Twinsuniverse:Articles layout
This page contains instructions as to how to write articles for the Twinsuniverse, loosely based on the old instructions in this thread. While not always necessary, preferably use this layout in your articles.
Contents
Image
Start with one image that best represents the subject. If there is an infobox in the article (see below), put the image there, and not out of it. Some articles might require more than one image, if for instance the subject exists in different stages.
Infobox
For characters, islands, inventory objects and enemies etc, use the appropriate infobox. See Help:Templates and the templates listing for additional assistance. Ideally, for every different kind of article, a template exists to aid with filling in it's infobox.
Description
In here goes your extended description, being as detailed as possible, in full sentences. Do not go too much into details about anything if there are sub-articles related to it. For example, an article about Twinsun can mention the islands of the planet, but should not go into details about what each has to offer. Unless the subject is directly related to Twinsen, try not to mention him at all in this section. Only write a general description, without yet describing the subject's role in the games.
Also, do not make up any facts or details. Only provide information which is absolutely true in the games. If you feel something needs mentioning but are unsure whether it is factual, use the discussion page of the article to ask others what they think. Some articles might contain more subjective information than usual (eg. challenges), in which case a spoiler (see below) could be used to phrase it in an "off-topic" way.
The first mention of the subject of the article should appear in bold. For example, "Twinsen is a young quetch living on Citadel Island....".
When referencing another article on a page, you don't need to hyperlink every mention of it's name, only the first one is enough. Avoid naming articles by the context they occur in, ie. "in the basement of the Baggage Claim" rather than "in the basement of the building where (...)". In this case "basement" may also be linked besides the building alone, as it has it's own page.
Role in the games
These paragraphs should describe what the subject of the article has to do with Twinsen's adventures. Try to be much more descriptive than "Twinsen used this item to do [whatever]". For example, in inventory item articles, start with why Twinsen needs the object in the first place, where he finds it, how he uses it, where he uses it, etc. Try being as descriptive as possible.
Note: templates like Template:Quote could be used to highlight separate distinctive phrasing.
Spoilers
Many articles might contain information that reveals something about the future of a particular item, location, character, puzzle etc. Best would be using a Template:Spoiler when appropriate. A spoiler hides it's contents from the reader initially, but can be clicked open to reveal hidden content. This could help a reader who's trying to figure out a solution to a problem, as opposed to someone who just wants to read about the background of a subject but wants to solve things for him/herself.
Also, when multiple aspects are available that would reveal too much for the unwary reader, one spoiler should be enough to list all of them.
See also
For some articles, you may want to use this section to include links to related articles otherwise not mentioned in the article. But best would be actually mentioning it within your article, so it's easier to figure out the related article's relation to your article.
Note: in place of this listing, more specific listings to the type of the article are often better.
Related threads
Here be a list of related forum threads in the Magicball Network forums. Use Template:Thread to easily link to them.
