Lylat Wiki:Decent Articles

Peppy, When you have a chance, please look at this policy. I would like your opinion on it.

Right, I will place my feedback on the talk page.

This draft policy is recommend by a member in accordance with LW:Draft. You are free to make small changes, as long as the original purpose of the policy is preserved. Any feedback should be provided on the talk page.

Decent articles are articles that have risen above stub status, but aren't yet good article-worthy.

We thank the contributors of the follwoing pages as they were a big help in creating the topics covered here.

Remember this is not a governance of each contribution. If you want to contribute information, in complete disregards to this guide, then do so. We would rather have you contribute and break a rule, and then not contribute at all.

A decent article - is considered to be on it's way to being good, but still requires fixing and expanding before being so.

Language usage

As a article develops, people put in their own influences. As much as we appreciate contributions, we also need to make sure information is not lost due to some form of communication error.

Sections

Sections need to be titled correctly, and they need to follow the rules of spelling and grammar, just as the rest of the article does.
See also Lylat Wiki:Section Standards.

Templates

Templates need to look good on an article, almost to the point a view will not realize it's a template. If a template needs fixing, in your fixing of the article, please bring it to the attention of everyone by marking the template, not the article you are working on. Templates have there own discussion pages for these types of things.
In addition, it would be helpful to ensure the template is up to Lylat Wiki:Template Standards.

Verification

A decent article not only has references, but has a variety of them to choose from. There are three main types of references, and they breakdown as follows:

First-party - is something that said or when on in the games themselves.
Second Party - is something found on an official publication, website or archive there of.
Third Party - is a reputable source created by a fan of the series, an expert in a scientific field, a game review site, etc.

How do i know when i should use what type?

That depends on the situation. Situations that a quotes from a character will help, then used a first- or second-party citation.

Satisfying Polcy & Guidelines

As an article gets bigger and bigger, it is going to be scrutinized more and more. To help deter this, we editors need to make sure that with each edit we are bring an article closer and closer to meeting Policies set up by the community.

These include:

and others found on Category:Policies.

Style and Content Guide

Now that there is some text in a article, time to include some other ways of displaying information.

Textual Information

In addition to paragraphs, information can be stored in lists and tables. Which is best depends on the situation, but a decent article has has found the best way to display the information it has currently.

Tables

for more, see: Lylat Wiki:Table Standards.

Is/Are the table(s) organized in a way that the table makes it easier to understand the information, rather than make it harder?

Lists

for more, see: Lylat Wiki:List Standards.

What type of list should it be:

bulleted?

numbered?

Files

Before including a file, be sure it has the following:

A Licence
A Citation Templates & a File Templates
- and make sure all the information is filled out. If a file is deleted due to missing or bad information, and you've used it, then the article may have just decreased in quality, as there is now a Red Link in place of the image.
Be sure to provide some kind of alternative way of providing the same information, for those under different, sometimes harsher, conditions than you.
- For example, if you display important information visually, also have the same information textually available. For more, please see Lylat Wiki:Accessibility.

Images

Before including a image, be sure the image has the following

Make sure they are the right file type for the situation you are in:
- has a transparent background - use .png or .svg
- is a screenshot or box art - use .jpg
- is fanart and other scans pictures - use .jpg
- simple animations - use .gif
fan art needs to go specifically in a fan art gallery, unless the art was designed specifically for purpose on the wiki. They should not be used to demonstrate a subject matter. However, exceptions may apply. If you aren't sure, check an administrator.
screen shots, before use, need to be trimmed and cropped down to the essential part of the shot befroe being used in an article (see Zelda Wiki.org:Image Requests for more info.)

for more, see: Lylat Wiki:Image Standards.

for more on proper images, see: Lylat Wiki:Image Standards for the images themselves.

Music & Videos

for more, see: Lylat Wiki:Music & Video Standards.

Before posting music or a video on a article, including linking to an outside sources, make sure the following is followed:

playing the file doesn't happen automatically without the visitor's consent (including flash animations).
it is volume-leveled enough that the visitor doesn't immediately turn it off.
it is actually related to the subject matter, not just to be "cool".

In addition, please post it in the .ogg file format, unless that is otherwise unavailable.

Cateogries

for more, see: Lylat Wiki:Category Standards.

Placing an article In the appropriate category can give a nice finishing for a visitor on the page. It helps encourage them to continue surfing around the wiki, via the path provided by one of the Category Links.

Other

To Become a Decent Article

Once an article is of stub-quality, and has been so without decreasing overtime, it is ready to be considered decedent if it meets the follwoing questions:

Language Usage

Has it been expanding at a steady pace, without compromising spelling or grammar, or other linguistic qualities?
has some of the previous linguistic errors been fixed?
Is the title of the Article and all of its sections appropriate?
Are the templates the used well designed, well placed and meet the linguistic standards set above?

Verification

has the reference list been expanding?
has they included at least 2 of the three types of references?
Are there plenty of cited statements?

Satisfying Polcy & Guidelines

Is there any big policy questions being raised?

Style and Content

Are the tables and lists well designed, organized well and placed well?
Are the included files appropriate? do help the article, rather than hinder it?
Are any linked in music or videos a distraction?
If there's music or a video, does it enhance the experience of the page, rather than reduce it?
Is the article in an inappropriate categories?

Once you have a stub-level article ready to be reviewed, seek out a decent-level reviewer and ask them to review the page. If it passes, replace the article's -stub-level template with a -decent-level one to show the article's promotion.

Decent Level Review Team

Main article: Lylat Wiki:Decent Level Review Team

Related Pages

Five steps to making a featured article
Stage 5: Becoming a featured article
Stage 4: Becoming a good article
Stage 3: Becoming a decent article
Stage 2: Becoming a stub article
Stage 1: Becoming a new article