Tardis:Guide to writing Individuals articles: Difference between revisions

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{{inuse}}
:''This guide to writing entries for individuals is constantly developing, please add your thoughts and suggestions to this article's [[Tardis talk:Format for Individuals|talk page]].''


''This is a tutorial for writing entries for individual characters. If you have any comments or suggestions, please put them on the discussion page. '''Please do not make changes to this page!''' Instead, tell us what changes you think should be made on the discussion page. Thank you.''
Given the variety of sometimes limited amounts of information that exist for in-universe articles, this guide exists to assist you in finding the right layout for an article about an individual and how it might be structured.


This is a general outline and tutorial on the style for adding entries to the Doctor Who Wiki TARDIS Index File's character/individuals of ''[[Doctor Who]]'', ''[[Torchwood]]'', ''[[Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' and [[K9 (TV series)]]. Note that this is only a guideline, and you should only attempt to enter information that you know, and not feel obligated to fill in every section.
You may use this as a '''guide''' for writing any in-universe article about an individual on this wiki from any sources within our [[Tardis:Canon policy]].


==Basic requirements==  
== Basic requirements ==
At the very least, an article should have a basic behind-the-scenes description of the character and profile, the correct template(s) (see below) and an image from a story of the character. Please do not attempt to do a  article if you are unable to provide these. Please also, if you do not have the necessary information or time to complete any of the other headings or sub-headings listed below, it is far better to simply leave them out all together than to leave them empty or place such phrases as, "To be added" underneath. Just do the basics mentioned above if you can, then make a note on the discussion page of what other things need to be added. By the very nature of a wiki, someone will eventually come along to complete those parts. No one here is expected to go it alone.
At the very least, an article should have a description and profile of the individual.


==Article intro==
An article often should have an [[Template:Infobox Individual|Individual Infobox]] with all known information entered into it, however sometimes there may not be enough information to justify using an infobox (more detail below).
*First comes the infobox. The infobox summarizes the most basic information on each character for quick and easy reference. Simply insert the [[Template:Infobox Individual|template for this item]] in the page, then fill in the information.  


*The infobox is followed by a basic behind-the-scenes description of the character. This is the first item of actual text in the article, and will appear to the left of the infobox.
Any information you do not know just leave out, but the nature of a wiki someone will eventually find the article and add further information. Please do not add phrases such as (though not limited to) "this information is unknown".
 
== Types of articles ==
Generally speaking an individual article falls into three (quite broad) varieties; a short article, a medium article and a long article.
 
In the sections below there are examples of all three varieties and some things to notice when writing and editing articles of this length.
 
=== Short article ===
A short article usually consists of an [[Template:Infobox Individual|Individual Infobox]] and usually a single paragraph of information.
 
[[Charles Percival]], [[Sondergaard]] and [[Kert Gantry]] are three examples of short articles, they all contain a paragraph of information and an infobox.
 
Short articles can contain just a sentence of information; [[Mollie Dawson]] and [[Ralpachan]] both contain just the infobox and one sentence.
 
Additionally, some articles may not have enough information to ''require'' an infobox, articles such as [[Saul Bredon]] and [[Pierre Breton]] contain all their information within the body of the article and do not contain enough information to be summarised within the infobox.
 
=== Medium article ===
A medium article consists of [[Template:Infobox Individual|Individual Infobox]] and more than one paragraph. It ''may'' be broken down into a '''Biography''' sub-heading and feature some in-depth information about the individual.
 
Medium articles represent a majority of the articles where a sizeable amount of information exists about the individual ''and'' the individual's article contains this of information to a detailed degree.
 
[[Tobias Vaughn]], [[John Benton]], [[Maggie Cain]], [[Magnus Greel]], [[Victoria Waterfield]], [[Andy Davidson]], all contain information of a 'medium article', some articles simply have a few paragraphs, whilst others are divided through a subheading beginning with '''Biography''', using further sub-headings to break down an individual's life history through significant events or character altering events.
 
