Wikipedia:Pokémon Adoption Center/Tutorial

'''IMPORTANT: This guide is currently under construction and will be finished within the next 48 hours. Until then, please do not edit this guide. Thank you. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 19:05, July 25, 2005 (UTC)'''

Before we begin, please note that it is not required to read this guide completely before joining the PAC or expanding an article. If you have an idea what you're doing, feel free to jump right in. If not, this guide will start with the very basics and contain everything you need to know, and in as much detail as possible. This guide will be organised into numbered steps to follow when expanding an article.

0-1: Becoming familiar with the PAC
If you're here, you probably already know about the Pokémon Adoption Center, also known as the PAC. Just in case you're not, you might want to visit the main page and the PACFAQ.

0-2: Becoming familiar with Wikipedia
If this is your first time on Wikipedia, or if you've never edited an article before, it might be a good idea to browse around some before joining. On the Main_Page you'll find our daily Featured Article as well as links to new articles and other information. Try going to the search box on the left-hand side and search for some topics that interest you. Chances are, there will be articles for them already. If you visit Community Portal, you'll see some resources designed to help editors build the encyclopedia. If you'd like to help us here at the PAC, you might want to look at How to edit a page. To start at the very beginning and learn about wikis in general, try Welcome, newcomers.

0-3: Becoming faimilar with Pokémon articles and stubs
Now, come back to the PAC main page. The bulk of the page is a long numbered list where we have our stubs. Stubs are just articles which are too short to be considered full articles yet. Some are nearly empty and need lots of work, some are just a sentence or two away from completion. Most fall somewhere in the middle, and need about 2 or 3 paragraphs before they'll be done. Try looking at at least two stubs, then go to the "completed articles" section further down and look at at least two completed articles. What the PAC does is add enough additional information to the stubs so that they become articles. If you can help us with that, join us!

0-4: Joining Wikipedia
If you haven't already joined Wikipedia, it's very much preferred if you do so before requesting an article from the PAC. You can do so at the top right corner of any Wikipedia page, where it says "create account/login". We also suggest including a valid email address, although that isn't required either. If you absolutely cannot or will not create an account, at least give yourself a name or nickname so that the PC has something to refer to you by.

0-5: Getting your first article
Proceeding past this point requires editing a wiki page, so if you still don't know how to do so, go back to step 0-2 and revisit How to edit a page. It isn't necessary to learn all the markup, just the basics. Once you know basic editing, go to the PAC main page and get ready to add yourself to the Applications section. Now you must make an important choice: do you want to have a Pokémon assigned to you, or do you want to pick your own Pokémon?

0-5a: Assigned Pokemon
If you want a Pokémon to be assigned to you, just say so in your edit. Type "Please assign me a Pokeon" or something similar. Sign your edit by pressing the tilde key (found above the tab key on a standard keyboard) four times in a row. It will look like this ~ in the edit box. Save your edit by clicking the Save Page button. You'll be assigned a Pokeon soon!

0-5b: User-chosen Pokemon
If you want to pick your own Pokémon, be sure to check the numbered list of stubs to see if the Pokémon you want to expand is still available. If not, pick another. If so, edit both the Applications section and the numbered list of stubs so that we know that you want it assigned to you.

1-1: Evaluating your stub
By now, you've joined the PAC and have your first article assignment. Take a look at the stub you've been assigned to expand (its name will be clickable). By seeing what the article already has, and what it needs more of, you'll be able to determine what directions your research should take. For example, if the article has a healthy section about the video games but nothing about the anime, then try searching the web for your Pokemon's anime appearances. If the article has quite a bit about the anime but nothing about your Pokémon's game apparances, check out some game guides. Note that every Pokémon stub has a sidebar with basic info (height, weight, species, etc.) so you will not have to research those.

1-2: Will cleanup be necessary?
Most of the time, it won't be necessary to delete any of the existing information from the article, but you can remove or rewrite it if you wish. As a good rule of thumb, it's best to only remove blatantly wrong information. If the information is correct but disorganised or difficult to understand, it's better to rewrite it to a higher standard of quality. There is one exception: do not delete the information sidebar (the section on the right with the picture and basic info), as this is standard for all Pokémon.

1-3: Deciding what to include
The PAC has no formal requirements that dictate what must be in each Pokémon article. It's contents are largely up to the expander. Remember that, being a wiki, no article is ever "final": if you forget to include something, someone else will add it sooner or later. So don't worry too much about making the article "complete"... as long as it's an article and not a stub, that's good.

Possible things to include are:


 * Name Origins: Both describing where the name of the pokémon came from, and its name in other languages (French, German, and Japanese).
 * Biology: Where canon information (that is, from the animé, the card game flavor texts, from the play of the video game, or the pokédexes) is collected.
 * Controversy: Some pokémon are controversial -- such as Jynx (Pokémon). Describe the controversy in this section, if you can.
 * In the video games: In what games it can be caught (and, succinctly, where in those games), any Pokémon Abilities it can learn, a brief overview of its movelists, and noting any exceptionally high or low stats.
 * In the animé: Describe the pokémon's first appearance, its most notable appearance, the type of trainer that owns it, and if possible, a list of episodes where it had an effect on the play of the episode.
 * In the card game: If you have the resources to give a succinct one-sentence description to each card of that species, go for it.  Note banned or highly-sought cards (such as Machop) whenever possible.

1-4: The hunt for information
You can find your Pokémon information anywhere you wish. There are many books published about Pokémon, and many of them contain useful information about specific Pokémon creatures. There are, of course, many websites as well.

Here are just a few possibilities for where to find information. Note that a book or website being listed here doesn't necessarily mean that it's accurate or "PAC Approved". These may or may not be useful sources of info...

Books
 * Pokemon Master Pokedex by Prima Publishing (ISBN 0761534903)
 * Pojo's Unofficial Total Pokemon by Bill Pojo Gill (ISBN 1572436794)
 * The Official Pokémon Handbook by Maria Barbo (ISBN 0439154049)
 * Covers first 151 Pokemon. Short half-page sections on each Pokémon.

Websites
 * Serebii - http://www.serebii.net

What SHOULD NOT go into an article
Although there is a lot of information about each species available, Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information. Some things are just too in-depth for Wikipedia. Some of the things that are widely agreed to be too specific, and unless there is something notable about them, should go in a dedicated Pokéwiki:
 * Egg moves.
 * Lists of every attack on every TCG card.
 * Lists of every episode in which it was seen.
 * Machine tutor moves.
 * TM and HM lists.

Updating the project's main page
Whenever you upgrade a stub to a full article, it would be good to update the project's main page accordingly:


 * Remove the completed article from the "List of Pokemon articles that need expansion" and add it under your user name in the "Successfully expanded articles" section.
 * Edit the goals section statistics to reflect the new total, percentage, ratio etc.
 * If you had been assigned the article, announce its completion in the "Applications" section and state if and when you want to be assigned another. You can also assign yourself articles; if you do, announce it in the "Applications" section and mark the article in the List with your name to avoid it being assigned to other editors.