Tutorial

=Getting Started=

Making your Page
Making a page for The Secret World Wiki is deceptively simple.The first thing you will want to do is look at some of the pages already there. This will give you an idea on how a page should look. While there is no absolute right way to make a page, a good idea of what other pages look like will help you with the following these steps. If nothing else, you will be able to see if something is going horrendously wrong while following these steps. Typos can happen, so it's best to know what you are looking for when you are starting out.

Once you've looked around, type in the name of the character/NPC/Supergroup you want to make in the search box to the left. If the name is free, you will be taken to a new screen that says it cannot find the specified character. It will then give you the option to create that page. Click on this link. This will bring up the Edit page, where you will build your character. Note that If the character's name is already taken, you will be taken to that character's page. You must make a page to distinguish your character from the other. Adding the last name to the page title would be a good way to do so.

Templates
A template is a set block of information that you may fill in as necessary. Think of it like a madlib. I have prepared a couple excellent tutorials for setting up your template.

Templar Template | Dragon Template |  Illuminati Template |  Cabal Template

Also for those wanting just a basic page and plug the information into, I've added a simple to use form that you can type your character or Cabal's name into and click the button and it'll create a sheet that you can just plug your information into. It can be found on the Add Intel Page

Outlines
The outline you will see on various characters' pages is built automatically by the wiki software. You simply have to tell it where new paragraphs happen. First, you will write down any information you want to appear before the outline. In general, this is a basic summary of your character and possibly just your personal thoughts on the OOC origin of the character.

Next, you will set your first marker. This is done with an = sign before and after your title. For example you would write =History= in a line by itself. You can then write out your History as you see fit.

To further break down this marker, you can add subdivisions. This is done with two ='s. For example ==The Early Years== will add a sub category of "The Early Years" underneath "History" in the outline. If you intend to divide the main section, you must create the marker and text before you start a new section.

If a third division is desired you simply add 3 ='s before and after the division. For example ===That Fateful Day...=== would add the division of day underneath The Early Years.

Remember that these markers must be in a line by themselves, and must be ordered the way you want them to appear on the outline.Once 4 Markers have been placed, a Table Of Contents will appear at the top of your character's page automatically.

Categories
Categories are used to help people find your character. There are a large number of categories that you can apply to your character. For example, to add your character to the Male category, you simply include  .


 * It is recommended you add a category for your character for your gender, powers, Game, alignment and role (Hero, Villain, Mercenary, Vigilante), and Guild if applicable. That'll make cataloguing the characters much easier and so make searching for characters that much easier.

You can place these Category links anywhere in your page, either on one line or on multiple lines. They will NOT be displayed in the text, however. Instead, you should end up with a list, at the bottom of your page, that looks similar to this:

 

A list of suitable categories can be found here.

Images
NOTE: You may want to open the link referenced below in a second window or browser tab. Doing so will allow you to upload images while editing your page, without having to constantly save and edit.

To add a picture to your page, you will want to click on the link on the left side of the page labeled "upload file". From here, you can upload any picture on your system.

Try to keep this picture's size within reason; as a rule of thumb, pictures that are over 150KB should to be trimmed down, and you should avoid uploading anything 300KB or larger. Once the picture is uploaded, you will be able to pull it up with the same name. For example, if I upload an image named Dark Dreams 1.jpg, the file's name will be Dark_dreams_1.jpg.

Although this is an uncensored wiki, it is recommended that you adhere to the PG-13 guidelines - some nudity may tolerated, but only if it's tastefully represented. This means absolutely no porn, snuff pics, gore, or other overly visceral or just plain GROSS pictures should be uploaded. Doing so will not only result in removal of said picture, but can result in banning you from the wiki. They say a picture says a thousand words so do please consider what words your picture evokes before uploading.

WARNING! -- Please check to see if a file name exists, before you upload your file using that name. Otherwise you will overwrite the existing file, and someone else's page will suddenly have YOUR picture on it instead of theirs.

Now to add your picture to your page, you can either place the image in the apropriate spot on the template, or add it anywhere inside your page with the command. This will place your picture aligned with the paragraph where you place the Image link.

If you want to put your picture in a nice frame to the right side of the text as a thumbnail with a caption below, use the command. For more image options, see Wikipedia: Extended image syntax.

Finishing Touches
Now you've got all this information typed out, and it looks like a garbled mess of brackets and equal signs - not to mention the template thing up top. You probably have no idea if it's going to look right or not! To find out, you simply push the Preview button at the bottom on the page. This will bring up your page exactly as you programmed it to look. The only thing missing will be the Categories. Categories do not appear in the Preview, only on the completed page. Once on the preview page, look it over. Does everything look right? Is something a bit off? This is also a good time to make any alterations or corrections to your page and fix any typos. Immediately after the preview is your page of symbols and text. Check over your syntax and spelling and preview again. Once you are happy with your work, press the Save page button.

Once saved, you can look at your characters page at any time by simply typing in the character's name in the search window. Also bear in mind, you can always change your character's page at any time. At the top of the screen, you will see a tab labeled Edit. Clicking on this will allow you to view your blueprint once more and make additions or corrections as you see fit.

Once you're done, feel free to add other characters or do some experimenting. Most of the coding listed here is pretty basic, but will be all you need to make an informative and interesting page for your favorite characters.

=Spoiler Warnings=

If you include information about your character that hasn't yet been revealed in game, information about an upcoming or ongoing storyline, or information about story arcs in game, you might want to mark it with a spoiler warning to let people know that they might want to stop reading lest they spoil the surprise.

To start a spoiler warning, put the tag   above the spoiler content. That looks like this:

You might want to consider using the tag   if your spoiler content deals with player-created content instead of canonical game content. That tag looks like this:

On a line after the spoiler content, place the tag   to let people know where the spoilers end.

=Works In Progress= If you wish to mark a page as a creative work in progress simply insert   before all other text, templates, etc. on the page. The following text box will appear,