Forum:Standardizing citations 3.0

Opening statement
Ok going though what we have on paper for sourcing stuff I feel stuff needs to be updated. Our Help:References page is really outdated, and while better we never really pushed this onto the wiki yet, its a step in the right direction but is missing key elements. We also have this Citation Policy that is kinda just there that may be better merging (or making them more linked) with the Help:References page so all the info on Citations are together.

So I am going to suggest we improve stuff, so right now I am going to go over all the elements we should consider so we can start discussing ways we can improve them.

What we have to consider for each media type
I recommend finding a way to get all these elements into the source if applicable so we are able to ensure users can use sources to find info as easy as they can.

Typical novels
The general elements to consider of the typical novels are:
 * Book name: The title of the book being sourced.
 * Chapter number(Section): The chapter/section of the book being sourced. (With ebooks and other book versions on the scene for several Halo titles, the chapter/section is vital as it means even if we do not have the page numbers up for a specific version of the book, a user is still in the correct area of the book to find the info required.)
 * Page number: The page of the book being sourced. (While useless for ebook owners, a page number is useful to those who have physical copies to find exactly where the info is.)
 * Version: The version of the book being sourced. (While not needed for ebook owners as the book name and chapter number will suffice, the version of the novel will help users who own a specific version of the book. These are commonly this three put together: Publisher, year, and type of book it is.)

Examples include: Halo: The Fall of Reach, Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, Halo: Envoy.

Book anthologies
The general elements to consider of book anthologies are:
 * Anthology name: This is the name of the anthology book.
 * Story name: This is the name of the story being sourced.
 * Chapter number(Section): Potentially not applicable if the story has no chapters in it. The chapter/section of the book being sourced. (With ebooks and other book versions on the scene for several Halo titles, the chapter/section is vital as it means even if we do not have the page numbers up for a specific version of the book, a user is still in the correct area of the book to find the info required.)
 * Page number: The page of the book being sourced. (While useless for ebook owners, a page number is useful to those who have physical copies to find exactly where the info is.)
 * Version: The version of the book being sourced. (While not needed for ebook owners as the book name and chapter number will suffice, the version of the novel will help users who own a specific version of the book. These are commonly this three put together: Publisher, year, and type of book it is.)

Examples include: Halo: Evolutions, Halo: Evolutions Volume 1, Halo: Evolutions Volume 2, Halo: Fractures.

Reference books
The general elements to consider of reference books are:
 * Book name: This is the title of the reference book.
 * Section/Chapter: This is the section of the book the source is in if applicable. (This is so users can find the section of the book the source is in easier.)
 * Page number: This is the page of book the source is in.
 * Title of the page: This is the title of the page if applicable. (This is so there is absolutely zero mistake about what page is being sourced to the user.)
 * Version: This is the version of the book if applicable. (Right now this only applies to the Halo Encyclopedia)

Examples include: Halo Encyclopedia, The Essential Visual Guide, Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide, Mythos, Warfleet, and the Official Spartan Field Manual.

Comics/Graphic novels
The general elements to consider about comics are:
 * Anthology name: This is essentially the name of the overall collection if applicable.
 * Story: This is the name of the story being sourced.
 * Issue number: This is the issue number of the comic being sourced. ''(This is important as some users may have only gotten the comic versions of the story, though it may be useless to those who got the paperback/hardbacks.)
 * Volume number/name: This is the volume number/name being sourced if applicable. (This is important as some users may have only gotten the volumes of the story, though it may be useless to those who got the issues or another version of the comic.)
 * Collection/Omnibus: This is the Collection/Omnibus being sourced if applicable. (This is important as some users may have only gotten the collections/Omnibus versions of the story, though it may be useless to those who got the other versions of the comics.)

Examples include: Halo: Uprising, Halo: Rise of Atriox, Lone Wolf.

Games
The general elements of a game to consider are:
 * Game: This is the game being sourced.
 * Section of the game: This is the section of the game being sourced. (IE Levels, Terminals, Customization, so on.)
 * Details: If applicable, what specific item is being sourced in that section. (In Customization what set is it. In Terminals what terminal is it. In Phoenix Logs what log is it.)

Examples include: Halo CE, Halo 5: Guardians, Halo Infinite.

URL article
The general elements of a website article to consider are:
 * URL: The link is required. (This will not be shown directly to avoid some crazy sized links that exist in the wild)
 * Name of website: This is the name of the website sourced if applicable. (For example: Bungie.net, Halo Waypoint, Xbox.com, so on.)
 * Name of article series: This is the name of the article series if applicable. (This would be stuff like "Canon Fodder", "Halo Bulletin", so on.)
 * Title of article/Issue number: This is the title of the article + Plus issue number if applicable. (Issue 1 Feet First, Issue 58 Greek Squad)
 * Authors: The author of the article if applicable. (This is important so users know from the source who wrote the article)
 * Date: This is the date the article was posted if applicable. (This is important so users know from the source when the article was written)
 * Backup link: This is a backup copy of the page if the original copy is lost.

