Changes: Wowpedia:FAQ

Revision as of 01:21, 8 March 2007

Help:Header

World of Warcraft

Where do I get the game?

- Buy it from your nearest friendly games dealer, or from any online software / games store. WoWWiki is a site about the game, we're not affiliated with Blizzard Entertainment, the creators of WoW.

Where do I get addons?

- See UI FAQ/AddOns.

Contributing to WoWWiki

How can I contribute to WoWWiki?

- All users are encouraged to contribute to the constant improvement of WoWWiki's content. All you need to do is create an account. See How to edit a page to get started, and please visit our policy and guideline pages for standards that have been developed by the WoWWiki community.

Dealing with vandalism on WoW Wiki

Is there any policy on what happens to users who vandalize this site (remove content for no good reason, put expletives, etc.)?

- We have list of known vandals. Wiki contributors add suspected vandals to it. The admins of this site monitor the list and revert vandalism as needed. Many wiki contributors also help clean vandalism from high-traffic pages before an admin shows up to do mass reverting.

So, what can't be posted? What's vandalism?

- In addition to the obvious spray painting, WoWWiki has a Do-Not-Post list. And even though a wiki is fairly free in its content, there are a few policies on how we want our pages to look; start at WoWWiki:Policies to learn more.

Ads on the left sidebar

Why are there ads on the left sidebar?

- See Wiki Google Ads.

Google Search

Why is there a Google search now?

- The previous wiki-based search was frequently broken, such that it worked less often than it was broken. See Wiki Google Ads.

Forums

Are there any forums somewhere for discussing stuff about the Wiki?

- No forums... but wikis can be used as discussion forum's just fine. Here, we talk about the wiki in general in the Village pump! and each article has a discussion page (tap on top of the page). To talk about the game itself, we recommend using the World of Warcraft Forums on the Blizzard site.

Use of images for abilities, spells, etc.

What's the wiki policy on linking to images (or storing images) for spells, abilities, etc, being as they may be copyrighted? Is that an issue, or has Blizzard given permission to fansites to use their images?

- Blizzard allows all Blizzard graphics to be used for non-commercial purposes, such as fansites. See Category:WoW Icons for a list of icons stored locally on the wiki!

Making money appear

How do I make a money amount appear?

- Use {{gsc|1|2|3}} for gold, silver and copper. e.g. Template:Gsc For other examples, see the WoWWiki Templates List.

Wiki Templates

What's a Wiki template?

- A Wiki Template is a special page which can be included into other Wiki pages. The idea is that you only have to write the information once, but can reuse it in many places. They're also very useful for adding small images like {{Alliance Icon Small}}

and {{Horde Icon Small}}

. See Help:Template for help on using them.

What Wiki templates are used on this site?

- An index is maintained manually at WoWWiki:Templates. Please add new templates you create to this index. You can also navigate Category:Templates.

Recent Changes

I am looking for the latest news or information about WoW or this Wiki.

- The recent changes page shows you a view of the latest edits on this Wiki. If you are looking for information about WoW updates, new or corrected information, you can go to the article concerning the topic you're interested in. You can also always check the World of Warcraft main site.

Finding Articles

Help! The search doesn't work! How can I find pages? Is there an Index?

- Yes, you can access the index at Special:Allpages. You can also use the default internal wiki search. You can also go to Special:Allpages/X where X is the first word in your search. Example: Special:Allpages/Thunder, if you're looking for, say Thunderfury, but you're not certain if it's under that or

[Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker]. You may also type the article title into your browser at the end of the WoWWiki URL.

Copyright (or lack thereof)

Is all the text free? Ie, can we pinch it and stick it in Wikipedia?

- Everything in WoWWiki is free as in "free beer", according to its license, the GNU Free Documentation License. In short, you can do pretty much anything with it, except make it "un-free". As a matter of courtesy though, we would appreciate mentioning where texts originally came from if you're pinching entire pages. But we can't force you to.

