Changes: Wowpedia:Item articles policy

Revision as of 09:00, 12 June 2010

Wowpedia:Policies
Policy status and phases
Category Copyright Deletion – Speedy deletion Disallowed content – NDA Editing – Disruptive editing External links Fan fiction Images		Item articles Lore Naming Neutrality Personal articles Player character pages Projects Stubs Three revert rule User naming Vandalism Voting
See also: guidelines, administrators

This page is an official policy on Wowpedia.

This policy has wide acceptance among editors and is considered a standard that all users should follow.

Feel free to propose any changes to this policy, but please make sure that changes you make follow the official process and reflect consensus on the discussion page before you put them into practice. Any big changes need to be Adopted or Decreed to be enforced as policy.
See Wowpedia:Policies for an overview of Wowpedia policies.
See Category:Policies for a list of proposed and adopted policy articles.
Shortcut: WW:ITEMS

Item articles are one of the most populous types of articles in the Wiki, and as such, are prone to the most variation. This policy outlines what consistencies must be used when creating or editing an item article.

It is not the intent of this policy to construct a platform for a strict database for items, rather, one that organizes them in a consistent manner and allows for comparison and discussion above and beyond what is available on database sites while still offering the capabilities of broad edits and updates.

Naming

The article name must match the item name exactly, complete with any punctuations. If there are multiple items with the same name, a "disambig" redirect article should be created, with the items disambiguated by their defining characteristics at separate pages. See Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian for a good example of this behavior.

Content

Item articles are required to follow the base formatting of Help:Item articles.

Required

The following elements from the boilerplate are required as documented on the Help page:

Tooltip (created with Template:Tooltip which is included in the Help Page)
Source
External links
Categories (as detailed on Help:Item articles)

Optional

These elements are optional, but should be included when it relates to the item:

Screenshot of item in-use
As an ingredient
As a quest objective
Patches and hotfixes
Notes

The Boilerplate and Tooltip template are very well documented and together will provide almost all of the functionality that will need to be used for both required and optional elements.

Images

Images of items that have models in-game should be limited to one or two at the most. They should depict the item being equipped/used by a character in-game and cropped accordingly. (Example: Image:DawnsEdge.jpg).

Inclusions

The article must have <onlyinclude> tags around the tooltip, allowing the tooltip data to be included on other articles on the Wiki. (Help:Item articles has this functionality by default.)

There are to be no sub-articles for any element of the item article, which means that all of the information must originate from the base item article.

Additional content

As long as the previous required elements are included, any additional information in relation to the item is encouraged to be added to the article. This can include lore, previous versions, bugs, connections to the TCG, undocumented effects, etc. Normally the Notes section of the article is ideal for this, though others may apply as well.

Exceptions

Rarely, some item articles may require a different or modified format depending on the type of item and the related content. If an author feels an exception should be made when stepping outside of the required format, they must document this in the item's Talk page and be aware any changes may be reverted at the discretion of admins.

Pages which have extremely short sections (for example, only an intro and a one-sentence source section) can have their section titles removed. If all the relevant information is presented in a few sentences this is preferred, as it reduces unnecessary whitespace. For an example, see [Ring of Arathi Warlords].

Policy enforcement

Any item articles that do not yet have all of the required information or are using outdated tooltip formatting should be marked with {{Stub/Item}}.
Any sub-articles should be marked with {{Speedydelete}} as long as the information is also present in the article (if relevant).

