Forum:Big changes

As you are all aware, Pikmin Fanon, in general, is a low-quality wiki. We do have our quality pages, but low-quality far outnumber these pages. In the past, we have tried to initiate changes to the wiki, but the lack of users here have impeded those campaigns.

Espyo and I have talked on the chatroom about Pikmin Fanon's messiness. We all must come together and improve the wiki in any way, be it simply fixing an article to creating an advanced Help Page. We cannot put this off any longer: it is time to revive Pikmin Fanon, and make it better than ever before.

This is for the sake of Pikmin Fanon, Pikipedia, the engine, and Pikmin fandom as a whole.

'' IMPORTANT: We are giving the community one week to discuss the changes. After one week has passed, we will begin implementing the changes. Those who do not follow will receive warnings on their talk pages. ''

The proposed changes, written by Espyo:

=Proposal=

Bullet points

 * 1) Ownership
 * 2) You own your own fan content, and articles detail your ideas. As such, other users shouldn't add, change or remove content without your permission. However, people can, and should edit your article to improve clarity, flow, grammar, etc.
 * 3) Canon content
 * 4) The amount of information about canon content must be reduced to a minimum. The home of that information is on Pikipedia. If a piece of canon content must be included in an article, its information should only consist of only the most important stuff. Readers who want more information should have a convenient link somewhere to the Pikipedia article.
 * 5) Page quality
 * 6) Some items all content pages should contain: an infobox (preferably), a list of games, in a small and unobtrusive manner, and categories.
 * 7) Grammar, wording, organization, and encyclopediac organization are a must. This is a wiki, not a pile of scribbled napkins. I recommend using the guidelines at Pikipedia.
 * 8) Do not sign your name on content articles. There shall be a way to dictate that content belongs to one of your ideas, without the need to sign.
 * 9) Page number
 * 10) If you have a fan game, the amount of pages dedicated to it depends on the detail of your ideas.
 * 11) If you only have a list of Pikmin, areas, enemies, and plot, that can all fit in a single page, do so.
 * 12) If you have some detail about your Pikmin, areas, enemies, etc., create a subpage about each of those sections. Like  Pikmin: Example/Enemies.
 * 13) If you have severely detailed information about your game elements, like pictures, locations, stats, behaviors, etc. create a page for each one of them. However, you should contact somebody before doing this, in order to avoid having a large amount of articles lying around.
 * 14) If an element is included in several games, like Cyan Pikmin, you should link to the article, and add your own information on that article as well, pertaining to your game, in its own section. If the element works the same way in all games, and optionally, with exceptions, point that out in the article.

Examples of pages

 * Example of a single-page game: Pikmin: Example

 

Pikmin: Example is an example of a game by Espyo. This is an example of basic game ideas, and hence, a basic game page. All of the game's content is in this page.

Plot
Olimar and Louie were travelling on vacation. They crash land in the Pikmin planet after Louie accidentally opens the fuel reservoir. There, they are reunited with the Pikmin, and using their help, they gather some wooden objects to burn for fuel. After gathering all 200 objects, both captains return to their home planet.

Pikmin

 * Red Pikmin: Can withstand fire and cause more damage.
 * Yellow Pikmin: Can withstand electricity and be thrown higher.
 * Blue Pikmin: Can swim.

Enemies

 * Red Bulborb: Sleeps, and eats Pikmin when woken up.
 * Gray Bulborb: Has a thick back, so only its legs can be attacked.

Treasures

 * Ursidae Sculpture: Sculpture of a bear.
 * Spring-activated Boomer: A hunter's bow.

...

 


 * Example of a game with more detail:


 * Pikmin: Example/Pikmin

 

These are the existing Pikmin types in Pikmin: Example.

Red Pikmin
...

Yellow Pikmin
...

...

  


 * Pikmin: Example/Enemies

 

These are the existing enemy types in Pikmin: Example.

Red Bulborb
...

...

  




 * Example of an element in multiple games: Bleak Splatterer

 

The Bleak Splatterer is an enemy that resembles a black woodpecker, but with the ability to shoot balls of dirt from its beak.

Pikmin: Example
In Pikmin: Example, this enemy is larger than a Burrowing Snagret, and relatively rare, only found in two areas.

Locations

 * Grass Arena: Defending the entrance to the Ruined Dirt Castle.
 * Gloomy Mountain: Hidden on the northernmost alcove.

...

Pikmin 10
This enemy is roughly the size of a Water Dumple, and is worth 10 Pokos.

...

 

Example of a game infobox
=Comments=

I'm slightly confused, so correct me if I am wrong. This is proposing cutting the amount of pages devoted to each game, correct?
 * Not necessarily. The page content is the least important of the changes. The big focus is more on organization, grammar, and professionalism. This thing about the pages will normally result in less pages overall. Because let's face it, there's no need to have a page about Purple Scarpanid, an enemy made by Example Fan #987, and all the page says is "This enemy grabs Pikmin, withers their flowers, and throws them at the ground." A simple bullet point on Example Fan #987's game article will suffice. On the other hand, users who are super dedicated and have a lot of detail on their enemies are probably suffering by keeping the information all tightened up on a single section on an "Enemies" article, for instance. It would be better in this case for there to be specific pages for their detailed enemies. Of course, this is all flexible, and prone to be discussed at the time of page creation. — {EspyoT} 19:35, 27 April 2014 (EDT)

Well, I wholeheartedly support this effort.

WHAAAAT?!?! I like my games how they are and how there pages are! I worked hard! I don't want them to be changed!


 * Relax. If your pages need to be beefed up, it will be done according to how you want it done. For example, there is a noticeable difference between: "it stomps and shoots fire and eats pikmin" and "This beast boasts the ability to stomp, capable of crushing 5 pikmin per stomp. In addition, it is capable of shooting jets of flame forward and backward in straight streams, although the occasionally spurt will cause a slight ripple effect. And of course, this beast boasts the standard ability to eat pikmin." Thus, your ideas will stay your ideas! They will just be made more "colorful" as necessary. This is important because there are so many 10-word pages on the wiki that could be removed or improved.


 * Exactly what PB said. And even if all your enemy pages had to be merged into a single page, like Pikmin: Planetary Evolution enemies, all the information would still be kept, except without being spread over thousands of pages. But again, you're pretty much in the clear for keeping all of your pages, because your enemy articles are expansive at a comfortable level. This thing is really just to get rid of 10-word pages, again, as Peach Bulborb said. — {EspyoT} 14:07, 29 April 2014 (EDT)

Sorry about the short enemy pages on the Return Enemies, but it was my first game, and I was excited to finish it.

=Other pages of interest=
 * PikminFanon:Formatting Policy
 * PikminFanon:Formatting Policy/vote
 * Topic:Thoughts on wiki structure