SmashWiki:Creating new articles

This page documents an official SmashWiki policy, a widely accepted standard that all users should follow. When editing this page, please ensure that your revision reflects consensus. If in doubt, consider discussing changes on the talk page.

SmashWiki has a lot of articles, but it's still missing quite a few articles as well. You want to create a new article for the wiki, but don't know how to or what to make it about. This page will help you with those things.

What is an article?

An article, also known as a page, is an account of various topics based on a single subject. Articles on SmashWiki are usually related to various topics on the Super Smash Bros. series and its competitive scene.

How to make a new article

There are five different ways you can create an article:

1. Clicking a red link to the title of the new article from an existing one. For example, to create an article called "This link", you could click This link. You can also create the link yourself, in a related article or index page. Links on related articles are not only convenient for navigation, but also make people aware of the new article. Also of note: red links are not to be removed simply because they are red links. These links exist for the purpose of telling readers and editors that there is an article that we want created.
2. Typing in the URL directly. An easy way to produce the URL is editing the last part of the URL of another page in the same project. (For example, if you would like to create "This link", go to http://ssbwiki.com/This_link.) To prevent your new page being an "orphan", you should link to it from other pages.
3. Searching for the article and finding a red link. This red link should be at the top of the page. Clicking this is another way to get to the edit page for the new article.
4. Searching Special:WantedPages and finding a red link. This special page contains which articles the wiki wants the most. It is updated frequently, so if you want to create a new article, this will be one of the best places to find which one.
5. With an inputbox. This is the easiest way to create a new article. You do this by typing the new article title in the box, and pressing "create article" will take you to the edit page for that article. There are two inputboxes located on SmashWiki: one on the main page, and the other at the bottom of this page.

Please note that you will be unable to create the new article if the title you want for said article already exists or is blacklisted.

Considerations

Before you create a new article, you should consider the following:

• Make sure it's not already an article. Creating a new article for an existing article wouldn't work, so if it already exists, don't remake it. Similarly, if an article exists under a similar name to yours, creating the article is fruitless. Your title may work as a redirect, however.
• Consider checking whether there is already a draft for the article. Check Category:Drafts to see if there is already a draft for the article; if there is, you may wish to collaborate with the author(s) of that draft rather than creating an alternate version.
• Make sure the content of your new article isn't already in another article. You shouldn't create a new article if the content of said article is already on another article. For example, if you want to create an article about angle indicators, but it's already on another page (for this example, Knockback), you shouldn't make a separate article for angle indicators.

Exception: If the article is up for a split, you may create your desired page, but you should talk about it on the existing article's talk page before doing it.

• Make sure it's Smash related. If it's not Smash related, don't make it.
• Do not plagiarize another user's article draft without their consent: This extends to publishing their work to the mainspace without their consent. If the user is reasonably inactive, and they have an article or project, drafted, this rule can be ignored, though, as a courtesy, the publisher should be sure to give credit.

Furthermore, when actually writing the article, make sure you conform to our manual of style and usage of proper grammar skills.

What makes a good, notable article

• Game articles: If you want to create an article about a game in the Smash series, do it. These include articles on:
  • Main series games (such as Melee and Brawl)
  • Notable game hacks (such as Project M)
  • Other games that appear as Masterpieces in Brawl and/or Smash Wii U (for example, a page about Kirby's Adventure would be acceptable, whereas an article about Grand Theft Auto V would not)
• Character articles: Articles about characters from a Smash game are great choices for articles, but are limited to the official Smash games and Project M. Any other games are unacceptable, so an article about Mario's appearance in Brawl would be allowed, but an article about his appearance in Donkey Kong would not.
  • Characters who assist in a moveset should also get a singular page, covering how they appear in a move, and their origin within their home series. There should not be more than one page for a character, seeing as how having duplicated information on more than one page does nothing for the wiki.
• Articles about items: If it appears as an item in any of the Smash games, it can have its own article. This also applies to Assist Trophies and Poké Ball Pokémon, as they are technically items.
• Articles about stages: Articles about stages in the Smash games are acceptable, but only stages in the canon Smash series are allowed. In other words, an article about the Halberd stage is acceptable, but an article about the Castlevania stage in Project M would not.
• Articles about competitive Smash: If an article is related to the Smash series's competitive scene, it is allowed. These can include articles about:
  • Tournaments
  • Tier lists
  • Advanced techniques
  • Anything that relates to the metagame
• Articles about competitive smashers and crews: A smasher or crew can only have his/her own article if he or she is notable enough. See SmashWiki:Notability for more information regarding this.
• Articles about other miscellaneous subjects: Articles can also be about other subjects not listed above, just as long as it's about the Smash series. These include:
  • Notable Smash websites, whether it's for canon Smash or competitive Smash (for example, articles about the Smash Bros. DOJO!!, Smashboards, and Miiverse would be acceptable, but an article about something like eHarmony would not)
  • Notable glitches; if a glitch is notable enough, it can have its own article. Read the below section to see what is not considered a notable glitch
  • Notable people, such as Masahiro Sakurai, and notable companies, such as Sora Ltd., though they must have a major impact/role in Smash to have an article (so an article about a character's voice actor would not be acceptable, nor will an article about a company with no representation in the game).
  • Event matches in Brawl and Smash Wii U
  • Articles about various modes in the Smash games
  • Articles about enemies in a gameplay mode (such as Smash Run and the Subspace Emissary)
  • Articles about named characters who appear as stage hazards, have a stage role beyond background cameo, appear as part of a moveset, or have major voice-acted appearances
  • Articles about character moves
  • Articles about trophies, stickers, spirits, music, etc.
    • Note that each individual trophy, sticker, sprit, music track, etc. shouldn't get their own page, but rather should be all put into a single page per game and series.

