Oh hi there! Welcome would-be Wiki editors! Hope you've already had some fun poking around the site and doing all sorts of crazy business to our wiki pages. I know I certainly have.
By and large, Screened's database mechanics should be pretty familiar to you if you've spent any time on other Whiskey sites. That said, just wanted to give some general guidelines for some of our different page categories so that when you go into make a new page, you are doing so with some measure of guidance. Now then...
Movie Pages
This is pretty self explanatory. If there is a movie not in our database that should be, then by all means let's get it in there! Just make sure you're searching for it ahead of time, and that when you do decide to add a new movie, you're checking the suggested movies list that pops up. It can be a killer time-saver.
Our definition of "movie" is fairly all-encompassing, but there is some stuff I would avoid, personally. Specifically, I'd stay away from short films that have never really seen a commercial release. Nobody really wants to see a page dedicated to the comedy short your roommates in college made for their film class. Also, I'd stay away from any concert stuff that wasn't a real event release. We don't need a page for the umpteenth Celine Dion concert DVD. It benefits no one.
Foreign Language Names?
Use the English version of the original name. Then put the foreign (original language) name in the alias field.
For example:
We have Akia Kurosawa movies that use the Japanese and the English. Like Ikiru and Seven Samurai
One movie is an English name the other a Japanese name in Roman-ji.
Runtime should be the runtime of the original US release. If not released in the US then the original release from the country of origin.
Person Pages
People Pages -- Is a person in a movie? Or did a person work on a movie? Then they can be in our database, simple as that.
Person Names: Should be the name they use in movie credits, not necessarily their birth name. For example: do NOT change Don Cheadle to Donald Frank Cheadle Jr.
Character Pages -- Who doesn't love a good character page? I know I certainly do. Creating and associating character pages is super easy, but in order to avoid unnecessary work, here are a couple of things to keep in mind. One, if a character has multiple identities (IE Spider-Man/Peter Parker) we probably don't need multiple pages for each identity. It seems like it ought to be enough to just create one page dedicated to that character's various personalities. Also, when dealing with a historical character, or a character that appears in multiple, perhaps unrelated films, there should be just one character page for that. So, for instance, the Ghengis Khan character page would be associated with both the Mongol and The Conqueror movie pages, despite the fact that they're unrelated films.
Adding TV characters is fine, we just don't have the TV show pages to tie them into yet.
Object Pages -- Here's a slightly tricky one. When it comes to the object pages, I have the firm belief that these should be as specific as possible. What I mean is that I don't want to see pages for "gun" or "shirt" or "tree" floating around the site. If it is a specific gun that has a standout appearance in a film (like, say, "Castor Troy's Guns" from Face/Off), then that's a page. Don't do "car," do a specific car from a movie that people will want to read about, like the DeLorean from Back to the Future, or the Vanishing Point car, or Cobra's sweet 1949 Mercury. And yes, a specific object page can be associated with multiple movies, if it appears in multiple movies.
Location Pages -- If a movie took place there, even if it's just for a single scene, then we can have a location page for it. Real world and fictional places can both appear here, no problem.
Concept Pages -- Ah Concepts. These can be so many different things, ranging from the extended take, to the MacGuffin, to the ensemble cast. If it's a concept you frequently find in films, then by all means, bring it to the table. Check the Theme section before adding a concept because stuff like Vampires is already covered in there. Also make sure it's not a cliche, because...
Cliche Pages -- Cliches are not concepts. Cliches are overused ideas in movies that have become so commonplace, they probably will have a YouTube montage dedicated to them (if they don't already). Funny thing about cliche pages: Right now, they're staff only, as far as creating them goes. Users can edit associated movies and wiki info about them, but as of now, only us site overlords can add new ones to the site. Why is this? You'll see soon enough. Don't worry, you guys will have your cliche say...
I think as of right now, that's a good starting list of guidelines. If you have any questions, please feel free to post them here, and I'll do my best to answer. This is the first time I've run a wiki-based site, so I might have to go ask Snide for a little advice. But hopefully this is enough to get you started and on your way toward making Screened 80 shades of frigging awesome.