:For more information on additional sub-headings see below
 
=== Long article ===
A long article consists of [[Template:Infobox Individual|Individual Infobox]] and several paragraphs broken into several sub-headings. Long articles contain a ''significant'' amount of information from numerous sources.
 
[[The Doctor]] and all their incarnations' articles fall into this definition, [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart]], [[Melanie Bush]], [[Susan Foreman]], [[Bernice Summerfield]], [[Sarah Jane Smith]], [[The Master]], [[Gwen Cooper]], [[Luke Smith]], as these examples show generally long articles are articles of feature individuals that have accumulated a significant body of information to draw information from.  
 
This group of examples also illustrates the fluid nature of the sub-heading structure of long articles, while most begin with a '''Biography''' (or in some cases '''Profile''') sub-heading they quickly break into a variety of further sub-headings based on the unique elements of an individual's life history. As with medium articles this is based on an individual's significant history and character altering event.
 
:''For more information on additional sub-headings see below''
 
== Additional sub-headings ==
For medium and long articles it is often useful to include additional information about unique elements of an individual's personality that is not focused on in the character's biography.


==Profile==
===Biography===
*The '''Biography''' is the detailed section of the character life. This should be written in paragraphs, with only '''ONE'' space between each paragraph. Photos help to illustrate and add depth and understanding to the character. This section will be divided up into different section of their life - note if the character has little information about them, all the information can be put under this heading - '''Biography''' (in a level three heading). Level Four headings and lower will be used for a recurring character like [[Martha Jones]] or [[Gwen Cooper]]. Headings on pages like these will most likely be:
====Heading 4====
*Early Life
=====Heading 5=====
*A significant event (if any) that happen
====Heading 4====
*First major event that happens to them, or another key stage in their life
**e.g - ''Recruitment to Torchwood'' or ''Joining the Doctor''
=====Heading 5===== 
* Significant events that happened during this time. e.g. ''The Master's return''
and so....
=== Personality ===
=== Personality ===
*Level Three heading
Information contained in here is about the individual's personality, how they react, their moods and how their treat others and react to situations. This should be written as a paragraph, taking a new sentence when needed.  
*Information contained in here is about the individual's personality, how they react, their moods and how their treat others and react to situations. This should be written as a paragraph, taking a new sentence when needed.  
 
====Habits and Quirks====
=== Habits and quirks ===
*Level Four heading
Use this sub-heading to provide information about any unique habits or quirks that an individual is inclined towards.
*This section describes if the individual does anything regularly, or if the individual has a history of doing stuff e.g has a tendency yo want to help other all the time. This should be written as a paragraph, taking a new sentence for each Habit or quirk.
 
=== Other information ===
This sub-heading should be used for any information that does not fit within other sections that have been established or that you have established.
 
This can be anything from the individual in a parallel universe/alternate dimension/alternate universe etc, notable skills and abilities that were not covered else where (or need to be covered in more detail), romantic interests and any other information.
 
Please use complete sentences. Bullet points ''can'' be used, if used ''sparingly''. Note that there should be no attempt to "bulletise" a person's whole life, as in the form of a "key life events" or "timeline" subsection. This sort of section [[Forum:key life events|was specifically rejected by the community in 2010]].


==Other Information==
== Behind the scenes ==
*Level 2 heading
* This should be bullet points about extra information about the character form a production point of view.
*Under this go all the miscellaneous information, all under level three headings. This section will include:
* There may be headings in this section. In this case, the bullets points should go first, followed by headings at level three sub-heading (this uses three = like this: <nowiki>===Sub-heading===</nowiki>.
**Romantic interests (if any)
* These sub-headings may be used to add behind the scenes information such as; casting information, significance of the individual, the individual's place in canon and continuity. Include these only if the information exists to include it.
***For each person they should be on a level four heading, under that should be a description about how the relationship was formed, and how it went, and even ended.
**Family (if known)
***This should be written as bullet. With person name first, like a link, and what relative they are to the person in brackets next to it.  
** Alternate Realities
***Name of Alternate Realities (heading four) 
***Under this heading should go a description of what happened to the person in the alternate realities
**Skills and Abilities (if known)
***This should be written as a paragraph and include what the individual is good at, bad at etc.
**Nicknames (if any)
***This should be written as a paragraph and contain the individuals nickname, and who called them that and their reactions to it.
**Other information
***this should be bullet point and last on one sentence.  


