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PCGamingWiki:Editing guide/The infobox

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
< PCGamingWiki:Editing guide
Revision as of 19:06, 31 July 2017 by Blackbird (talk | contribs) (Updated "Infobox non-game" docs)

An infobox is the first element of an article. It provides basic information on a game (ex. release dates, developers, publishers, etc.), along with the box art/logo and links to major databases with relevant info (currently Wikipedia, SteamDB, Co-Optimus, StrategyWiki and WineHQ).

There are two main types of infoboxes (and two niche types) available.

Game infobox

Template documentation

Syntax (main)

{{Infobox game
|title        = 
|cover        = 
|developers   = 
<Developer field rows go here>
|publishers   = 
<Publisher field rows go here>
|engines      = 
<Engine field rows go here>
|release dates= 
<Release date field rows go here>
|steam appid  = 
|steam appid side = 
|gogcom page  = 
|strategywiki = 
|wikipedia    = 
|winehq       = 
}}

Syntax (developer field row, normal)

This is the normal format used for the Developer field row.
{{Infobox game/row/developer|<DEVELOPER NAME>|<OPTIONAL DESCRIPTOR>}}

Syntax (developer field row, porters)

These formats are for developers that are responsible for porting the game to a specific OS.
winporter is for Windows, osxporter is for OS X, and linporter is for Linux
{{Infobox game/row/winporter|<DEVELOPER NAME>}}
{{Infobox game/row/osxporter|<DEVELOPER NAME>}}
{{Infobox game/row/linporter|<DEVELOPER NAME>}}

Syntax (publisher field row)

{{Infobox game/row/publisher|<PUBLISHER NAME>|<OPTIONAL DESCRIPTOR>}}

Syntax (engine field row)

{{Infobox game/row/engine|<ENGINE NAME>|<OPTIONAL DESCRIPTOR>}}

Syntax (release date field row)

The <OS NAME> section will only accept the following values: DOS, Windows, Mac OS, OS X, and Linux
{{Infobox game/row/date|<OS NAME>|<DATE>}}
Template:Infobox game/row/winporterTemplate:Infobox game/row/osxporterTemplate:Infobox game/row/linporter
Example of a game infobox
Example of a game infobox cover
Developers
Developer
Publishers
Publisher
Europe Publisher 2
Engines
Engine
Release dates
DOS June 12, 1996
Mac OS (Classic) July 4, 1998
Windows January 3, 2012
macOS (OS X) March 21, 2013
Linux Early access
Editing guide/The infobox on Wikipedia

The most common infobox available, it is mainly used for game articles.

General rules

  • For release dates, list the earliest platform release first (ex. if the game was released on OS X first, list the OS X release date at the top)
    • In the case that multiple releases share the same date, organize the dates in the following order (for all the platforms that apply):
      • DOS
      • Windows
      • Mac OS
      • OS X
      • Linux
    • For games in Early Access, use EA as the date. Only replace the date when the game has officially left Early Access.

Field breakdown

Section Definition Notes
Title The name of the game. An optional field, it is automatically set to the page name if left blank. It is only required for games with "optional" title modifiers (see SimFarm). Otherwise, it should be left alone.
Cover The cover/logo of the game. The full name of the image file (including extensions) must be provided. See The Cover subsection for details.
Developers The name(s) of the game developer(s). List all the developers involved in the PC releases of the game. The main developer should always be listed first, regardless of involvement.
Publishers The name(s) of the game publisher(s). List all the publishers involved in the PC releases of the game. The main publisher should always be listed first, regardless of involvement. If the publisher is the same as the developer, leave the field blank.
Engines The name(s) of the game engine(s) used. Leave the section empty if the engine used is unnamed or in-house. Do not list game engine middleware (ex. Havok Physics) under the Engines section. See the Middleware table for details.
Release Dates The earliest public release date of the game. All dates are to be written down in the following format: mm dd, yyyy (where mm is the full name of the month). See the General rules section above for further details.
Steam AppID The Steam ID associated with the game. See Database IDs for details.
Steam AppID side The Steam ID associated with the game's DLC. Use commas , to separate multiple Steam IDs. See Database IDs for details.
GOG.com page The GOG.com ID associated with the game. See Database IDs for details.
StrategyWiki A link to the game's StrategyWiki page (if one exists). See Database IDs for details.
Wikipedia A link to the game's Wikipedia page (if one exists). See Database IDs for details.
WineHQ A link to the game's WineHQ page (if one exists). The field is meant for games that do not have a native Linux version available. Leave it blank otherwise. See Database IDs for details.

Database IDs

This is a list of the database ID formats for all the databases the infobox supports

Database(s) Example URL What to provide
gogcom page https://www.gog.com/game/system_shock_2 system_shock_2
steam appid (Steam DB, Co-Optimus, Steam game association for external database use) http://store.steampowered.com/app/2310/ 2310
steam appid side (Steam DLC association for external database use) http://store.steampowered.com/app/9040/ 9040
strategywiki http://strategywiki.org/wiki/Quake Quake
wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quake_(video_game) Quake_(video_game)
winehq https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=930 930

Non-game infobox

Template documentation

Syntax

{{Infobox non-game
|title        =
|cover        = 
|developers   =
<Developer field rows go here>
|release dates =
<Release date field rows go here>
|winehq       = 
|wikipedia    = 
}}
Editing guide/The infobox
Editing guide/The infobox cover
Developers
Valve Corporation
Release dates
Windows September 12, 2003
macOS (OS X) May 12, 2010
Linux February 14, 2013
Editing guide/The infobox at Wikipedia

A less commonly used infobox, it is meant for general software that is related to games in some manner (ex. DOSBox).

