Community:How to Edit on the Wiki

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Last revision: February 18, 2024.

This should serve as a detailed guide on how to properly edit wiki pages and contribute to the Polcompball Wiki, detailing every step so the admins don't have to fix broken formatting and code ever again.

The Basics of MediaWiki Editing

Whenever you want to edit a page, you can either press "Edit" (Visual Editing) or "Edit source" (Source Editing). They differ immensely and therefore you have to choose which one to edit with. The general rules are this:

Visual Editing

Do not use visual editing.

Source Editing

Source editing looks complicated at first but for general use, it is pretty simple:

  • To input an image, use [[File:(filename).(file format, should be png, gif or jpg)]]. So for example, to put into a page you'd write [[File:Ancom.png]].
  • To link to other PCB pages, use [[page name]]. So if I wanted to link to Internationalism, you'd type [[Internationalism]].
    • To link to a page with a specific word instead of just its name such as this, simply write [[(pagename)|(whatever you want)]], e.g. [[Luddism|this]]
    • To link to categories you can't use this. Putting in [[Category:(category name)]] in the page just makes it a part of that category. Instead, use {{Info|category name}} for the infoboxes, while on pages use [[:Category:(category name)]]
  • To link to a page outside the wiki, simply put one square bracket on each side of the link like this: [(link)]
    • To link to a page with a specific word instead of just its name such as this, simply write [(link) (whatever you want)]], e.g. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AV6Ijawb7Y Wow check out this funny video!]
    • We have special templates for linking to other wikis. To link to Wikipedia, write [[w:page name]], to link to the Philosophyball Wiki use {{PHB}}, to Polcompball Anarchy use {{PCBA}} and to link to the Polandball Wiki
  • To put a subheading, simply add two equals signs at both ends of the line like ==this==. To lessen the importance of the subheading just add more equals signs on both sides ===like=== ====this====.
  • To use a template on a page use {{template name}}. Many templates use variables to dictate content through {{template name|variable}}.
    • Every template is different. List of Templates has a list of all the templates however as of writing this parts of the page are outdated. If you don't know how to use a template, don't be afraid to go to our Discord Server for help.
  • To make a new line in normal writing, use <br>. Still however use the "Enter" key to make the page easier to edit.

Hopefully that should get you started. The best way to learn MediaWiki is to look at other pages to see what they're doing, and applying it elsewhere.
Now let's get to the actual content of a page.

Infoboxes

The infobox are arguably the most important part of any Polcompball page. They show the basics and general personality of an ideology.
Infoboxes are a template and are always right after Messageboxes on a standard page. They use the {{Ideology}} template and have an absolute ton of variables, as shown below with what to put in each one. 

{{Ideology
|title = The title of an ideology, as well as its icon before it, or alternatively icons either side.
|image = Just the file name and the file type of an image, no need for the brackets or "File:" part. Cannot be an icon.
|caption = A short joke, or something that the ideology would say.
|gallery = If the ball has multiple designs, then use this. Separate each image with a new line and a title, in the format "filename.png|Title"
|aliases = The different names for an ideology, Separated with a line break. The {{Alias}} template may be used.
|alignments = Contains the before-mentioned category links ({{Info|category name}}). Separated by line breaks.
|influences = List the ideologies that have influenced the ideology you are writing for in any way. You can use brackets if they have only influenced variants of the ideology. Separated by line breaks.
|influenced = List the ideologies that have been influenced by the ideology you are writing for in any way. You can use brackets if it has only influenced variants of another ideology. Separated by line breaks.
|theorists = The page where you put all the people who adhere/adhered to this ideology or were associated with it. Separated by region with collapsed sections for readability. Separated by line breaks.
|examples = Examples of where this ideology was implemented. IRL and only sometimes fictional. Separated by line breaks.
|sub = Sub-Ideologies of an ideology, with it's relevant parts and influences collapsible. Separated by line breaks.
|school = Schools of Thought of an ideology, with it's relevant parts and influences collapsible. Separated by line breaks.
|regional = Regional Tendencies of an ideology, with it's relevant parts and influences collapsible. Separated by line breaks.
|personal = Personal Tendencies of an ideology, with it's relevant parts and influences collapsible. The difference between all fo these can be found in the [[List of Variants]]. Separated by line breaks.
|likes = What the ideology likes as a character. Can be people, events, objects, anything. Separated by line breaks.
|dislikes = What the ideology dislikes as a character. Can be people, events, objects, anything. Separated by line breaks.
|song = Links to Youtube songs that are associated with the ideology. Can be jokes. Separated by line breaks.
|themecolor = Hexadecimal code for how the boxes holding subtitles and the title look. For fancier designs, look at other pages. White/Blank when left blank.
|textcolor = Hexadecimal code for how the title and subheading text looks. For fancier designs, look at other pages. White when left blank.
|border = Border width. Leave blank on almost every page.
|bordercolor = Self-described. Leave blank on almost every page. Uses hexadecimal.
}}

Now it is time to get into article structure itself.

Different Sections of a Page

Every single page on the wiki is broken up into sections, which this part of the guide will go through one by one.

Before the Infobox

Before the infobox of an article, there are mainly two things, those being Message Boxes and notices.

The Infobox

We have already covered this, however remember the infobox is a template and can still contain other templates.