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Policy/Proposal}}
+{{policies}}
+{{policy|shortcut=WW:ITEMS}}
+{{clrl}}
+'''Item articles''' are one of the most populous types of articles in the Wiki, and as such, are prone to the most variation. This policy outlines what consistencies must be used when creating or editing an item article.
-I believe that it is time to address a growing issue on the WoWWiki, that of item article standards. Item pages are one of the most prolific on the Wiki, and as such have been addressed in a number of different ways by different authors.
+It is not the intent of this policy to construct a platform for a strict database for items, rather, one that organizes them in a consistent manner and allows for comparison and discussion above and beyond what is available on database sites while still offering the capabilities of broad edits and updates.
+== Naming ==
+The article name must match the item name '''exactly''', complete with any punctuations. If there are multiple items with the same name, a "disambig" redirect article should be created, with the items disambiguated by their defining characteristics at separate pages. See [[Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian]] for a good example of this behavior.
-== The Policy ==
+== Content ==
+Item articles are required to follow the base formatting of [[Help:Item articles]].
-This proposed policy is twofold.
+=== Required ===
-Firstly, to ratify that a standard should be set set in place for all item pages and what elements they need to contain. This standard would be enforced on all item articles and a standard template or series of templates will be selected for use.
+The following elements from the boilerplate are required as documented on the Help page:
+*Tooltip ''(created with [[Template:Tooltip]] which is included in the Help Page)''
+*Source
+*External links
+*Categories ''(as detailed on [[Help:Item articles]])''
+=== Optional ===
-Secondly, to decide what that standard should be in constructing them. There seems to be a degree of differing opinions on how we should go about doing so, so two solutions will be proposed, with room for additional ones.
+These elements are optional, but should be included when it relates to the item:
+*Screenshot of item in-use
+*As an ingredient
+*As a quest objective
+*Patches and hotfixes
+*Notes
+The Boilerplate and [[Template:Tooltip|Tooltip template]] are very well documented and together will provide almost all of the functionality that will need to be used for both required and optional elements.
-'''See Below for Proposed Details'''
-== Reasoning ==
+=== Images ===
+Images of items that have models in-game should be limited to one or two at the most. They should depict the item being equipped/used by a character in-game and cropped accordingly. ''(Example: [[:Image:DawnsEdge.jpg]])''.
-I believe something as important as these types of articles should be brought to an official standard, especially with the surplus of items coming in from the [[Burning Crusade]]. An official policy would both help bring some level of continuity to the Wiki, as well as make it easy as possible on authors writing item pages.
+=== Inclusions ===
-In my opinion, the Wiki isn't meant to be a straightforward item database, rather, one that organizes items and allows for comparison and discussion above and beyond what is available on Thottbot or Allakhazam.
+The article must have <nowiki><onlyinclude></nowiki> tags around the tooltip, allowing the tooltip data to be included on other articles on the Wiki. ([[Help:Item articles]] has this functionality by default.)
+There are to be no sub-articles for any element of the item article, which means that all of the information must originate from the base item article.
-== Policy Details ==
-=== Overall Standards ===
-Item articles should have the following elements regardless of how the page is ultimately constructed:
-*Full and complete Item Name
-*Icon
-*Correct and Complete Tooltip (with extended information, if needed, ie: Vendor Price, Item Level, etc)
-*Categorization (ie: [[:Category:Cloth Armor]], [[:Category:Mined Items]], etc.)
-*Where the item is obtained (detail can vary)
-*What the item is used for (if not obvious like armor or weapon)
-*External Links to Item Databases
+=== Additional content ===
-These elements must all be in place for an item to properly be un-stubbed.
+As long as the previous required elements are included, any additional information in relation to the item is encouraged to be added to the article. This can include lore, previous versions, bugs, connections to the TCG, undocumented effects, etc. Normally the '''Notes''' section of the article is ideal for this, though others may apply as well.
+== Exceptions ==
+Rarely, some item articles may require a different or modified format depending on the type of item and the related content. If an author feels an exception should be made when stepping outside of the required format, they must document this in the item's Talk page and be aware any changes may be reverted at the discretion of admins.
