Contributing 101
This page is out-of-date. For information on formatting and styling, please visit Style Guide. For more updated information visit Help:Contents (incomplete).
Adding information without formatting
If you want to help out but don't feel comfortable editing the wiki directly, this section is for you!
Using Discussion Page
Each page has a corresponding Discussion Page, seen at the top of the page in a separate tab. Since the vast majority of our actual page discussions happen in the discord server, we've decided to repurpose these Discussion pages for word dumps.
- Creating the page: If the Discussion page link is red, it means that the page doesn't exist yet. That's an easy fix: click on the red link and it will take you to the creation page. Then, simply enter your information and click "Save Page."
- Adding Information: Write any information that you see is missing from the page in this section! No need to format anything (although paragraph breaks are encouraged and appreciated lol). When possible, please also include where you got the information from. This can be as simple as writing something like "Badbhoyhalo pov sometime between festa junina and egg disappearance" or as specific as a link to the vod and a timestamp."
- Again, since this is on the discussion page, there is no need to format any of this. Wiki formatting editors will take care of the rest.
- Completion: Once you are done adding whatever information you were able to, click "Save page." You can always go back and add more by returning to the discussion page and clicking "Edit."
- Please notify us if you have added any information so we can format it and add it to the main page! This can be done in our Discord or in our ask box on Tumblr (both linked above). Happy editing!
In the discord
In our discord server there are channels dedicated to each of the pages on the wiki in the Individual Pages forum (and if your page is not there, you can create a post). These channels can be used for dumping information and links into for other wiki editors to add to the wiki. This may be the easiest way to contribute your information yet!
Content Creators vs. Characters
- This wiki is focused on the QSMP. What that means is that we don't want to focus on the creators themselves but instead document the roleplay characters. For example, don't add a creator's birthday to their character's page UNLESS they celebrated it/talked about it on the server. Deciding what is canon vs not canon can be a very slippery slope, so any time you are unsure of something, don't be afraid to ask in the discord! We're all very civil.
"How-To"s
Adding content:
- If you only want to contribute written content, the only things you'll really need are in the "Advanced" menu!
- In Source Editor: Click "Edit Source" on any page and then click "Advanced" in the toolbar. This will bring up options to add links, formatting, and the different kinds of headers!
- In Visual Editor: Click "Edit" to use this one! The Visual Editor is more similar to what you might be used to with a typical word program. It has options for adding templates, links, and images simply by inserting them instead of having to link to them. The Visual Editor is pretty intuitive: just click around and you should be able to get where you need to. If you want to mess around with it visit our Test Page.
- Switching between the source editor and the visual editor is easy: at the top right of the editing box there should be a pencil icon. Click this to easily transition between the two. This can be helpful when adding more complex features, templates especially.
Linking to other wiki pages:
It is standard practice to link a separate page the first time it is mentioned. This makes it easier to navigate the wiki. For example, if I was talking about Slimecicle I would link his page using [[Special:MyLanguage/Slimecicle|Slimecicle]] in the source editor. This applies to all other things, including places. However, you only need to link to things the first time they are mentioned on that page/in that section, with a few exceptions.
- This does not apply to tables and infoboxes: mentions inside tables and infoboxes should always link to their corresponding pages.
- For events, use your best judgement: if you are adding something along the lines of "For more details, visit French Arrival", it would be appropriate to link the page even if it had been previously linked on that page.
- The rules are slightly different for the QSMP Timeline, visit our timeline specific guidelines.
Past vs Present Tense:
Descriptions of living characters, existing places, existing organizations, and mods still in use should be in present tense. Descriptions of events, deceased characters, places/buildings that do not exist anymore, and mods that have been removed should be in past tense.
- Here is a check that might be useful: imagine you are standing in front of whatever you're describing. If it still existed, you would use the present tense to describe it because it is right there in front of you. If it didn't exist, if it was dead or gone, you would use the past tense because it is not there anymore.
