Help:Create game entry
From GamerWiki
Firstly, thanks for taking part!
This guide will take you through the step-by-step process of creating an entry for a game. The process may look quite long but it's really very simple, and it allows us to have a really flexible structure for games released on more than one format.
Contents |
Step 1: Check the entry doesn't already exist
Obvious, but necessary! Search for the name of your game using the search box on the left-hand side of the screen. If a listing for that game already exists, then feel free to edit that page but please do not create a new one.
Step 2: Create a link to the game's page
If you're adding a game on the Games to be Added list, or are creating a page by following an existing red link, you can ignore this step.
In order to create a page, you have to try to go there first ... this is one of the most difficult parts of the whole process! Go to GamerWiki:Sandbox, edit it, and type in:
[[gametitle (platform)]]
Replace gametitle with the full name of your game, and platform with the short name of the system that you're creating the entry for (see the list of formats). if you're going to create pages for more than one platform, then just choose any one for now. When you click "save page" you should see a red link waiting for you (if not, you've not put two square brackets at either end).
Step 3: Create the page
Click on the link! You will be taken to a page where you can edit your new entry. Firstly, check the title! The title of the page will read "Editing Gamename (Format)". Check this for spelling and check that the format is as desired. It can be quite tricky to resolve this otherwise! If there is a mistake, click back on your browser and edit the link to correct it, and then click on the link again.
Once the title is correct, copy the text from Help:Front_page_template (only the text inside the dotted box) and paste it into the editing box on your new page. For ease of use, we've created a special template to format all of the basic game information. Edit each of the lines to reflect the game you're listing - but do not change anything on any line before the equals sign (=).
If you do not know some of the information required, either replace the default text with a question mark (?) or just do not edit it. Someone else can do that later!
Edit the information you know about, making sure that you enter at the least:
- the full title of the game next to "gametitle";
- the full platform name (from the list of formats) next to "platform"; and
- either "yes" or "no" for the last item ("multiplatform").
Then click on "save page".
Step 4: General information
On the left side of the page will be a red link to Template:Games/gametitle (with the title you've previously entered included). Click on that.
Now copy the text inside the dotted box from Help:General information template and paste it into your new page. Edit the name of the series, if possible or applicable, and also edit any other information you can (consider Help:Spoilers), then click on "save page".
Step 5: Platform-specific information
Click back on your browser twice, so that you're on the front page for your entry, and press F5 on your keyboard. The page should refresh, and at the bottom of the page there will be a red link to Template:Games/gametitle/platform. Click on that.
Now copy the text inside the dotted box from Help:Platform-specific information template and paste it into your new page. Edit the full name of the game at the top, and edit any other information you can - obviously removing the placeholder values that are currently there. Credits (the people who made the game) can often be found online, in the game manual, or ingame.
Do not use copyrighted material. Screenshots must not be watermarked - otherwise, these can be included as 'fair use'. To insert screenshots, you must upload them to a new filename (for example, HaloXboxScreen1.jpg) and then edit the filename in the template to reflect this.
Click on "save page".
Step 6: List of formats
Click back on your browser twice, so that you're on the front page for your entry, and press F5 on your keyboard. Now there should be one remaining red link in the box at the top right, labelled "Formats". Click on that.
Now copy the text inside the dotted box from Help:List of formats template and paste it into your new page. There must be a line for each format that your game is available on. If your game is only available on one format, there will be only one line!
Step 7: Create pages for other formats
If your game was only released on one format, you may skip this step.
Click back on your browser twice, so that you're on the front page for your entry, and press F5 on your keyboard. You will now see that the list of formats is complete, with red links by each apart from the one you've created already.
For each of these other formats:
- click on the red link
- repeat step 3 above and click on "save page"
- click on the link at the bottom of the left side of the page to Template:Games/gametitle/platform
- repeat step 5 above and click on "save page"
You'll then have created pages for every format and your game is complete!
Step 8: Relax!
Thanks a lot for contributing!
