Help:Contents

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

This page will be undergoing major changes in the coming months as a new and improved Help Section is designed and uploaded. If you have any questions on content creation visit the CIC Forums or #wingnut on IRC.

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.

Categories and semantic fields

• Uploaded images should not be categorised unless that uploaded image is meant to be an article by itself. Imaged uploaded solely to be visible from within an article should not be categorised.

• Categories should not act as filters. For example, a "Ship" category may have a "Fighter" subcategory, but anything deeper than than should be avoided. A WCPedia reader trying to find the "Arrow" by browsing the categories does not have to know if the Arrow is a "Light fighter" or a "Scout" or whatever to find the article he wants. We absolutely want to avoid categories like "Ship designation by factions" or "Confederation ships appearing in Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom". Please try to stick to the already established categories as often as possible, and when in doubt, ask around.

• Until clear rules, standards and syntax help are written down here, please refrain from using Semantic fields. PopsiclePete is working on it and it should be done soon. Here is a list of proposed categories and semantic fields in the working.

(The Categories and semantic fields section is a work in progress --PopsiclePete 16:04, 19 September 2010 (CDT))

Fan-created content

• If you work on an article that refers to a fan-created object, character or place, please use the " {{FanContent}} " tag at the top of the article.

• If you add fan-created information in an article about a "canon" object, character or place, please write have it at the bottom of the article, as a section called "Fan additions"

(The Fan-created content section is a work in progress --PopsiclePete 16:04, 19 September 2010 (CDT))

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 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!