Quotes

Use the {{Quote}} template to put a quote at the top of a page right after the infobox like this: 

{{Quote
|quote= What the actual quote is, surrounded by quotation marks.
|speaker= Icon, and the speaker linked to their page.
}}

Make sure the quote is relevant to the ideology. The speaker does not have to adhere to the ideology, as long as the quote is relevant.

The Opening/Summary

The first paragraph should be a general summary of an ideology. It can be as long as the writer wants, however most definetly can't be made blank or be too long. I might as well use this section to mention how articles should be written.

  • Generally, writing on the wiki must not be biased to one side (such as Conservapedia) or be written in condescending tone (such as RationalWiki). Ideally, writing should use icons frequently to represent concepts and other ideologies, while frequently linking to them on the wiki. This also applies for variants, values and categories. Also, make sure to simplify your writing and not overcomplicate while including necessary detail.
  • Do not copy from other wikis, such as Wikipedia. Do not use generative AI such as ChatGPT, we will be able to tell and it will result in a temporary block.

Foundations and Beliefs

The beliefs section seeks to briefly describe the doctrines of an ideology, and general trends. If the ideology has many central pillars/themes, the section may be split with each one being a lower subheading.

History

This part of the page described the history of the ideology, physically. Commonly if the ideology focuses on one specific doctrine or movement (i.e. Rockefeller Republicanism) then the page should only mention the history of that movement. However if instead the page describes a general idea with many different interpretations and implementations (e.g. Georgism) then the history section should be split for each implementation.

  • If the ideology is fictional, fictional history may be included.

Personality and Behaviour

Ideally this section should represent a ball's character within comics and other media. It should be seperated by bullet points with general themes, while not being too specific.

How to Draw

This section should include a couple things:

  • A simple step-by-step guide to drawing the ball. Use hashtags at the beginnings of lines to make a numbered list.
  • An image of the flag of the ball in SVG format, using the {{Flag}} template.
  • A color guide for the flag and any props for the ball using the {{Flag-auto}} template.

Relationships

Here would be the relationship of the ideology with other ideologies, as described from their point of view. Here the different way the ideology speaks can be shown off, the beliefs, history, and personality. It can also be relationships with specific variants.

Further Information

A very important part of a page. Ideally, Polcompball should act as a way for people to learn more about ideologies, and this is where this happens. Within this section, sources, internet communities, theory, books, articles and Wikipedia pages can all be shown off.
Free resources may be found on:

Gallery

A place for where the community shines: the art. Here, every piece of art can be shown off, however do note that they should be shown off differently depending on what type of art it is.

If the artwork is a portrait of the ideology, use 

<gallery>
file name.png|Short Description
</gallery>

There should be different seubheadings and galleries for regular portraits, alternate designs and variants. Do not put icons here.

As for comics and compasses however, instead use 

<gallery mode="slideshow">
file name.png|Short Description
</gallery>

Navboxes

Navboxes are the little boxes at the very bottom of a page that redirect you to more ideologies. They commonly resemble categories. A full list can be found at the List of Templates. To insert one into a page simply write {{Navbox/(navbox name)}}.
For more info, go to {{Navbox}}

Categories

Finally, the categories of a page. In order for a page to be part of a category, simply list all the categories it is a part of at the bottom of the page such as [[Category:category name]]. Make sure not to include the colon at the start.

Now that we covered everything, the best way to learn MediaWiki stuff is too look at it yourself and learn. As such, you can look at any page you want, howevevr we made a very special example for you below. It doesn't use the Ideology template, as that one can only be used by actual ideologies, so it uses User-Ideology instead.

Exampleism

This page is not on Philosophyball, but let's pretend it is for the purpose of the block quote.


"i love this existence"

Exampleism

Exampleism, also called The Example, is an example within this page. Let's say that it is a center right-wing ideology, with socially progressive views.

Exampleism doesn't exist, but if it did, it probably started existing in the 90s in Switzerland.

History

Exampleism began existing in the 1990s in Switzerland by Carmen Ross. It quickly established many members such as Aryan Whitney and Ela Greene. In addition, it also spread to America with John Smith.

Variants

Sub-Ideologies

Left-Exampleism

The left wing of Exampleism is much more accepting of culturally progressive views for the country of Switzerland, with their most notable theorist being Warren Gillespie.

Right-Exampleism

The right wing of Exampleism mainly exists in America, supported by Jane Smith. They are much more protective of family values and really hate California.

Personality and Behaviour

  • Likes examples.
  • Works for the Polcompball Wiki to appear in this page.
  • Eager to try new things.
  • Has a mild distaste of California.

How to Draw

  1. Draw a ball
  2. Fill it with white
  3. Draw a black box
  4. Draw a red tick in the box, with both sides going outside the box's borders
  5. Erase the parts of the box sourrounding the tick.
  6. Add eyes and done.
Color Name HEX RGB
Red #FF0000 255, 0, 0
Black #141414 20, 20, 20
White #FFFFFF 255, 255, 255

Relationships

Employer

Good Examples

  • Philosophy Ball - Some of the best pages of -ball wikis, but also rather underdeveloped. I should ask my boss to help them!
  • Polandball Wiki - Same here, altough you have many more pages and some of the best art out of all -ball wikis. Also the oldest.

Bad Examples

  • PCBA - Almost all your pages are bad examples of Polcompball. Also you don't pay me.

Further Information

Literature

Wikipedia

People

Gallery

  • "This is not much better than the infobox."

    "This is not much better than the infobox."

Navigation


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