Summary[]
This is an introductory page for those who have never contributed to a wiki before and/or want to start helping. You don't have to be an expert to join and there are a lot of things where help is needed: proof-reading existing articles, correcting typos, adding images, creating entire pages, etc.
If it's your first time contributing to a wiki, consider checking the Wiki Content section below for basic controls. If you're already familiarized with that, feel free to jump straight to the Contributing section.
Wiki Content[]
The following sections introduce the basic types of content and tools used in Fandom wikis. Check our Style Guide before making changes in the content.
Pages[]
These are the main type of content in the wiki.
- To create a new page, use the three-dots menu at the top-right corner and select Add new page. Each page needs to have a unique name. Some pages have been created but no content has been added yet. In this case, use the Create button at the top-right corner of the page.
- To modify an existing page, use the Edit button that appears at the top-right corner of the page. This will activate the regular edit mode. If you want to use templates, it might be better to choose Edit Source from the three-dots menu.
- You can add Categories while editing the page from the editor's controls, in the top right dropdown menu, or at the bottom of the page if you're not editing.
- In pages that already exist you will see a three-dots menu next to the Edit button. Some interesting tools are:
- History, to see previous versions of a page, reviewing specific changes (compare selected revisions option), reverting changes (undo option) and reverting the entire page to a specific version (rollback option).
- Move, for renaming pages. Fandom doesn't really rename the original page. Instead, it creates a new page with the new name, moves the content from the old page to the new one, and replaces the content in the old page with a redirect to the new page. The reason for this is to avoid breaking any links in other pages that might be pointing to the old name.
- It is possible to remove the redirect page and leave only the renamed one, but this isn't advised as it can break links. To check if there are any pages pointing to it before deleting it, you can use the What links here explained below. Delete is only available for some user roles.
- Be extra careful when choosing the new name of the page. If you change the name of the page too many times, redirects won't work and the links pointing to the old page will be broken. This can happen after 2-3 renames. If you have this issue, you will have to use the What links here page for the original name of the page you renamed. From there, you'll have to fix every broken link to use the latest name you used for the renamed page. You will also have to remove the redirect pages as those will be useless now.
- Delete, for removing pages. You will need special user permissions to see this option so for most users, the alternative is to mark the page for removal. Check our Style Guide to learn more about this.
- Watch/Unwatch, to receive notifications about changes done to the page. This is useful if you want to keep an eye on changes for safety. If you have created/edited a page, you will be watching it by default unless you unwatch it.
- When you start editing a page using the regular mode, it'll be pretty much the same as a normal text editor. Besides those controls, the Insert menu will allow you to add special content. The most common ones are galleries, tables, infoboxes and templates.
Media[]
The wiki can accept all sorts of media, including images, GIFs, videos and music. Check our Style Guide before uploading content and try to avoid repetitions.
- To add new media, use the three-dots menu at the top-right corner and select Upload new file. Each file needs to have a unique name.
- If you're editing a page, it's possible to upload an image directly from there. Just select the Images and media icon at the top bar. This will allow you to search existing files or upload new ones.
- If you're trying to use media that was uploaded while you were editing a page, it's possible that it won't show in the Recent uploads view or even if you use the search bar for it. Don't worry, it needs to refresh and for that you have to use the search bar to write anything and then delete it. When you've deleted it, the Recent uploads view will refresh and show your image.
- Occasionally, if you try to upload new media that looks too similar to an existing file, Fandom will warn you. Unless there's a strong reason to have twice the same media, listen to that warning and avoid repeating it.
- To modify existing media, open the page associated to it and select Upload a new version of this file in the File history section.
- In media that already exists you will see a three-dots menu next to the Edit button. Some interesting tools are History, Move, Delete and Watch/Unwatch. They work in the same way as it was described in the Pages section above.
- Pay close attention to the Destination filename, especially for image extensions. We use PNGs for images due to their transparency. When a new image is uploaded to Fandom, the name will be whatever you put in the title plus the extension of the file. This is important because many templates expect a
.pngin the name of images, so they won't work if the extension of the image is JPG or something else. For more details, check the examples in the next section. - The image Description can be very useful for searching.
- Use Licensing -> Fair use for in-game images. If you forgot to add it or you find an in-game image that doesn't have it, use the Edit Source and add
{{Fairuse}}in there. That is the template for the license.
