How to add your own material to the site.
This is specific advice for the FOSsil Bank. For more general advice:
Codes
There are two systems of codes we use that are worth knowing about. The first is internal links to other pages on the wiki. They usually follow the structure: **[/type-of-page:title-of-page Title of Page]**.
The other is tagging. Scroll to the bottom of most pages and you will see a number of tags. For example, Lady Blackbird has 12 ('by-nc-sa fantasy gratis hackbird lady-blackbird-companion one-seven-design-studio other-language rpg spanish story-game tabletop-game work')! That's more than almost any other page on the site!
When other wiki pages have lists on them, these tags tell the wiki what pages to include on the list. For example, the list of Spanish works includes Lady Blackbird because Lady Blackbird has the 'work' and 'spanish' tags.
When you make a new page, you'll be including links to other pages. When save the page, scroll to the bottom and click the 'Tags' button and add the appropriate tag.
I've made a Complete List of Codes to help you out. Don't be frightened, though: better to give it a go and make a mistake than not try at all. I am instantly told when anyone edits this site, so if you make a mistake I can fix it in minutes or hours.
How to add a new page
This site is roughly divided into three types of content:
- Works: Individual creations. A song, book or PDF all qualify as works.
- Sources: Creators or hosts of creations. Authors, websites and bands all qualify as sources.
- Resources: These are a subset of works that are only useful when added to another work. For example, a computer game expansion back is a work, but it's also a supplement because it needs the original computer game to be valuable.
To add a new work to the wiki, go to the 'Add a new page' entry in the sidebar and type in work:name-of-the-work. Then just fill in the form by following the instructions.
To add a new source to the wiki, do the same thing but type source:name-of-the-source
To add a new resource to the wiki, do exactly the same thing as for all other works. Resources are only identified by the extra tag, 'resource'.
Fill in the details
0. Title
Make sure the title of the work/source has capital letters and punctuation in the right places.
Example Entry
Lady Blackbird
1. Introduction
Add a one-sentence description of the work/source. You cannot include any syntax in this entry (e.g., no // or ** to make words italicised or bold). It will be automatically italicised when published.
Example Entry
A game, a setting and a starting adventure all in one; a collage of recent innovations in gaming.
2. URL
Copy-paste the URL of the work/source.
Example Entry
This is all you need to do. You can stop here. However, I would prefer that you add to the quality and descriptiveness of the entry by filling in the rest of the form and then tagging the article.
The rest of the details
3. Details
Add more details if you want. Usually, I don't.
Example Entry
This game combines rules from a number of sources, including //The Pool//, //Geiger Counter// and //The Shadow of Yesterday//.
(The // makes the entries italicised: The Pool, Geiger Counter and The Shadow of Yesterday.)
4. Source (works only)
(For sources, skip to the next section)
Enter the work's creator, publisher, host, etc. If that creator, publisher, host, etc is also listed as a source on this wiki, link to it (copy-paste this: [/source:name-of-the-source-with-dashes-for-spaces Name of the Source]). This adds that part in bold to the URL of this wiki (fossilbank.wikidot.com), so when the user clicks on that link they get taken to, for example, fossilbank.wikidot.com/source:josh-woodward
Example Entries
[/source:one-seven-design-studio one.seven.design.studio], John Harper
(The first entry looks like "one.seven.design.studio" to the wiki user).
5. Categories and Subcategories
For works: Identify which category or categories the work falls under (e.g. books under Literature, songs under Music). Every work belongs to one or more categories and may belong to sub-categories in that category. On this wiki, we link to categories but not to sub-categories. Write **[/category:name-of-category Name of Category] and then put any relevant sub-categories in brackets after this.
For sources: Look at the kinds of works that the source produces. Identify which category or categories those works fall under. On this wiki, we link to categories but not to sub-categories. Write **[/category:name-of-category Name of Category] and then put any relevant sub-categories in brackets after this.
Example Entry
[/category:tabletop-game Tabletop Game] (Story Game)
(This entry looks like "Tabletop Game (Story Game)" to the wiki user.)
6. Genres, Platforms, Languages and Engines
This is a catch-all area for groupings of works and sources that aren't categories. Includes:
- Genres: Stuff like Fantasy, Science Fiction and Supers. You write them: **[/genre:name-of-genre Name of Genre].
- Platforms: Linux, Windows or Mac. You write them **[/platform:name-of-platform Name of Platform]
- Engines: For electronic and tabletop games that draw from a unified ruleset. You write them: **[/engine:name-of-engine Name of Engine]
- Languages: If the work is in a language other than English (including if it is also in English), identify this. You write them **[/language:name-of-language Name of Language]
Example Entry
[/genre:fantasy Fantasy] (genre); [/engine:hackbird Hackbird] (engine); English and [/language:spanish Spanish] (languages)
(This entry looks like "Fantasy (genre); Hackbird (engine); English and Spanish (languages)" to the wiki user.)
7. Licence, Status and Openness
Then you need to write any licences that apply to the work. The internal link is: [/licence:name-of-licence Name of Licence]. If the work is under a single clear licence, then this is all you need to do for this step.
If multiple licences apply, it's unclear which licence applies or if no licences apply, then instead of telling us the licence tell us the work's status instead. The five statuses are: [/status:pd Public domain], [/status:permissive Permissive], [/status:copyleft Copyleft], [/status:noncommercial Noncommercial] and [/status:verbatim Verbatim].
If multiple statuses apply, then instead of telling us its status, tell us its level of openness. The two levels of openness are: [/openness:proprietary Proprietary] and [/openness:libre Libre].
For more details, check out Using this Stuff or the Proprietary and Libre pages.
Example Entry
[/licence:by-nc-sa Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike]
(This entry looks like "Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike" to the wiki user.)
8. Copyright Details
Then you need to add any further copyright details.
Example Entry
Permission has been granted to one author to use //Lady Blackbird// commercially.
(This entry looks like "Permission has been granted to one author to use //Lady Blackbird commercially." to the wiki user).//
9. Unique Identifier
Finally, the work needs a unique identifier. If other pages have this identifier as a tag (more on tags later) then they are linked to from this entry.
Example Entry
lady-blackbird
Press Save!
You're almost done.
Tagging
After you've created your page, scroll to the bottom of the page. You'll see a button called 'Tags'. Press it. For your new entry to be listed on the site, you have to give it some tags.
- If it's a work, give it the work tag.
- If it's a source, give it the source tag.
- If it's a resource, give it the work and supplement tags.
The rest of your tags are based on what you entered for the work or source above:
- Works may need a tag for their source, if it's a source that has its own page on the wiki. If so, add source's-name as a tag.
- Works and sources should have a tag for every category and subcategory
- Works and sources should have a tag for every genre, platform, engine and language
- Works and sources should have a tag for every licence. If you haven't listed a licence, they should have a tag for their status (permissive, pd, noncommercial, copyleft, verbatim). If you haven't listed a status, they should have a tag for their level of openness (libre or proprietary)
Remember!
- It's better to make any entry — no matter how short, no matter how many errors it has — than not to make an entry at all.
- You can always publish your entry and then edit it to fix it up
- You can test that you've done all your links properly by clicking on them. This also lets you check your tags, because if you've done them properly then your entry should show up in a list of works or sources in the categories it belongs to (for example, Flickr has the 'art' tag so it shows up on the Art page)
- You can see how we've done it on other pages by scrolling to the bottom of an entry, clicking + Options and then Page Source
- If you have any questions, email me!
