Baystation 12:Guide to Contributing to the Wiki

We're glad you've shown interest in contributing to the wiki. Before you can edit articles on the wiki, you will need to register an account.
If you have any questions while you edit, you can leave a message on an article's talk page, ask on our IRC channel (#bs12wiki on irc.sorcery.net) or join the official Baystation 12 Discord and ask there.

The two sections
First and foremost, the Baystation 12 wiki is both a walkthrough and/or guide for players. The lore is in an encyclopedic format. These two sections are the primary bulk of this Wiki, and editing them requires you to be both knowledgeable about the game and how to present that information in such a way that is interesting for the reader to give players a sense of the highest quality possible for learning from the basics of the game to more extensive features. If you come from another SS13-based wiki, you have to keep in mind we most likely do things much differently. Be sure to read through our policies and guidelines before making any edits! The game section The first and primary section is the game section of the wiki. These pages are categorized as pages that are designed to teach the player about the mechanical features of the game. In this section of the wiki, you are expected to be able to both teach the player how to play the game, a role or other mechanical information. It is also to give reference information through the use of tables, databases and files. The lore section The secondary section of the wiki, the lore section is the area of the wiki where players are taught the background story of the game in an encyclopedic format. In this section, editors are expected to provide the history and current status of anything that may appear in the world. Primarily, you will be telling players factual information concerning the subject. A rule concerning the lore section involves the content you can add. If you wish to add any content, you must consult an lore administrator first. You can rework pages or make them more presentable, but changing core concepts or adding content requires their explicit permission.
While editing, the primary difference you want to be looking out for is the prose of your writing. With the game section, you are expected to be writing as if it were a guide. If it is lore, you are being expected to write it as if it is an encyclopedia article.
Getting started: finding an article to edit
There are numerous areas you can help edit in: Editing grammar and other common mistakes Creating new content or reworking existing content Creating visual aids Develop new wiki features Upload missing images Do article maintenance To more easily find this content, you can find a comprehensive list at the task center. This page links to marked pages which need help editing and is categorized to help you find this content more easily. Another method you can do is simply read the wiki and spot any area that you think you can improve.
Editing Philosphies
Being an editor means working with others. The wiki is created by multiple people from a variety of different backgrounds and focuses. Keeping that in mind, you need to: Be assertive: your knowledge and experiences count. Be assertive about the information you present Experiment: experiment with templates, page layouts, and new features. Don't be afraid to mess up a page or template, it can always be reverted. It's OK: you don't need to create the perfect article right away. Just do whats required right now. Any information and any edit helps. Try not to hide an entire page away somewhere else off the wiki until it's "finished" - your work can still be expanded on and used even if you don't feel like finishing it. Feel free to do changes right away, we need them. Make the change: you have the right to edit and change any content as long as it follows our policies. Nobody has ownership of a page (except species maintainers!) It's important to do these things, but not to be reckless! Changing styling, rules, and high-visibility templates might not go over as well as your regular article. Similarly, respect WIP templates and let the author finish a draft before inputting your own. Talk to them. In a nutshell, don't worry about being perfect or making mistakes. If something needs to be done, do it. Jump in and make useful edits to articles.
Basic copyediting and writing
Before you edit, make sure you know how to read wiki-markup. You can find plenty of guides online about this. The primary one is (mediawiki help content link here) Be descriptive Don't use vague wording, such as "things," "stuff," etc. Do your best to identify, describe and explain anything that may appear. Use pictures to orient the reader Pictures are extremely important. They not only provide a visual description to what you are talking about, they can help break up the text and provide "way-points" for a readers eye to catch on. This makes a guide easier to read and easier to follow. Remember to add pictures and plan your article around them, if you don't add them, it's unlikely somebody else will. Minimize background info Keep information relevant. Use linking to help move additional information. Minimizing background info can also help to prevent readers from getting the info they otherwise wouldn't want to read, the majority of readers only want a specific piece of information, so keeping information divided and short can help them find it. Crosslink heavily Readers often want to visit other areas of the site or gain more information on a topic. Using the search bar can be an annoyance when they are only looking for the information you mention. You need to crosslink heavily so that readers can find that information quickly and effectively. Be simple, not loquacious Don't use big words, jargon or otherwise pretend that the reader is an expert on the subject. Don't overuse markup Overusing markup, such as bolding, italics, templates or even icons can disorient the reader. Keep markup to a minimum and use it only when necessary. This includes notes - notes are only to be used if absolutely necessary. Don't use passive voice "I," "Me" or anything that is done from a first-person perspective. This also helps maintain the neutrality of an article.
Style guide While we edit on the wiki, we follow a certain style. To do this, we have the Manual of Style. This article is designed to be a reference to how articles should look. You should definitely read it before editing to make sure you understand what is expected from an article. For example, using a level-one header is always unacceptable! This is reserved for system maintenance and special articles.
Common mistakes
	Bad emphasis: using the wrong ways to emphasize points. There are multiple ways to properly emphasis something. While writing a guide, it is appropriate to use bolding when emphasizing something important. However, while writing lore it is not. As explained earlier, this is because one is encyclopedic and the other is not. Furthermore, it is not appropriate to use bolding to identify a new subject with exception to the first instance of the articles title. This is not only confusing, but visually makes it harder to read.
Minor edit: Your're car --> Your car Major edit: Your car --> Your car is nice.	Minor vs. Major edit: A minor edit is when you make a edit that you think nobody can contest. This means grammar, style editing, link fixing, etc. A major edit is when you make any content changes. This can be as simple as adding an additional word. The reason for this difference is for those patrolling the recent changes can focus on bigger changes rather then simple fixes.
Good: == Title == Paragraph == Title 2 == Pargraph 2 Bad: == Title == Paragraph == Title 2 == Paragraph 2 Notice the two spaces between each paragraph - this is incorrect and causes a large gap. This is called a "double return" and is usually unacceptable for the vast majority of articles.	Formatting issues: there are many different formatting issues some articles may have. These are almost always easily visible visual errors.
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