About IFWiki: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 22:18, 15 March 2024

IFWiki is a wiki containing information about interactive fiction, including IF history, theory, craft, tools, and people. IFWiki serves as both a historical record of community knowledge and a guide to resources for playing and creating interactive fiction.

Since 2022 IFWiki has been overseen by the IFWiki Committee of the Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation.

Current projects

Here are some IFWiki projects you can help with. For tips on editing IFWiki, see How to edit IFWiki.

Software and Events databases

Please help us populate these databases!

If a page about an event (or an event series) or software (an authoring system, interpreter, or utility) does not have an infobox then you can click "Actions" then "Edit with form" to add one. See IFWiki:Events without infoboxes and IFWiki:Software without infoboxes for ideas.
If information is missing from an infobox, or needs updating, you can click "Edit this infobox".

For help, please see the Databases, forms, and infoboxes section of the How to edit IFWiki page.

Update out-of-date pages

If you see information on a wiki page that is out of date, you can update it.

Some pages are listed in Category:Pages that need to be updated. To mark a page as needing to be updated, and add it to that category, just use Template:Update needed.

Fix broken links

To help fix broken links, see Replacing dead links. Broken links can be found on the Status of external links page.

Wanted pages

You can create pages that have not yet been created. Special:Wantedpages is an automatically generated list of pages that have been named in links, but not yet created. Note, some of these may be misspellings, you may want to modify the link in that case, others may be correct alternative spellings/namings or concepts which could be merged, in which case creating a redirect is probably best. Please make sure a page does not exist before you create a new one.

Users

Category:User pages is where to find the pages that IFWiki users have created about themselves. Some users have opted to redirect their user pages to the more formalized pages about themselves in Category:People.
Special:Listusers is an automatically generated list of all IFWiki user accounts. Names in red have created user accounts but have not created their user page.
IFWiki:Administrators shows a summary of IFWiki's caretakers and their usual roles in keeping IFWiki running.

Discuss IFWiki

To discuss a specific page of IFWiki, you can use its associated talk page: click the "Discussion" link on any page. For tips on using talk pages, see the How to use Talk/Discussion pages section on the How to edit IFWiki page.

If you have a technical problem with IFWiki, please ask about it on the Talk:About IFWiki page. It may take time for someone knowledgable with tech stuff to respond though, so please be patient.

To discuss IFWiki in general you can:
- Use this page's talk page, at Talk:About IFWiki. (For help with talk pages, see How to use Talk/Discussion pages.)
- Post at the "IF Community Resources" category at the Interactive Fiction Community Forum, using the tag "ifwiki".

Contact us

If you are having technical problems with your IFWiki account, or if you need to contact an IFWiki administrator directly, please send an email to the following address: admin [at] ifwiki.org

