Welcome to the nitty gritty. This is an index of all the guidelines onTV Tropes as well as helpful hints on how to perform basic tasks and explanations of wiki terminology. We know this stuff can be a bit intimidating, so we've broken it down for you.
Remember, if you really get lost and can't find what you're looking for, relax andAsk The Tropers. You can also check theFAQ for some helpful pages.
The Basic Stuff
It's always hard to figure out where to start on a new website. If you're looking for the very basics, see below.
Discussion Areas
There are a few places around the wiki that might aid you in your journey. Here are some links to serve as your initial roadmap.
- Ask The Tropers: Here you can ask fellow tropers any questions you have about the wiki. Also to report problems with other tropers.
- Media Finder: The place to ask for help identifying a work, when you only remember one or a few things about it.
- Query Bugs: The place where software bugs are squashed and disposed of.
- Tech Wishlist: If you have a spiffy new idea for our tech, put it here!
- TV Tropes Forum: The social hub of the wiki and where decisions are made on fixing pages and site policy.
- Trope Launch Pad (aka TLP,YKTTW,You Know That Thing Where): This is the place to propose a new trope article. You may also use it for works.
- Trope Finder: Here's the place to ask "Do we have this one?" and "What's the trope about...?"
People of the Wiki
These are the strange beings known as tropers that you may encounter in your wiki wanderings.
Editing Basics
Think of this as a quick start guide for editing. These are the links that can help you delve into the arcane art of troping.
TV Tropes Terminology
Yes, we know tropers seem to have our own vocabulary. A lot of it is based on the tropes that we catalog, but we understand the need for a lexicon. To help with this, we have created theTV Tropes Glossary, but here are a few basic terms to keep in mind.
- Blue Link: A link that is blue and leads to another page.
- Red Link: A true door to nowhere. These links are red and lead to blank pages.
- WikiWord: Writing the words of a page title in such a way that they become a Blue Link.
- CamelCase: The basic way to make a wiki word by writing words that run together and all start with capital letters.
- Trope: A narrative device or convention used in media.
- Works: Media such as a series, or a discrete item like a movie or novel.
- Creators: The people who make media.
- Known Troper: A troper who is signed in with a username.
- Pothole: A trope linked from text other than its title.
- Namespace: The part of a wiki URL between "pmwiki.php" and the article's name.
Basic Page Building
Ever wanted to know how a page gets put together? We're here to tell you.
- How Indexing Works: A basic overview of how to get pages to show up on indexes.
- Creating New Pages: Everything you wanted to know about making a new page but were afraid to ask.
- Creating New Redirects: Want to make sure that you can find a trope from the British spelling? Have a clever name that can add clarity to an existing trope? Here's how to make it a reality.
- Crosswicking: Making sure that all the links on work and trope pages correspond with each other.
- Naming a Trope: Find out how to be clear, concise, and witty while naming your tropes.
Advanced Editing
Here there be dragons. It can be a bit intimidating at first, but there are some more advanced guidelines for page editing, sorted alphabetically within their sections. While you don't need to learn all of these to edit, they can come in handy.
Technical Help
Manual of Style
"Do"s
"Don't"s
General Guides
Trope Maintenance
Specific Projects
See also theLong Term Projects
subforum.
Wiki
Historical Pages
Other