==Key Life Events==
== External links ==
*Level Two Heading
* This should be a list, bullet pointed, of links to websites beyond this wiki and should be about the individual the article is about.
*This should be in bullet points, last no long than a sentence, a key events in the individual life, and what story/episode it is from. [[Tardis:List of prefixes|prefix]]: (''Episode/Story/Comic'') (linked)
* These link(s) should be checked regularly to make sure they are still active and accessible.
* If there are no external links, this heading should not be included.


==See Also==
== Footnotes ==
*Level Two Heading
If there are any sources used in the behind the scenes section they should follow our [[Tardis:Manual of Style#Out of universe articles|Manual of Style]] regarding citing out of universe (aka real world) information, in brief adding <nowiki><ref> </ref></nowiki> tags around the source.
*This should be a bullet point list, which characters who are similar (linked) and a brief description how.  
*If there is nothing that can go in this section, it should be fitted with ''To Be Added''


==Behind the Scenes==
'''If''' <nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki> tags are used add <nowiki>{{reflist}}</nowiki> to the this section.
*Level Two heading
*This should be bullet points about extra information about the character form a production point of view.
*There may be headings in this section. In this case, the bullets points should go first, followed by headings at Level Three Heading
**Under these headings it should be in paragraphs.
**such headings that will come under here include '''Casting''',  '''Popularity and significance''' and '''Continuity and canon'''


==External Links==
== Finally ==
*Level Two heading
* At the end of the article you should add categories, and any templates that might apply to the article.
*This should be a list, not bullet pointed, of Links to website beyond the wikia, and should be about the individual the article is about.
* At the end of the article, please always put <nowiki>{{NameSort}}</nowiki>, this may be excluded if the article individual has only one name, or if the character's name begins with "the", like [[the Master]]. In the latter case, <nowiki>{{TitleSort}}</nowiki> works.
*This link(s) should be check regularly to make sure they are still inuse.
* Also if you believe the article is significantly lacking in information add '''<nowiki>{{character stub}}</nowiki>''' under here.
*If they are no External Links, this heading should be deleted


==Footnotes==
[[Category:Layout guides]]
*This should contain any templates the individual is on, such as '''Tenth Doctor's Companions''' or '''Torchwood Three personnel'''
*If the individual is not on any templates, the section should be deleted

Latest revision as of 04:20, 27 August 2019

This guide to writing entries for individuals is constantly developing, please add your thoughts and suggestions to this article's talk page.

Given the variety of sometimes limited amounts of information that exist for in-universe articles, this guide exists to assist you in finding the right layout for an article about an individual and how it might be structured.

You may use this as a guide for writing any in-universe article about an individual on this wiki from any sources within our Tardis:Canon policy.

Basic requirements[[edit source]]

At the very least, an article should have a description and profile of the individual.

An article often should have an Individual Infobox with all known information entered into it, however sometimes there may not be enough information to justify using an infobox (more detail below).

Any information you do not know just leave out, but the nature of a wiki someone will eventually find the article and add further information. Please do not add phrases such as (though not limited to) "this information is unknown".

Types of articles[[edit source]]

Generally speaking an individual article falls into three (quite broad) varieties; a short article, a medium article and a long article.

In the sections below there are examples of all three varieties and some things to notice when writing and editing articles of this length.

Short article[[edit source]]

A short article usually consists of an Individual Infobox and usually a single paragraph of information.

Charles Percival, Sondergaard and Kert Gantry are three examples of short articles, they all contain a paragraph of information and an infobox.

