Encyclopedia Dramatica:How 2 EDit for Dummies
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EDiting for Dummies
As part of the ED Improvement Drive, I thought it would be useful to write a guide on "How 2 EDit for Dummies". The idea is that this should be a guide that even the most retarded of n00bs can use to understand how they should approach creating an article. Therefore avoiding exhibits A, B, C, and D.
This is just an attempt to help those delicious n00bs avoid pointlessly creating articles that will be deleted because Encyclopedia Dramatica 2.0 is a beautiful thing.
Encyclopedia Dramatica (as a rule) is only interested in articles relating to drama, internets, or memes. Articles regarding the documentation of memes tend to be created by specialists who have no use for this "Dummies Guide" because they are l33t hackers on steroids, so the instructions in this guide tend to be more focused towards articles who's subject is a person or a group of people.
Encyclopedia Dramatica does sometimes have articles on non-internets subjects.
- These should be acerbic, snarky and get a rise out of people from the opposing viewpoint.
- Otherwise it would just be Uncyclopedia.
Articles don't always have to be full of lulz. Satire isn't always "omg...lol...that is so funny!".
The more pretentious EDiots would think of satire as "the unseating of the comfortable". Think about it.
Just because you have been banned from Wikipedia doesn't mean you are welcome here. Even arch-enemies of ED have been perma-banned from Wikipedia.
Some Examples to Look at:
What is the Subject of your Article?
So you want to write an article for ED? You will know what or who the article is about, but many of your readers won't. So a good way to start is by having an introductory paragraph that describes who the person is, which part of the internet they inhabit (eg. Youtube / LiveJournal) and what horrendous stupidity has led them to deserve an article on Encyclopedia Dramatica.
Some would disagree, but badly written ad hominems by themselves are unfunny, but well written viciously acerbic satire does the same job as ad hominems, but also provides the critical element of lulz.
Drama is a crucial element, and is normally easily obtained. So you should try and make sure some is provided (if it hasn't already) even though there are no trolls at Encyclopedia Dramatica. Remember to provide links in your article to where the subject or drama can be found (eg. MySpace, Youtube, LiveJournal).
Do not waste your time on personal attack articles about some kid at your school or college, or some piece of copypasta that you have cooked up that you think is hilarious - /b/ is the place for that, not here. That type of shit will get deleted quickly.
Think about "Notability". Does your article really deserve a place here?
Making an Article Worthy of Encyclopedia Dramatica
Consult the ED style guide and you will be well on your way to success!
Take a look at articles that appear on the Frontpage.
The "Article of the Now", "Did You Know?" and "Good New Articles"....
HAVE BEEN PUT THERE FOR A REASON.
They are good examples of what we want.
With an introductory paragraph and at least another two paragraphs describing
and lampooning the idiocy of the subject, together with some appropriately
captioned images, perhaps a lulzy "quote", and you are on your way to
making an article worthy of Encyclopedia Dramatica and have a good
chance that your article will not be fail.
See Also:
PROTIP!:
- If you are creating a new article, its a good idea to create if first within your userspace like this one on "Blaming China".
- Do this by creating the article in http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/User:YourUsername/YourArticleTitle
- This means that you can save articles as "Work in Progress" without fear of it being deleted.
- Once you think you have finished your article, ask one of the Sysops to move it for you.
Basic Wikification
You may be be a MediaWiki n00b. Don't worry, the easiest thing to do is find an good article and steal the code from there! You could even steal code from this article!
When you want to see how your EDits look, please use the preview button. When you want to save your article plz briefly describe what you did in the ""Summary". For Example: "typo", "added pix" or "format fix" - kthx!.
This will help people who watch Recent Changes, and you don't want to annoy them!
- Here are some of the basics of wiki markup to get you started:
== Section Heading == - Creates a Section Heading [[Image:ImageName.jpg|thumb|caption here]] - Basic Image Placement (default places pic to the right). [http://www.google.com Google] - Basic URL Link [[camwhore]] -Basiclink to another ED article. [[faggot|David Miscavige]] - 'Piping'. In this example, clicking on the blue resulting link 'David Miscavige' will take you to the page 'faggot'. The article you want to link to goes first. <center><youtube>xViDc0dEhErEx</youtube></center> - embedded youtube clip (centered) * short fact - Bullet Point '''Bolded Text''' - Bolded Text
Note : For YouTube Embedded Videos
Do not even think that you can fool people by listing multiple Youtube embedded videos - yes it takes up space and makes your article seem more substantial. But it fails hard, and fools no one of importance. Please try to annotate videos you embed with a description so that readers have some idea of what they will be watching if they click play on the video. Srsly just having a column of videos is fucking annoying, looks shit and wins you no brownie points.
- PROTIP: It's good to have a lulzy {{quote}} from the video displayed beneath it. or something funny that passes as a quote to entice readers to watch the video.
Here is some code to copypasta!
{| align="center" style="padding:0px;"
|<center><big>'''An EDiot's Guide to 2007'''</big></center><br>
<center><youtube>pNV2Uycu1T4</youtube></center>
<br>
{{quote|This is a [[unwarrented self importance|much better]]
way to display a [[youtube|video]]|'''Author''' - ''knows [[noone]]
will do this but said it anyway''}}
|}
| This Code Displays Embedded Youtube Videos Like This! |
| —Author - knows noone will do this but said it anyway |
Also : Piping and Other Things
- Why not pipe?
- Piping creates meta-lulz. Such as Tom Cruise is cool.
[[Tom Cruise]] is [[homosexual|cool]].
- Please remember to use the SHIFT KEY effectively when creating articles :
- "Myspace Killer", NOT "Myspace killer".
- "Rational Response Squad", NOT "Rational response squad"
Uploading Images
You can easily upload images, by using Special:Upload linked in the toolbox on the left of every page below the search bar. Before you upload, make sure to read and follow the image use policy. Uploading bestiality and child porn is obviously a very bad thing and anyone doing this will be banned indefinitely.
You will need to include a description of the file in the Summary. If the file does not have a description or the description is inaccurate, the image may be deleted. See ED:MEDIA.
Make sure that you upload an image with a proper filename. Google Image Search needs to be able to find your image, so filenames such as Image:1282759137539.jpg may be deleted.
Important:
- CHECK THE FUCKING FILE SIZE!
- Please try and not upload anything larger than 150kb. kthx!
Do Not Do The Following!
Uploading bestiality and child porn is obviously a very bad thing and anyone doing this will be banned indefinitely. Encyclopedia Dramatica also enforces a "No Dox" Policy, so no powerwords such as real-life address or telephone number. Encyclopedia Dramatica is not an Attack Site.
We have First Amendment and PPA protection. However, if law enforcement provides us with a legal subpoena for information we have - then we are going to give it to them. Why? Because that's the easiest thing for us to do. Do not expect us to go to court for you. You are not that important to us, quite frankly.
Most importantly, don't do anything on encyclopediadramatica.com that would cause law enforcement to issue us a subpoena.
See Also:
| Policy This article defines official ED Policy. |
