Underrail Wiki:Style guide

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This project page contains the wiki's style guide.

General style

We don't have strict style policies. Generally, editors should follow common sense. When in doubt, Wikipedia Manual of Style is a good resource for all things wiki style.

Core elements of articles are usually right-side infobox or image, short introductory text, main body text under headings common for that type of article, navbox for easy access to related articles, and finally categories. Editors are encouraged to follow style set by existing articles of same type; It is often the easiest way to get things done, particularly if one is not familiar with mediawiki in general and/or local templates.

All templates have documentation explaining their parameters and typical use cases. Template pages are easily accessible when previewing an article you're editing - links to all templates used on that article appear on the bottom of the edit page. There's also Category:Templates and its subcategories.

Below are a few oddities that markedly differ from wikipedia's encyclopediac nature:

Naming

The basis for article naming is what you see in the game. Every notable object in the game (Items, characters and such) should have corresponding page in the wiki, even if it's just a redirect to the main article. (As is the case with most craftable item variations.) In case of name conflict, use disambigation with no preference given to any one page over others sharing the name. (eg. Guard for the feat and various generic NPCs.)

Quick note on file naming.

• Icons: Every item name has File:<Item name>.png file redirect pointing to its icon to make creating new infoboxes easy. Other icons: File:<Feat name> icon.png, File:<Status effect name> effect.png, File:<Ability name>.png.
• Common character sprites (with transparent background) and character screenshots with in-game surroundings both generally use File:<Character name>.png.
• Screenshots of Zones are named after their internal name, since most zones share their in-game name with many others. For zones consisting of multiple screens, the additional screens have a running number suffix. Their order is arbitrary.
• Portraits and their backgrounds are directly ripped from the game as is. Filenames are original, unless that would lead to naming conflict.
• Others files may use whatever conventions are established; Look at how other files in the same category are named.

Spoiler policy

We try to avoid spoiling surprises and secrets, but spoilers are not explicitly marked where they are to be expected. (Eg. lore and quest pages can contain unmarked spoilers pertaining to the topic.)

Templates:

• {{spoiler warning}} for adding a large spoiler warning on top of articles that are basically full of spoilers.
• {{spoiler}} for short inline spoiler text for use anywhere - middle of body text, infobox parameters, etc.
• {{hiddensection}} for larger sections, full paragraphs or more. Starts hidden with a toggle to show/hide.

A good rule of thumb is to keep spoilers proportional to what a reader would reasonably expect. On a character or faction article having background information should not be a problem, but for bits that are treated as secrets in the game, or for those that are not but are not revealed until much later, it is better to use inline spoiler or hiddensection. And when the spoiler is too big to take the risk or its presence is in itself a spoiler, it is best to split. Conversely on pure lore articles – such as Biocorp projects, historical events, obscure mentioned-only characters, articles in general you would be unlikely to visit by accident – do not worry too much about marking spoilers, if at all. That said, it's best decided on a case by case basis.

Sources and references

This wiki does not have the standard mediawiki Cite extension installed, so <ref> tags can't be used. References are normally not required as the main source for nearly everything in this wiki should be the game itself. When necessary (citing developer posts or such), unnamed external link wrapped in <sup> tags will create an inline reference link that looks like a familiar mediawiki reference.

Prefer primary sources: information directly from the developers and the game itself. Information from secondary sources is acceptable, but confirm its validity if possible. Let's try to keep this wiki authoritative.

Notable exception: This wiki started hosting player-made maps as a stopgap measure to help players before the Global Map was introduced. Given enough interest, we could also host guides, player builds, or other such content. But given the wiki's small contributor base, such projects seem very unlikely at this time.