Short articles can contain just a sentence of information; Mollie Dawson and Ralpachan both contain just the infobox and one sentence.

Additionally, some articles may not have enough information to require an infobox, articles such as Saul Bredon and Pierre Breton contain all their information within the body of the article and do not contain enough information to be summarised within the infobox.

Medium article[[edit source]]

A medium article consists of Individual Infobox and more than one paragraph. It may be broken down into a Biography sub-heading and feature some in-depth information about the individual.

Medium articles represent a majority of the articles where a sizeable amount of information exists about the individual and the individual's article contains this of information to a detailed degree.

Tobias Vaughn, John Benton, Maggie Cain, Magnus Greel, Victoria Waterfield, Andy Davidson, all contain information of a 'medium article', some articles simply have a few paragraphs, whilst others are divided through a subheading beginning with Biography, using further sub-headings to break down an individual's life history through significant events or character altering events.

For more information on additional sub-headings see below

Long article[[edit source]]

A long article consists of Individual Infobox and several paragraphs broken into several sub-headings. Long articles contain a significant amount of information from numerous sources.

The Doctor and all their incarnations' articles fall into this definition, Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, Melanie Bush, Susan Foreman, Bernice Summerfield, Sarah Jane Smith, The Master, Gwen Cooper, Luke Smith, as these examples show generally long articles are articles of feature individuals that have accumulated a significant body of information to draw information from.

This group of examples also illustrates the fluid nature of the sub-heading structure of long articles, while most begin with a Biography (or in some cases Profile) sub-heading they quickly break into a variety of further sub-headings based on the unique elements of an individual's life history. As with medium articles this is based on an individual's significant history and character altering event.

For more information on additional sub-headings see below

Additional sub-headings[[edit source]]

For medium and long articles it is often useful to include additional information about unique elements of an individual's personality that is not focused on in the character's biography.

Personality[[edit source]]

Information contained in here is about the individual's personality, how they react, their moods and how their treat others and react to situations. This should be written as a paragraph, taking a new sentence when needed.

Habits and quirks[[edit source]]

Use this sub-heading to provide information about any unique habits or quirks that an individual is inclined towards.

Other information[[edit source]]

This sub-heading should be used for any information that does not fit within other sections that have been established or that you have established.

This can be anything from the individual in a parallel universe/alternate dimension/alternate universe etc, notable skills and abilities that were not covered else where (or need to be covered in more detail), romantic interests and any other information.

Please use complete sentences. Bullet points can be used, if used sparingly. Note that there should be no attempt to "bulletise" a person's whole life, as in the form of a "key life events" or "timeline" subsection. This sort of section was specifically rejected by the community in 2010.

Behind the scenes[[edit source]]

  • This should be bullet points about extra information about the character form a production point of view.
  • There may be headings in this section. In this case, the bullets points should go first, followed by headings at level three sub-heading (this uses three = like this: ===Sub-heading===.
  • These sub-headings may be used to add behind the scenes information such as; casting information, significance of the individual, the individual's place in canon and continuity. Include these only if the information exists to include it.

External links[[edit source]]

  • This should be a list, bullet pointed, of links to websites beyond this wiki and should be about the individual the article is about.
  • These link(s) should be checked regularly to make sure they are still active and accessible.
  • If there are no external links, this heading should not be included.

Footnotes[[edit source]]

If there are any sources used in the behind the scenes section they should follow our Manual of Style regarding citing out of universe (aka real world) information, in brief adding <ref> </ref> tags around the source.

If <ref></ref> tags are used add {{reflist}} to the this section.

Finally[[edit source]]

  • At the end of the article you should add categories, and any templates that might apply to the article.
  • At the end of the article, please always put {{NameSort}}, this may be excluded if the article individual has only one name, or if the character's name begins with "the", like the Master. In the latter case, {{TitleSort}} works.
  • Also if you believe the article is significantly lacking in information add {{character stub}} under here.
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