Writing articles is the backbone of what makes a wiki; it is the source of information, and without information, the wiki is nothing. We wish to maintain a set style on the wiki to keep pages neat and organised, which is why the editing guidelines have been created.
It is highly recommended to read through this page as it includes editing requirements and criteria for edits deemed satisfactory.
Use Source Editor as default[]
As stated on Rodeo Stampedia:Getting Started, source editor allows you to keep pages neater, copy-paste everything in a page (including formatting and tables), better format text and tables, implement templates more easily and is just generally faster.
To change source editor to default:
- Click on your profile in the top right corner (you must be logged in to do this)
- A drop-down menu will appear, choose 'My Preferences'
- You'll see several tabs in your preferences, choose 'Editing'
- Select Classic Editor or Source Editor (both do the same thing)
If you do not change to Source Editor then many of the things on this page will not make sense, and you'll be unable to perform many actions, thus you can't really help out to the level expected. If you use Source Editor however, it will make things far easier, and you'll find the things on this page very easy to pick up.
For more help with Source Editor, see here.
Spelling and Punctuation[]
Good spelling and punctuation is important in writing, especially in a public domain such as this. Here's a few common mistakes that can easily be fixed:
Use British/Australian English, not American English[]
- E.g. 'colour', not 'color', 'favour', not 'favor'.
Always write animal name as {{PAGENAME}}[]
- This automatically switches {{PAGENAME}} for the name of the page.
- That means that it will automatically add the animal name, with 100% accuracy.
Avoid using pronouns[]
- Try not to use words such as 'you', 'he' or 'she' when editing articles. These words can be used in comments and discussion posts but not articles, as it makes the writing a bit more formal. 'You' can be acceptable in some cases though.
'It's' and 'Its'[]
- It's = it is
- E.g. It's tall, with a long neck
- Its = possession
- E.g. Its fur is coloured brown
- More often than not on this wiki, the word 'its' will be correct as opposed to 'it's'.
Grammar is also something that is important, however I understand that many people don't speak English as their first language, so grammar may not always be very fluent. That's ok, even if English isn't your first language, you can write up some stuff and someone else fluent in English can fix up grammar while keeping the content of what you wrote.
Making Pages[]
Articles should only be about factual in-game information[]
If you would like to express your opinion, such as ideas or tips, consider:
- Creating a blog
- Go to your profile and select User Blog
- Adding to a talk page for ideas
- Commenting under a relevant page
Think about what pages are needed[]
Adding information is essentially the whole point of a wiki, however, too many pages that are about irrelevant information, or pages that provide duplicate information become confusing and unnecessary.
Try to complete pages[]
This ensures there are no filler pages which have virtually no information on it. Pages are only useful if they contain information!
Keep pages to a uniform standard[]
The skeleton of the page is largely the same for all pages in the Animal category, as it is for animals in the Species category. This should be kept the same when new pages are created, which is where Source Editor is very useful.
When making a new page, buttons will appear at the top, where you can select a pre-formatted page option. This generates a template for the whole page, which means all you have to do is change the information and leave the structure how it is. More info later.
Apart from this, pages can be created by copy-pasting another similar page and changing the information (e.g. when creating the page for the Poultrygeist, the Vacation Crane page was copy-pasted).
Adding categories[]
Categories are extremely crucial on the wiki. For those who don't know what categories are, on the bottom of each page, there are categories added. For example, the Snorkadile page has the categories of Animals, Jungle, Sky Zoo, Regular, Tier 3 and Alligator. These categories have become more important recently as they used to form the automatic tables, such as the table on the Species: Buffalo page, or the Class: Boss table.
Please make sure to add the correct categories to pages, and don't forget to add categories when creating pages.
Pre-formatted Page Options[]
Pre-formatted page options can be selected when you create a new page using Source Editor. These pages will have lots of comment tags, which look like this:
<!-- (information in here) -->
These tags are only visible in source editor, and provide information on what to add in the space. When using a pre-formatted page, ensure to remove the tag and replace it with the information provided inside, based on the page you're working on.
Templates[]
Templates are essential in articles. Many articles use the exact same template, meaning that if an edit is to be made over many articles regarding style, having all of these be made through a template makes it much easier. This allows you to edit the template page and be able to change the output of all the templates already on pages.
Templates have the structure of:
{{Template name}}
To see the original template, simply search up Template:(template name) in the search bar at the top. Templates can provide a variety of functions, and one example is Template:Animal Infobox, the infobox template found on all animal pages.
Tables[]
Tables are one thing that Source Editor gives good control of, which VisualEditor cannot control at all. Most pages have had their tables replaced with templates or DPL tables, which allow tables to be automatically generated. If you would like help on tables, give CollectorManiac a message, he'll be more than happy to help.
Editing Pages[]
What's the same as when making pages[]
Things such as completing pages, adding categories (if it hasn't already been done), keeping pages neat and uniform and keeping spelling accurate are just as important when editing a page as when making a new page.
Consider what content is needed[]
Adding new information is always good, however, it's not so good when information is added to the wrong page, or a duplicate of what has already been said, as it takes up extra space, making it harder to read. Make sure to choose the most relevant page to add your information to, for example, tips for boss missions should go on the individual animal page, while tips for how to use animals should go on the species page.