Halopedia:About: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 20:41, August 19, 2023

Hello and welcome to Halopedia, a fansite dedicated to the Halo franchise and its fictional universe! Halopedia is primarily a wiki with a mission to document every aspect of the Halo series. However, Halopedia is also home to a community of like-minded fans, dedicated to building the wiki and making it the best it can be. To that end, the site has many social features available, such as the forums, talk pages, and our Discord server.

About the wiki

A wiki is a website where users collaborate to create a detailed documentation of a particular topic. The crucial difference between an ordinary encyclopedia and a wiki, however, is that absolutely anyone can view and edit a wiki, for free. In essence, a wiki is simply a specialized online encyclopedia, maintained by fans of its topic.

For instance, the most widely known example of a wiki is Wikipedia. Unlike Wikipedia, however, Halopedia exists to specifically document the Halo series and its universe. As a result, all information held within the confines of Halopedia is related to Halo, either directly, or peripherally.

History

Main article: Halopedia:History

Halopedia began in 2004, and has had a long, awesome, and interesting history since its inception.

Rules

While visiting the site, Halopedia asks that you follow the rules and policies that are in place here. The rules are designed to ensure that all users can happily and peacefully coexist on the website, as well as to guarantee a minimum level of quality for all content on the wiki.

Although the rules are outlined in much more depth in the policy pages, they can be found summarized here.

Joining in

Halopedia is always on the look-out for new users, as editors are the lifeblood of the wiki. Anyone with an interest in Halo is welcome to join in and work on the wiki. You don't need to make an application or ask permission first; simply make an account, familiarize yourself with the rules and Manual of Style, and then get stuck in!

For newcomers looking to help out, Halopedia has a page containing useful tips to help them get started, which can be found here. In addition, if you need help editing, Halopedia provides an array of useful help pages.

More information

Halopedia has a large collection of information pages that go into further in-depth about the site and its operation. If you would like to know more, one of the following pages should be able to answer your queries.

In addition, at the bottom of this page is a complete list of all official Halopedia information, policy and help pages, in case the above pages didn't give you the information you need. If you still have unanswered questions, one of Halopedia's administrators would be happy to help you. A list of admins can be found here.

