Star Wars ReExpanded:Layout guide

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This page goes over how to start the process of contributing to the wiki by adding new fanfics.

Creating an Account

To edit the wiki, an account is required, and account creation must be approved by the admin. You can submit a request to do so using Special:CreateAccount. After doing so, please message @mrgentlezombie on discord that you are requesting account creation, and ideally also provide an explanation of what you plan to be editing/creating. (Currently, the wiki doesn't give me any notifications for pending requests).

Once approved, you'll be emailed a temporary password.

Adding a Story

For any story to become an official part of the Re-Expanded Universe, it must be thoroughly documented on this site. That means not just a synopsis of the story, but also each character, planet, location, faction, technology used, etc. In the process of writing these articles, it should be easy to identify potential continuity issues with other Re-Expanded fanfics. If you find them, that means the wiki is working as intended, and we can move towards a resolution.

Creating a Story Page

To create a page, search for the exact title that you want using the bar at the top right. Assuming the page doesn't already exist, the search will then provide a link to create a page with that title. It should immediately open in Visual Edit, which will automatically preview any changes and provide a generally helpful GUI. At the top, add a basic intro text like "Story name is a fanfiction by author which chronicles topic."

Adding the Infobox

At the beginning, click insert, and then template. Search for "Story," and add that. Then, check all of the relevant boxes on the left-hand column. This will cause text fields to appear in the middle of the window, where you can type in all of the data. If you leave any blank, the wiki will automatically remove them from the info box.

Adding Headings

Then, add some headings. Story articles should have the sections "Back Cover", "Synopsis", and "Appearances." You can convert text to header by highlighting it and clicking on Heading, or you can type "==" to enter header mode. In source edit, you can mark a header by typing it like "==Header Name=="

Back Cover

For the back cover, you should find a spoiler-free summary of a few sentences or paragraphs that would typically appear on a story's back cover. For the wiki, the summary should be stylized in italics, which can be created using either the A button in Visual Edit, or by typing two apostrophes.

Synopsis

The synopsis should go into decent detail about what happens in the story, generally at least a handful of paragraphs.

Categories

Click the hamburger icon in the top right of visual edit to pull up the categories. Type them in and add them. For stories, use the following categories:

  • "Stories"
  • One to describe the length, ie. "Novels" or "Short stories"
  • One to describe the era, ie. "Stories in the Legacy Era" "Stories in the Clone Wars"
  • One for the author, ie. "Stories by HandofThrawn45" or "Stories by MrGentleZombie"
  • If in a series, that, ie. "Sword of the Jedi Novels" or "Tales from the Clone Wars"

Adding Links

For the first time any proper noun of other article appears in the text, make it a link by typing two left brackets. This will pull up a chance to search the wiki. If the article already exists, you can select it, and it will show up as a purple link. You will later want to go in and edit these linked articles to include info from your story. If the article doesn't exist, just type in the name and hit enter. You will later be able to create that article by clicking on the red link.

Links in the Infobox are a bit trickier, since you can't use visual edit in it. For that, surround the link with two brackets before it and two right brackets after it. If you want the text to show something other than the official article name, then out the official name first, then a vertical line "|", then the display name.

If a link already exists, you do not need to include the same link again. Only the first instance of the name needs to be linked. Treat anything from the Infobox as occuring before the rest of the body text.

Adding Context Pages

Once you have your story created, you'll want to flesh out everything that appears in it. This is a daunting task, but if we split it up, and the majority of authors handle their own story updates, it should be possible. Creating and editing content pages is very much similar to the story pages, with the exception that it will need to be cited for what info comes from what story. It's easy to keep track of what needs to be created by just looking for red links on your existing articles.

Existing Lore

If the character/planet/location/tech/organization/conflict etc. already exists in Legends, then that should be the first sentence of the page. Ie. "General Grievous is an existing character in Legends. Then cite Wookieepedia by using the cite button and pasting a link to their Wookieepedia page. You should see it appear at the bottom of the article. Wookieepedia info can be used to fill the Infobox, but all the body text should be exclusive to the Re-Expanded project.

Adding Citations

All info should be cited, so we can track what comes from what fanfic. If something only appears in one fanfic, cite that fanfic at the end of each paragraph. If it appears in multiple fanfics, you may want to cite more frequently to provide more clarity. To cite fanfics, click cite, then type two left brackets, then out the name of the story in the next text box.

Citations in Infoboxes are trickier. I have found the best strategy to put them in is to put the citation in the body text using Visual Edit, then switch to Source Edit, and find the citation in the code. It should be surrounded by some fancy html tags. Copy that code, including the tags, and put it in the Infobox parameters where it is needed.

Lists

Lists in Source Edit require the use of html tags, like follows: <ul><li>[[item 1]]</li><li>[[Item 2]]</li></ul>

Types of Pages

Character

Use the Character template to create the Infobox.

Include the following sections:

  • Biography
  • (Optional) Equipment
  • (Optional) Powers and Abilities
  • (Optional) Personality and Traits
  • Sources

Include the following categories:

  • Characters
  • "Official Lore" or "Re-Expanded Lore"
  • Any other descriptions related to role or affiliation, ie. "Jedi", "Accountants", or "Wraith Squadron"

Species categories are added automatically by the infobox.

Battle

Use the Battle template to create the Infobox.

Include the following sections:

  • (Optional) Prelude
  • (Optional) The Battle
  • (Optional) Aftermath
  • Sources

Include the following categories:

  • Events
  • Battles
  • "Official Lore" or "Re-Expanded Lore"
  • Broader conflict ie. "Battles of the Clone Wars"
  • Any other key descriptions

Species

Use the Species template to create the Infobox.

Include the following sections:

  • (Optional) Biology and Appearance
  • (Optional) Society and Culture
  • (Optional) Language
  • (Optional) [Species Name] in the Galaxy
  • Sources

Include the following categories:

  • Species
  • "Official Lore" or "Re-Expanded Lore"
  • Classification, ie. "Mammals" or "Avians"
  • Any other key descriptions

Planet

Use the Planet template to create the Infobox.

Include the following sections:

  • (Optional) History
  • (Optional) Geography
  • (Optional) Inhabitants
  • (Optional) Government
  • Sources

Include the following categories:

  • Planets
  • "Official Lore" or "Re-Expanded Lore"
  • Any other descriptions related to its features, ie. "Desert Planets", "Sith Planets"

Region categories are added automatically by the infobox.

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