- For all events, past tense should be used. This includes the main timeline, character recaps, and anything that "happened." Generally, a good check for this is to ask yourself "Would this be a good answer to the question "What happened?""
Adding Notes:
Adding notes in the page can allow additional information to be added without interrupting the flow of the article too much. However, if it is at all possible, please prioritize adding the information in the actual page instead of into a note. This is how to add notes in the MediaWiki Editors.
- Source Editor:
- Use <ref group="lower-alpha">Content of note here</ref> to add a note in the text. Please add notes AFTER punctuation.[a]
- Add the list under a new section like this: == Notes== <references group="lower-alpha" />.
- Visual Editor:
- In Visual Editor go to Cite>Basic and then write lower-alpha under Use this group. It won't look right. Just ignore that. It will fix itself one it's published (assuming you spelled it right and have the right punctuation. It's also case sensitive).
- To add the list, add a new section Notes in Heading 1. Then go to Insert>More>References. This will add the regular references list again. Click on this list>Edit and then put lower-alpha under Use this group.
Images:
Images have to be uploaded to the wiki before they can be embedded in a separate page. Every image has its own page, which can be referenced in as many other pages as you want.
To upload an image to the wiki:
- You must be in desktop view. Go to the sidebar and click "Upload file" under the Tools section. This will take you to the special page for uploading files.
- From downloaded images: Browse your storage for the image that you want to add. For the file name, please be descriptive (for example, for a picture of Aypierre's Gegg statue the file name would be something like AypierreGeggStatue.jpg). Include a brief image description and where it came from in the Summary section. You can deselect "Watch this file" if you don't want to have it show up in your Watchlist. Then, click Upload file.
- From URL: Select the button next to "Source URL" and paste the URL into the text box. It must be from a public URL: Discord attachments, images on private accounts, and basically anything that you would need to log in to something to see will not work. Name and describe the file and then click Upload File. It will reload the page with a fixed version of the file name, adding the suffix automatically. Then click Submit modified file description.
- From downloaded images: Browse your storage for the image that you want to add. For the file name, please be descriptive (for example, for a picture of Aypierre's Gegg statue the file name would be something like AypierreGeggStatue.jpg). Include a brief image description and where it came from in the Summary section. You can deselect "Watch this file" if you don't want to have it show up in your Watchlist. Then, click Upload file.
To add the file to a page:
- Source Editor: To add an image into the text of a page, go into that page's editor and use the page link [[AypierreGeggStatue.jpg]], for example.
- If you don't know the file name, use the search bar at the top right of the wiki. Format your search as File:Keyword. This will bring up all of the files that include the keyword in the file name and/or the file description.
- If it is part of the Gallery section of a page, it should be in the gallery slideshow, which will look like this:
<gallery mode="Slideshow">
AypierreGeggStatue.jpg
Gegg.png
</gallery>
- Visual Editor: To add an image into the text of a page, go into that page's editor and click Insert>Images and media. This will bring up an image search.
- To search, enter your keyword. For more results, include an asterisk after your keyword. For example, searching "Philza" will bring up less results than "Philza*" will.
- If it is part of the Gallery section of a page, it should be in the gallery slideshow. If there's already a slideshow, click on it and click Edit. If there is no slideshow, add it by going to Insert>More>Gallery, and then go to the Options tab and change "Traditional" to "Slideshow". The gallery image search functions the same as the regular one. To add more images to the slideshow, click "Add new image" at the bottom left of the screen.
- For more details on formatting images on pages, visit the MediaWiki tutorial page
History section of character pages:
For the history section of character pages, please use the format outlined on the Character Page Format page.
- Note that history should be in past tense.
- Each paragraph should be a bullet point. For example, if Fit visited Tazercraft and then went somewhere with Ramon it would be one bullet point with the paragraph about his visit with Tazercraft and one bullet point with the paragraph about his adventure with Ramon
Citations
- Citations are the lifeblood of a wiki, as they ensure the content of pages is both accurate and easily proven. We use the same citation template as the Fandom Wiki does. When using visual editor on desktop, go to Cite -> Basic, click "Insert," and then search for either Cite video or Cite tweet in the search bar. When using source editor, just add the template manually inside <ref></ref> tags using the syntax demonstrated on the Template:Cite video and Template:Cite tweet pages.
