IFWiki:To-do list

This page is for documenting future/current ideas/projects for the IFWiki.

This page will probably change frequently and may not always look very pretty. It's like both a scratchpad and a to-do list. As we get more ideas, add them. As projects get completed, we'll remove them.

Articles that need cleanup

Main category: Category:Needs cleanup.

• Consolidate the IF Cliches, Design Patterns and Elements of Interactive Fiction pages - possibly also the pages from the 'Glossary' category? - into a master index of tropes/cliches/problems/idioms/patterns/antipatterns. (suggested by User:Nate)
  • See discussion of this topic at Talk:IF Cliches.
• I've noticed that some pages that used accented characters got munched as a result of the server move. I don't know of a good way of searching for these; we'll just have to keep an eye out for them and fix them when we see them.
• I'm thinking we will probably need a Votes For Deletion category, if that's the correct name for it; I'll have to research the topic at Wikipedia on how to handle it.

Fledgling Projects

• Creating more example code pages.
• Creating more tropes pages.
• Creating more game help pages.
• Creating pages for the individual IF games, at least the best or better known ones. The page for Photopia is the current testing ground; when it looks acceptable, we can start creating more like it.
  • One of the subgoals is to have genre icons created. I've begun some of them; see Games (style guide). I want two types of genres: traditional and setting. Traditional genres are things like Drama, Mystery, Comedy, Science Fiction, Horror, etc. Setting genres is a new idea that I think is very applicable to IF; they will include things like One-Room, Home, School, Office, Underground, Spaceship, Farm, Great Outdoors, Fortress, City, etc.
  • Another subgoal to figure out is what sort of tables of standard info might be useful. For example, I've yet to see many games classified by Zarf's cruelty scale.
    • IFMES should be the starting point for these tables. And I'm not just saying that because I invented it. In the process of formulating that standard, I've done a lot of research into what data was already being used by various sites and software to describe IF games, and I am continuing to do such research as the standard evolves. There's no sense in ifWiki maintainers doing the same work all over again. Of course ifWiki doesn't need to use every IFMES element, just the ones that make sense in ifWiki's scope. The next draft (due sometime late Nov or early Dec) will include English labels that can be used instead of the URL IDs. --Ryukage 00:43, 18 Oct 2005 (Central Daylight Time)
• Creating pages for documenting TADS 3 classes. The page for Room (TADS 3 class) is the current testing ground; when it looks acceptable, we can start creating more like it. Similar pages for other features of TADS 3 and other authoring systems should also be contemplated.

Rough Ideas

• A general wish for more images in the wiki. I'm hoping the genre icons will partial fit this wish. I doubt many people want their pictures in the wiki, but it's not like I've asked yet.
• Creating a template table for documenting and comparing interpreter features. Again, what features do interpreters have or not have? Which ones let the user change the fonts or the colors? Which offer a scrollback or transcription feature? etc.
  • This sounds like a project that could result in another IFMI standard. I'll be working on metadata standards for platforms and interpreters as soon as I get IFMES locked down. As soon as I can get some real webspace, I'll start setting up forums, mailing lists, and maybe a wiki, so that IFMI can become a collaborative community project instead of just my own thing. --Ryukage 00:43, 18 Oct 2005 (Central Daylight Time)

Wanted pages

• More info and pages for Category:Infocom would be welcome.
• The pages for Category:Sierra are almost non-existant. We must research the info and document it.
  • It would help to know which Sierra games are to be considered interactive fiction. Games like King's Quest 1-4 had a parser, but also required a lot of non-parser-based input. Do we want ifwiki pages for games like KQ1-4? Just asking for clarification, not suggesting an answer. -- Gregb 15:27, 12 September 2007 (PDT)
• We probably need a 'Scope' section (or page) on the Community Portal, I think, to define what topics are and are not in scope for the wiki. (copied from a comment by User:Nate at Talk:IF Cliches).
  • Note: The early discussions about the scope for the wiki are at Talk:Ifwiki.
• Try to think up new articles that we don't have, e.g.: actor stance, Amazon, author stance, Belboz, Deform, Dimwit Flathead, Dragonworld, Fahrenheit 451, Infix, Informese, lawnmowing, Newsgroup, pathfinding, plugh, plover, Reform, Rendezvous With Rama, Shadowkeep, slider puzzle, skein, Standard IF commands, Tower of Hanoi, wedge chocking.
• There's almost nothing in the wiki yet about analysis or criticism of various features of IF games, or how certain topics have been handled in the past in IF. For example, we don't many have pages on general topics like: murder, gender, sex, homosexuality, death, conversation, distance, description, animals, etc. (It's hard to know what category(ies) they'd be listed under until such articles are written.)

Ongoing Tasks

• Almost all pages, including category pages, should ideally belong to at least one category. The root, or top-level, category is Basics. The relevant special pages are Special:Uncategorizedcategories and Special:Uncategorizedpages.
• Filling out the Games Released pages, of course. Only 2004 and 2005 look anywhere close to complete.

Talk Requests

(Feel free to move or rename this section - not sure where to put it)

• Talk:Random - request input from a third person on the issue of impartiality / prescriptive statements in IFWiki pages. Not asking for somone to agree with my point of view, just for some insights - thanks -- David Fisher -- 02:25, 11 December 2005 EST (Sydney time)