Paragon Wiki Archive:Article Guidelines

Subject Matter

The subject matter of The Paragon Wiki is NCsoft's games City of Heroes and City of Villains. Articles in the main namespace should be about City of Heroes/Villains and other topics that are of an official nature. Examples of appropriate subject matter include:

• Game mechanics (such as archetypes, powersets, enhancements, exemplaring)
• Game content (such as mission text, NPC descriptions)
• NCsoft staff information (such as information on developers, community representatives)
• Official events (those sponsored by NCsoft)
• The actual game as sold (such as the Good Versus Evil Edition)
• Official material relating to City of Heroes/Villains (such as the comic book)
• Player-created guides for the game (such as a guide about slash commands)

Player-specific content should not be published in the main namespace. Users may put such information on their userpage, or in some cases, on the Community Portal. Examples of subject matter that should not be in the main namespace include:

• Player characters
• Supergroups
• Player-created fiction
• Player-initiated events
• Player-developed software or utilities
• Player-developed websites

Note that this only covers subject matter, not linking. For example, it would be inappropriate to have an article discuss the various badging websites. However, it is quite permissible (and encouraged!) to link to such a badge site's article on a specific badge from that badge's page.

Note also that player-created guides are okay, assuming they're about the game (for example, The Incomplete and Unofficial Guide to /bind). This is because they are still intrinsically about the game itself, rather than about the player or the players' creations.

In-Game Text

Many articles copy text as it appears in game. This section applies to such text.

• When a character's name is mentioned in the text, it should be replaced with the {{Character}} template.
• Misspellings and grammatical errors should be fixed.
• Factual errors should be corrected or noted.
• Story arc clues should not be added on a mission by mission basis, unless they differ significantly from the souvenir. Most of these clues are reprinted in the souvenir.
• Abbreviations should be expanded the first time they appear in an article. A person new to online games will not know what AoE, DoT, etc. stand for.
• Effects should not be capitalized. Instead of "Disorientation, Immobilization, or Hold effects," it should be "disorientation, immobilization, or hold effects."

Headings

• Links should not be used in headings.
• Every article should have an Overview section that provides a high-level summary of the article's topic. In some cases, the Overview may be the only section in an article.

Direct Links Vs. Redirects

When editing an article and linking to another article, an editor may be presented with a decision regarding whether to link directly to the destination article or link to a redirect. For example, the following links will both take a reader to the same final destination:

Link Category	Markup	Resulting Link
Redirect	[[Patrol XP]]	Patrol XP
Direct	[[Patrol Experience|Patrol XP]]	Patrol XP

Note that in the first example, the reader is initially taken to a redirect page which reroutes them to their final destination and displays the following message at the top of the article:

(Redirected from Patrol XP)

The guidelines for linking to other articles using redirects on Paragon Wiki are as follows:

• Targeting a redirect rather than directly linking to an article is generally permissible, so long as the redirect linked is not provided as a search aid in order to correct a common misspelling

Link Category	Markup	Resulting Text	Allowable?
Direct	This badge is awarded for completion of the [[Dr. Kahn Task Force]].	This badge is awarded for completion of the Dr. Kahn Task Force.	Yes.
Redirect	This badge is awarded for completion of the [[Dr. Khan Task Force]].	This badge is awarded for completion of the Dr. Khan Task Force.	No. "Khan" is a misspelling of "Kahn". This redirect is only provided to correct misspellings in searches.

• Changing the target of an existing link from a redirect to direct is allowed, so long as the article's text does not lose clarity or meaning as a result.

Link Category	Markup	Resulting Text	Allowable?
Redirect (original)	Visiting this spot earns the [[Nimble Mynx]] badge.	Visiting this spot earns the Nimble Mynx badge.	Yes.
Direct (edited)	Visiting this spot earns the [[Nimble Mynx Badge|Nimble Mynx]] badge.	Visiting this spot earns the Nimble Mynx badge.	Yes.
Direct (edited)	Visiting this spot earns the [[Nimble Mynx Badge]].	Visiting this spot earns the Nimble Mynx Badge.	Yes.
Direct (edited)	Visiting this spot earns the [[Nimble Mynx Badge]] badge.	Visiting this spot earns the Nimble Mynx Badge badge.	No. Repetition of the word "badge" makes this edited sentence more awkward.

• Linking to a redirect in certain templates (e.g. navigation templates) is not allowed under any circumstances.

Link Category	Markup	Resulting Text	Allowable?
Direct	[[Paragon Wiki:Article Guidelines|Article Guidelines]]	Article Guidelines	Yes. This link targets the page on which it resides. Therefore, it does not appear as a link.
Redirect	[[Article Guidelines]]	Article Guidelines	No. This link targets a redirect, appearing to link a new page. The redirect, however returns the reader to this same page, creating a self-referential link.

While both forms of linking are allowed, Paragon Wiki has historically shown an overall preference for use of direct links over redirected links.

Pronouns

• The use of first- and second person pronouns in articles should be avoided. Instead of "I think you get ambushed upon leaving this mission," use "An ambush may occur upon leaving this mission."

Article Names

• Articles for slash commands should not include the leading slash and should be followed by "(Slash Command)". Example: The article name for the /team slash command is Team (Slash Command).

User Pages

Out of common courtesy, any User Page is generally considered to be a small personal space for that User to place personal information, post examples of an article they may wish others to view before moving to the main project space, receive messages from other Users (on their Talk Page), etc. As such, it is typically left to the User who owns that space to maintain the content of that page. However, on occasion, an editor or admin may modify another User's User Page. Examples of when this might occur are as follows:

• An editor modifies a template that in some way breaks the content on a User's Page and out of courtesy makes a small modification on the User's Page to fix the error.
• A User misuses a template (commonly copying the template code instead of using {{TemplateName}}), which often results in the User being placed in inappropriate categories.
• A User posts links, images, or information on their page that includes inappropriate content (i.e. RMT sites or pornographic content.) (In these cases, it is best to contact an admin and ask them to handle the situation.)

Any time a User modifies another User's User Page, it is a good idea to leave a message on their Talk Page to let them know why the page was modified.