Locations/Guidelines
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This page is currently under construction!
The following page is currently in the process of being created, is undergoing a major structural rework and/or is being moved. |
New Location Pages Guidelines
This document outlines the guidelines that are used in the construction and maintenance of the new Location pages on the wiki. The goal of these guidelines is to create maintainable pages, NOT the most comprehensive ones.
Issues with the old pages (should be removed once the renovations are done)
The main issue with the old pages style of documentation is that it’s not suited to our type of community. There is too much content. An average of 10 rooms across 10 departments across 5 stations is 500(!) required images and text descriptions. This leads to huge swings in quality and huge likelihood that the text/image is outdated.
What do we do with the old images and how do we use them on the new pages?
Shouldn’t we place images we have next to the relevant room text? No. If we do that, we create a tight coupling between the text and images. The focus is on the text. The images should feel optional. If we have an outdated or several outdated images next to the text the uninformed reader might think that the text is also outdated. If on the other hand, there are texts that don’t have an image the reader might assume that they are also outdated or not important if other rooms have several images. Images are also much harder to maintain.
All images should be placed in the gallery section. There should be no more than three images of the same type (e.g., medbay storage) in the gallery. The reader does not need to see every variation of the medical storage room. Images of entire departments are to be avoided. Instead, the Maps pages and the Web Map should be linked to, to give the reader a zoomed-out perspective.
The reader should be informed of the fact that the images are probably outdated, but since the text is not directly connected it should reason that the same should not be assumed of the text. This should give the distinct impression that the images are optional and for just getting the general idea.
Good Room text, Domain, and Separation of Concerns
The text should be a general description of the room in that department that applies to all stations. Because the text is supposed to apply to all stations the WHERE of a location is NOT written like: “left of x” or “below of y”. Also, you don’t need to say, for example, “Genetics is in the medical department”. We are on the medical department page. It is implied.
Room text should contain the following content:
- Describe any consistent visual features of the room (floor tile color, wall color, signs…)
- State who works there with a link to the jobs page.
- State the major room features and most important machine if applicable. Optionally link to the appropriate machine.
- Describe the primary function of the room in general. Link to the department/job guide if applicable.
- Add any station specific differences.
- Add any miscellaneous notes.
The room pages should NOT explain how things work and should NOT go into detail on what things are used for.