Visual editor
- You don't need to look at any markup, HTML, or other code to contribute to the wiki! You can use the Visual Editor which has a limited amount of Word-processor-like editing tools. This should be sufficient for most writing that doesn't require special formatting.
- You can also look up and fill out templates from the Visual Editor, as long as that template has been set up correctly. If you see a template that doesn't seem to be working correctly with the Visual Editor, bring it up in the Discord.
- Infoboxes do not preview correctly in Visual Editor, but you can still fill them out and they'll show up once you save the page.
Basic source formatting
- While you don't need to know any programming to contribute to the wiki, it helps if you're familiar with Wiki markup, or Wikitext. Have you ever put some asterisks around a word in Discord to make it bold or italics? Wiki markup is similar to that!
- For most basic formatting, you can use the Visual Editor. However, if you're using a template, or you're in a situation where you need to use the Source Editor, it's good to know some basic Wikitext.
- You can see Wikipedia's guide to Wikitext and basic HTML here.
Link
Create a link to a page on the Wiki. Page names are case sensitive which can be annoying so make sure to check!
Usage | [[PAGE NAME]] |
Example | [[Seasons of Hieron]] |
Result | Seasons of Hieron |
Link with different text
Create a link to a page on the wiki, but show different text than the page title.
Usage | [[PAGE NAME | Text you want to show]] |
Example | [[Hella Varal | Hella]] |
Result | Hella |
Single line break
You may notice that a single line break (pressing Enter one time) doesn't change the spacing of text on the pages, and two line breaks creates too much space, depending on what you're trying to do. In this case you can use
to force a single line break.
Usage | <br> |
Example | These people, these people, <br> They’re people, first |
Result | These people, these people, They're people, first |
Poem
If you have a big block of text that needs single line breaks, like poetry or song lyrics, you can use the poem tag instead of adding all the line breaks yourself. You can also use it for something that isn't strictly a poem but has a lot of particularly formatted line breaks.
Usage | <poem>Text here</poem> |
Example | <poem>The scamps are about! On the beaches and the boardwalks! The scamps are about! Send the word along the line! From the bait shop on pacific, in a mob that’s quite terrific, Wearing grins that are horrific and demeanors so malign! The scamps are about! Pouring southward, ever southward, And they’re carrying those sacks they use to make their wicked play! See the organ grinders panic, hear their melodies grow frantic, As the antics of the scamps intensify along their way!</poem> |
Result | The scamps are about! On the beaches and the boardwalks!
|
See official documentation here: Mediawiki Extension: Poem
Templates
For special formatting and special layouts, we need to use templates. You give a template some parameters and it will do something to that input - for example, putting them into a nice infobox.
For the most part, all the templates the average editor will need have already been constructed, and you just need to know how to fill them out. You can do this from the Visual Editor if the template has been set up correctly. If there's a template that isn't working with the Visual Editor, let us know!
If you want to use the source editor, this can sometimes give you more control over your input. Template markup usually looks something like this:
{{TEMPLATE NAME | parameter = value | title = Hella Varal | pronouns = she/her | playbook = The Fighter }}
Template names and parameter names are case sensitive just like page names, make sure to look out for that!
Depending on the template, sometimes instead of having parameter names you have to instead enter parameters in the correct order. Parameters are separated by pipes (that's what this character is called: |
). Make sure to look at the template's page for instructions or where it's used on other pages for examples. You can use Tools > What Links Here in the sidebar to see all pages that use a particular template.
- Navigation boxes at the bottoms of articles that have links to related articles are called Navboxes. A good example of a Navbox's features can be seen in the Games navbox.
- To see all available navboxes: Category:Navboxes
- For the most part, navboxes don't have any parameters and you can just add them to a page.
If you're interested in editing Navboxes or making a new Navbox:
Infobox
The formatted, colored box of information on the right side of most pages is called an Infobox. Many of our infoboxes are still under construction! They might be outdated or not work with Visual Editor.
Complete infoboxes
These infoboxes are done and have been updated with unified information and will work with Visual Editor. Feel free to use them!
- Template:Infobox character
- Template:Infobox episode
- Template:Infobox group
- Template:Infobox location
Incomplete infoboxes
These infoboxes haven't been updated to work with Visual Editor but should still be in good shape to use with Source Editor.
Upcoming infoboxes
These infoboxes will not be deleted but still need to be fixed up to have consistent parameter names and work with Visual Editor.
Infoboxes that have yet to be decided on
Infobox migration
In the process of importing the other wikis, a lot of changes were made to infoboxes. While I tried to update parameter names, other things may have been broken or lost in the process. If you feel comfortable looking at templates in the Source Editor, it would be a huge help to update any outdated parameter names or template names. Other parameters were removed from the Infobox but may still be in the page's source text, and in that case should be moved to elsewhere on the page if it's important.
If you see a broken infobox but don't know how to fix it, feel free to ask in the Discord!
If you're interested in learning more about Infoboxes:
Other useful templates
Categories
- All current categories
- We need help getting pages into categories! If you see a page that doesn't have categories, try adding some! If it's missing the category for its respective season, please add it!
Generating categories
- If you see a useful category with a red link, that means that there are pages that use this category, but the category page hasn't been generated. You can generate the category by following the link, putting one space into the editor and saving it to create the page.
- If you see a category that doesn't seem useful and has more than 2 members, red link or otherwise, mention it in the Discord - if other people agree we can remove it using Mass Regex Replace.
- To see the members of a ungenerated category, go to the page and click "What links here" in the Tools menu in the sidebar.
Category etiquette
- Try to use the most granular categories you can. For example, Cassander's page should be in Category:COUNTER/Weight characters, Category:COUNTER/Weight PCs, and Category:Apostolosians; this page should NOT have Category:COUNTER/Weight, Category:Characters, or Category:PCs applied.
- On any page, you can use Tools > What Links Here to see a list of pages that link to that page.
- On any page, you can use Tools > Page information to see what templates that page uses (as well as other information).
Colors
Season-specific colors used for navboxes and tables:
Purpose | Color | CSS variable name | Theme name |
---|---|---|---|
Default | #FDCE5E | --color-main | main |
Autumn in Hieron | #f69b09 | --color-aih | aih |
COUNTER/Weight | #F461BA | --color-cw | cw |
Marielda | #FFB27B | --color-marielda | marielda |
Winter in Hieron | #92D1F4 | --color-wih | wih |
Twilight Mirage | #59ADA1 | --color-tm | tm |
Spring in Hieron | #AFE27D | --color-sih | sih |
PARTIZAN | #F75451 | --color-pzn | pzn |
Sangfielle | #FAD47A | --color-sf | sf |
PALISADE (TBD) | #B783C9 | --color-pal | pal |
Bluff City | #7C7BCF | --color-bluff | bluff |
Live at the Table | #5AC45E | --color-live | live |
Background | #FFF1D1 | --color-background |
Changing the color of Infoboxes
To change the color of an infobox, the TEMPLATE must contain theme-source="color_theme"
in the infobox tag. See Template:Infobox_Season for an example.
Code example:
<infobox theme-source="color_theme">...</infobox>
When you use the infobox on a page, add the attribute: color_theme=
and use the appropriate infobox theme name from the table above as the value.
See the infobox Marielda (season) for an example.
Code example:
{{Infobox Season |color_theme=pzn |title1=PARTIZAN ... }}
Add the titleclass
attribute to the template and use the class .bgcolor-SEASON
Replace SEASON with the appropriate abbreviation from the theme name color column in the table above.
Example:
{{Autumn in Hieron episodes | titleclass = bgcolor-aih ... }}