Help:Contents

Work-in-progress, expect frequent changes. Help and feedback is welcome. See discussion page.

Welcome to the WCPedia!

A few points to help you start contributing:

• The Wing Commander Encyclopedia is the root category for the project. Have a browse to see what articles are already available. The simplest way to start contributing is to look through existing articles. Make spelling corrections here, add a bit more descriptive text there - it's how articles grow and the project flourishes.

• Most active WCPedia members are also regulars at the CIC Forums. Sometimes, we will post special projects or requests for help there, so be sure to check in to see if there is anything immediate that needs working on.

• When in doubt, feel free to leave questions in an article's discussion page. Or visit #wingnut, we are more than willing to help.

• Be sure to look at similar entries before creating a new article. You should try to keep to a similar style and layout as demonstrated in existing articles. Also, try searching for your subject before starting - it may be that the article, or something similar, already exists. If not, the option to begin a new article is made available.

Common Traps to Avoid

• Articles should be written in a neutral tone. We are writing from the perspective of a Confederation historian, but words like 'fortunately' and 'unfortunately' should be avoided - there should not be any bias towards one faction over another.

• Do not assume that ships only exist within the era we see them in a game. Certain ship types also make appearances in novels and the Academy TV series, so avoid saying things like ship X was phased out in favour of ship Y, or that a particular ship was only introduced in 2681 because we only see them from Secret Ops, without supporting evidence from the literature.

• Avoid using informal abbreviations, in particular, the term 'Confed'. The abbreviation is fine in speech and informal writing, but to maintain a formal tone, the Terran Confederation should not be abbreviated to anything shorter than 'the Confederation'. One exception to this guideline is 'ConFleet', which is a designation commonly used in the novels.

• Avoid just using the term 'war-time', specify what war you are referring to even if it seems obvious. We have the Kilrathi War, the Nephilim War, plus several other wars besides.

• If we don't know anything about a ship for a particular part of its history, just don't say anything about it. Stick to writing about things we do know and avoid trying to 'fill in the gaps' even if what you are writing is logical from what we currently know. Future games can change many things, as demonstrated with Arena and Star*Soldier.

References

• A quick reference page for the formatting tags can be found at Wikipedia

• MediaWiki, the basis of the WCPedia and Wikipedia, also has a reference on some of the technical details on their site.

Finally, don't be afraid to contribute - if you make a mistake, it is easy to go back to an earlier revision and try again. Any help, big or small, is appreciated. Good luck!