Templates, Infoboxes and DPLs[]
Templates[]
Templates allow us to easily present content in a styled and homogeneous way across multiple pages. Take for example the following table:
| Item | Location | |
|---|---|---|
|
Strawberry Cake ×2 | Here you put the location |
It is composed of three different templates:
ItemListStart. The headers of the table (Item, Location). It takes no parameters because they're preset in the template.ItemListEX. The rows of the table. It takes two required parameters: the item and the location. A third optional parameter allows to put the amount. The template automatically places an image to the left of the item based on the name, transforms the name into a link and puts the amount to the right of the name. In this case, the image will automatically beStrawberry_Cake.pngand the link will point to the Strawberry Cake page. Because this is done automatically by the template, it will always follow the same name convention for the image and the link. This is why it's so important to name images (spaces, file extension, etc.) and pages correctly and matching the format of others (e.g. all skill pages have the(Skill)suffix).ItemListEnd. To close the table. It's not visible but very important so the table doesn't glitch or affect any other templates/table. Takes no parameters.
By using those templates we assure that every time we present a list of items it looks exactly the same without having to write the code on each page (e.g. location pages such as this). To learn more about templates, check our Templates Guide or visit Fandom's Guides. If you want to fiddle with templates, consider using the Expand Templates sandbox and don't forget to check our guides before creating a new one.
Infoboxes[]
Infoboxes are very similar to templates since they are a subtype of them. They're used to present a summary with the basic data and facts of a page. For example, in the page for Coco, the infobox would be the element showing at the right of the text with his image and basic info. You can easily create a new type of infobox using the Infobox Builder, but avoid creating new infoboxes if you can reuse existing ones or if your infobox isn't going to be reused in multiple pages. To learn more about infoboxes you can visit Fandom's Guides.
DPLs[]
DPLs or Dynamic Page Lists allow us to generate tables dynamically instead of having to create their rows manually. This is especially useful for tables where the content might change frequently or for tables that have lots of rows. For example, if you check the Strawberry Cake page, you will find a DPL that shows all the Nexomon that like that food. If at some point in the future more Nexomon like that food, the table will automatically reflect this without changing the item's page.
A DPL table will search through all pages across the wiki, but to do that, the pages need to be categorized appropriately. Although their filters can be quite flexible, the way the information is presented is limited, so you have to take this into account when deciding to use one. Also, since these tables are dynamically generated, they take more time to load, so make sure you only use them when there's no other choice (tables that might have several dozens or hundreds of rows).
Usage[]
The easiest way to use templates, infoboxes and DPLs as a beginner is by taking other pages as a reference, opening the Edit Source mode, copying the template to your page and adapting the content to your needs. If you want to create a new template, check our Template Guide for more info and make sure you're not duplicating one and that it will be used in multiple pages.
Special Pages[]
The Special Pages are a collection of pages that can be accessed from the three-dots menu at the top-right corner of the site. They give a good overview on what's going on in the wiki. Some interesting ones for editors are:
- Wanted Pages/Wanted Categories/Wanted Files: a good starting point to find content missing on the wiki if you want to contribute with something new.
- Pages: if there are similar pages to the one you're going to create, take them as a model. For example, if you create a page for the Perfect Berry item, check other food items for reference.
- Categories: these are categories that are being used but don't have a descriptive page for themselves, so they're just a list of links to other pages. The idea is to have some minimal descriptive content about what they are for.
- Files: mostly for missing images. Make sure they have as much resolution as possible and try to get them with a transparent background.
- Expand Templates: to fiddle with templating before creating it and using it on a real page.
- Infobox Builder: to easily create infoboxes, no need to know about coding.
- Recent Changes: to check the latest changes, including comments from people that might be asking questions.
- What Links Here: to find any links pointing to a given page. It can also be accessed from the side-menu of the page you are visualizing. For example, if you are in the Bullet Seed (Skill) page and wanted to see all the pages that link to it, you can open the side-menu and access the What Links Here from there. This would give you all the pages pointing to it, which basically gives you all the Nexomon that use the skill if you were trying to add those to the page.
Contributing[]
To start contributing, you will have to be logged in. You can check the Contributing -> Contribute section of the navigation bar if you don't know where to begin. It's a good place to find everything from small changes to bigger projects. The Wanted Pages is also a good place to start checking.
It is recommended to check our Style Guide first or, at the very least, find similar pages to take as a model. For example, look at existing item pages if you're adding a page for a new item. If your contribution requires using templates or creating your own, but you don't know where to start, check our Templates Guide. If that guide doesn't cover your needs, feel free to leave a comment on that page to ask questions or use the general Fandom guides for more info.