- Sometimes a source to cite simply isn't available to you at the time. When this happens, please use the Citation needed template (add {{Citation needed|reason=add reason here|date=add date here}} in source editor or use template menu in visual editor) at the end of each paragraph/line that needs a citation you don't have. In the "reason" field, add the streamer pov, or any other extra information you have. It could be as simple as "before the French joined and after Festa Junina" or as specific as "FitMC Day 139 1:50:08." This makes it much easier for our citation hunters to do their job.
- When looking for citations from the citation needed templates, if you hover over the link it will show the reason if added. Example:
Citation guidelines
- Always try to prioritise officiality and longevity of sources. This means official VOD uploads, clips made on Twitch directly from CCs' streams, or the official QSMP update accounts on Twitter.
- Avoid using Twitch VOD timestamps, as Twitch VODs expire after two months, breaking the link and rendering your reference obsolete. (The exception to this is Cellbit, whose VODs don't seem to expire. But still, official YouTube uploads are safer.)
Tips for finding sources
- If you know roughly what time period and/or POV the event happened in, check out one of the VOD masterlist spreadsheets pinned in #lore-resources on the wiki Discord for quick access to VOD links!
- Use YouTube's autocaption feature to quickly find certain words or phrases in a VOD! Click on the meatball menu next to the like/share/clip/save buttons underneath the video and hit "Show transcript" to open the full transcript of automatic captions, and then use ctrl+f to search whatever phrases or keywords might be useful to find the quote or moment you're looking for.
Unfortunately this is only useful when the autocaptions are in the correct language - if you're looking for a phrase said during an English-speaking conversation when the majority of the VOD is in Portuguese, the autocaptions will likely be in Portuguese and therefore won't have captioned the English spoken in the section you're looking for.
The Timeline
Fundamentally, the QSMP Timeline is constantly changing and being added to. Please follow these guidelines on how to add content to it!
- Please use past tense.
- When adding a new day header, please include the template [[#top|[top]]] within the header section.
- Do not put a space between the day header and the content. Examples:
Correct:
=== Day 1: March 22, 2023 [[#top|[top]]]===
* The first group of residents arrived on the island in the [[Special:MyLanguage/Day One|Day One]] event.
Incorrect:
=== Day 1: March 22, 2023 [[#top|[top]]] ===
* The first group of residents arrived on the island in the [[Special:MyLanguage/Day One|Day One]] event.
- Link characters, eggs, and other pages the first time they are mentioned in each day's recap. Please don't link to another page (Event, place, character, egg, etc) more than once per day to minimize link clutter.
- For big events, please don't add things that happened during the event! Instead write something like "The residents participated in the Example Event." and link a corresponding Event Page. Enter the recap there.
- When liveblogging/livevodding, please use Talk:QSMP Timeline instead of the main timeline page. Afterwards, copy only relevant events into the main timeline page.
What is a relevant event?
The QSMP Timeline page should only be for notable or important events. Smaller events should not be added to the QSMP Timeline. However, deciding what should and should not go on the main timeline can be subjective. Here are some guidelines:
- If something has an Event Page it should be mentioned with a link to that event page.
- If someone who rarely joins the server logs on it should be mentioned. This includes characters like Missa or Kameto, but not characters like Slimecicle.
- Egg deaths should always be mentioned. This includes nightmares.
- Birthday celebrations should always be mentioned.
- Adoptions should always be mentioned. This includes informal adoptions such as Roier being adopted by Vegetta, Lullah being adopted by Missa, etc.
- NPC attacks (code, eye worker, federation worker, etc) should always be mentioned.
- The first appearance of characters should always be mentioned. (Example: The islanders met a talking duck named Quacki.)
- Character's cinematics should always be mentioned.
- Official QSMP account streams should always be mentioned.