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-[[File:1210998630 I WANT YOU.PNG|200px|right]]
+{{Status|Halopedia}}
+[[File:Halopedia Improvement I WANT YOU.png|200px|right|link=]]
-== Hello, and Welcome to Halopedia! ==
+Hello and welcome to '''Halopedia''', a fansite dedicated to the [[Halo (disambiguation)|''Halo'' franchise]] and its [[Halo universe|fictional universe]]! Halopedia is primarily a wiki with a mission to document every aspect of the ''Halo'' series. However, Halopedia is also home to a community of like-minded fans, dedicated to building the wiki and making it the best it can be. To that end, the site has many social features available, such as [[Special:WikiForum|the forums]], [[Special:MyTalk|talk pages]], and our [[Halopedia:Discord server|Discord server]].
-Welcome to the best place to learn everything about the universe of Halo.
+==About the wiki==
+A wiki is a website where users collaborate to create a detailed documentation of a particular topic. The crucial difference between an ordinary encyclopedia and a wiki, however, is that absolutely anyone can view and edit a wiki, for free. In essence, a wiki is simply a specialized online encyclopedia, maintained by fans of its topic.
-If you're not a big Halo fan, then this probably isn't the place for you. All information held within the confines of this wiki are related to Halo, either directly, or peripherally.
+For instance, the most widely known example of a wiki is [[wikipedia:Main Page|Wikipedia]]. Unlike Wikipedia, however, Halopedia exists to specifically document the ''Halo'' series and its universe. As a result, all information held within the confines of Halopedia is related to ''Halo'', either directly, or peripherally.
-Ah, the timeless question: What exactly is a wiki? Well, a wiki is a site where anybody -- not just webmasters or members -- can edit any page. Wikis are best used for collaborative knowledge-base type documents. For instance, one of the most successful wikis is the [http://en.wikipedia.org Wikipedia].
+==History==
-What this means is that you could be an important author on Halopedia. Know about some hidden cache of weapons that could help you bust up the Flood? Do you know every tiny glitch in all five games? Wanna help us catalog EVERYTHING about Halo? Go ahead! If you ever need to find something, use the search bar. It should help you find what you're looking for. If you know the exact page title of the thing you are looking for, click "Go" instead of "Search" to go directly to that page.
-If you decide to stick around, use the [[Special:Userlogin|log in]] link at the top of this page to set up a username. To edit a page, click the "edit" link at the top of any page. Please be polite, and briefly describe any changes you make in the "Summary" text field on the edit page. Your "Summary" comments will appear on the [[Special:Recentchanges|recent changes]] page. This wiki does not support fan-fiction or any other Halo self-creations. The only page you can edit however you wish is your [[Wikipedia:User page|User Page]], which you will receive when you [[Special:Userlogin|log in]].
-If you ever have questions about the wiki, feel free to type them up in the [[Halopedia:Help|help]] page. A knowledgeable person will most likely provide you with an answer within a few minutes.
-This wiki is absolutely free, no money is ever paid. Ever.
-We hope you'll feel welcome here amongst fellow fans of the greatest game of all time.
-== History ==
 {{main|Halopedia:History}}
-''Halopedia'' began in 2004, and has had a long, awesome, and interesting history since its inception.
+Halopedia began in 2004, and has had a long, awesome, and interesting history since its inception.
-== Wiki Etiquette ==
-All Halopedians are expected to conform to a certain level of civility in writing articles and talk posts. While Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST and Halo Reach are "M" rated - for peoples of 17+ or older, excessive cursing or lasciviousness are strictly prohibited. Declarations of hate that are said unjokingly, like "I hate you", are also prohibited.
-If you're still unsure of how stuff works around here, you may want to check out the [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Index MediaWiki User's Guide]. There you will learn how to make '''bold''', ''italics'', and other wiki stuff. Out of courtesy, you really shouldn't edit pages unless you are adding something meaningful (fixing grammar and spelling mistakes is okay). You also shouldn't delete pages unless you have an extremely good reason. If you want to play around and get a feel for editing pages, please do so in the [[Halopedia:Sandbox|Sandbox]].  If you want to get a good grasp of how the pages here are put together, be sure to read about our [[Halopedia:Manual of Style|Manual of Style]] for pages.
-The Wikipedia has a great [[Wikipedia:WikiCivics|WikiCivics]] section. They cover a lot of information about what is accepted and what is not accepted on a wiki. There are really no rules, but there is a definite level of etiquette involved. Some of the suggestions they offer are only relevant to the Wikipedia, but many of them apply to any wiki. Anyone interested in being a valuable contributor to any wiki should read them.
-See also: [[Halopedia:Blocking Policy]]
-== A Warning ==
+==Rules==
+While visiting the site, Halopedia asks that you follow the rules and policies that are in place here. The rules are designed to ensure that all users can happily and peacefully coexist on the website, as well as to guarantee a minimum level of quality for all content on the wiki.
-Above all, never use defamatory language or deface documents our community has worked hard to create. Note that the wiki gives everyone the ability to revert documents back to their original state. Therefore, no one can permanently harm the wiki by deleting pages. All an offender will accomplish is to slightly annoy our wiki community. After repeated defacings our administrators will permanently block the offender's IP address. If defamatory language is seen it will be changed or deleted.
+Although the rules are outlined in much more depth in the policy pages, they can be found summarized [[Halopedia:Simplified rules|here]].
-Thank you for visiting Halopedia! Let's get it on!
+==Joining in==
+Halopedia is always on the look-out for new users, as editors are the lifeblood of the wiki. Anyone with an interest in ''Halo'' is welcome to join in and work on the wiki. You don't need to make an application or ask permission first; simply make an account, familiarize yourself with [[Halopedia:Simplified rules|the rules]] and [[Halopedia:Manual of Style|Manual of Style]], and then get stuck in!
-== Sources? ==
+For newcomers looking to help out, Halopedia has a page containing useful tips to help them get started, which can be found [[Halopedia:Useful tips|here]]. In addition, if you need help editing, Halopedia provides an array of useful [[Help:Contents|help pages]].
-Most times, information is taken from a source other than pure memory. Please try to cite all sources [[Sources|here]] in order for credit to be given where due. This way, all information on Halopedia follows the guidelines of our [[Halopedia:Canon Policy|Canon Policy]].
+==More information==
+Halopedia has a large collection of information pages that go into further in-depth about the site and its operation. If you would like to know more, one of the following pages should be able to answer your queries.
-== What Halopedia is not ==
+*[[Halopedia:FAQ|Frequently asked questions]]
+*[[Halopedia:General disclaimer|General disclaimer]]
+*[[Halopedia:What Halopedia is|What Halopedia is]]
-Before you create an article, please remember [[Halopedia:What Halopedia is not|what Halopedia is not]].
+In addition, at the bottom of this page is a complete list of all official Halopedia information, policy and help pages, in case the above pages didn't give you the information you need. If you still have unanswered questions, one of Halopedia's [[Halopedia:Administrators|administrators]] would be happy to help you. A list of admins can be found [[Special:ListUsers/sysop|here]].
-[[Category:Help|About]]
+{{Halopedia IP}}
+[[Category:Halopedia]]