elanthipedia:Manual of Style/Items

Manual of Style Article

This page is part of the Elanthipedia's Manual of Style section. This page lists information for the standardization of articles and templates, as set down by community consensus.

• If you disagree with or have suggestions for improvement of the standards, please post on the accompanying talk page and give ample time for debate before making any edits. Failure to follow this proceedure will result in removal of your edits.

Manual of Style Index

Abilities

Categories/Concepts

Commands

Creatures

Events

Items

NPCs

PCs

Posts

Shops

Spells

Templates

This page contains information on the standards for all pages relating to items and equipment.

Templates

The following templates should be used for items whenever possible:

• Template:Weapon / Form:Weapon
• Template:Shield / Form:Shield
• Template:Armor / Form:Armor
• Template:Item / Form:Item

Article names

To enable the Template:ShopItem to work correctly, all item articles use the name= field to make any remove display of any parenthesized part of the name.

The leading articles, a, an, some, and the are not included in the page name or name= field. Quantities (for example, "pair of" and "set of") are included.

Drinks

For drinks and other liquid consumables, please omit the container from the item's page name. (Feel free to include them in the display name, but please still omit the leading articles.) For example, "a bottle of Rissan brandy" should be linked to Item:Rissan brandy. Do not do this for food or any other items.

The reason for this standard is that the "container" component can change as the liquid is poured into a flask or consumed.

Variations on items

Sometimes there will be a number of items from similar sources that are statistically identical except for minor differences in the name. Such as:

Weapon:Steel war axe with a gnarled maple grip‎

Weapon:Steel war axe with a gnarled walnut grip‎

Weapon:Steel war axe with a gnarled oaken grip

In this case, a parent page is created for the items, such as "Weapon:Steel war axe with a gnarled wood grip", and all the other pages are redirected towards this page.

This also applies to items that change their taps based on conditions, such as items with planetary gems or that can be inset with gems.

• Instead of "a blue ring with a fractured white grazhirite" in which the "fractured white" section can change over time, it would be listed as "a blue ring with a grazhirite".
• There are some items that can have a gem placed inside them and the tap will reflect the gem. In that case, the portion of the tap which varies should be replaced with "gem". For example: "a purple necklace inset with a green emerald" in which the "green emerald" part is due to the inset gem should be named "a purple necklace inset with a gem".

There is a difference if the page name contains two possible variations.

• If the two variations are independent of each other, such as "a white hat with purple flowers" in which it may be white/purple or white/green or green purple, the process should proceed as normal.
• If they are always paired together, such as the previous hat in which white is always paired with purple, but there is also a green that is always paired with blue, then treat them as separate objects.

Subpage requirements

In addition to the basic redirect, the page should also bear the category inclusion for the type of item it is. For example, the previously listed series of axes should all have "{{Cat|Weapons}}" on their redirect pages.

Parent page requirements

Beyond the basic mechanical requirements, the parent page should list all known variations on the item, and include their color/symbol/material properties so that the page can be searched for as a surrogate for its subpages.

Content of item pages

Item name

The NAME field is not filled out unless the item name differs from the article name. Capitalization, quotation marks, and parentheses are examples of such differences.

This is also where the containers of drinks may be put, such as "flagon of" or similar.

The FNAME field should be set to "no" unless the first letter of the item's tap is capitalized. (Most item taps begin with a lower-case letter, but Elanthipedia capitalizes the first word in an item's display name by default.) An example of this would be "An Elothean lace bonnet", where Elothean should be capitalized.

Material, color, and symbol tags

The TAP, LOOK, and READ may contain information that should be tagged. These tags enable users to search for items via the query forms. To improve the search results, the tags should be as thorough as possible.

If there are no tags of a given type (for example, no symbol tags), leave the field blank. Do not delete the empty fields.

General rules

Each of these three fields can contain more than one tag. The order does not matter. Separate the tags by commas. For example, an item that contains both blue and white would be tagged "blue, white".

Always use singular forms. If an item is embroidered with gryphons, for example, it would simply be tagged "gryphon".

In general, you should only use tags that are explicitly stated in the item. Do not tag something if a property is merely implied. (See below for exceptions.)

In addition, properties completely unrelated to the function or form of the item should not be listed. For example, the aubergine glass bottle both is glass and is the color aubergine (a purple color), but since it's a consumable possibly-healing drink, they are not listed since they're unimportant.

That being said, when in doubt, include it.

