Image Comics Database:Layout Guide

This Layout Guide is an official guide as to how an in-universe article should be structured. Feel free to discuss the Layout Guide on the talk page.

Main article[]

official and canonical information only
NO Infinities or non-canon information (unless the entire article is devoted to an Infinities or non-canon subject)
NO speculation, not even an author's speculation

Stub[]

used when an article is too vague or brief, AND when there is clearly more information that can be added

Behind the scenes (notice the capitalization)[]

portrayal information (for characters appearing in films, computer games, cartoons, radio dramatizations)
origin of subject - subject's first appearance, who was responsible for creating and/or naming the subject, how the subject came about, was it based on anything, who did the concept art, etc.
retcon information - how (if) subject's story has been changed in a retcon
any related Infinities or non-canon information
contradictions - point out if one official source contradicts another, and which (if any) is accepted as canon
speculation - only included if the speculation is WIDELY believed by fans, or any speculation made by authors

Appearances[]

Bulleted list of films, novels, comics, cartoons and computer or video games that the subject has appeared in
These are de facto references or sources, but they are listed separately because they are in-universe
Includes even the smallest mentions in dialogue, narration, or visual appearance
Should be sorted in order of In-universe chronology

Sources[]

Bulleted list of Reference books, Roleplaying books, webites, game strategy guides
Includes even the smallest mentions
Should be sorted by date of publication

Notes and references[]

List of sources for information in the "Behind the scenes" section.
Items are added to the list by placing <ref>Source goes here</ref> after the information tidbit in question.
To get the references to show up in this section, insert the following code:

<div class="references-small">
<references/>
</div>

External links[]

It's called "External links" even if there is currently only one link
Links to other unofficial sources, e.g. fan sites

Succession box[]

Succession boxes serve two purposes: to list the time period for which an individual held a certain post/title, and to provide links to their immediate predecessor and/or successor. Due to the tendency of contributors to insert speculation and fanon into succession boxes, part of the Wikia community dislikes them. To avoid issues and disputes, it is best to follow these "do nots":

Do not insert succession boxes for titles that were unique to a certain individual and, therefore, result in no predecessors or successors. The same applies if the individual is the only known holder of the title.
Do not insert succession boxes if the individual's position in the succession sequence is unclear.
Do not insert succession boxes for something that is not a proper title.

If the individual was the first (last) person to bear a certain title, the "Preceded by" ("Succeeded by") section should read "None". If there are no known predecessors/successors, the corresponding section should read "Unknown". However, if there are some known predecessors/successors, the section should read "Unknown, eventually <name of the chronologically nearest individual>".

The phrase "the last person to bear a certain title" means that there are no successors because the title was made obsolete. If the individual in question continues to hold the title "currently" (where the "present" is defined as the date of the last published work), the "Succeeded by" section should read "Incumbent".

All succession boxes should be contained within two templates: {{start box}} and {{end box}}. This ensures that there are no line breaks within succession boxes.

Category[]

Every article should have at least one category
Categories should be listed in alphabetical order
People should be categorized by their last name; for example, [[Category:Artists|Lee, Jim]] or [[Category:Superheroes|Fairchild, Caitlin]].
Articles beginning with an article ("a," "an," or "the") should be categorized by the first significant word; for example, [[Category:Superheroes|Immortal, The]].

Interwiki links[]

Links to other Image Comics wikis
Interwiki links should be listed in alphabetical order