Star Wars Fanon:Layout Guide

This page is considered an official policy on Star Wars Fanon.
It has wide acceptance among editors and is considered a standard that everyone should follow. Except for minor edits, please make use of the discussion page to propose changes to this policy.

This page in a nutshell
In an effort to achieve a standard of quality and excellence, all articles on Star Wars Fanon are expected to follow a certain layout.

The Star Wars Fanon Layout Guide is the official guide when it comes to structuring all articles, both In-Universe (IU) and Out-Of-Universe (OOU). Star Wars Fanon prides itself on striving to achieve and maintain a standard of quality and excellence in all of its articles. In order to achieve a standard of quality and excellence, it is expected that all articles be uniform and follow this Layout Guide.

The following article aspects for both in-universe and out-of-universe are what the members of Star Wars Fanon believe to be the aspects of all properly constructed articles. The following tags, seen on each heading, mark whether or not the aspect should be used.

Required - The aspect must always be present in all articles, regardless of the length.

Recommended - The aspect should be present in all articles, and will be checked if nominated for Good Article or Featured Article status, but is not required.

If Applicable - The aspect should be present in all articles if possible.

In Universe

Out of the many different types of articles that can and have been created on Star Wars Fanon, the most common is the in-universe article about a character, ship or weapon. It is the style that makes the article appear to be a very professional, historic and encyclopedia-looking article, as it contains as much detail and historical information as possible. All in-universe articles should contain the following:

Era icon - The era icon tells what era your vehicle, technology, or character took part in. This section is required for Featured and Good articles.

Infobox - An infobox is the box of statistics on the right side of an article. A relevant infobox contains statistics and known information in a comprehensible chart. A limited amount of background information on the subject is also present. Articles that only have an infobox are discouraged. When choosing an infobox for an article, users should consider the category that the article fits in. For example, Annikin Skywalker was an individual, or a character. Therefore, he would have a character infobox. However, infoboxes become more specific than that. Narod was a Jedi, so therefore he could have a Jedi character infobox. For a list of all infobox templates, please see "Infobox templates" category. This section is recommended.

Introduction - The introduction of an article should be a sufficient lead that has at least two hundred words or more. All introductions should be written as if they were to be featured on the main page as a Featured Article or a Good Article. Who, What, Where, When, Why and, if applicable, How should all be covered in as much detail as possible. This section is required.

Main article - The main article is the most important part of an article, as it is where the majority of the information is. A character’s history, personality and traits, talents, and legacy should all be placed in the main article. If the article is about a ship or another form of vehicle or technology, the topic’s characteristics, design and legacy should all be discussed. This section is required.

Behind the scenes - The behind the scenes information is information regarding inspiration, origin and the reason the article was created. This section should not be written as a bulleted list. This section is recommended.

Appearances - The appearances section documents any appearances the subject of the article has had. If the fanon character or concept covered in the article is part of an unencyclopedic fan fiction, novella, short story or other fan-devised media in or outside Star Wars Fanon, it should be mentioned in this section. The list should be in bulleted form in an in-universe chronology. If the subject’s appearance is only a brief mention, apply the {{mo}} template. For the subject’s first appearance in the saga (in order of publication, not in order of in-universe chronology), apply the {{1st}} template. If the subject’s first appearance in the saga is only a mere mention, use the {{1stm}} template. If the subject is not named in its first appearance but it is identified in a later source, first use the {{1st}} template and then the {{1stID}} template. This section is used only if applicable. An example of a list, using Ussej Padric Bac III as an example, is as follows:

Chronicles of the Great War: Endgame (First mentioned)
Shadows of the Jedi: The Legend of Ussej Padric Bac II (First appearance)
Shadows of the Jedi: The Legend of Ussej Padric Bac III

See also - The see also section should include links related to the topic that are not linked to in the article. It is generally reserved for links to gallery or family pages that do not belong in the main article. This section is used only if applicable.

External links - The external links section is used to link to other sources or websites in which the subject might be mentioned, covered in alternate detail or discussed. Even if there is only one link, the name of the section is to remain plural. This section is used only if applicable.

Succession box - A succession box is a box at the end of an article that lists the time period for which an individual held a certain position or title. It also provides links to their immediate predecessor and/or successor, if the names of the aforementioned are known. Succession boxes should not be used for titles that were unique to certain individuals, therefore resulting in no predecessors or successors. The same applies if the individual is the only known holder of the title. Succession boxes should not be inserted if the individual’s position in the succession sequence is unclear. If the individual was the first or last person to hold a certain title, the “Preceded By” or “Succeeded By” section should read “None”. If there are no known predecessors or successors, the sections should read “Unknown”. However, if there are some known predecessors or successors, the section should read “Unknown, eventually <name of closest individual>”. All succession boxes should be contained within two templates: {{start box}} and {{end box}}. This ensures that there are no line breaks within the succession box. This section is recommended.

Category - Every article on Star Wars Fanon is required to be in at least one category. Maintenance categories such as Category:Articles to be cleaned up and Category:Articles being improved do not count. Categorizing articles by author does not either, though it is encouraged to add that as an additional category. Categories should be listed in alphabetical order. For a list of categories, please see this page.

Out-Of-Universe

The less common types of articles that can and have been created on Star Wars Fanon are those that deal with fan fiction and video games. Although the fan fiction might never get published and the video game will probably never be made, the article is still expected to look professional as if it is part of a professional encyclopedia. All out-of-universe articles should contain the following:

Infobox - Like in-universe articles, out-of-universe articles should also contain an infobox. Infoboxes for novels and video games can be found in the list of Infobox templates. This section is required.

Introduction - Like in-universe articles, out-of-universe articles should contain a proper lead that is at least two hundred words describing the Who, What, Where, When, Why and, if applicable, How of the story or video game. This section is required.

Main Article - The main section of the out-of-universe article contains the bulk of the important information. If the article is about a novel, a summary of the novel and a list of chapters should be given. If the article is about a video game, a summary of the video game and a list and important information about levels should be given. This section is required.

Characters/Dramatis Persona - If the article is about a video game, a list of playable and, if the author wishes, non-playable characters should be given. If the article is about a novel, a list of all the characters that appear, no matter how significant, should be given. This section is recommended.

Controls - If the article is about a video game, the author may wish to include information about the console that the video game is for and the controls for the video game.

Behind the Scenes - Same as in-universe.

See Also - Same as in-universe.

External Links - Same as in-universe.

Categories - Same as in-universe.