User:Dial/Sandbox
Welcome to 118Wiki, a collaborative database for the UFOP: StarBase 118 Star Trek RPG. The purpose of this Wiki is to give members of our group a place to collaborate and keep history. Wikis are great for online projects because they allow so much easy collaboration. As such, this Wiki is intended to facilitate these projects, but also to give people a place to take part in the history of our group as it happens. You can also build a comprehensive profile for your character, and much more!
This specific area of our Wiki is used to introduce people to the Wiki and how it works. Instead of long explanations this is meant to be a guide to help you arrange your own user page and your character's page. We included links to more detailed information about how to edit, how to utilize templates, what to add to your bio and other issues that become important later.
User Page
As you may already be aware, you automatically have a user page when you register on the wiki. If you look to the top of the page you're on right now, you'll see a small list of links, the leftmost link being your username.
Here would follow an introduction what to put in a user page, what better not, how to handle the talk. It could be taken mostly from the resources of the Q&A of the old new user page. Maybe a hint that new users could also skip this part would be a good idea idea, too (cause you can play without a user page but not without a character page).
Character Page
Now, after dealing what a "User page" is about, we must differentiate between the "Writer" and the "Character". There's only one of you, the writer, while you can have several characters. Using the wiki, you can create a very rich and detailed character page with information about your character, an archive of sims, and much more. This tutorial will show you the basics for creating a basic character page.
Creating the Character Page
Before you can create a character page, it's helpful to understand how to create a page, and how to name it properly. Please read the content of the link below:
Now let's come to the question how to use your character page. Now, our goal in naming a page is first to make it unique. But we also need to make it easy to find the page. Sure, search would probably pull up a page as long as you know e.g. a character's first or family name. But let's be honest: We don't want to look through all the Williams, all the Smiths and whatever names else. Therefore we're highly recommending to use one way of naming your character pages. It increases the simplicity and efficiency of finding your character pages by far. We need to be careful, however, not to be too specific. For example your rank will change at the next promotion, so we don't want to include it as part of the name because we want conformity with others. So, what about the character's name. While there are some peoples, lile the Ferengi, who seem not to use surnames, most people have a family name and one or more given names. Middle names, if they are not used all the time, can be dropped. Putting the last name first is usually the best, because we're using ranks normally in SIM, most people are known as something like "Ensign Smith". Last names are slightly more common in SIM than first names, so people will likely look for the last name first. In the rare case that your character is more commonly known by their "first" name, then you might want to change this a little. For example a bartender who is always adressed might be an exception of the rule. Playing a Bajoran, a Chinese or a character from another culture that puts family names first you may do so on his/her character page.
Further information about how to name pages in general can be found here: Naming pages properly
Character pages
Now that you have read about how to create and name pages correctly you can proceed with creating your own character page.
Before you begin, keep in mind that you are free to add and edit as much as you wish. The following examples of character pages are just "starting points" to work from.
Click on each of the links below to view our standard, template character pages. Read the instructions on the page for more information about how to choose the template you'd like to use. You can always add elements from other templates once you've started.
Easy Starter Bio Template
The Featured Bio Contest Team has created an this bio template to help those who wish to create a bio that meets the judging criteria of the contest. You can fully customize the colors of the headers and the names of the various sections to suit your needs. If you have any questions, just contact a member of the Featured Bio Contest Team.
Basic Character Pages
This is a very basic starting character page with just a short description of your character. This is an excellent page to start with as it is simple to fill out and allows for simple alterations to fit your needs.
Advanced Character Pages
After you have played for a while you will probably want to add some more information to your character. This is a more advance character form that you could use. It can also be adapted to fit your characters requirements.
Complex Character Pages
The final example we have supplied is an extremely in depth approach to making a character page. This one will involve making addition pages that will be linked to your first page. This will allow for the addition of a great more detail and information as well as history and any other extra information or pictures that you might want to add.
Adding Categories
Once you have selected the type of character page you will use you will need to add the following information to the bottom of the page. Read the next section carefully to make sure you do not miss anything.
