Lylat Wiki:Decent Articles

Shortcuts: Usage , [[ Template:LW:Stubs ]]

Decend articles are articles that have risen above stub status, but aren't yet good article-worthy.

We thank the contributors of the follwoing pages as they were a big help in creating the topics covered here.

• Super Mario Wiki
• Bublapedia
• Wikipedia
• Zelda Wiki

Remember this is not a governance of each contribution. If you want to contribute information, in complete disregards to this guide, then do so. We would rather have you contribute and break a rule, and then not contribute at all.

A decent article - is considered to be on it's way to being good, but still requires fixing and expanding before being so.

Language usage

As a article develops, people put in their own influences. As much as we appreciate contributions, we also need to make sure information is not lost due to some form of communication error.

Sections

• Sections need to be titled correctly, and they need to follow the rules of spelling and grammar, just as the rest of the article does.

Templates

• Templates need to look good on an article, almost to the point a view will not realize it's a template. If a template needs fixing, in your fixing of the article, please bring it to the attention of everyone by marking the template, not the article you are working on. Templates have there own discussion pages for these types of things.

Verification

A decent article not only has references, but has a variety of them to choose from. There are three main types of references, and they breakdown as follows:

• First-party - is something that said or when on in the games themselves.
• Second Party - is something found on an official publication, website or archive there of.
• Third Party - is a reputable source created by a fan of the series, an expert in a scientific field, a game review site, etc.

How do i know when i should use what type?

That depends on the situation. Situations that a quotes from a character will help, then used a first- or second-party citation.

Satisfying Polcy & Guidelines

As an article gets bigger and bigger, it is going to be scrutinized more and more. To help deter this, we editors need to make sure that with each edit we are bring an article closer and closer to meeting Policies set up by the community.

These include:

• Template:LW:CANON
• Template:LW:HET
• Template:LW:IWP

and others found on Category:Policy Page.

Style and Content Guide

Now that there is some text in a article, time to include some other ways of displaying information.

Textual Information

In addition to paragraphs, information can be stored in lists and tables. Which is best depends on the situation, but a decent article has has found the best way to display the information it has currently.

Tables

for more, see: Lylat Wiki:Image Standards.

Is/Are the table(s) organized in a way that the table makes it easier to understand the information, rather than make it harder?

Lists

for more, see: Lylat Wiki:Image Standards.

What type of list should it be:

• bulleted?

1. numbered?

files

Before including a file, be sure it has the following:

1. A Licence
2. A Citation Template & a File Template
   • and make sure all the information is filled out. If a file is deleted due to missing or bad information, and you've used it, then the article may have just decreased in quality, as there is now a Red Link in place of the image.
3. Be sure to provide some kind of alternative way of providing the same information, for those under different, sometimes harsher, conditions than you.
   • For example, if you display important information visually, also have the same information textually available. For more, please see Lylat Wiki:Accessibility.

Images

Before including a image, be sure the image has the following

1. Make sure they are the right file type for the situation you are in:
   • has a transparent background - use .png or .svg
   • is a screenshot or box art - use .jpg
   • is fanart and other scans pictures - use .jpg
   • simple animations - use .gif
2. fan art needs to go specifically in a fan art gallery, unless the art was designed specifically for purpose on the wiki. They should not be used to demonstrate a subject matter. However, exceptions may apply. If you aren't sure, check an administrator.
3. screen shots, before use, need to be trimmed and cropped down to the essential part of the shot befroe being used in an article (see Zelda Wiki.org:Image Requests for more info.)

for more, see: Lylat Wiki:Image Standards.

for more on proper images, see: Lylat Wiki:Image Standards for the images themselves.

Music & Videos

for more, see: Lylat Wiki:Music Standards.

Before posting music or a video on a article, including linking to an outside sources, make sure the following is followed:

1. playing the file doesn't happen automatically without the visitor's consent (including flash animations).
2. it is volume-leveled enough that the visitor doesn't immediately turn it off.
3. it is actually related to the subject matter, not just to be "cool".

In addition, please post it in the .ogg file format, unless that is otherwise unavailable.

Cateogries

for more, see: Lylat Wiki:Image Standards.

Placing an article In the appropriate category can give a nice finishing for a visitor on the page. It helps encourage them to continue surfing around the wiki, via the path provided by one of the Category Links.

Related Pages

Five steps to making a featured article
Stage 5: Becoming a featured article
Stage 4: Becoming a good article
Stage 3: Becoming a decent article
Stage 2: Becoming a stub article
Stage 1: Becoming a new article