Thanks, and have fun!
By and large, Screened's database mechanics should be pretty familiar to you if you've spent any time on other Whiskey sites. That said, just wanted to give some general guidelines for some of our different page categories so that when you go into make a new page, you are doing so with some measure of guidance. Now then...
Movie Pages
This is pretty self explanatory. If there is a movie not in our database that should be, then by all means let's get it in there! Just make sure you're searching for it ahead of time, and that when you do decide to add a new movie, you're checking the suggested movies list that pops up. It can be a killer time-saver. Our definition of "movie" is fairly all-encompassing, but there is some stuff I would avoid, personally. Specifically, I'd stay away from short films that have never really seen a commercial release. Nobody really wants to see a page dedicated to the comedy short your roommates in college made for their film class. Also, I'd stay away from any concert stuff that wasn't a real event release. We don't need a page for the umpteenth Celine Dion concert DVD. It benefits no one.
Foreign Language Names?
Use the English version of the original name. Then put the foreign (original language) name in the alias field.
For example:
We have Akia Kurosawa movies that use the Japanese and the English. Like Ikiru and Seven Samurai
One movie is an English name the other a Japanese name in Roman-ji.
Runtime should be the runtime of the original US release. If not released in the US then the original release from the country of origin.
Person Pages
People Pages -- Is a person in a movie? Or did a person work on a movie? Then they can be in our database, simple as that. Person Names: Should be the name they use in movie credits, not necessarily their birth name. For example: do NOT change Don Cheadle to Donald Frank Cheadle Jr.
Other Pages
Character Pages -- Who doesn't love a good character page? I know I certainly do. Creating and associating character pages is super easy, but in order to avoid unnecessary work, here are a couple of things to keep in mind. One, if a character has multiple identities (IE Spider-Man/Peter Parker) we probably don't need multiple pages for each identity. It seems like it ought to be enough to just create one page dedicated to that character's various personalities. Also, when dealing with a historical character, or a character that appears in multiple, perhaps unrelated films, there should be just one character page for that. So, for instance, the Ghengis Khan character page would be associated with both the Mongol and The Conqueror movie pages, despite the fact that they're unrelated films.
Adding TV characters is fine, we just don't have the TV show pages to tie them into yet.
Object Pages -- Here's a slightly tricky one. When it comes to the object pages, I have the firm belief that these should be as specific as possible. What I mean is that I don't want to see pages for "gun" or "shirt" or "tree" floating around the site. If it is a specific gun that has a standout appearance in a film (like, say, "Castor Troy's Guns" from Face/Off), then that's a page. Don't do "car," do a specific car from a movie that people will want to read about, like the DeLorean from Back to the Future, or the Vanishing Point car, or Cobra's sweet 1949 Mercury. And yes, a specific object page can be associated with multiple movies, if it appears in multiple movies.
Location Pages -- If a movie took place there, even if it's just for a single scene, then we can have a location page for it. Real world and fictional places can both appear here, no problem.
Concept Pages -- Ah Concepts. These can be so many different things, ranging from the extended take, to the MacGuffin, to the ensemble cast. If it's a concept you frequently find in films, then by all means, bring it to the table. Check the Theme section before adding a concept because stuff like Vampires is already covered in there. Also make sure it's not a cliche, because...
Cliche Pages -- Cliches are not concepts. Cliches are overused ideas in movies that have become so commonplace, they probably will have a YouTube montage dedicated to them (if they don't already). Funny thing about cliche pages: Right now, they're staff only, as far as creating them goes. Users can edit associated movies and wiki info about them, but as of now, only us site overlords can add new ones to the site. Why is this? You'll see soon enough. Don't worry, you guys will have your cliche say...
I think as of right now, that's a good starting list of guidelines. If you have any questions, please feel free to post them here, and I'll do my best to answer. This is the first time I've run a wiki-based site, so I might have to go ask Snide for a little advice. But hopefully this is enough to get you started and on your way toward making Screened 80 shades of frigging awesome.
Thanks, and have fun!
