Hi there, I'm X-Abrupto and I'm here to tell you how to create items!

This topic will be edited regularly. OpiWiki is still young and many new elements will be introduced over time. For this reason, I highly recommend that you visit this page once in a while to make sure you are up-to-date with the newest intructions.

Latest version: 29/11/2015

 

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*** Introduction ***
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OpiWiki has a near infinite potential. Almost anything can fit in our database. But we still need some kind of order here and there so the website can look good and work efficiently. This guide is here to ensure all our users can get a better grasp of how to make items. Item creating - and contribution as a whole - will be easier and less intimidating for you if you read the following.

 
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*** How to start in three steps ***
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1. On the main page, click on +add new topic. You can find this link near the top of the page under Discuss and Categories.

2. You should now be led here, which is the main creation area when it comes down to building OpiWiki's database. You are given three options; Voting + discussion, Discussion only, and Item.This time, we want to create an Item. Click on Item.

3. You should now be here. You have a choice between two types of items: person or thing. It's simple. A person is a living being. A thing is... Anything else! Fictional characters are things. Only real human beings who have lived on our planet are persons.

 

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*** Creating an item - The basics ***
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The following is useful for both person and thing items. For more precise information of person and thing items, just scroll down a bit.

Obviously, it is necessary to browse around the website a bit in order to understand how it works, what kind of items are missing and how to create them.

Before you start creating an item, ask yourself three questions:

1. Does the item already exist? Type the name of the item on the main database page to find out. You can also search the database as you are creating an item on the right side of your screen.

2. Is the item significant? Is it famous enough so that other people can talk about it?

3. Is the item derogatory? Could it offend people? I'm sure we can trust your judgement, right?

If the item passes the tests, don't hesitate! I'm pretty sure the item is worth it. Item creation is for everyone. Don't be intimidated. If you read what's next and if you also pay attention to the basic info on the right side of the screen while creating an item, AND if you read the guidelines, you should be able to handle things fairly well.

Oh yes, one important thing you should know: You don't always have to fill in everything. Sometimes, it's normal not to have info on an item you're creating. Just leave it blank. Eventually, someone else will edit your item and will take care of the missing information. OpiWiki is similar to Wikipedia. OpiWiki's items, just like Wikipedia's articles, will sometimes be updated, modified and improved over time. If you have doubts concerning this or that, it's also best to leave it blank.

Here's the main page for all the guidelines related to items: here.

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*** Creating an item - Name ***
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Check out the guidelines!

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*** Creating an item - Image ***
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Check out the guidelines!

Personally, I use both Bing and Google to search for good images. I'll give you some tips and hints later in this topic concerning what we're exactly looking for.

 

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*** Creating an item - Description ***
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Check out the guidelines ( here )

An item's description is important. Make sure you follow the guidelines correctly when you make it.

Usually, the first few sentences in a Wikipedia article are enough for one item. If you feel like there's some info that could be useful, you can add it as well, but try to keep it short. We have to know what the item's about and what it is known for.

Keep in mind time flies by and that things can change. Try not to include mentions of things that can be affected by time unless they are guaranteed not to change for an extended period of time. For example, it might be best not to talk about a boxer's championship title, because he might lose it in an upcoming fight. It's okay, however, to mention the fact that a politician has been elected as president, prime minister, etc.

As stated in the guidelines, the name must be the first thing in the description.

Don't forget to convert the item's name into bold font. If there are nicknames, ( ex: Slash, the guitarist ) or other commonly known names for the item ( ex: N64 for the Nintendo 64 ), they also must be converted to bold font as well. When in doubt, you can refer to how Wikipedia works with bold, italic and underline. I think it's safe enough to say that you can do what they do on Wikipedia on the vast majority of their articles.

As stated in the guidelines, you need to remove sentences that seem like opinions. Our users will provide the opinions. Additionally, try not to add mentions of "top 100's". Quotes by professional critic, mentions of aggregated review scores and excerpts of reviews should also be removed. If the item won awards or was nominated in the past, however, you can mention it. You can also mention the monetary gains related to the item too ( ex: the movie made $345 millions at the box-office ). We must focus on facts only.

