Talk: Formatting Standards

Discuss current or proposed formatting standards here.

Headers

So far, header size seems to vary throughout pages. I think we need to say "The largest header on a page should always be {foo}, and then decreasing from there". The question is, should {foo} be h1, h2, h3, or what? --Jabor 02:55, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

I agree with Jabor's header proposition. ~KyruKun 03:13, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

I would personally say that the largest header size be h2, and everything go down from there on the page. RoSociety0 19:12, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

• Everyone agree? --Jabor 01:19, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

Agree. Is h2 the double equals sign or single? Ne0pets22 12:06, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Screenshots

Proposed screenshot standards? I'd consider "no players in game screenshots unless absolutely necessary" would be something to consider. --Jabor 03:00, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

I agree with Jabor. Screenshots should not have any parts of the player in them.

In addition I propose that if an enemy has two very different appearances during an attack (See: Jellywogs and Pidgebombers) That there be a screenshot of each appearance side-by-side. ~KyruKun 03:13, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

You said that no players in game screenshots, right? But there are two screenshots with a player on it on Sidequests... ~Verrac unknown time, 18 May 2009

• These are proposed standards. Once it becomes an accepted standard (and shifted over to the main page rather than the talk here), I (or someone else) will go through and crop down those screenshots. --Jabor 05:24, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

I agree with Jabor on the first proposition. 70.16.183.123 10:24, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

If needed in the "Beginner's Guide" article, I can trim the images to that they do not include a player name, but they are purely there to provide examples of the classes. MyDreamName 14:52, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

• Probably cut the dialogue out too, hmm? --Jabor 23:05, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

Yes, the elimination of actual characters within game screenshots will help reduce confusion for a possible new player, as in they might think that this map or article only applies to xxx class. RoSociety0 19:12, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

Captions

I suggest that every picture have some sort of caption, even if it's just a simple description or name of what the picture is.

I think captionless pictures are really ugly, is all.

Any objections? --Muicey 11:12, January 15, 2010 (UTC)

"Mission Deployment" Cinematic Pictures

Any thoughts whether or not we should use pictures like for the Mission Deployment page --Muicey 11:43, January 15, 2010 (UTC)

Location Format

Recently I have taken to using linebreaks to separate different areas. Do we want to use commas instead? If so I need to know soon, as I plan to spend either tomorrow or Tuesday updating the Bestiary to contain at least 90% of V0.6 Bestiary data. I have compiled any of the missing images and statistical information (excluding Attack, hence 90% completion) for Steam City Ruins and have nearly all of Ferric Forest compiled as of this post.

Thanks! ~KyruKun 03:13, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

Checking out examples of both, I'm thinking linebreaks look best, but I'd like other people to weigh in before adding it to the standards. Also, if we could add stuff under appropriate headers, that would be great. --Jabor 03:45, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

I believe that linebreaks look a lot better than commas, and if we are using linebreaks then commas between them would be unnecessary. RoSociety0 19:13, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

Naming Conventions

Image Naming

This is actually kind of important. Currently, image files aren't very consistently named. Any suggestions? --Jabor 05:32, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

I have been naming all of my image files after the monsters themselves. If the enemy is named "Embermite" then I name the file "Embermite.jpg". I do think we should keep file names both as clear and as simple as possible. For example, if we were to create a page for all of the machines in the game I don't think that it would be appropriate to name the image file for the Machine Press "MPSCRB" (Machine Press, Steam City Ruins, Beta). While it may make sense to you, and possibly to us, the file name "MachinePress" is far more intuitive. If it turns out that there are going to be multiple maps with similar machinery, then we can worry about how to differentiate the file names then. --KyruKun 05:37, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

• Actually, it's kind of important when considering things like mission maps (showing the location of an item) and so on. If someone calls one map "SteamCityRuins_LucasMap.jpg" and someone else names a different map "WY00001_Map", then it's a pain keeping track of everything. --Jabor 07:59, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

• I agree that side quest and mission screenshots especially need a standardized file name. I would prefer it if we named it after either A: The quest/mission name itself or B: The Call sign for the mission. ex: MD0209. --KyruKun 16:20, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

I personally would like it formatted like this: We take the area name (the over area, like Steamcity Ruins or Ferric Forrest), and go "SteamCityRuinsMap_(MissionCallsign).png/.jpg, whatever. That way, at a glance, someone can see the area it is based in, and then can look up the mission associated with it. Angel14995 19:12, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