Material tags (MTag)

When a tap or look describes a material that is used in that item, tag it.

If a material is a rare or special variety of a more common material, tag both. For example, a robe made of Elven silk would be tagged "Elven silk, silk".

Color tags (CTag)

When a tap or look describes a color that is used in that item, tag it.

If a color is a variation of a basic hue, state both the shade and the basic color, even if the basic color is not explicitly stated in the item. For example, an azure cloak would be tagged "azure, blue" even though the word blue does not appear in the tap. Determining the hue can be somewhat subjective, but here are some guidelines:

• Shades of Red: auburn, blood red, burgundy, cardinal, carmine, carnelian, cerise, claret, coquelicot, crimson, gules, haematic, incarnadine, magenta, maroon, murrey, orange red, pink, reddish, rosy, rubiginose, rubiginous, ruby, ruddy, sanguine, scarlet, vermilion, vinaceous
• Shades of Orange: fiery, peach, persimmon, red orange, reddish orange, tangerine, yellow orange
• Shades of Yellow: amber, aurulent, champagne, ecru, flaxen, gold, green yellow, jonquil, lemon, red gold, saffron, xanthic
• Shades of Green: asparagus, blue green, celadon, chartreuse, emerald, jade, lime, olivaceous, olive drab, smalt, vert, viridian, yellow green
• Shades of Blue: azure, bluish, ceil, cerulean, cobalt, cyan, cyaneous, indigo, sapphire, teal, turquoise, ultramarine
• Shades of Purple: amethyst, aubergine, eggplant, fuchsia, lavender, lilac, mauve, orchid, periwinkle, puce, purplish, purpure, red violet, thistle, violescent, violet
• Shades of Brown: bronze, chestnut, copper, ochre, russet, sepia, sienna, sorrel, tan, tawny, tenne, umber
• Shades of White: alabaster, beige, colorless, cream, eggshell, ivory
• Shades of Grey: argent, arsenic, ashen, camouflage, cinereous, eisen, feldgrau, glaucous, pellucid, platinum, silver, taupe
• Shades of Black: ebon, sable
• Variations of Rainbow: iridescent, pavonine, polychromatic
  

If there is an adjective that describes the brightness or saturation/intensity, do not include that. For example, a dark blue robe would just be tagged "blue". Here are some examples of such adjectives:

• bright, brilliant, dark, deep, intense, light, pale, pastel, rich, vivid
  

If a color is a hyphenated blend of two colors, state both the blend and each component color. For example, a blue-grey tunic would be tagged "blue-grey, blue, grey".

If a color is a blend of two basic hues (no hyphen), the dominant hue is the second color listed. For example, a blue green dress would be tagged "blue green, green".

Items made of gems or metals can be color-tagged if the color of the material is obvious and unambiguous. For example, a sapphire-hilted skinning knife can be tagged "sapphire, blue".

Symbol tags (STag)

If an item contains a symbol, crest, or image -- or is in the shape of something -- tag it.

In general, do not include adjectives that describe the symbol. A shield emblazoned with a seated gryphon would simply be tagged "gryphon".

Guild crests should be tagged in a special form, regardless of how they are written. The form is "crest of the <Guild>s' Guild." For example, a shield bearing the crest of the Paladins' Guild or "a sword with the Paladin's Guild crest" would both be tagged "crest of the Paladins' Guild".

Elements contained within symbols (such as guild crests) should not be described unless they are listed in the tap or look. Here are the tags for each guild crest:

• crest of the Barbarians' Guild, clenched fist, fist, bloodied sword, sword
• crest of the Bards' Guild, wren, gauntlet, lute
• crest of the Clerics' Guild, hand, bridge
• crest of the Empaths' Guild, hand, comfort, herb
• crest of the Moon Mages' Guild, tower, star, moon
• crest of the Paladins' Guild, lion, scale, sword, laurel
• crest of the Rangers' Guild, mountain lion, thicket, thorn, sun
• crest of the Thieves' Guild, charger, veil
• crest of the Thieves' Guild, hand, lockpick, purse, figure, backstab, beast
• crest of the Traders' Guild, man, donkey, coin, ship, diamond
• crest of the Warrior Mages' Guild, wolf, flame, sword
  

Immortals and other gods should not be tagged unless the deity's name appears in the look, tap, or read. For example, a shield emblazoned with the lion of Chadatru would be tagged "lion, Chadatru, " but a shield emblazoned with a roaring lion would simply be tagged "lion".

