Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe:Getting Started
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Welcome to the Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe. If you clicked here, you probably want to share one of your characters with the rest of us. Feel free to peruse the steps outlined below. Once you finish your first character, hopefully, you will find it's easy to create your own pages. If you still need help, of course, this topic will still be here.
Contents |
First Steps
The first thing you will want to do is look at some of the pages already here. 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 a page should look like will help you with the following steps. If nothing else, you will be able to see if something is going hideously 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 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. (Note: If the character's name is already taken, you will be taken to that character's page - if it is your character, you may want to have a stern talking-to with whoever created it.) This will bring up the Edit page, where you will build your character.
Templates
A template is a set block of information that you may fill in as necessary. Think of it like a madlib. Eisregen has prepared a couple excellent tutorials for setting up your template. template:HeroBox and template:VillainBox respectively.
One important thing to remember when you are filling out your template is everything is case sensitive. Also, if there is a field you do not want to fill out, you should delete the entry from your edit page.
Powerset Templates
Note:Not all powersets are represented yet.
If you want to add powers to your character page, but don't feel like typing everything out yourself, you can use a Powerset template to add them. These templates are designed to be customizable, by filling in custom names and descriptions if desired. Also, it is easy to include or exclude specific powers. Each template will display usage instructions when browsed, as well as a 'cheat sheet' that can be copied and pasted into your character page and then edited.
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 =Personality= in a line by itself. You can then write out your personality as you see fit.
To further break down this marker, you can add subdivisions. This is done with two ='s. For example ==Happymood== will add a sub category of Happymood underneath Personalities 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 ===day=== would add the division of day underneath Happymood.
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.
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 [[Category:Male]].
- It is recommended you add a category for your character for your gender, origin, AT, alignment (Hero, Villain, Mercenary, Vigilante), and Supergroup if applicable.
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:
[[Category:Male]][[Category:Magic]][[Category:Defender]][[Category:Hero]][[Category:Supergroupname]][[Category:Character]]
A list of suitable categories can be found here.
Linking to Categories
A common problem with linking or redirecting to categories is, the link disappears, or the redirect gets categorized as 'itself'. To avoid this, construct your link or redirect thusly:
[[:Category:My Category | Optional Text]]
#REDIRECT [[:Category:My Category]]
The colon at the beginning forces the link to be displayed inline like this: Category:Characters, instead of performing the Categorize function.
Category Templates
The following templates will categorize your new character into three main categories (Character, Alignment, Archetype) when used. This is just a shortcut to adding the categories by hand (as shown above).
| Template Code (copy and paste this into your page) | What Template Does |
|---|---|
| Heroes | |
| {{Blaster}} | Category:Character |
| {{Controller}} | Category:Character |
| {{Defender}} | Category:Character |
| {{Scrapper}} | Category:Character |
| {{Tanker}} | Category:Character |
| Villains | |
| {{Brute}} | Category:Character |
| {{Corruptor}} | Category:Character |
| {{Dominator}} | Category:Character |
| {{Mastermind}} | Category:Character |
| {{Stalker}} | Category:Character |
| Hero Epics | |
| {{Peacebringer}} | Category:Character |
| {{Warshade}} | Category:Character |
| Villain Epics | |
| {{Arachnos Spider}} | Category:Character |
| {{Arachnos Widow}} | Category:Character |
Google Web Fonts
Several web fonts have been enabled for use on Virtueverse:
| Cuprum | IM Fell DW Pica | Josefin Sans Std Light | Lobster | Philosopher | Reenie Beanie | Tangerine |
Learn how to implement them at: Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe:Google Web Fonts.
Images
CAUTION: You may want to open the link referenced below in a second window or tab.
IMAGE UPLOADING IS CURRENTLY OFFLINE
A picture can speak a thousand words. To add a picture to your page, click on the link on the left side of the page labeled "upload file". From there, you can upload any picture on your system, though files over 150KB in size will be rejected by the site. Size restrictions are necessary to ensure UHVU has plenty of space for all users.
