choose if they would like to see something, use the **Spoiler Template** (see below)!

Note: If you're using the Source Editor, you will **not** be able to press the **Insert** button. That button is only available in the "Visual Editor" mode.

#### Using Templates/Icons

The easiest way to implement a template is the copy - paste - change-method. In visual editor, simply copy an existing template from an article (in editing mode) to the article where you want to add it. Click it to change the text/image.

Icons have a list of articles they are used on, on their page: "file usage".

These templates automatically add a category to the article, they are used on:

* Investigation: Displays large investigation icon.
	+ The page "Under Investigation" dynamically pulls the articles that are tagged with the above templates/categories, so viewers can see the full list on one page that changes as these templates/icons are added or removed.
* Investigation Small: Small investigation icon.
* Investigation Box: Shows a box with bold summary and expands to show additional info.
* Random Box Investigation: Random investigation notes are displayed upon page loading, similar to Tip Template.
* (Spotlight submission adds a category to the image)

### Adding Images

#### Before Adding Images

Please note that any and all images added to this wiki live in a centralized location and need to be identified and sorted by categories. For example, even if you are in a Talk page for an article, the image uploaded through the interface there WILL need to have categories added to them.

Make sure to:

* Check the Category Tree to see if the image (or similar one) already exists
	+ Look through them to see which categories your image may be under
* Use existing file nomenclature (if possible)
	+ You will not be able to rename or delete files once they are uploaded (but admins can do this)
* Feel free to reach out to us through Discord

#### Uploading Images

* At the main page at the top right corner, there's a menu with three dots.
	+ Click the dots and it will show option --> Upload New File. You will be led to the interface to upload files.
* Under the "File description" section:
	+ Destination filename: Input the name the file will show as on the wiki
	+ Summary: Describe the image, input categories (please see Category Tree section in this article)
		- Choose one, better **2 or even 3 categories** for your image. This helps to sort images and find them again or for users to just browse the category that they are interested in.
		- One category should be a subcategory of either Journey or Expert Mode, the second category should be chosen from the Media-branch in the category tree.
			* **Example text is below for use in the summary field (categories should be sorted in alphabetical order):**
				+ Thank you <your name, name of person who made the image> for this image
				+ This image shows <short description> (optional)
				+ [[Category:BB - Images)]]
				+ [[Category:Broken Bridge (BB)]]
				+ {{Copyright game}} This is the correct copyright-template for screenshots of the game.
			* FYI: After you save, the categories will NOT show up in the viewer under the summary section. You will see them above the image file name as hyperlinks at the very top.
	+ License: Choose the best fitting license, (e.g. if it's a screenshot, use "This is from the game or its official website")
	+ Click the File Upload button once you're finished.

Note: It might be easier to add categories after uploading the image first. In that case, after your file uploads, click edit in the summary section. Begin typing in the first letters of the category and the names will populate automatically.

#### Replacing Images

If you need to upload a new version of the image or replace the image with an updated one it should be completed by:

* Making sure you find the image's file page on the Wiki
* Using the "Upload a new version of this file" link that is located under the "File history" section
	+ Do not change the "Destination File Name" that is displayed on the page
	+ You'll only be able to replace the file if the format is the same extension as the destination.

### Create a Gallery for Pictures and GIFs

If you have to show several pictures together, you might want to consider the use of a gallery for a better presentation. See an example below:

* This one too
* This text however is way too long and you might want to consider hovering your mouse over it to read it entirely. Even if it is longer than the picture itself you will still manage to read this entirely! How cool is that? This is so, so great. Oh and, you, who is reading this endless boring text, **thank you** for helping the development of this wiki! **Have a nice day/evening/night of sleep**.
* You can actually put pictures without a text caption of course (see the next one)

**Second gallery:**
* GIFs works too!

To create a nice-looking gallery, you can copy-paste the following code in text editor:

`<gallery mode="packed-overlay" heights="200">`

`File:File name|Text caption for the image`

`File:Other file name|Text caption for the image`

`</gallery>`

You can **edit the file-names** in text editor and put as many **pictures/GIFs** as you wish here. You can also change the **text captions** displayed on the pictures (if you want some), edit the **height of the images** in pixels (200px here), or **change the gallery mode**.

