User blog:LostInRiverview/Wiki Updates - July 2010

I hope to make this blog a semi-regular feature on this wiki, detailing the big and small changes over time. This month, there are three developments to highlight.

Manual of Style
About a week ago, the Manual of Style (MoS) was made public. This manual should be used as a guide for Wiki editing, to ensure that the pages on this wiki appear similar and are orderly and present information effectively. You can raise questions or issues, or propose changes to the MoS by visiting the manual's discussion page. New and old editors alike should familiarize themselves with the rules and suggestions in the MoS, so that the Wiki can adopt a clean and uniform style.

Wiki Policies
On a more serious note, a draft version of new Policies and Procedures for this wiki have been introduced. Please read up on them, then present all proposed changes as well as your comments, on the policy discussion page. These rules are not in effect yet and are still open to changes and discussion.


 * UPDATE: Any registered user can propose amendments to the policy on the discussion page; until July 20 at midnight (UTC); after this, all registered users will be able to vote to approve or deny amendments (for one week, until July 27), then from July 28 to August 11, registered users will be able to vote to either approve or deny the policies as a whole. All voting will be done on the Discussion page for the policies. Specific rules on voting are included on that page, so go take a look!

New Templates/Template Changes
A number of new templates have been introduced recently, and a few have been revamped for various reasons:

Stubs
This wiki already has and  templates, but these templates have been revised so that all articles tagged with them will be automatically categorized. This will allow editors to monitor pages that are reported stubs, so that users can identify short pages or sections and add information to them.

Citation Templates
Two new templates; and , have been introduced. Pages marked with either of these templates will be added to an appropriate category. The purpose of these templates is to mark statements in articles that need to be reviewed and confirmed by the community, or in the case of the template, must be cited from a reputable source. Please make use of these templates anywhere there is dubious information that needs proof.

Changes to Succession and Scenario Templates
Now, the template, used on Scenario pages, has a few new features. The game name used will now link to the category page for that game; for example, the scenario Vanilla Hills is included in the category Category:RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Scenario, which can be reached by clicking on the linked words "List of scenarios" in the Succession template. The caveat to this is that all scenario pages must undergo some slight editing - On most pages, under the Successsion template, the game that the scenario takes place in is surrounded by two brackets - Game Name - those brackets must be removed so the template will function correctly. This will be ongoing, so if it appears that the Succession or Scenario infobox is "broken", it is because the page has not yet been edited.

New Logo voting
On a final note, this month's user contest is a vote on the Wiki's logo - remember to go to the |main page to vote on which one you like better - the new one or the old one!

Thanks for reading!

Useful Links

 * Manual of Style (MoS)
 * MoS discussion page


 * Proposed RCT wiki policies
 * Policy discussion

Send questions or comments to my talk page!