Forum:Marching Onward

Let's face it: the Pikmin Fanon is a huge, huge mess, and cleaning it up has been delayed far too long. I'm writing this to explain my plans on how to fix it and make the Pikmin Fanon look the best it can. This is our version of Project Cleanup, and its purpose is to create an informational, organized, consistent, user-friendly, easy-to-navigate environment that current and future generations can enjoy. Take a look at the to-do list and the "maintenance reports" section of this page to see more of what you can do to help!

Help pages
They need to be completed so new users will know what to do and how to do things. They must be informational and have much clarity to them.

Articles and their layout
The new article layout that was agreed upon years ago is inefficient. This layout like the one the Red Bulborb article currently uses. Having to scroll through information that is laid out that way is absurdly tedious, and I much prefer the older, simpler article layout like the one the Water Dumple article uses. Not to mention that other users prefer it as well.

When editing an article, either to update it or whatever, feel free to rewrite and organize the information present. There are plenty of poorly-written articles that are difficult to read, for a variety of reasons, and the less sloppily-written articles there are, the better. We strive to offer proofread, easy-to-digest, informational, quality articles.

Templates
Some templates, namely infoboxes, must be fixed and have the capitalization in their titles corrected. Some are also outdated, broken, or unused. Collapsibles that no longer collapse must be fixed as well by putting the prefix "mw-" before "collapsed" and "collapsible", to form "mw-collapsed" and "mw-collapsible".

Userboxes must be updated to use Template:Userbox and no other coding, and also be fixed so that they do not include user pages in Category:Userboxes. Files used in userboxes must have their sizes specified to be 50px outside of special circumstances.

Broken links
Broken links, be they article or file links, are abundant on the Pikmin Fanon and should be fixed or removed. Broken article links that lead to areas, treasures, or upgrades should have the double brackets surrounding them removed because they will never be written because their creators are no longer active, but broken links leading to nonexistent enemy articles should be kept because anyone can make or use them. Broken file links should be fixed unless no file exists for them, in which can they should be removed completely.

Files
Filenames of the Pikmin Fanon now follow a set naming scheme, which is:. An example (that does not include possible variations) of this would be "P2 Orange Bulborb.jpg". All icons, which are png's, also follow the same naming scheme. All instances of ".jpeg" are to become instances of ".jpg". All extension such as ".jpg" or ".mp3" are to be lowercase. The reason for the naming scheme is to keep files organized, neatly-named, and easily accessible to all. Instances of "Image:" should be changed to "File:", and neither of these tags should be included in  sections.

Low-quality files or files that have no potential purpose are to be deleted. Images that have low clarity are to be brightened up and have their contrast increased, as to make the subject more visible.

Categories
When categorizing a page, it is best to look through Category:Categories to decide where it best fits. Categories should always be grouped together by type and those groups should be displayed in a certain order.

Plans with categories

 * The list of wanted categories should be minimized and eliminated.
 * Category:Non-Canon Games is to become Category:Fanon games, and the link on the sidebar of the wiki should be changed to reflect this.
 * Category:Pikmin Family is to become Category:Pikmin family.
 * Category:Enemy-harming enemies is to be removed, as an enemy's ability to harm another enemy is entirely dependant on the game.
 * Category:Enemies will contain all enemy articles that do not have an icon in at least one of its enemy infoboxes.
 * The capitalization of some words in many categories must be corrected.
 * Templates and categories must be categorized.
 * Remove both extraneous categories and categories of game-specific image galleries.

Article categories
Many, many, many articles are either uncategorized or categorized incorrectly. This includes mostly enemy categories because it's hands-down the biggest focus of the wiki, but even articles for vegetation, Pikmin, characters, treasures, games, and more are in the same situation. Placing their appropriate infoboxes in their respective article should auto-categorize them:
 * Enemy articles should have Template:Infobox enemy placed in them and should have a 40x40 icon. Unless there's a specific one for that enemy, have its icon be File:Dummy enemy icon.png (Dummy enemy icon.png).
 * Vegetation articles should have Template:Infobox plant placed in them, which automatically puts them in Category:Vegetation, and should have a 40x40 icon. Unless there's a specific one for that plant, have its icon be File:Dummy plant icon.png (Dummy plant icon.png).
 * Pikmin articles should have Template:Infobox Pikmin placed in them, which automatically puts them in Category:Pikmin family, and should have a 40x40 icon. Unless there's a specific one for that Pikmin, have its icon be File:Dummy Pikmin icon.png (Dummy Pikmin icon.png).
 * Treasure articles should have Template:Infobox treasure placed in them, which automatically puts them in Category:Treasures, and should have a 40x40 icon. Unless there's a specific one for that treasure, have its icon be File:Dummy treasure icon.png (Dummy treasure icon.png).
 * Fruit articles should have Template:Infobox fruit placed in them, which automatically puts them in Category:Fruits, and should have a 40x40 icon. Unless there's a specific one for that fruit, have its icon be File:Dummy fruit icon.png (Dummy fruit icon.png).
 * Area articles should have Template:Infobox area placed in them, which automatically puts them in Category:Areas.
 * Cave articles should have Template:Infobox cave placed in them, which automatically puts them in Category:Caves.
 * Character articles should have Template:Infobox character placed in them, which automatically puts them in Category:Characters.
 * Game articles should have Template:Infobox game placed in them, which automatically puts them in Category:Fanon games.