However, once the code pasted in text editor it might be easier to use the visual editor after (Try to use a bit of both):

Click the Gallery line, then "edit". Here you can easily **search for images with keywords** and add or erase them from your gallery. In the option tabs, you can **choose a specified image height, enable to show filenames, or change the displayed gallery type**.

Concerning the **Gallery types**, If you want to change it, here are the different options in order to get an idea of what will suit you best:

* Title 2
* Title 3

**Traditional with no outlines:**
* Title 1
* Title 2
* Title 3

**Packed:**
* Title 1
* Title 2
* Title 3

**Packed with overlaid captions:**
* Title 1
* Title 2
* Title 3

**Packed with captions on hover:**
* Title 1
* Title 2
* Title 3

**Slideshows (can take some time to load):**
* Title 1
* Title 2
* Title 3

**Bonus, Packed with captions on hover and filenames:**
* Dust 3 nathanj.png
Title 1
* Second run.png
* Assflip and tumble.gif
Title 2
* Paradise OOB mountain.jpg

### Category Tree

#### Which category should I add to my article or image?

    **Every page needs at least one category.** Depending on workload the admins can take care of adding categories to your edits. If its about a bunch of pictures that you want to upload, its helpful to coordinate it first with an admin or the wiki crew.

You can lookup this: Special:CategoryTree and see which category you find fitting for your image or article. Note: To see the full tree you need to start with the upmost Category:Journey Wiki. See image.

The wiki has **two big branches in this tree**:

* Journey (to give a clean look and only basic information for newcomers)
* Expert Mode (advanced flying, OOB and Glitches, “spoiler things”). So everything just slightly revealing should be put somewhere in the tree under subcategories of Expert Mode.

This wiki has a media branch too, where only images and videos go. Its a safety net so no image gets lost, if the first category isnt very descriptive.

### Roles for the Wiki

Here's brief explanation of the roles available on the Wiki Discord to help us organize and support each other as we work together to improve the wiki:

* **Content Writer**: Creates new text content or related media (videos and images) for articles, sections, and or specific topics. Presents the information on the wiki legibly and complete. Requests editor review upon completion.
* **Editor**: Reviews contributions (text, video, images, template usage, etc.), verifies information and edits to ensure proper grammar, spelling and formatting, including; proper hyperlinking, template use, category tagging, icon tagging, header (H#) use, references and etc. depending on article.
* **Investigator**: Verifies claims or specific contributions to the Wiki including; ability to duplicate on listed platforms and others, defining important information about the content if not listed, marking the claim as verified on the wiki once investigation is complete, and offering help to others member requesting Investigation to verify or assist with their claims.
* **CSS Styling**: Versed in CSS (Custom Style Sheet) updating and formatting. May help with defining new CSS or editing existing CSS for global or single element updates upon request. Reviewing the wiki elements to ensure there are no discrepancies between light/dark themes.
* **Wiki Styling**: Versed in wiki-style source formatting. This role would require knowledge of basic html usage, wiki parsing format, template formatting and experience with wiki source and visual editing. May help other members adjust content or fix formatting issues upon request.
* **Templates**: Creates and maintains templates for Journey Wiki-wide use and updates related documentation and assets. This role may also include, editing, cloning, adjusting and rebuilding exiting templates to fit requested needs for the wiki. Members should have proficient experience with wiki source editing, template creation, parser tags and basic understanding of CSS.
* **Public Relations**: Interacts with the community on behalf of the Journey Wiki team. Makes public posts, requests, announcements and handles responses on social media.

## References

1. ↑ w:c:home:Home Wiki:Style guide#Spelling
2. ↑ Wikipedia:Digital native
3. ↑ This has been discussed on 16 June 2020 on the Wiki Discord.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 w:c:community:Help:Editing#Choosing an editor
5. ↑ w:c:community:Help:Source editor
6. ↑ Wikipedia:Wikipedia:About the sandbox