NSA Wiki:Instructions for Contributing

Hello, fellow NSA-ers! I am glad you are taking the time to help contribute to the wiki, it really does a lot to help keep the lore alive.

However, before you jump right in and get started, please take note of a few things regarding contributing:

Discussion Page

First of all, don't shy away from editing pages! But, if you're not sure about the accuracy some of your info, or your information conflicts with what is already on the page, you can comment in the page's discussion.

There are two tabs above the main page area - one says "Page," and one says "Discussion." If, as stated before, you have conflicting info concerning a page on the wiki, you can write something in the discussion on that page about what you have found. The discussion area is an open place, where you can write as much as you want, even if you don't think it's super relevant. Then, other contributors can go through and fact-check info, and add it to the main page!

Writing Well

Secondly: Please write with proper grammar and sentence structure. Obviously, this isn't a super formal site, but in general, it's nicer to read if it is well-written. This means capitalizing the words at the start of sentences, using proper punctuation, and the like. Now, this doesn't mean we can't have a little fun with our write-ups!

For example, here is an example of good wiki writing:

Those teeth are as fearsome as they seem. They are coated with tiny Velcro-like hooks that stick to anything... PERMANENTLY. The baconypine's tail is poisonous like a scorpion, and they hate all things healthy. Broccoli is their worst enemy. Human health in general? They despise it. But their greatest weakness is the simple confectionery wonder that is a marshmallow. Thrown properly, if the marshmallow sticks on a spine, the baconypine will promptly explode with embarrassment. The leftovers is a pile of bacon covered with marshmallow. entertaining, but well-written and concise.

This, however is an example of a poorly-written paragraph for the wiki:

it has supur scary teeth and they stick to stuff, and they dont unstick to stuff. also the tail is poisoinus. baconypines dont like brocolli, and they dont' like alive things. but if you want to you can throw marshmellows at them and they will make them explode XD see, this is harder to read and understand, and contains less information.

Now, I hope I haven't bored you with these examples. But I think you probably get my point - just write well! It doesn't have to be perfect, but a little effort goes a long way! :D

Links and Citations

If you're writing a page, and you mention another topic in NSA lore, please remember to link to it. For example, if I was writing about Porkypines, I might mention that they are cousins of Baconypines. That's great! But even better would be linking to the page about Baconypines. It's not hard - just select the text you want the link to be on, and then click the "link" button in the toolbar and search for the page you want to link to. Also - you can link to pages that don't exist yet. Just select the text you want the link to be on, type in the name of the page you think sHOULD exist, and press enter. The link will show up in red, indicating that the page is "wanted." This will encourage other contributors to create that page. This feature shouldn't be overused; we don't need a page about every little thing. But, if there is a topic that you think should be covered in a wiki page, you can link to its nonexistent page. Here's a list of pages that are currently "wanted."

Similarly, if you were writing a page about a person, and you mention something they did in a historic NSA event, you should cite a page to give proof of that. Citations are similar to links, but not the same. Generally, if you mention a slightly-related topic in lore, you can link to the page about it. However, if you say that an event happened or someone did something, you should cite the page that tells that story more fully, or provides additional context.

Citations can also be used to add a note about something that was said, to add clarity. These notes would be things that would break up the flow of the article, but you still want to include.

The Porkypines page offers a good example of both of these uses.

Adding "Date Edited"

In reviewing contributions to the wiki, I have noticed that some editors will add the date, or at least year, that they edited/created the page to the end of the page itself. Now - I'm not against crediting contributions, not at all. However, adding this information to the page itself is unnecessary. MediaWiki (the software this wiki runs on) automatically logs all contributions to all pages. If you want to see who edited what on a page, just click on the "View History" tab on the top right corner of any given page. You can not only see when edits were made, but also who made them, (if the user was logged in) and what the changes were. Thus, it's really unnecessary to add any sort of date mark to the end of any of the pages.

Categories

There's a feature in this wiki platform that allows you to add a page to one or more categories. So, if you create a page, please go ahead and add it to any applicable categories! It really helps with organization, and people being able to find your pages.

Edited Contributions

Another thing: I, or others, may edit your contributions. That's normal! Everyone is constantly trying to improve the wiki. So, don't be surprised when your contributions get edited. If you disagree with an edit that was made, please make a topic about it in the page's discussion, and @mention the contributor that made the edit.

Direct Suggestions

You might have a suggestion for the wiki overall - perhaps a change to a page that isn't accessible to edit, or just a general improvement. Well, you could DM me on teams, but there's actually an easier way! If you like, you can post a message on my talk page!

Well, I guess that's all for now - have fun editing! :D