 * Note: Category:Enemies will contain any enemy article that does not have an icon in at least one of its infoboxes, necessitating having icons present on each infobox on the article. Other articles that don't belong there are also present but that will be fixed in due time.

When categorizing an enemy article, look through the subcategories of Category:Enemies by hazard and Category:Enemies by characteristics. Read the article, learn what the enemy does, how it attacks, what it looks like, and see what categories that enemy belongs in. An enemy can go in an unlimited amount of categories. These enemy categories are the only required ones, and no more should be made. If the enemy...
 * ...utilizes acid, record "corrodes Pikmin" as one of its attacks in its infobox and type Category:Acid enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...utilizes adhesive, record "produces adhesive" as one of its attacks in its infobox and type Category:Adhesive enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...utilizes an aura, record "produces lethal mist" as one of its attacks in its infobox, and type Category:Aura enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...utilizes crushing, record "crushes Pikmin" as one of its attacks in its infobox, and type Category:Crushing enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...utilizes or is in any way related to dark matter, type Category:Dark matter enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...utilizes, is related to, or is made up of Darkfreeze, type Category:Darkfreeze enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...utilizes or is related to Doom Essence, record "produces doom essence" as one of its attacks in its infobox and type Category:Doom enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...utilizes dirt, sand, crystals, or earth, record specifically how the enemy utilizes it as one of its attacks in its infobox and type Category:Earth enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...utilizes electricity, record "electrocutes Pikmin" as one of its attacks in its infobox, and type Category:Electric enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...utilizes explosions, directly or indirectly, record specifically how the enemy utilizes it as one of its attacks in its infobox and type Category:Explosion enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...utilizes fire, record "burns Pikmin" as one of its attacks in its infobox, and type Category:Fire enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...utilizes ice, record "freezes Pikmin" as one of its attacks in its infobox, and type Category:Ice enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...utilizes lava, record "incinerates Pikmin" as one of its attacks in its infobox, and type Category:Lava enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...utilizes lubricant, record "produces lubricant" as one of its attacks in its infobox and type Category:Lubricant enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...utilizes poison, record "poisons Pikmin" as one of its attacks in its infobox and type Category:Poison enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...utilizes shadow or darkness, record specifically how the enemy utilizes it as one of its attacks in its infobox and type Category:Shadow enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...utilizes stabbing, record "skewers Pikmin" as one of its attacks in its infobox, and type Category:Stabbing enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...utilizes water, record "drowns Pikmin" as one of its attacks in its infobox, and type Category:Water enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...can freely float or fly around above the ground, type Category:Airborne enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...can burrow into the ground, partially or fully, type Category:Burrowing enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...can disguise as something, type Category:Disguising enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...can eat Pikmin or other objects, type Category:Eating enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...is incapable of directly harming Pikmin, type Category:Harmless enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...can hide from sight completely, type Category:Hiding enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...is humanoid in appearance, type Category:Humanoid enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...is partially or fully mechanical, type Category:Mechanical enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...is mutated in some way, shape, or form, type Category:Mutated enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...is part of the Pikmin family, type Category:Pikmin enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...can alter a Pikmin's state or qualities, type Category:Pikmin-altering enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...can revive itself after death, type Category:Reviving enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...can birth, produce, summon, or attract enemies to its location, type Category:Summoning enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...can survive freely underwater, type Category:Underwater enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...wanders around the entire map and not just one small territory, type Category:Wandering enemies at the bottom of its article.
 * ...is a boss, type Category:Bosses at the bottom of its article.
 * ...is a final boss, type Category:Final bosses at the bottom of its article.

At the very bottom of an article, below all of its content, is where categories belong. There are to go in a uniform order, in an organized manner, which is this:
 * If the enemy is a boss: Category:Bosses.
 * Below, put if the boss appears in a specific game.
 * If the enemy is a final boss: put only Category:Final bosses.
 * If the enemy appears in a specific game, list it here by typing.
 * Categorize the enemy by the hazards it uses or the characteristics it exhibits.

File categories
Many, many files are also uncategorized, either generally or in terms of licensing. Nothing special must be done, as all that's required is putting them into their respective categories. Refer to Special:UncategorizedFiles to see what's uncategorized, and look through Category:Media to see where they belong.

A small description of the file's subject is necessary and useful to have. A barebones layout of a suitable description is:
 * ==Summary==
 * A  in  .
 * ==License==
 * Category: images
 * Category: images
 * Category: images
 * Category: images

The license section is not required, but its placement has been defined. The summary iself can change depending on what the image depicts or if the image is an icon, box art, or etcetera, but examples to copy from exist. The " in   " portion of the summary is not necessary if the image is of a subject present in only a single game or if its appearance is universal and unchanged between games. If the image of a subject is from a canonical or official Pikmin game, let the following replace   : ', ' , ' , ' , or .