All pages on the wiki should be categorized. The category tag(s) should be the last text on the page, one to a line.
The first category tag you should add is as follows: [[Category:Characters]]
Occupation
After that you will need to identify if your character is a member of StarFleet or a Civilian:
- If your character is a StarFleet officer, add: [[Category:Starfleet personnel]]
- If your character is a Civilian of some type, add: [[Category:Civilians]]
Next, what does your character do?:
- S/he is an Engineering officer: [[Category:Engineers]]
- S/he is a Doctor, Nurse, or Medic: [[Category:Healers and doctors]]
- S/he is a Counselor: [[Category:Mental Health experts]]
- S/he is a Security officer: [[Category:Security personnel]]
- S/he is a Helm, Com, or Ops officer: [[Category:HCO Officers]]
- S/he is a Science officer: [[Category:Scientists]]
- S/he is a StarFleet Captain: [[Category:Starfleet Captains]]
- S/he is a Marine of some type: [[Category:Starfleet Marines]]
- S/he is an Intelligence officer of some type: [[Category:Intelligence members]]
More occupations found in the Individuals by occupation category.
Species
Many races already have categories available. Simply head to the Individuals by species category and find yours. Add that category, like so: [[Category:Vulcans]].
If yours is not represented, seek assistance from an Admin.
Traits
Does your character fit one of the following traits?:
- if she/he has any ESP like abilities then they would be a Reader. For more information about this or to make sure your character qualifies as a reader follow the link, Reader. Once you are sure your character qualifies as a reader then add the following category: [[Category:Reader Characters]]
- is she/he is a Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgendered character then add the following category: [[Category:GLBT Characters]]
- if she/he holds a noble title then add this category: [[Category:Nobility]]
- if she/he is a Secondary Character for you then add this category: [[Category:Secondary Characters]]
- Keep in Mind that only officers who are above the rank of Lt. may request a secondary character. See Characters FAQ for more info on how to request a secondary character.
Current Starship or Base
You'll need to add yourself as a member of the current crew you are on. Head to the Ship Histories page and find your current ship. Now scroll down to the bottom of your ship's page and click on your ship's category name. This should bring you to a list of sub-categories, and pages in your ship's category. Usually there is a category like "Enterprise PCs" or "Enterprise Crew" or "Enterprise Characters." Add that category to your character page.
If you have changed ship, your old ship might have a category for former PCs (e.g. Category:Independence-A Alumni). If so, add this to the bottom of your characters page at the same time as adding it to the PC's category for your new ship.
Examples
Our Featured Bio Team reviews the best bios on the wiki and curates a list of the top examples. You can find lots of inspiration for your own bio by checking out their List of Featured Bios.
Other tutorials
Help
In most cases if after reading this you still require assistance you can usually ask either your Captain or 1st Officer. They should be able to either help you out or direct you to someone who can assist you.
Your ship's handbooks
Many ships of the Starbase 118 fleet have come up with different kinds of handbooks. All of those enlisted below are meant as guides for new players aboard.
- USS Apollo Handbook
- USS Columbia Handbook
- USS Excalibur Handbook
- USS Garuda Handbook
- USS Gemini Handbook
- USS John Paul Jones Handbook
- Starbase 118 Ops Handbook
- USS Victory Handbook
- USS Vigilant Handbook
THE SDC IS CURRENTLY DISCUSSING THE FIRST CONTACT TEMPLATE. I will inform you of the results of that discussion by July 15th.
You can use this template to create a First Contact report from your character's point of view:
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 NAME OF THE ENCOUNTERED SPECIES
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| FIRST CONTACT | ||
|---|---|---|
REPORT OF DISCOVERY
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OBSERVATORY MISSION
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FIRST CONTACT
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POSSIBLITIES OF DIPLOMATIC CONTACT OR FEDERATION MEMBERSHIP
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SCIENTIFIC NOTES
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[[Category:First Contacts|*]] [[Category:Templates]] [[Category:Memory 118 Templates]]