Geometric shapes should be tagged if they are used as symbols.

An item's association with a particular profession should also be included here. For example, "a farmer's straw hat" would be tagged with "farmer".

Item/special types

An item can be of more than one type. If you are not using the form page, separate tags by commas (but not spaces). For example, a pilgrim's badge would be "cleric style,paladin style".

Most of these are self-explanatory. See Template:Item for an explanation of these fields.

For race- and guild-styled items (that don't have any special mechanical functions), do not flag that unless a person who is ignorant of the source would recognize it as an item that is styled for that race or guild. (Just because it came from a guild shop doesn't make it guild-styled.)

• An item that contains a guild crest should be flagged. For example, a standard bearing the Paladin's Guild crest would be "paladin style" even though it doesn't do anything special for Paladins.
• An item that contains a racial-language tap should be flagged, even if the item can be used by other races. For example, a gamantang would be "skra mur style".
• An item that mentions an Immortal (one of the Thirteen or an aspect) that is commonly associated with a particular race or guild is not race- or guild-styled.

• An item should be flagged as race-styled if it mentions the Prydaen, Rakash, Gorbesh, or Gnomish gods, since they are not native to Kermoria.
• An item that describes the Kaldaran versions of the Thirteen is "kaldar style".
• An item that mentions the World Dragon is not "skra mur style".
  

Some notes on other types:

• Container: also applies to pocketed garments

• results in: This item is a container or has pockets.

• Creation: items that are used to create items. If an item is only used in one crafting skill (alchemy, enchanting, engineering, forging, or outfitting), check that option as well.
• Feature: applies to any item that appears in the feature section (as opposed to the normal inventory section) of a character's description.

• results in: This item alters the appearance of the user.

• Hiding: applies to any item (magical or mundane) that can hide a person's features or worn items.

• results in: This item can hide the wearer's features or worn items.

• Magic: has some function that is explicitly magical. This includes items that cast spells and/or consume charges.

• Cambrinth, gaethzen, and celestial jewelry, however, have their own item type flags.

• Material: an item that is only or primarily used as a crafting component. A lone gem or single skin would qualify, but clothing and jewelry that have special materials someone might use use as alteration fodder do not.
• Tie: an item that is a tie item.
• Verby: applies to items that have non-standard verbs or messaging (but not just atmospheric messaging, which has its own type flag).

If the verbs would be expected from the other existing tags, such as being able to WEAR a cloak, or JUGGLE a juggling item, then they are not needed.

If the verbs are fancier versions of generic commands that would be expected, such as an elaborate OPEN on a sack, then a verby tag is warranted.

Worn location (wearloc)

Do not set the wear location to - (not wearable) unless it is clothing, jewelry, or a container that cannot be worn. For other hand-held items, omit this field.

Appraisal value

This is always in copper Kronars. (Please do not estimate conversions from other currencies.) If the value is 1,000 or higher, include commas in the number.

Dimensions/measurements

Dimensions should always be stated numerically, even though the game spells out the numbers when you MEASURE.

Source and price

Elanthipedia now automatically determines the source of items. Simply put - as the source type. Leave the source and price blank.

If you know the item's source and it's not automatically listing, make sure the source references the item using Template:Sloot. For shops this should be handled automatically, but other sources may not properly use it.

Alterations

Do not create item pages for altered items. If you want to list your altered items, you may do so on your character's page.

Player-crafted items

Name

In the case of player crafted items, they should have their page set up by the name of the template, minus any material name, and the words " (crafted)" appended to the end. Example: garz (crafted).

If there is more than one template using the same name, but in a different craft, list the name of the material category. For example: bludgeon (metal) and bludgeon (stone).

Contents

The page should first list all relevant crafting details that are immutable, such as template difficulty, amount of material required, and the nature or use of the product.

Standard materials

If the craft uses materials that have graduated stats, such as the metal used in forging, then a standard should be listed. Currently standards are:

Craft	Material
Bone	barghest bone
Cloth	medium thickness burlap
Leather	azure poloh'izh hide
Metal (armor)	unweighted medium carbon steel (needs reconsideration)
Metal (weapon)	unweighted low carbon steel
Stone	quartzite

These are not materials that are necessarily commonly used, they are simply ones with similar enough crafting statistics to enable comparison across crafts.

Finally, an area should be included to list the useful examples of each material.