Description - Database links:

Try to add as many database links as possible. Database links are not necessarily lower/higher items ( we will talk about them later ). When you browse OpiWiki, database links are the "ordinary" blue links in the description. In order to add a database link, just click on the database link icon on top of the description box. It looks like a locker ( basically, 3 rectangles one over the other ). All you need to do is to type the name of the thing you're looking for and to click on it once you do. It should pop up in the description box. If you have previously made a description, you can highlight the item's name with your mouse cursor first and then search for it, which should make it appear exactly where the item's name was in the description. If you find out there are missing items and you can't add them yet, it means you should probably create them. You will have to manually link them afterwards if you want the initial item's description to be 100% complete, however.

When you add a database link, don't forget that you can change what's written inside the actual link. For example, let's say I am linking the Nintendo 64. First, I need to find it in the database. Once I click on it, I should have the database link that starts with "item" with a number followed by the item's name which, in our example, is "Nintendo 64". The number next to "item" is how OpiWiki can identify every item. Don't change it or else you will get an incorrect link! You can change the item's name however. The "official" name for OpiWiki's database is "Nintendo 64", but you can change it to N64 or anything else. You could, for example, name it "Nintendo's third video game console". But it's always best to keep the database link as clear as possible so our users can know what we're talking about. This is mostly useful when there are items with long names that can be shortened with abreviations ( ex: "WWE" instead "World Wrestling Entertainment" ) or, in very rare cases, when you need to link a specific item without naming it explicitly ( ex: "The US President" instead of Barack Obama ) - as I've said, keep in mind the database link has to be as clear as possible. Once again, Wikipedia is pretty good when it comes down to linking stuff and finding the appropriate words.

One more thing concerning database links - don't link countries in all descriptions. It's overzealous! Countries shoud only be linked in items in the same category ( Countries & travelling ). Items such as cities, continents are good examples. On other items, you can link the cities, or even better - the city's district. I probably sound like I'm repeating myself by now, but you can check out how Wikipedia handles these links and use it as a reference. They also don't link countries all the time, and will usually link the most precise area as possible.

 
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*** Creating an item - Person items ***
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As previously stated, person items are for real people only. Remember: fictional characters are things!

We’ve already discussed a few issues already and the guidelines, of course, cover a bunch of very important aspects as well. But here are some more details concerning person items.

Image: We need good pictures so the average user can identify the person based on the given image. In a perfect world, all the pictures would be of a person looking directly at the camera, but we can’t do it for some people. As long as it’s a clear shot and the quality is good, it’ll be alright. Black and white pictures are alright! The more recent the picture is, the better. If the person is more or less active nowadays, is a lot less popular and, of course, if you can’t find a recent picture, it’s better to find a picture of the person when it was at its best (when it was most famous or successful). It has to be a representative shot.

Birth year: If you know when the person was born, it’s important to add it. If you can’t find it, leave it blank. If you only found partial info ( ex: you only found the year the person was born, not the month or day ), just add what you found. If the person lived and died B.C., you can add a "-" next to the year(s) ( ex: -345 ). Here's an example: Aristotle

Website: Be careful and make sure it’s an official website. Fansites, unless stated as being official and approved by the person, should not be linked.

 

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*** Creating an item - Thing items ***
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Image: Kinda like the person items. We need something that is representative. Official posters, box covers and logos are what we’re looking for. It all depends on the thing you are creating.

The image has to be as universal as possible. Let me explain by giving you a few examples.

For movies, try to find official images. theatrical posters are the best, followed by DVD/Blu-ray covers. In the later case, try to find images without the DVD/Blu-ray logos, and if you can’t, use an image editing program to cut them out if you can do it without damaging the overall image. Try to avoid Greatest Hits or Director’s Cut covers. We need the original images.

For video games, try to find the first box covers without the console labels. The only exceptions are when the game is exclusive to one console or if the game was initially released on one console and came out years later on another console.

For music albums, it’s pretty much the same thing. Sometimes, they will make re-releases and the cover will be different. We need the original cover.

Year: This is for things that have been created or publicly released at a precise moment. It all depends on the thing. For video games, music albums and movies, you use the year/month/day it was released to the public for the first time. If a video game was released in Japan a month before North America, use the year for the Japanese release. If a movie was shown in a festival before being distributed worldwide, use the date of the festival.

Remember that some things must have a blank year. Bananas don’t have a birthday!

 

Higher/Lower items: Coming soon...

added by X Abrupto
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