PCGamingWiki:Editing guide/References

Proper references are critical for any wiki worth its salt. They provide credibility to any claims made in an article. They also help reinforce the reputation of the wiki as a source of reliable fixes.

General guidelines

• Anything that is subjective in nature or can be debated by someone else should be referenced.
  • Ex. Statements on feature state, release dates, etc.
• The wiki does not require formal academic style references. A link to the relevant article is good enough.
• Sources used must come from credible sources.
  • Credible sources are considered major gaming sites (ex. IGN), any mainstream news organizations, developer/publisher-run sites, "notable" YouTube series/personality, and digital distribution sites.
  • Citing Wikipedia is also acceptable but should be cross-referenced with another source as a precautionary measure.
• Sources by other sites (content aggregators, forums, blogs, etc.) must have at least one other source with the same statement.
  • The only exception to this is if the sourced post is by a developer team member or representative (and their identity has been verified).
• All sources must be up to date.
  • Should a source go down permanently or for an extended period (>2 months), the source must be replaced with an equivalent.
  • If there are no alternatives, use the latest archived version of the original source (see The Wayback Machine).
• If a statement or claim needs to be verified and there are no references available, add the citation needed {{cn}} tag to the end of the sentence.
  • Ex. This is a great example!^{[citation needed]}
• If a listed reference seems dubious or unlikely, add the {{dubious}} tag beside it.
  • Ex. This issue affects all players.^{[dubious – discuss]}
• If a citation is used at the end of a sentence, place it after the period/exclamation mark/question mark.
• If multiple sentences refer to the same reference, place the citation at the end of the last sentence.
• Naming reference links should follow this layout: <SITE/FORUM NAME> - <ARTICLE/THREAD TITLE>

Self-verified fixes and settings

The {{refcheck}} template provides a standardized way of stating who verified a fix or a setting's presence, and contains the reference date.

Syntax

<ref>{{Refcheck|user=|date=|comment=}}</ref>

Example

Typing this:	PCGamingWiki focuses on providing fixes for all games.<ref>{{Refcheck|user=Andytizer|date=2015-12-02|comment=}}</ref>
Will appear on the page like this:	PCGamingWiki focuses on providing fixes for all games.
And at the bottom of the page, under the {{References}} section, will add this:	Verified by User:Andytizer on 2015-12-02

URLs

The {{refurl}} template provides a standardized way of linking to an external source together with the date the source was last accessible, along with an optional referential snippet (particularly helpful for long referenced pages). This is the primary method of referencing external sources on the wiki.

Link only

<ref>{{Refurl|url=|title=|date=}}</ref>

Example

Typing this:	The website [https://example.com example.com] is a special domain and often found in documentations or illustrative examples.<ref>{{Refurl|url=https://www.iana.org/domains/reserved|title=IANA - IANA-managed Reserved Domains|date=2015-12-02}}</ref>
Will appear on the page like this:	The website example.com is a special domain and often found in documentations or illustrative examples.
And at the bottom of the page, under the {{References}} section, will add this:	IANA - IANA-managed Reserved Domains - last accessed on 2015-12-02

Referential text snippet

<ref>{{Refurl|url=|title=|date=|snippet=}}</ref>

Example

Typing this:	The website [https://example.com example.com] is a special domain and often found in documentations or illustrative examples.<ref>{{Refurl|url=https://www.iana.org/domains/reserved|title=IANA - IANA-managed Reserved Domains|date=2015-12-02|snippet=As described in RFC 2606 and RFC 6761, a number of domains such as example.com and example.org are maintained for documentation purposes. These domains may be used as illustrative examples in documents without prior coordination with us.}}</ref>
Will appear on the page like this:	The website example.com is a special domain and often found in documentations or illustrative examples.
And at the bottom of the page, under the {{References}} section, will add this:	IANA - IANA-managed Reserved Domains - last accessed on 2015-12-02 "As described in RFC 2606 and RFC 6761, a number of domains such as example.com and example.org are maintained for documentation purposes. These domains may be used as illustrative examples in documents without prior coordination with us."

References tag

Syntax

{{References}}

Example (See bottom of guide)

Some fix for an issue
--Instructions go here--

The References tag is the very last element placed in an article. It displays a list of all references used throughout the page.

The only rule regarding the tag itself is that it should only be added to an article if there is at least one reference used. Otherwise, it can be omitted.

References

Editing guide

Article formatting

Screenshots