Help:Naming Conventions
Naming Pages
Every time you create a link to a page that does not exist, you are naming that page. While contents of pages can be edited freely, once a page is named, that is the name it gets. Pages can be moved and admins can delete misspellings, but it is easier to give the page a correct name at the beginning.
Singular vs Plural
Pages
Page names should generally be singular as an article is usually about one thing (e.g the topic "Allegiance" instead of "Allegiances"). It's also easier to link to an article that is singular, for example if the name is plural and you need the singular word, typing [[Allegiances|Allegiance]] would be necessary instead of simply [[Allegiance]]. In addition, if you need the plural form of the word, you can simply add an s or any other suffix to the wiki link and the software will automatically add it (e.g [[Allegiance]]s).
If a page contains a list or is indeed about many things, then a pluralized name should be used (e.g "Allegiances" or "list of Allegiances"). Categories are a good way of grouping many pages about a topic or set of things such as a list of swords for example.
Categories
Categories are usually always in plural form as they mainly contain lists or sets of things. For example, Category:Swords contains a list of all swords available in Asheron's Call. Sometimes a category is a topic category in which case it will be singular. For example, Category:Character contains a list of articles or subcategories related to advancing your ingame character.
Capitalization & Naming
Capitalization matters [[This Page]] is different from [[this page]] which is different from [[THIS page]]. Try to use EXACT name from in-game. Since capitalization matters, it is important to use the correct name of a dungeon, item, creature, etc as it is displaying in-game. If you create a page using the incorrect name, and someone else wants to link to that entry later, they may end up creating a duplicate entry.
Note: Wikipedia and many other wikis use lower case or first letter upper case (e.g., "Naming conventions" or "naming conventions") in naming articles, templates, images, etc. However due to the specialized nature of ACC Wiki wherein it holds only content related to Asheron's Call, title case is the default for naming because that is what is used in game.
Items with the Same Name
There are a few cases where multiple things in Asheron's Call have the same name. For example, there is both a Creature Class called Skeleton and an individual creature called Skeleton. We have created a hierarchy for determining which entry will get the unique, correct name, and which one will get a suffix added.
- 1. Creature Class
- 2. Item
- 3. Creature/NPC/Character
- 4. Dungeon
- 5. Text
- 6. Quest
When you come upon items with the same name, consult this list. Give the higher ranking item the correct name, and for the lower ranking one add (Type) with parentheses included. Examples would be Cow for the creature type and Cow (Creature) for the individual creature.
Quests and Kill Tasks
A quest page should match the official name where given, this is generally the title of the quest's Contract; however, contracts are sometimes added later on after the quest is introduced. If this is the case, it is up to the discretion of the first person to write up the quest to give it an appropriate name. For simple quests with a single item reward it is not uncommon to name the quest as Item Name Quest or Creature Name Quest. (Before April 2009 the Quest suffix was set in parentheses. After some discussion it was decided that parentheses should not be used, old quests are in the process of being renamed.) For kill tasks name the quest Creature Name Kill Task and if there are multiple creatures that will satisfy the task, use the most common creature (or the class) to be hunted for the writeup page and create pages for all the other creatures that redirect to the writeup page. If a single NPC gives tasks for different creatures and the tasks have discrete rewards, make a quest page for each task.
Disambiguation
Often you will come across two or more items that share the same name and are on the same naming tier as described above. When this happens, a disambiguation page is needed. Disambiguation pages are easy to create. Create a new entry using the proper name. On this page, list the multiple items with a suffix to distinguish them. Good suffixes to add would be the location where the entry is found or the quest the entry is from. Tag this page with Category:Disambiguation.
Example:
Instructions - The disambiguation page. The page text is as follows:
- See:
Images Names and Sizes
Like pages, the names of images are important and semi-permanent. Ideally when naming the images, name them as they are in game (with spaces). This allows them to be uniformly referenced, and it is easier to avoid duplicating image uploads. The wiki will automatically add underscores to replace the spaces, however when referencing the image, you can still use spaces. For example, "Image Small.jpg" will automatically be made into "Image_Small.jpg" by the wiki, but can still be referenced as "Image Small.jpg" in your pages. Because names are case sensitive a nonstandard name, such as Stone Icon.png, will not be recognized by templates expecting the standard format.
There are some characters that the wiki allows in image names but that nevertheless can create problems with backing up the wiki. These include quote marks and question marks. Where possible, upload the file avoiding their use, and you can create a redirect page for the true name so that it can still be used to call up the image. An example:
| Redirect page | Uploaded File | Usage (wikitext) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| File:Chicken? Icon.png | File:ChickenQM_Icon.png | {{Icon Link|Chicken?}} |  Chicken?
|
| File:"Enchanted" Iceball Icon.png | File:Enchanted Iceball Icon.png | {{Icon Link|"Enchanted" Iceball}} |  "Enchanted" Iceball
|
Live Images
- Screenshots of creatures, items, weapons, objects, dungeons, NPCs, and other in-game "teaser images" should be named: <Exact In-Game Name> Live.
- For creatures and NPCs, images must be in .jpg format, and must be 300x400 pixels in size.
- For quests, and items, images must be in .jpg format and either be 300x400 or 300x300 pixels in size.
- Examples:
- Drudge Skulker Live.jpg
- Sanamar Collector Live.jpg
- Sword of Lost Light Live.jpg
- Sword of Lost Light (Quest) Live.jpg
Stat Panel/ID Panel Images
- These images are to be uploaded and inserted only in the talk page of the particular entry for future reference.
- These images must be named: <Exact In-Game Name>. Include stats panel images on the talk page for the article for future reference.
- Stats panel images must be in .jpg format, and are typically 300x400 or 300x300 pixels for short items.
- Note: It is acceptable for longer stat panel images to be 300x??? (depending on length).
- Examples:
- Drudge Skulker.jpg
- Sanamar Collector.jpg
- Sword of Lost Light.jpg
Icons
- Being icons, these are only going to be used for items and objects.
- These should be named: <Exact In-Game Name> Icon.
- Icons should be in .png format and must be 32x32 pixels in size.
- Examples:
- Sword of Lost Light Icon.png
- Life Stone Icon.png
- Pyreal Mote Icon.png
Wiki Swiss Tool
- A downloadable helper utility, the Wiki Swiss Tool, is designed just for ACC Wiki to crop images and icons to Wiki-Standard sizes and formats with a single click. Check it out!