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 'Uberman 1.jpg', the file's name will be Uberman_1.jpg.
Although this is an uncensored wiki, it is recommended that you adhere to the PG-13 or FYOS (Fourteen Year Old Sister) rule when uploading pictures - some nudity is tolerated, but only if it's tastefully represented. That means do not upload:
- porn,
- snuff pics,
- gore
- anything that violates the Terms of Service or Guidelines to UHVU
- other overly visceral or just plain GROSS pictures
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 may overwrite the existing file, and someone else's page will suddenly have YOUR picture on it instead of theirs. Oh, and... doing that intentionally? Not a good idea at all.
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 [[image:uberman_1.jpg]]. 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, with a caption below, use the command [[image:uberman_1.jpg|frame|Your Caption Goes Here]]. For more image options, see Wikipedia: Extended image syntax.
Offsite Images
VirtueVerse now allows users to include images from an offsite source onto their page. You are free to use any host for these images including Flickr, or Photobucket. These images do not need to follow the same file size restrictions that uploaded images do, however, they are required to follow the VirtueVerse Terms of Use. We are asking the community to self police themselves in this regard, images that violate our hosts Terms of Service put the site at risk.
In order to use an offsite image simply include the URL to that image in the page. Please be aware that a image file extension is required for this to work.
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 hideous 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. Look it over. Does it look right? Is something a little bit off? This is also a good time to make any alterations or corrections to your character. 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.
After that, feel free to add more characters or do some experimenting. Most of the techniques listed here are quite basic, but will be all you need to make an interesting and informative page for your favorite characters.
Stubbing
If your article is a small work in progress, feel free to "stub" it. When you stub an article, you mark it as a work in progress, so that people who read the article know that there'll be more content coming soon. If you stub a supergroup article, you're letting others know that, if they're members of that supergroup, they're welcome to add content.
To stub a character article, add {{Character-Stub}} to the end of the article, right above the list of categories. To stub a supergroup article, add {{Supergroup-Stub}} to the end of the article, right above the list of categories.
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 {{spoiler}} above the spoiler content. That looks like this:
You might want to consider using the tag {{player-spoiler}} 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 {{endspoiler}} to let people know where the spoilers end.
Mature and Subversive Content
If your page contains mature content (anything that would be more than about a PG-13 rating), or talks about highly controversial topics that others might not agree with (religion, Longbow's legal status, etc.), you might want to mark it with a mature or subversive content warning. That way, people can avoid content that might offend them.
To mark a page as mature content, add {{Mature-content}} to the top of the page, after the end of your HeroBox or VillainBox template if necessary.
To mark a page as subversive content, add {{Subversive-content}} to the top of the page, after the end of your HeroBox or VillainBox template if necessary.
And if you're strange and want to mark a page as mature content in a joking way, add {{Buggery-content}} to the top of the page, after the end of your HeroBox or VillainBox template if necessary.
- STYLE HINT: If you don't like the big orange banner stuck at the top or in the middle of your page, you can put it in the "Footnotes" entry in your HeroBox or Villainbox template.
Help! I'm Lost!!
All of this can seem pretty daunting at first. Not to worry. If you'd like someone to help with the editing, layout, et cetera, place the following at the top of your page:
{{Help Me}}
This will do two things.
One, it'll push your page into the Help Requests category. That way the wiki admins can find it quickly, as well as anyone else interested in volunteering for this kind of thing.
Two, it'll put a banner at the top, signaling to any readers that you're looking for help to spiff up the page. This is how the banner looks:
| The writer of this page has requested help with editing. |
|---|
| Please use the talk page to discuss changes desired. |
If you're comfortable with Talk pages (the discussion page that goes along with every article) you can describe what you're trying to do there. Or, you can always drop it below the Help Me template, letting the editor move your 'working notes' as part of the process.