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-This is an area for organising the development of IFWiki, in the spirit of the original Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/Wikipedia:Community_portal Community portal]. (IFWiki runs MediaWiki, the Wikipedia software, but we are not otherwise affiliated.)
+IFWiki is a wiki containing information about [[interactive fiction]], including IF history, theory, craft, tools, and people. IFWiki serves as both a historical record of community knowledge and a guide to resources for playing and creating interactive fiction.
-==To Do==
+Since 2022 IFWiki has been overseen by the [https://iftechfoundation.org/committees/ifwiki/ IFWiki Committee] of the [[Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation]].
-''Main article: [[IFWiki:To-do list]]''
-These are tasks that we're working on in the wiki.
+==Categories==
+IFWiki uses many categories to organize pages. The top-level category is [[:Category:Basics|Basics]].
-We're always looking for content about IF games, old and new, of course.
+Some notable categories are:
+* [[:Category:Works|Works]], [[:Category:Years|Years]], [[:Category:Authoring system|Authoring system]], and [[:Category:Publishers|Publishers]].
+* [[:Category:Glossary|Glossary]] has pages imported from the [[IF Theory Book]] glossary.
+* [[:Category:Past raif topics|Past raif topics]] (and subcategories) for links to Google Groups rec.arts.int-fiction threads.
+* [[:Category:Tropes|Tropes]] (and subcategories) to identify recurring features in IF.
-But March (2007) might be a good time to step back and review the state of IFWiki so far, and see if we're on track. Or maybe experiment with new types of content. Or just try to reduce the number of red links where we find them. Maybe even look at that old dusty To-do list that's up there.
+==Current projects==
+Here are some IFWiki projects you can help with. For tips on editing IFWiki, see [[How to edit IFWiki]].
-==Vandalism Alerts==
+===Software and Events databases===
-''Main article: [[IFWiki:Vandalism]]. Previous years: [[IFWiki:Vandalism/Archive 1]]'' (2005&ndash;2008)
+Please help us populate these databases!
+* If a page about an event (or an event series) or software (an authoring system, interpreter, or utility) does not have an infobox then you can click "Actions" then "Edit with form" to add one. See [[IFWiki:Events without infoboxes]] and [[IFWiki:Software without infoboxes]] for ideas.
+* If information is missing from an infobox, or needs updating, you can click "Edit this infobox".
-===Vandalism in 2009===
+For help, please see the [[How to edit IFWiki#Databases,_forms,_and_infoboxes|Databases, forms, and infoboxes]] section of the [[How to edit IFWiki]] page.
-* User:Blackjack created [[A day in life]] with inappropriate content, insulting that game's author, on Apr 04, 2009.
-* User:NovilIzelr spammed [[9:05]] on May 21, 2009.
-* User:DronrEldel spammed [[The Bible Retold]] on May 22, 2009.
-* Several users with names in the format "[2-or-3-digit number] buy [something]" created spam user pages for themselves on June 8, 2009. Possibly this was a bot spamming us. They bothered us for several days. UPDATE: We keep attempting to block these guys through June, July, August, but they keep mutating their attack.
-* User:Mdjww created a Runescape-based page in early July. Not in English, though.
-* User:OloorTacoo and User:DomleToout spammed [[The Bible Retold]] and [[9:05]] respectively on July 9, 2009. Hm, those pages were spammed in May. Also, the technique was to add the spam then delete it; is it enough for them that it's in the page's history?
-* User:LaeltRelro spammed 9:05, User:CnaolOrelc spammed The Bible Retold on Aug 18, 2009, same way as it was done in July. (I don't get it. What's special about those two pages in particular?)
-* User:LazelEltor spammed [[David Fillmore]] on Sept 2, 2009, again via two edits: one to add the spam, and the second to delete it.
-* User:Makhishewittl, User:Happyocombss and several other similar spam accounts created spam user pages for themselves on Oct 12 to 17, 2009. They were more annoying than usual because the height of their ads blocked anyone from clicking any of the tabs at the top of the page.
-* '''Good news!''' On Oct 17, 2009, [[baf]] updated our copy of MediaWiki and added a few extensions, one of which will require new users to solve a captcha as part of the registration process. This should prevent a few spambots from creating new accounts at will. Another extension allows [[IFWiki:Bureaucrats|IFWiki bureaucrats]] to merge accounts together and delete one of them; [[Dswxyz]] will use it to start deleting the most obvious spam accounts from the system.
-===Vandalism in 2010===
+===Update out-of-date pages===
-* User:Gentleman Flying created a spam page on May 18, 2010.
+If you see information on a wiki page that is out of date, you can update it.
-* User:Xuebao created a similar spam page on May 25, 2010.
-* User:Rebeca123 added a spam link to the Nerd Quest page on July 15, 2010.
-* Zhenxi840611, then Lxw840611 created the same spam page on July 31 and Aug 1, respectively.
-==Categories==
+Some pages are listed in [[:Category:Pages that need to be updated]]. To mark a page as needing to be updated, and add it to that category, just use [[Template:Update needed]].
