Template:EditingPages The style of pages on Sonic News Network is largely up to the editors involved. However, this page contains a list of some guidelines that have proven to be suitable through frequent use.
General
- Sonic News Network's articles generally follow the guidelines in Wikipedia:Manual of Style and its subpages, which has been extensively tested and refined. See also the Central Wikia guidelines on spelling and grammar.
- Any change is acceptable as long as it does not break the wiki's rules. You don't need to seek approval before making changes, no matter how big. If another user disagrees with a change you've made, open a discussion with the other user on a relevant talk page, Message Wall or Forum.
- If you are making a page that is similar in subject to a page that already exists, consider imitating the style of the existing page.
- If existing styles do not allow you to present information on a page in the best possible way, create your own. Any style is acceptable as long as you convey the information appropriately and the page looks good.
- Maintain a neutral point of view in articles.
- Try to avoid using the first- or second-person in articles. For example, instead of saying "The robot shoots fireballs at you", say "The robot shoots fireballs at Sonic" or "The robot shoots fireballs at the player."
- Page names should be singular (Ring, not Rings although a plural base may be created as a redirect), unless the subject in question is always in plural (such as Alloy Boots), refers to a group or class of specific things (such as Lists) or other exceptions. See Wikipedia:Naming conventions (plural) for more info.
- Page titles and headings should be in sentence case (a leading capital letter at the start of the first word only) instead of title case (capital letters at the beginning of every word). See Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Article titles for more info.
- Banner templates can be placed at the top of some articles, e.g. to indicate the continuity to which the subject of the article belongs. At the discretion of users, {{Real World}} can be used on pages relating to the real world.
- "Plot" is to be used instead of "Storyline" for sections entailing events or plot.
- Using the Tabber for infoboxes have conditions for each case which are:
- For the Infobox character, it is when a character has several forms but has no "base form". If there are more than six images in a tabber, they must be removed from it and get their own section.
- For the Infobox item, it is when there are more than design for the item in games or any other media, in which both are used in recent. If there are more than six images in a tabber, they must be removed from it and get their own section.
- For the Infobox boss, it is when there is no "defined appearance" for the boss (being used in several versions). If there are more than six images in a tabber, they must be removed from it and get their own section.
- For the infobox comic, it must be used with issues that more than one version cover. There is no maximum number for images previewed by the tabber here.
- Categories are to have the following criteria:
- They must contain at least five articles. More than five is accepted, but less than five is not. This law however, does not include categories made to list games for a specific console.
- Articles must not have "grandparent categories." For example, Sonic the Hedgehog is categorized in the Speed types category, but not in the Subjects by ability type category. The grandparent category, in this case, is the Subject by ability type category.
- There should not be a category for deceased characters, and creating a one is not permitted.
- A gallery sub-page needs sixteen images to be approved. Any less images, and the article will be qualified for deletion. After making the sub-page, add the Tab template on the original article and link it to the gallery sub-article.
Guidelines
Although editors are free to edit however they want, the Sonic News Network has presented editors with sets of guidelines to help editors. These guidelines are official, but editors are free to stray from them if it means that the overall quality of the article will be improved.
The guidelines currently in existence are listed below:
* indicates guide is incomplete.
Red text means the guide has not been created. You can help SNN by creating it!
- Characters
- Video games
- Real-world people
- Real-world group
- Level
- Item
- Group
- TV episode
- Scripts
- Comic issue
- Attacks and moves
- Game gimmick
Copying from Wikipedia and Mobius Encyclopedia
- Material may be used from Wikipedia or Mobius Encyclopedia (the Archie Sonic wiki) due to the licenses used by these sites, but any material copied from Wikipedia or Mobius Encyclopedia must be appropriately marked and linked to indicate where the information came from.
- If pages copied directly, the banner templates Template:enWP or Template:enME should be used on pages copied from Wikipedia or Mobius Encyclopedia respectively. These templates should remain on the page until it has been edited sufficiently to ensure that most of the content was created by Sonic News Network users.
- If any information is used from Wikipedia, Mobius Encyclopedia, or any other affiliated wiki, then a link must be placed to the relevant page on that wiki. This is usually done in an 'External links' section at the very bottom of the page. Template:WP link and Template:ME link (as well as Template:STC link and others) have been created to ensure that such links are presented consistently. These links should remain on the page indefinitely.
Lists versus articles
- At the Sonic News Network, we prefer that each character/object/location/etc should have its own article, rather than being grouped into long lists. Individual articles are more conducive to people adding information, and as this is a Sonic Wiki, we want as much information as possible!
- If you feel it is appropriate, you can use lists that link to more specific articles. However, any explanatory paragraphs in long lists should be kept brief, with the majority of information in the destination pages.
- If you can write a page about even the most obscure character, by all means go ahead! (If it's really obscure, make sure you say where you got the information from.)
Character pages
- Characters are allowed to have a separate article for each continuity. For example, a game article, Bean the Dynamite, and an Archie article, Bean the Dynamite (Archie). This is for two reasons:
- Some characters have vastly different and mutually contradictory portrayals in particular continuities, so it makes sense for them to be addressed separately.
- Pragmatically, pages that deal with multiple continuities tend to get so long that it's a chore to edit or read them. If you find an article that you think could do with being chopped into more digestible pieces, don't hesitate to post a suggestion on the discussion page, or bring it up with one of SNN's sysops.
- Ages for game characters should be those from Sonic Channel where given. Characters from other continuities may have different ages, which should only be given if confirmed in their respective canons.
- Infobox character can be used to add infoboxes to character pages only.
References
- To add a reference to an article, simply type <ref>[Link to source here.]</ref>. If you need help with this, see Help:Citing sources or ask an administrator.
Editing Directory
New content is the best way to help the wiki. To write a new article, just enter the article title in the box below!
- Not sure where to start?
You lend us a hand with some of these:
- Expand some of our stubs and incomplete articles!
- Improve our articles in need of cleanup.
- Update our out-of-date articles!
- Fix some of our double redirects!
- Add links to some of our orphaned pages!
- Add citations to our unreferenced statements!
- Categorize some of our uncategorized categories, files and articles!
- Add images, references, and infoboxes to our articles!
- See if any of our unused files should be posted on articles!
- Join in our merge, Featured Article, and split debates!
Here are some tips from our editors on how you can contribute to SNN (note that it is currently in progress):
Tips
- Use the Random Page button. This will take you to one of our over 10000 main-space pages we have. Eventually, you will find a page with an easy edit you can do.