If you are unsure if an event should be added to the Timeline, feel free to ask in the discord. Generally if an event will most likely not be referenced later on then it does not need to be added. If events turn out to be more important in the future we can always add them later.
More detailed accounts should go on separate pages: for example, a more in depth recap of a certain character's day can be added to their character page. If something happens that is part of an overarching plot, provide a brief summary followed by <small>''(See [[Special:MyLanguage/relevantpage#corresponding_section|relevantpage#corresponding_section]]''</small>. Note that the period goes before the See more. For example:
- Roier and Cellbit discussed their wedding. (See Roier/History)
Art Museum
- From now on (February 1, 2024), new fanart should only be added to the museum with the permission of the artist behind it and should always include linked credit!
- Please make sure to check if an artist's bio has any information about the topic before messaging them. Don't bother them if they do!
- Please message using our official Twitter account. (You can DM Hope on Discord or write a request on their Discussion page for the password.)
- Artists who have given their permission to showcase their work:
- cookiejugz (in Twitter bio)
- 0__00009 (in Twitter bio)
- Lord_Toad_ (in Twitter bio)
- junokokuriko (in Twitter bio)
- latenightaugust
- lilygons
- adoniism_
- Fischsuppe6
- Lanth_art
- TheSantclair
- corvinidae
- moti-otp (via tumblr ask)
Formatting
Don't worry about all this if you are just adding written content! This is for people adding new pages and formatting them.
Page Formatting
- To make a new page, you first need to create a link to it. Red links are links to pages that don't exist: click them and you will immediately be taken to a page creation screen. Please provide a brief description of the page at the top before adding all of the content!
- If the link to a page you want doesn't exist yet, go to the Masterlist page it would fall under and add a bullet point in this format: two [, followed by the name of the page, and then two ]. Click Save Page, and the red link should appear!
Infoboxes
- To create a new Infobox template using the infobox builder, go to Special:InfoboxBuilder and start out with adding sections and labeling them. Pay attention to what is in the "Source Parameter" field for each data or image line: you'll need these later. Finish and name the infobox, and it will take you to a new template page that is blank.
- Click "Edit Source" and then "Manage TemplateData". This will bring you to an editor. Add the description, and then add your "parameters." These are the fields that will show up in the template form when you're adding this infobox to another page.
- To add parameters: click Add Parameter at the bottom of the window. In the text field, enter EXACTLY what is in the "Source Parameter" field for your first line and then add parameter. Click on the parameter and fill out the relevant textboxes. Label is what the field will be called on the template form. There will be one source parameter for every data line in your infobox. When you're done adding all of them, click Apply.
- To make collapsible groups in your infobox: edit the infobox data (this is at the top of the template page inside the <infobox></infobox>). Put the parameters that you want to be within a collapsed group between <group collapse="open"> and </group>. If you want the group to default to being closed, use <group collapse="closed"> instead. Note that the group must begin with a header.
<infobox> <title source="title"><default>{{PAGENAME}}</default></title> <image source="image"/> <group collapse="open"> <header>Put your header here</header> <data source="data1"><label>data here</label> </data><data source="data2"><label>data here</label></data> </group> </infobox>
Reference list formatting
We are incorporation scrollboxes to our reference lists in order to keep the pages from being unscrollable. Please use the template {{Scrollbox|content=<references />}} instead of the usual <references /> code!
Masterlist Formatting
The lists should be alphabetized. If you have any concerns with how anything is categorized, don't hesitate to ask! We are using bullet points.
Troubleshooting
- Make sure everything on the template page except the infobox code is inside of <noinclude></noinclude>.
- Check that all of your | and } are in the right places.
- For groups: Make sure the first thing after the <group> is the header, and make sure that there is a corresponding </group>.
- Make sure Slimecicle isn't haunting you?? Idk he loves causing problems.
Templates
- Template:Cite tweet
- Template:Cite tweet
- Template:Cite video
- Template:Character infobox
- Template:Event infobox
- Template:Egg infobox
Notes
- ↑ This is correct placement.