What makes a bad, non-notable article

• Articles about topics/subjects unrelated to Smash: If it's not related to the Smash series, it doesn't belong on this wiki. Examples of these would be:
  • Articles about games that don't appear as Masterpieces
  • Articles about characters and objects that don't appear as items, Assist Trophies, or Poké/Master Ball Pokémon, or in Smash Bros. at all
  • Articles that describe outside/unrelated events (such as an article about the American Civil War) or subjects (such as an article about dogs) to Smash Bros.
• Articles about characters with minor roles: If a character only appears in Smash Bros. as a trophy, sticker, and/or Spirit, or otherwise has a very minor role (such as only appearing in a Masterpiece, or being a background character), or does not fit into anything in the above section, it's likely not notable enough to have its own article.
• Articles about non-notable glitches: Some glitches can have their own articles, but others cannot. Glitches should have a notable presence or significance in the Smash community before having their article created. If the glitch is not very notable, consider adding information about the glitch to a related article.
• Articles about Smash fanon: You are not allowed to create articles about fanon on this wiki. While you may be allowed to put your own fanon on your user page, articles about other fanons in the mainspace are not allowed. Examples of these would include:
  • Articles about fan-made games (for example, no article may be made about Super Smash Flash or anything similar)
    • Exception: Game hacks such as Project M and Brawl-, due to their large tournament presence, are allowed their own articles
  • Articles about characters from fan-games (for example, no articles are allowed about Mario's presence in Super Smash Flash)
  • Articles about fanfictions, even if they are made by notable Smashers
  • Articles about fan-made characters or characters expected to be in a future game
• Articles based on speculation or false information: If your article is based on speculation and/or incomplete/false information, it's not allowed.
• Articles based on opinion: If the contents of your article is based on your opinion, it shouldn't be an article.
• Articles about yourself: Unless you're a notable competitive smasher, you are not allowed to create an article about yourself. These will either be deleted or moved to the "User:" namespace.
• Articles containing nothing but personal attacks, links to shock sites, inappropriate/derogatory images, offensive remarks, spam, and/or anything similar: If it contains any of the above, you are not allowed to make it. Continued actions of this will result in a block.
• Duplicate articles: If an article already exists, don't make a new article with exact or near-exact content from the original article.
• Articles with minimal to no content in them: If you have little or nothing to add about the article subject, simply don't make the article.
  • Note: If you do make an article with sufficient content, but more content could be added, add the {{stub}} tag at the bottom of the article to let others know that the article could be expanded further.

Redirects

When linking to an article, you might want to link to a different name for an article. Instead of doing something like [[Alternate costume|color change]] when linking articles, you should instead create a redirect of the article, so instead of doing something like the example above, you can just make a redirect called "color change" and put it as [[color change]] in an article. This way, it saves space in an article, which is important—especially if the page is overly large. This also helps with searching for articles with different names but similar content, but to a lesser extent.

Why can't I create a new article?

If you find yourself unable to create your desired article, it could be for one of three reasons:

• You must be an autoconfirmed user to create pages.
• Sometimes, the admins will have certain page titles protected, preventing such articles from being created. The reason for this will vary, though it is commonly for pages that are repeatedly created and deleted.
• The article already exists.

Create an article

Are you ready to create a new article on SmashWiki? If you are and have read the policy above, we provided a createbox below for you to create your new article. Have fun!