See also: The WoWWiki community portal, WoWWiki policies, Help

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 == World of Warcraft ==
 <div style="margin-left:3%;">
 {{faqq}}Where do I get the game?
@@ Line 16: / Line 15: @@
 {{faqa}}See [[UI FAQ/AddOns]].
 </div>
@@ Line 25: / Line 22: @@
 {{faqq}}How can I contribute to WoWWiki?
-{{faqa}}All users are encouraged to contribute to the constant improvement of WoWWiki's content.  All you need to do is [[WoWWiki:Why create an account|create an account]].  See [[WoWWiki:How to edit a page|How to edit a page]] a great editing starter, and please visit our [[WoWWiki:policy|policy]] and [[WoWWiki:Guidelines|guideline]] pages for standards that have been developed by the WoWWiki community.
+{{faqa}}All users are encouraged to contribute to the constant improvement of WoWWiki's content.  All you need to do is [[WoWWiki:Why create an account|create an account]].  See [[WoWWiki:How to edit a page|How to edit a page]] to get started, and please visit our [[WoWWiki:policy|policy]] and [[WoWWiki:Guidelines|guideline]] pages for standards that have been developed by the WoWWiki community.
 </div>
 == Dealing with vandalism on WoW Wiki ==
 <div style="margin-left:3%;">
 {{faqq}}Is there any policy on what happens to users who vandalize this site (remove content for no good reason, put expletives, etc.)?
@@ Line 40: / Line 34: @@
 {{faqa}}In addition to the obvious spray painting, WoWWiki has a [[WoWWiki:Policy/DNP|Do-Not-Post]] list. And even though a wiki is fairly free in its content, there are a few policies on how we want our pages to look; start at [[WoWWiki:Policies]] to learn more.
 </div>
 == Ads on the left sidebar ==
 <div style="margin-left:3%;">
 {{faqq}}Why are there ads on the left sidebar?
 {{faqa}}See [[Wiki Google Ads]].
 </div>
 == Google Search ==
 <div style="margin-left:3%;">
 {{faqq}}Why is there a Google search now?
 {{faqa}}The previous wiki-based search was frequently broken, such that it worked less often than it was broken. See [[Wiki Google Ads]].
 </div>
 == Forums ==
 <div style="margin-left:3%;">
 {{faqq}}Are there any forums somewhere for discussing stuff about the Wiki?
-{{faqa}}No forums... but wikis can be used as discussion forum's just fine. Here, we talk about the wiki in general in the [[WoWWiki:Village pump|Village pump]]! and each article has a discussion page (tap on top of the page).
+{{faqa}}No forums... but wikis can be used as discussion forum's just fine. Here, we talk about the wiki in general in the [[WoWWiki:Village pump|Village pump]]! and each article has a discussion page (tap on top of the page). To talk about the game itself, we recommend using the [http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/index.html?sid=1 World of Warcraft Forums] on the Blizzard site.
 </div>
 == Use of images for abilities, spells, etc. ==
 <div style="margin-left:3%;">
+{{faqq}}What's the wiki policy on linking to images (or storing images) for spells, abilities, etc, being as they may be copyrighted?  Is that an issue, or has Blizzard given permission to fansites to use their images?
+{{faqa}}Blizzard allows all Blizzard graphics to be used for non-commercial purposes, such as fansites. See [[:Category:WoW Icons]] for a list of icons stored locally on the wiki!
-{{faqq}}What's the wiki policy on linking to images (or storing images) for spells, abilities, etc, being as they may be copyrighted?  Is that an issue, or has Blizzard given permission to fansites to use their images?  -- [[User:Jat850|Jat850]] 18:07, 21 Nov 2004 (EST)
-{{faqa}}Blizzard allows all Blizzard graphics to be used for non-commercial purposes, such as fansites. -- [[User:AlexanderYoshi|AlexanderYoshi]] 18:11, 21 Nov 2004 (EST)
-{{faqa}}See [[:Category:WoW Icons]] for a list of icons stored locally on the wiki!
 </div>
@@ Line 91: / Line 69: @@
 {{faqq}}How do I make a money amount appear?
-{{faqa}}Use <tt><nowiki>{{gsc|1|2|3}}</nowiki></tt> for gold, silver and copper. e.g. {{gsc|1|2|3}} For other examples, see the [[WoWWiki:Templates#Money|WoWWiki Templates List]].
+{{faqa}}Use <code><nowiki>{{gsc|1|2|3}}</nowiki></code> for gold, silver and copper. e.g. {{gsc|1|2|3}} For other examples, see the [[WoWWiki:Templates#Money|WoWWiki Templates List]].
 </div>
 == Wiki Templates ==
 <div style="margin-left:3%;">
 {{faqq}}What's a Wiki template?
