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Jay -> RE: DF Pedia Rules & Guidelines (2023) (3/27/2023 7:08:00)
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Entry Style Guide
General Guidelines
Links to entries should always end in "m=<Post ID>"; comparatively, "&mpage=1&key=&#<Post ID>" is extraneous clutter and should be removed.
In any descriptive section, numbers should be written out numerically where possible (e.g. use "20 hits" instead of "twenty hits").
Thread Titles
- These items will have one thread with separate posts for each item:
Random Weapon I, Random Weapon II, Random Weapon III — Same name, different ending.
Random Weapon Alpha, Random Weapon Beta, Random Weapon Gamma — Same deal as above.
- These items will have separate threads with "Also See:" lines linking them to each other:
Alpha Random Weapon, Beta Random Weapon, Gamma Random Weapon — Different prefix. Don't merge them.
Random Alpha Weapon, Random Beta Weapon, Random Gamma Weapon — Different middle. Same deal, don't merge.
- If two or more entries share a name, but are otherwise unrelated, the threads should neither be merged, nor linked by an "Also See:" line:
Random Weapon (Sword), Random Weapon (Staff), Random Weapon (Dagger) — Same name, yet different item type. Don't merge them.
Random Weapon (1), Random Weapon (2) — Same name, same item type, yet different appearance. Same deal, don't merge.
The only time anything is merged is if only the ending is different. Any other combination of any kind of name and it stays separate.
- Thread naming conventions:
Random Weapon I, Random Weapon II, Random Weapon III — Name the thread "Random Weapon (I, II, III)".
Random Weapon, Random Weapon II, Random Weapon III — First item is missing the "I", still name the thread "Random Weapon (I, II, III)".
Random Weapon, Random Weapon II, Random Weapon III, Random Weapon IV — More than 3 items, use the range notation "Random Weapon (I-IV)".
Random Weapon Alpha, Random Weapon Beta, Random Weapon Gamma — Name the thread "Random Weapon (Alpha, Beta, Gamma)".
Random Weapon, Random Weapon Alpha — Name the thread "Random Weapon (Alpha)".
Random Weapon, Random Weapon, Random Weapon — Same name, different levels, use "Random Weapon (All Versions)".
Random Weapon Alpha, Random Weapon Beta, Random Weapon Gamma, Random Weapon Omega — More than 3 items, use "Random Weapon (All Versions)".
Any other variation should most likely use the "(All Versions)" notation. If ever unsure, please ask a DF Pedia Mod or AK.
- Articles ("A", "An", or "The") at the beginning of an entry name should be moved to the end, separated by a comma:
A Quest — Name the thread "Quest, A".
An Undefined Quest — Name the thread "Undefined Quest, An".
The Random Weapon — Name the thread "Random Weapon, The".
The Random Weapon (I-V) — Name the thread "Random Weapon (I-V), The".
Header & Description
- The DM tag is needed on anything that requires Defender's Medals; if the item requires a DA as well, put the DA tag first.
- The DC tag is needed on anything that requires Dragon Coins, even if the item itself does not sell for Dragon Coins; if the item requires a DA as well, put the DA tag first.
- The Artifact tag is needed on anything that is an artifact, and should always appear before any other requirement tags, such as DA or DC tags.
- Non-DA items should be marked with "(No DA Required)". DA items should be marked with "(DA Required)", both with the parentheses. If the description mentions the Dragon Amulet requirement, this line should be omitted.
Location & Requirements
- Directions in the "Location" line should use Left/Right/Up/Down instead of West/East/North/South.
- Price: Denotes if the item can be purchased with Gold or Dragon Coins, and for how much; for most other items—such as quest drops or merge items—it should be N/A. Use a comma as a thousands separator if the price is over 999 Gold/Dragon Coins. If applicable, use USD currency values for Special Offer items instead.
- Use "Gold" instead of "gold".
- Use "Dragon Coins" instead of "DragonCoins" or "DCs". Sellback should read "X Dragon Coins before 24 hours, Y Dragon Coins after 24 hours", where X is 90% of the price, and Y is 25% of the price, both rounded up to the nearest whole number.
- If an item cannot be sold, the sellback should be N/A. If an item cannot be destroyed, it should be noted in other information.
- Required Item(s): This line should only appear if there are other items that are required to merge for the item. Use either "Required Items:" or "Required Item:" without parentheses:
- Items should be referred to by their exact name in-game, without plural form (e.g. "100 Defender's Medal" not "100 Defender's Medals").
- A quantity (#) must always be included, even if only "1", and an ampersand (&) should separate any items, both without the parentheses.
- Items should be linked to their DF Pedia entry, unless the item in question is in the same thread (e.g. a lower-level version of a weapon). In that case, the link should be omitted.
Specifics & Item Stats
- Damage should be shown as min-max instead of min - max (no spaces).
- NPCs in quests: Any pre-quest dialogue spoken by the quest giver does not entitle the speaker to be included in the NPC list of that quest. This dialogue is considered part of the zone the quest giver is in, and should not be included in the quest entry. Participation in the quest itself is required. In the NPC entry, this will determine if that quest will be shown in the "Location" line, or just in the "Quests given" section.
- If a quest or shop is not retired, but contains an item that has been removed from it, the rare item must be struck through ([s][/s]) under the "Rewards"/"Contents" section, and listed after non-rare items.
- For monsters (or rarely, temporary items) that scale to the player's level, the damage, HP/MP, and XP/Gold rewarded stats should be simply listed as "Scaled". For other stats, including defenses and offenses, calculations should be provided where reasonable, otherwise default to "Scaled".
- Ability Effects: Quote the exact name of the effect as applied to the recipient. Use the effect name as listed on the status panel, rather than in the battle log, wherever appropriate.
- Ability effects should follow the following format:
Effect: (#) hit(s) of (%) (type: Melee, Magic, Pierce) (element: Fire, Ice, Weapon) damage, amounting to (%) damage; applies '(effect name)' (effect value and type) to (player/target) for (#) turns.
Example: 2 hits of 50% Melee Metal damage, amounting to 100% damage; applies 'Focus' (+20 Bonus) to player for 5 turns inclusive.
Image & Footer
- Alternative image(s) should only be included if the content has another non-primary appearance, and should be denoted as such (e.g. "Side View Appearance" for an NPC screenshot). Alternate item appearances should have all of their appearance images embedded in the post. Alternative images should not be used for identical images of differing quality levels; only the highest quality version should be included in such cases.
- "Also See:" links should be sorted from the lowest level to the highest, and each one should be separated by a comma. Items of the same type that are from the same series or that share the same graphics should be listed here. For monsters, link normal and extreme versions (if they are on different threads), or similar monsters that share a base model. For NPCs, link their alter egos, or user accounts if the NPC is based on a forum user. Monster entries should not be included in the Also See section of the NPC (and vice versa). A link to a forum user should be marked with "(forum user)". Non-visual items do not typically require Also See links.
- For the credits section, if there is only one credited contributor, they should be listed on a single line:
If there are multiple credited contributors, use the following notation:
Thanks to
- User A for W and X.
- User B and User C for Y.
- User D, User E, and User F for Z.
The words "Thanks to" should only appear once. There is no colon (:) after the "to".
- Each entry should close with [color=#eeeeee] to hide the "Message edited by" line; it looks cleaner this way.
Thanks to Niki for providing the foundation for this entry style guide.
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