I agree with Angel's idea, the inclusion of both the area name then the call number for the quest will probably help with later quests, as in when we have quests spanning multiple areas and we need to have maps that tell us which area it is depicting and also the quest. RoSociety0 19:16, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

I would prefer naming maps based on missions and locations of objectives in the quest callsign format. MD0207.jpg, for example, for mission 17: Fighting Fires. I suppose Angel's format is best. --Kelitrex 19:17, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

I'd prefer to have just the quest name personally. Though Angel's format is probably best, I'm just lazy when I put images up. (note this is Joshhh on the RoS account) RoSociety0 19:20, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

Item Naming

When naming items, do we insert spaces or not? And what names should we use for images that we just want on our profiles?Ne0pets22 12:30, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

All items, furniture, food, clothes, etc should have exact names, with spaces/underscores as each space. It should be PNG, it comes out better quality, and that is better for smaller images. Profile pictures can have whatever they want, as long as they dont interfere with other picture names. Any profile pic name that interferes, should be renamed, and let them know. Plokkey 03:44, November 18, 2010 (UTC)

Second Vs. Third Person

When it comes to describing how players and NPCs interact with each other, how should we address the Player reading the article? Should it be "Players" or "You"? Thoughts? Example: Wystan or Madame Bristlecone Versus Rook --Epynephrin 13:13, 21 August 2009 (UTC)

I'd say "Players" --Muicey 04:30, January 16, 2010 (UTC)

Page Layouts

Bestiary Layout

I have been working on the Bestiary for the better part of the day and I wanted to make sure that the format was well received and well liked before I proceeded to add it to EVERY monster entry.

The example can be found here: http://remnantsofskystone.wikia.com/wiki/Batowl

Also, all enemies except for Stinkstriders, Crawbacks, Ferrimimic, and Great Ferron have bestiary entries now. So it's only a matter of applying the format to every page once the format has been agreed upon. --KyruKun 22:20, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

• I like the format. Someone should probably make an {{incomplete}} template to stick at the top of pages where not all the information has been filled in. --Jabor 22:35, 18 May 2009 (UTC)
  • Template is made. --Jabor 22:55, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

As it stands, the current incomplete layout looks like this: http://remnantsofskystone.wikia.com/wiki/Batowl

I started to update everything to the old style that Jabor agreed upon until it occured to me that the layout had not yet been optimized and I wanted to make sure that most of the desired fields were already available so that users knew what we wanted/are looking for.

Any further suggestions/comments? --KyruKun 01:00, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

Fine by me thus far. I have no objections. Angel14995 01:02, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

NPC Pages

Worked on Lucas Hardy a minute ago, and compared it to Otto von Tesla I did last night. In addition to trying to embellish on the characters, I've been giving all of the NPC pages a Sidequests section, and simply making the quest a bullet-point with the name (Using the * [[ Sidequests #SidequestSectionTitle|Sidequest Name ]] format when editing. It occurred to me, do we want to have any relevant Sprockets on their pages as well? If so, do we want to blank them out, as they are on the Sprockets page? Also, what other sections do we want on that page? --Epynephrin 13:52, 21 August 2009 (UTC)

Areas

I've got to wonder whether it makes any sense to have a huge dump of experience totals for every room in the area. Perhaps those numbers should be superimposed on a map of the area instead? --Jabor 20:36, January 3, 2010 (UTC)

Agreed, or at least it should be cleaned up a little bit -- Muicey 09:38, January 15, 2010 (UTC)

Daily Quests/Sidequests Page

I find the long list of missions hard to navigate AND hard to edit.

Should we change those long lists into a Category Page that links to the individual Mission Pages?

edit: This undertaking is underway! More information at http://remnantsofskystone.wikia.com/wiki/Talk:Sidequests#Separation

-- Muicey 09:40, January 15, 2010 (UTC)

"Sprockets" Template

Only some pages have Sprocket Data on them, So I figured that while there were only a few of them, we should have a universalized format for Sprocket Data?

My example would be: http://remnantsofskystone.wikia.com/wiki/Etherillium#Sprockets

Later, we may/may not make individual pages for sprockets, detailing what they say and where to get them, but that may not be necessary.

If no one has any objections/corrections to this, should we make a one of those Templates for Sprocket Data? --Muicey 10:25, January 15, 2010 (UTC)

"Room by Room" Section

I suggest that we take all the "Room by Room" sections at the end of the Ground Areas and do two things:

1. Add each room's information to it's own "Room Page"
2. Make a separate section called "Experience Grinding" or something and put the run-through of the rooms there as well.