URL post/social media
The general elements of a website to consider are:
 * URL: The link is required. (This will not be shown directly to avoid some crazy sized links that exist in the wild)
 * Name of website: This is the name of the website sourced if applicable. (For example: Bungie.net, Halo Waypoint, Xbox.com, so on.)
 * Title of post/thread: This is the title of the post. (Help with Halo CE, What is a Banshee)
 * Authors: The author of the post if applicable. (This is important so users know from the source who wrote the post)
 * Date: This is the date the article was posted if applicable. (This is important so users know from the source when the post was written)
 * Backup link: This is a backup copy of the page if the original copy is lost.

Video

 * URL: The link is required. (This will not be shown directly to avoid some crazy sized links that exist in the wild)
 * Name of website: This is the name of the video website sourced if applicable. (For example: Youtube.)
 * Video name: This is the name of the video.
 * Video poster: This is the poster of the video.

Misc website

 * URL: The link is required. (This will not be shown directly to avoid some crazy sized links that exist in the wild)
 * Name of website: This is the name of the website sourced if applicable. (For example: Bungie.net, Halo Waypoint, Xbox.com, so on.)
 * Backup link: This is a backup copy of the page if the original copy is lost.

Comments
What we need to do is start making sources below, and also discuss some stuff that I might of missed or need to consider above. As I believe this is better done as a team effort and not done by 1 person alone.-CIA391 (talk) 18:32, 4 December 2018 (EST)


 * I still believe the citation formatting here is the best way to go about it, something the majority of us have already agreed on. Citations look a lot cleaner. I've been considering implementing a URL citation format similar to what Wookieepedia has (take a look through this), which look a lot cleaner than what we currently have, though of course it would take a while to fully implement. -- NightHammer (talk)(contribs) 20:22, 4 December 2018 (EST)


 * While I do prefer Wook's citation style in some respects, I've always liked how Halopedia's current system doesn't make you go to the bottom of the page to see the reference(and then figure out which of the dozen references to that source you were at to go back up quickly).--D9328 (talk) 23:36, 4 December 2018 (EST)d9328


 * While I agree they are in the right direction I do think we need to expand the citations so they have everything of note in them that is useful (main reason I listed a lot of the useful elements). If we begin missing out info I listed, the source could become hard for users to find stuff for pending certain scenarios. Escalations for example becomes increasingly hard to source issues with the Volumes and Library/Omnibus releases often not being clear on when a new issue is being read. Making the souce near useless to readers who never got the comics in their run sadly. :( The clearer we make the source, the easier a user can find info. I believe the Wellsley and CQB-class Mjolnir pages are two good examples of what I am talking about.


 * That said I will move all the example sources from the first SC forum into this forum when I get on my PC later today so its easier to see the best current work on improving citations we have, and discuss stuff better based on that, something I admit I should have done in the first place (my bad.)-CIA391 (talk) 04:51, 5 December 2018 (EST)

Example sources
Put your example sources like this here. (My examples may not be perfect but thats why I am making this so we can ultimately craft the best way to make a source.)-CIA391 (talk) 18:32, 4 December 2018 (EST)

Typical novels

 * NightHammers typical novels first example: or   (page number is optional in this case, unless it is a quote)


 * CIAs typical novel example:
 * I did this source like this as I believe it makes all the points stand out and are clear.

Book anthologies

 * NightHammer anthologies example:

Reference books

 * CIAs Reference books example:

Comics/Graphic novels

 * NightHammers comics example:

Games

 * NightHammer levels example: or
 * NightHammer terminals example:
 * NightHammer Phoenix Logs:


 * CIAs Games example:
 * I did this source like this as I believe it makes where the infomation came from very clear.

URL article

 * CIAs URL article example:
 * I did this source like this as I believe it showcases enough info to be very clear even if the source becomes lost. However a backup link is missing and it may be required.

Video

 * McLaren's YouTube video example:
 * I took this source from The Halo Experience Showcase page, and this is similar to CIA's URL article example, except with "Channel" instead of "Author". As for the date, if it's a livestream video, use the date the video was streamed on. Otherwise, just use the video's upload date like normal.

Misc Website

 * NightHammers URLs example: This one I'm not so sure about and I am open to suggestions, but I guess our current standard is fine with