Note that it is far more sparse then the game infobox in terms of information provided to the reader. No specialized row templates are used for this infobox.

Field breakdown

Section Definition Notes
Title The name of the program. An optional field, it is automatically set to the page name if left blank. It should be left alone in most cases.
Cover The logo of the program. The full name of the image file (including extensions) must be provided. See The Cover subsection for details.
Developer The name of the program developer.
Publisher The name of the program publisher. If the publisher is the same as the developer, leave the field blank.
Release Dates The earliest public release date of the program. All dates are to be written down in the following format: mm dd, yyyy (where mm is the full name of the month).

Controller infobox

Template documentation

Syntax

{{Infobox controller
|title        = 
|cover        = 
|xinput       = 
|predecessor  = 
|successor    = 
|wikipedia    = 
}}
Example of a controller infobox
Example of a controller infobox cover
XInput support
Predecessor
Xbox Controller
Successor
Xbox One Controller
Editing guide/The infobox on Wikipedia

A niche infobox, it is meant for game controllers. A game controller can be:

  • Gamepads
  • Joysticks
  • Steering wheels/racing controllers
  • Flight controllers
  • Haptic-centric controllers
  • Motion-based controllers
  • "Exotic" controllers (gaming keypads, dance pads, anything that does not fit in the above categories)

Note that it is far more sparse then the game infobox in terms of information provided to the reader.

Field breakdown

Section Definition Notes
Title The name of the controller. An optional field, it is automatically set to the page name if left blank. It should be left alone in most cases.
Cover A picture of the controller. The full name of the image file (including extensions) must be provided. See The Cover subsection for details.
XInput Support for the XInput controller API. Use true, false, or hackable to denote support level (see Section Table legend for details). A majority of the controllers released past December 2005 (particularly ones that are Xbox 360 and/or Xbox One-focused) have native support. Earlier than that, it should be assumed that the controller is using DirectInput.
Predecessor The controller that was released prior to the current one (if the controllers are part of a series). Linking needs to be done in the following fashion:
[[Controller:<CONTROLLER NAME>|<CONTROLLER NAME>]]

Leave blank if there is no prior release.

Successor The controller that was released after to the current one (if the controllers are part of a series). Linking needs to be done in the following fashion:

[[Controller:<CONTROLLER NAME>|<CONTROLLER NAME>]]
Leave blank if there is no succeeding release.

Wikipedia A link to the controller's Wikipedia page (if one exists). See Database IDs for details.

Console infobox

Template documentation

Syntax (main)

{{Infobox console
|title        = 
|cover        = 
|related      = 
<Related field rows go here>
|predecessor  = 
|successor    = 
|wikipedia    = 
}}

Syntax (Related field row)

{{Infobox console/row/controller|cont=[[Controller:<CONTROLLER NAME>|<CONTROLLER NAME>]]}}
Example of a console infobox
Example of a console infobox cover
Related controllers
Xbox 360 Controller
Kinect
Predecessor
Xbox
Successor
Xbox One
Editing guide/The infobox on Wikipedia

A niche infobox, it is meant for game consoles.

Note that it is far more sparse then the game infobox in terms of information provided to the reader.

Field breakdown

Section Definition Notes
Title The name of the console. An optional field, it is automatically set to the page name if left blank. It should be left alone in most cases.
Cover The logo of the console. The full name of the image file (including extensions) must be provided. See The Cover subsection for details.
Related A list of controllers that are related directly towards the console. A specialized row template is used to add entries (see the "Related field row" syntax). All entries are to be placed directly below the related field.
Predecessor The console that was released prior to the current one (if the controllers are part of a series). Linking needs to be done in the following fashion:
[[Emulation:<CONSOLE NAME>|<CONSOLE NAME>]]

Leave blank if there is no prior release.

Successor The console that was released after to the current one (if the consoles are part of a series). Linking needs to be done in the following fashion:
[[Emulation:<CONSOLE NAME>|<CONSOLE NAME>]]

Leave blank if there is no succeeding release.

Wikipedia A link to the console's Wikipedia page (if one exists). See Database IDs for details.

The Cover

Used in all four types of infoboxes, the cover (or box art) is the focal point of the template.

Valid covers

These are considered acceptable to use
  • Retail box art (scanned)
  • Logos
  • Steam banners

In the case of the Controller infobox, a picture of the hardware will suffice.

Invalid covers

These sources should be avoided if possible
  • Retail box art (photo)
  • In-game title screens
  • Fan-made box art/logos

Where to find them

There are multiple sources to find a good cover (listed in order of preference):

  • High quality personal/3rd party box art scans (best case)
  • Wikipedia (low quality, but reliable)
  • Other wikis (could possibly have high quality scans, but unreliable)
  • Steam game pages (every game on Steam comes with a banner/logo to use. Low quality, but very reliable)
  • Official/developer website (most likely logos and banners only)
  • MobyGames (very high quality scans, but comes with watermarks. Use as a last resort only)