+Pages which have extremely short sections (for example, only an intro and a one-sentence source section) can have their section titles removed.  If all the relevant information is presented in a few sentences this is preferred, as it reduces unnecessary whitespace.  For an example, see {{loot|epic|Ring of Arathi Warlords}}.
-=== Options ===
-This proposal will have four outcomes. Three in favour of different solutions and one disagreeing with standardization all together.
+== Policy enforcement ==
-===='''Option 1 - No Standardization'''====
+*Any item articles that do not yet have all of the required information or are using outdated tooltip formatting should be marked with <tt>{{t|Stub/Item}}</tt>.
-You do not believe a standard is neccessary and would prefer each author use their own methods to address item articles.
+*Any sub-articles should be marked with <tt>{{t|Speedydelete}}</tt> as long as the information is also present in the article (if relevant).
+== See also ==
+*[[Help:Item articles]] - Standard for formatting all item articles
-===='''Option 2 - Standardizing, One Article'''====
+*{{t|Tooltip}} - Template used to generate item tooltips
-We should standardize item pages, but have all of the information (most importantly, the tooltip/attribute data) entered into the original article with no inclusions.<br/>
+*[[WoWWiki:WoW Icons]] - Resource for browsing and finding item icons
-''(Example: [[Redemption Tunic]])''
+[[ru:WoWWiki:Правила для статьей о предметах]]
-===='''Option 3 - Standardizing, Sub-Article(s)'''====
-We should standardize item pages, and have at least one sub-article (at the very least, a /Tooltip sub-article) that can be transcluded in other articles for various uses. Sub-articles should be used sparingly as not to affect server performance.<br/>
-''(Example: [[Design: Pendant of Shadow%27s End]]) which uses [[Design: Pendant of Shadow%27s End/Tooltip|/Tooltip]] and [[Design: Pendant of Shadow%27s End/Icon|/Icon]])''
-===='''Option 4 - Standardizing, Something Else'''====
-We should standardize item pages, but none of the above two options quite feels right to me. Please detail your suggestion in the comments. Or if you see another user's suggestion that feels right, make a comment for that as well.
-== Tooltips ==
-How the tooltips are formatted exactly should be something that is decided afterwards (if there is a standardization ratified), however there are a few templates already in place that are certainly up to the task.
-{{Policy/Vote}}  <!-- Possible tags:  Policy/Vote  Ratified  Adopted  Rejected  Recalled  (or remove)-->
-== Policy ratification vote ==
-<div style="margin: 1em 0em 2em 3em;">
-;<font color="#FFFFFF">Option 1 - No Standardization</font>:   <!-- Add: {{vote|Option 1|~~ ~~| ...notes/leave empty... }} (recombine the "~"s)-->
-;<font color="#FFFFFF">Option 2 - Standardization - One Article</font>:    <!-- Add: {{vote|Option 2|~~ ~~| ...notes/leave empty... }}  (recombine the "~"s)-->
-{{vote|Option 2|[[User:ClydeJr|ClydeJr]] 11:54, 25 January 2007 (EST)|I think everything should be contained on a single page. It makes it easier for editing and maintaining. We can still use noinclude tags so you can link the tooltip into another page.}}
-{{vote|Option 2|[[User:Voidvector|Voidvector]] 15:23, 25 January 2007 (EST)|Single page. Having every in-game item's price/icon/quality pullable via a separate template is beyond the scope and design of of a wiki.}}
-{{vote|Option 2|sig={{User:Zeal/Sig}} 16:35, 25 January 2007 (EST)||I don't agree with some of the standard's you've layed out, but those can be adressed with more detail later. I question the need to pull anything from a page however.}}
-{{vote|Option 2|sig={{User:Jeoh/Signature}}||Agreed with ClydeJr}}
-{{vote|Option 2|--[[User:Dracomage|Dracomage]] 09:02, 27 January 2007 (EST)| I'm with Clyde on this topic. }}
-{{vote|Option 2|sig={{User:Kirkburn/Sig}} 13:12, 27 January 2007 (EST)|Simplest is best}}
-{{vote|Option 2|[[User:AmethystAngel|AmethystAngel]] 15:52, 28 January 2007 (EST)| /agree Voidvector}}
-{{vote|Option 2|sig={{User:Adys/Sig}}|Sub articles were placeholders for easier editing and bot maintenancing. If there is a better possibility, as in pulling the needed informations in the page itself and keep everything to the same page, it would be better overall.}}
-;<font color="#FFFFFF">Option 3 - Standardization - Sub-Article(s)</font>:    <!-- Add: {{vote|Option 3|~~ ~~| ...notes/leave empty... }}  (recombine the "~"s)-->
-{{vote|Option 3|[[User:Tusva|Tusva]] 11:05, 25 January 2007 (EST)|Sub-articles would allow greater flexibility for inclusion in other articles. EDIT: Though a noinclude solution as ClydeJr brought up above would also suit the purpose, as well.}}
-;<font color="#FFFFFF">Option 4 - Standardization - Something Else</font>:    <!-- Add: {{vote|Option 4|~~ ~~| ...notes/leave empty... }}  (recombine the "~"s)-->
-=== Comments ===
-:Shouldn't this be on the talk page? :p --{{User:Zeal/Sig}} 16:36, 25 January 2007 (EST)
-::Technically yes. However, given the proposal is a bit more complicated than "yes/no", I elected to keep it on the policy page. Should it be ratified, the discussion can be archived to the talk page.  --[[User:Tusva|Tusva]] 17:05, 25 January 2007 (EST)
-</div><hr><br><!-- END OF VOTING BOOTH AND COMMENTS -->