Yesterday we announced that MMGN was going Open Source, allowing users to create and curate content by the people, and for the people. It introduces an exciting prospect for how we can create game profiles, share information, and create mini-communities around our favourite games, characters, locations and more. But with great power comes great responsibility my friends, so let's take a look at how the new system works, where it is going in the future, and the standards that not only the admin team, but the entire MMGN community will be expecting from you.
How To Create Wiki Pages
Currently the system is in a type of "beta" phase so there is no dedicated wiki page just yet. For now to create a wiki page you will simply need to type the following into your browser window.
http://mmgn.com/Wiki/.......
Inserting the wiki page name after the last / will do one of two things; if the page already exists it will load it up correctly, and if it doesn't then you will be asked if you want to create the article. It's not the most ideal system at the moment, but until the wiki feed has been completed it is all we have.
Once an article has been created then your standard BB code used throughout the forums will work in the wiki. Here is a quick rundown for commonly used codes.
==TEXT== - Title or heading
[b]TEXT[/b] - Bold
[i]TEXT[/i] - Italics
[url=LINK]TEXT[/url] - Hyperlink to webpage etc
[img]IMAGE LINK[/img] - Insert image from the internet
[youtube]VIDEO CODE[/youtube] - Insert YouTube video
[hr] - Insert linebreak
[*] TEXT - Insert bullet point
So once you have your information typed out on your wiki, you may want to create sub-pages for certain items such as characters, areas etc. Using The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past page as guide you can see that links have been made for various items mentioned throughout the wiki. To do this is very simple, let's look at the process for making a page for Shigeru Miyamoto.
You simply enter the desired text between double brackets - [[Shigeru Miyamoto]] - to create the link. Now when someone clicks on that page it will take them to that article, or if it has not been created yet it will allow them to commence creation.
It is through these links we can create mini-communities based around our favourite characters, locations, items and developers.
Standards To Uphold
We want this project to be completely open to every single MMGN community member, giving everyone a chance to share their knowledge about their favourite games. Having said that we expect that a certain standard is met from members who choose to contribute. This isn't going to be like Wikipedia where a slight mistake will cause weeks of controversy, but we do expect that users will do their best to provide factual and correct information. Here are some tips to creating a good article.
Use your own words - Copying and pasting information directly from other sources is a bit boring. Go ahead and add your own flavour to the content.
Be objective - These pages aren't there to confess your fanboyism for a certain game. They are to share information about aspects of your favourite title. Keep opinions to a minimum and display information in an objective manner.
If something is questionable add a source - Maybe you found a hot scoop on some information that needs to be added to the wiki post haste! If the information may be questionable or perhaps not widely known, consider naming and linking a source.
Check your spelling and grammar - Please do your best to check your spelling and grammar. Chances are other community members will pitch in and help but do your best to minimise editing time.
Disruption will result in 24 hour ban, no exceptions - The idea of this project is to open up how we can discuss and share information about our favourite games. We want these communities to enjoy their time talking about these games, and to keep things fresh and clean. If a member significantly disrupts a wiki page with nonsense there will be a 24 hour ban issued instantly. What do we mean by disruption?
If someone logs into the Call of Duty wiki pages for instance and starts deleting facts and simply adding something like "Call of Duty is da worst gamez in da world coz it is crap" we consider that to be a disruption. As we said this project is for the community to grow, not to show love or hatred for particular franchises.
Most importantly though, have fun with it guys. This could be a very exciting community project for MMGN members!