Any comments? --Muicey 11:23, January 15, 2010 (UTC)

Maps

Mission Maps

Proposed mapping standards:

• Maps should be cropped to show just the relevant area (e.g. just the factory, or just the sewers)
• Objectives (when marked) should be marked at their approximate location in the room, in one of the following ways:
  • A red dot for an enemy you must kill.
  • A blue dot for an item you must obtain.
  • A yellow dot for a person you must talk to.

Comments? Suggestions? --Jabor 05:02, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

I like the idea of having what you need to do in each room color coded, especially because certain missions require you to do multiple things. We would need to make sure that all the colors are consistent - like all reds need to be #FF0000. Also, the dots shouldn't be approximately where the item is in the room, it should just be in the room. The reason I say this is because if we use the idea that "Enemy X is approximately Y", then we aren't having the people play the game, and people will be whining that our dot is 1 pixel off what it should be, blah blah blah. Especially with something like the Firegrub mission, where they move around the screen like crazy, we should make it reference the room, not the position in the room. Angel14995 17:26, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

I like the color coding idea, but cropping maps doesn't seem like a good idea. If you crop out everything but one area, then you aren't showing where that area is in relation to the other areas. If an area was in the middle of the map, it would be extremely difficult for someone to find where that area fits on the complete map. I propose instead that the relevant area be highlighted a certain color instead. Perhaps the entire map could be color coded by area and used in all of the pages of a zone? --TatharNuar 18:01, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

In "travel" quests involving more than one NPC, would it make more sense to use differently colored dots or numbers with a legend in either case? I'm using colored dots atm. --Kelitrex 19:48, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

I don't like the cropping of the map idea, I prefer it as it is with the whole map of that area. On certain quests you'd be having multiple maps of places if we're cropping to just sewers or just the factory. The dots would show the areas well enough. With the dots, on some of the sidequests you have to talk to various NPC's, I'd suggest here that you either add a number in the rooms as well stating which is which person, OR you'd have to take one of the other colours and state in the caption which colour is which person. Though generally sticking to blue as the main/first NPC you speak to. (Joshhh on RoS account) RoSociety0 19:55, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

• If you look on the mission page, it's very hard to see exactly what you're supposed to be looking at in those thumbs. If someone wants to see where an area is in relation to the rest of the map, they can look on the location page, no? --Jabor 22:34, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

Location Maps

I love the Image Map on the Ground Areas Pages! Just a little suggestion, I see that some of the rooms are numbered from 1-10 etc. Could we add those numbers to the image of the map, so a reader could easily tell which room was which number?

I know this isn't worded very well, but I hope you understand what I'm trying to suggest =P --Muicey 10:14, January 15, 2010 (UTC)

Coloring

I've noticed we don't always use the same colors. I think we should compile a list of the color codes we use here so we keep a consistent color scheme. These are the codes I see most often:

Color	Hex	RGB
Red	#FFCCCC	255,204,204
Orange	#FFCC66	255,204,102
Yellow	#FFFFCC	255,255,204
Green	#CCFFCC	204,255,204
Blue	#CCCCFF	204,204,255
Teal	#CCFFFF	204,255,255
Purple	#FFCCFF	255,204,255
Gray	#CCCCCC	204,204,204
White	#FFFFFF	255,255,255
Brown	This color varies between mediums. Because brown is a very RoS-ish color, you can fiddle with numbers until you get a color that looks nice, and it'll mesh with the rest of the wiki.
HTML Red	#FF0000	255,0,0

These are just the colors we use currently. Changes should be made if different colors are implemented. ~Monchoman45, 02:56, November 20, 2010 (UTC)

Huhwut I use Colorzilla for my colors. The orange on the charr is 255,204,102 (according to colozilla), but that doesn't seem right, because the only codes on the list are 204 and 255. Doesn't seem possible to get it, Orange is a weird color here. Plokkey 03:40, November 20, 2010 (UTC)

Yea, orange is a weird color because its in between red and yellow. FFCC66 fits pretty well with the light color scheme we use for tables, so i think we should keep it. But I'm pretty sure we've used tons of different oranges. It's just a really annoying color. Also, I think the brown on the table is off. It looks to orangey. I tried to steal the brown we used for the header bar but I can't find it on the hex table. ~Monchoman45 14:01, November 20, 2010 (UTC)

I think this might be a disadvantage to colorblind people, because they all look the same on a black/white scale. Plokkey 00:39, November 24, 2010 (UTC)