-{{faqa}}A Wiki Template is a special page which can be included into other Wiki pages. The idea is that you only have to write the information once, but can reuse it in many places. They're also very useful for adding small images like {{Alliance Icon Small}} and {{Horde Icon Small}}. See [[Help:Template]] for help on using them
+{{faqa}}A Wiki Template is a special page which can be included into other Wiki pages. The idea is that you only have to write the information once, but can reuse it in many places. They're also very useful for adding small images like <code><nowiki>{{Alliance Icon Small}}</nowiki></code>{{Alliance Icon Small}} and <code><nowiki>{{Horde Icon Small}}</nowiki></code>{{Horde Icon Small}}. See [[Help:Template]] for help on using them.
 {{faqq}}What Wiki templates are used on this site?
-{{faqa}}An index is maintained manually at [[WoWWiki:Templates]]. Please create new templates as required and add them to the index.
+{{faqa}}An index is maintained manually at [[WoWWiki:Templates]]. Please add new templates you create to this index. You can also navigate [[:Category:Templates]].
-{{faqa}}You can also navigate [[:Category:Templates]]. --[[User:Mikk|Mikk]] 04:16, 7 June 2006 (EDT)
 </div>
@@ Line 118: / Line 88: @@
 {{faqq}}I am looking for the latest news or information about WoW or this Wiki.
-{{faqa}}The [[Special:Recentchanges|recent changes page]] shows you a view of the latest edits on this Wiki. If you are looking for information about WoW updates, new or corrected information, this page is very helpful.
+{{faqa}}The [[Special:Recentchanges|recent changes page]] shows you a view of the latest edits on this Wiki. If you are looking for information about WoW updates, new or corrected information, you can go to the article concerning the topic you're interested in. You can also always check the [http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/ World of Warcraft] main site.
 </div>
 == Finding Articles ==
 <div style="margin-left:3%;">
 {{faqq}}Help! The search doesn't work! How can I find pages? Is there an Index?
+{{faqa}}Yes, you can access the index at [[Special:Allpages]]. You can also use the default [[Special:Search|internal wiki search]]. You can also go to [[Special:Allpages/X]] where X is the first word in your search. Example: <code>[[Special:Allpages/Thunder]]</code>, if you're looking for, say [[Thunderfury]], but you're not certain if it's under that or [[Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker]]. You may also type the article title into your browser at the end of the WoWWiki URL.
-{{faqa}}Yes, you can access the index at [[Special:Allpages]].
-(You can also use Google to search by prefacing your search with "site:wowwiki.com";
-see this example: [http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&biw=985&q=site%3Awowwiki.com+Alchemy&btnG=Search site:wowwiki.com Alchemy].
-If you're looking for a specific article, and you know that it's in the general namespace (if it's not a category page, not an image, not a template, etc.) then you can find it by typing in the "go-to" bar (or, until that is fixed, the address bar) the following: <code>[[Special:Allpages/Thunder]]</code>, if you're looking for, say [[Thunderfury]], but you're not certain if it's under that or [[Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker]].
 </div>
@@ Line 140: / Line 101: @@
 <div style="margin-left:3%;">
-{{faqq}}Is all the text free? Ie, can we pinch it and stick it in Wikipedia? - [[User:Access|Access]] 12:11, 9 Sep 2005 (EDT)
+{{faqq}}Is all the text free? Ie, can we pinch it and stick it in Wikipedia?
-{{faqa}}Everything in wowwiki is free as in "free beer", according to its license, the [http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html GNU Free Documentation License]. In short, you can do pretty much anything with it, except make it "un-free".  As a matter of courtesy though, we would appreciate mentioning where texts originally came from if you're pinching entire pages. But we can't force you to :-)  --[[User:Mikk|Mikk]] 04:27, 7 June 2006 (EDT)
+{{faqa}}Everything in WoWWiki is free as in "free beer", according to its license, the [http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html GNU Free Documentation License]. In short, you can do pretty much anything with it, except make it "un-free".  As a matter of courtesy though, we would appreciate mentioning where texts originally came from if you're pinching entire pages. But we can't force you to.
 </div>
 {{AlsoSee|[[WoWWiki:Community portal|The WoWWiki community portal]], [[WoWWiki:Policies|WoWWiki policies]], [[Help:Contents|Help]]}}