-IFWiki uses many categories to organize pages. The top-level category is [[:Category:Basics|Basics]].
-Some notable categories are:
+===Fix broken links===
-* [[:Category:Games|Games]], [[:Category:Years|Years]], [[:Category:Authoring system|Authoring system]], and [[:Category:Publishers|Publishers]].
+To help fix broken links, see [[IFWiki:Replacing_dead_links|Replacing dead links]]. Broken links can be found on the  [{{SERVER}}/Special:RottenLinks?showBad=1&limit=500 Status of external links] page.
-* [[:Category:Glossary|Glossary]] has pages imported from the [[IF Theory Book]] glossary.
-* [[:Category:Past raif topics|Past raif topics]] (and subcategories) for links to Google Groups rec.arts.int-fiction threads.
-* [[:Category:Tropes|Tropes]] (and subcategories) to identify recurring features in IF.
-This is an automatically generated list of categories.
+===Wanted pages===
-* [[Special:Categories]]
+You can create pages that have not yet been created. [[Special:Wantedpages]] is an automatically generated list of pages that have been named in links, but not yet created. Note, some of these may be misspellings, you may want to modify the link in that case, others may be correct alternative spellings/namings or concepts which could be merged, in which case creating a redirect is probably best. Please make sure a page does not exist before you create a new one.
 ==Users==
-* [[:Category:User pages]] is where to find the pages that IFWiki users have created about themselves. Few users have bothered to do this, and others have opted to redirect their user pages to the more formalized pages about themselves in [[:Category:People]], if only so their username doesn't display as a red link when they sign a comment.
+* [[:Category:User pages]] is where to find the pages that IFWiki users have created about themselves. Some users have opted to redirect their user pages to the more formalized pages about themselves in [[:Category:People]].
 * [[Special:Listusers]] is an automatically generated list of all IFWiki user accounts. Names in red have created user accounts but have not created their user page.
 * [[IFWiki:Administrators]] shows a summary of IFWiki's caretakers and their usual roles in keeping IFWiki running.
-==Wanted Pages==
+==Discuss IFWiki==
-This is an automatically generated list of pages that have been named in links, but not yet created. Go have at them. Note, some of these may be misspellings, you may want to modify the link in that case, others may be correct alternative spellings/namings or concepts which could be merged, in which case creating a redirect is probably best. Please make sure a page does not exist before you create a new one.
+* To discuss a specific page of IFWiki, you can use its associated talk page: click the "Discussion" link on any page. For tips on using talk pages, see the [[How to edit IFWiki#How to use_Talk/Discussion_pages|How to use Talk/Discussion pages]] section on the [[How to edit IFWiki]] page.
-* [[Special:Wantedpages]]
+* If you have a technical problem with IFWiki, please ask about it on the [[Talk:About IFWiki]] page. It may take time for someone knowledgable with tech stuff to respond though, so please be patient.
-==Technical Problems==
+* To discuss IFWiki in general you can:
-If you have a technical problem with IFWiki, please ask about it on the [[IFWiki talk:Community portal]] page. It may take time for someone knowledgable with tech stuff to respond though, so please be patient.
+** Use this page's talk page, at [[Talk:About IFWiki]]. (For help with talk pages, see [[How to edit IFWiki#How to use_Talk/Discussion_pages|How to use Talk/Discussion pages]].)
+** Post at the [https://intfiction.org/c/general/if-community-resources/70 "IF Community Resources" category] at the [[Interactive Fiction Community Forum]], using the tag "ifwiki".
-==New Genres==
+==Contact us==
-One genre that I think is missing is a ''Holiday'' genre, for games taking place during for example Easter, Christmas or Halloween. Although most holidays are based on religion, the games are frequently not (e.g., [[Escape From Santaland]]), and I don’t think the existing ''Religious'' genre would be appropriate. I’m not sure ''Holiday'' is be the best name for the genre, though, as that might easily be seen to include summer holiday/vacation games, which aren’t especially ‘holiday-themed’. Any comments? --[[User:Huftis|Huftis]] 14:46, 22 October 2011 (PDT)
-* My preference for this would be to create a [[List of holiday games]] page instead, which would go into the [[:Category:Game lists|Game lists]] category. Look at the [[List of sports games]] and [[Games by Country]] pages as examples for how that might work. -- [[User:Dswxyz|David Welbourn]] 16:53, 22 October 2011 (PDT)
+If you are having technical problems with your IFWiki account, or if you need to contact an IFWiki administrator directly, please send an email to the following address: '''admin [at] ifwiki.org'''
-* oh, and um, discussion ought to be on a Talk page instead of an article page. May I move this discussion to [[IFWiki talk:Community portal]], please? I'll wait a bit so you can have a chance to see my response and reply. -- [[User:Dswxyz|David Welbourn]] 17:08, 22 October 2011 (PDT)
 [[Category:IFWiki|Community portal]]