Absolute Hairdorables Wiki:Article Creation

Your Articles should be a good as Code Gold!

Overview

New articles are the way the Wiki--any Wiki--grows. However, each article needs to be well done. Every new article should have a strong backbone and outline so that new editors can in and add information, and articles that don't do this make it so much harder for people to contribute as a whole new outline must be done and the article is essentially scrapped.

Or, long story short: It doesn't matter if you are the first to create an article. It matters if you are the first to create a GOOD article.

Basic Formatting Rules

• All articles and uploaded pictures must have categories listed at the bottom of the pages. Most things on the wiki apply to characters or lines; there is a category for almost everything. At the bare minimum, use the character name or brand line. Use [[Category:TYPE]] to locate categories.
• Articles and descriptions of items on pages should never consist of one or two short lines, a short list of items, or only two or three sentences. "signature skater doll" or "doll of the series 3 she is Signature Look and her hair extension is Crimp" is not an article anymore than "shorts" or "series" is an article. Write a good opening paragraph and do a good setup of the article; write full, proper descriptions from the very start.
• Any article that is simply a copy-paste of website descriptions, package data, or marketing information without being categorized properly will be deleted immediately. This is not intended to be a rehash of the website or marketing.
• All new articles should have a basic layout in likeness to articles of a similar nature. If you're not sure what that looks like, please look at other pages like the article (for example, if you are creating a character page, look at another character). While the article need not have everything, it should have sections if these are needed (and they are probably needed more than they aren't). Without this, the article will be deleted.
• All articles need an opening line or paragraph describing the topic. Sections/Info Boxes with no description don't work either.
• Any article that is simply uploading pictures to the page is NOT an article.
• Keep your personal opinions OUT of articles.

Suggested Article Formatting and Description

• Refer to left and right using proper left and proper right; that is, according to the doll's left and right and not the viewer. (e.g. if the doll is facing you, the left is on your right side.)
• Spell out all numbers below ten (zero-nine) and all numbers that begin a sentence. In series numbers, spell out the number, even in the article title.
• Do not use the ampersand (&) in article text or titles: type out the word "and," even if it's in the doll name. Same with the number sign/octothorpe (#) as it breaks coding in titles; type out the word "number."
• Be as gender neutral as possible. Rather than say that something is for "girls," just say children; after all, not all children with a femme style or who play with dolls are girls or women.
• Consequently, when mentioning purchasers of items, say "customers" or "purchasers"; don't say, for example, "mothers," as not all purchasers are women buying items for their children.
• When describing items, we require sufficient details. As stated above, "signature skater doll" is not a detailed enough description.
• Avoid opinionated words such as "cute," "soft," "gentle," or "pretty." Just the Facts.
• Avoid stating how to use things such as accessories and items. Use generic names when needed.
• With some exceptions, character articles and pages about real-world persons or fully named characters should have the DEFAULTSORT tag, so that they would be categorized by their surnames. Make sure to add {{DEFAULTSORT:Lastname, Firstname}} at the bottom of the page before the category tags.
• Alternate pictures left and right, so that they display evenly.
• Use {{clr}} to leave a space after a section if needed.
• Make internal links. A page that doesn't point anywhere is a dead-end page; a page that is neither linked to nor linking to others is an orphan page.
• If the article is short or incomplete, please put {{stub}} on the page. Once the article is fuller, remove the stub code.

Trivia Policy

• Trivia should be interesting facts about the item or character in question. They may only be tangent to the actual nature of the page in question, but should have a direct relation nonetheless.

• Trivia should be interesting and/or helpful. This can be tricky since "interesting" and "helpful" are somewhat subjective terms. In general, trivia that displays a non-noteworthy example of something or whose relation to the page is tenuous at best will be considered uninteresting. Trivia should give a reaction similar to "Wow! I did not know that!" from the reader. If most readers' reactions to trivia is similar to "Meh, who cares?", then it is likely not a good piece of trivia.

• Trivia should clarify unique data about items, characters, releases, and other aspects that would be bulky if integrated into an article, and should not repeat or include data that is obvious, ineffective, or with bias towards cultural expression.

Image Policies

See: Good Article Images and You!

• Official pictures are best in the long run, and override most personal images.
• Personal images should be clear, focused, and only of the item in question with a minimal of background clutter. Dolls should be complete sets without other sets and taken on the original doll as found. Accessories and items for detail images should be taken alone.
• If you can locate good pictures of items or unique images, please upload them. However, do not take pictures that have been watermarked from other sites. Theft of another site's images is a violation of policy and all images of such nature will be deleted.
• Filenames should be descriptive and relevant to the contents of the picture, i.e. NoahKnows.png. A randomly-named file or a file with gibberish/checksum characters, like File:727f2-D.gif or File:Image1.jpg would be too much of a hassle for administrators and other users as it leaves them guessing for what the image looks like and increases the probability of duplicates.
• Much like articles, every picture needs to be categorized.
• Do not upload leaked images. Unless official Hairdorables/Just Play media chooses to upload or distribute pictures of unreleased products, leaked images have no place in the wiki.

Non-Compliant New Articles and Pictures

Any new article that does not follow the basic rules is subject to be deleted immediately with no warning.

Images that do not comply will be removed. Images taken from other sites will be removed and the violator will be given a one week ban.

After two "short" articles by a user or five bad pictures, they will be warned and given a one-week block; if any more articles are created that do not follow these rules, the user will be banned for a minimum of one month with escalation as needed.

For Article Creation Bans, please e-mail the admins for questions about reinstatement.

This policy is effective immediately, including any changes.

--Nethilia

Severa aspects of this article and policy were brought over from the American Girl Wiki