Forum:Page Format Reference

Guide

 * Examples in grey text show old styles or formats, and are followed by the current format in black text. When using this as a quick reference, you should ignore grey text.

Sitewide usage

 * See also: Category:Policy
 * Ruby syntax:
 * Old example: Ｓｐ(スピードスペル)
 * New example:


 * For music, we only take samples, which must have their licensing properly noted (for example: File:Calm Academy.ogg)
 * For videos, since they tend to hold stricter copyrights, tags are preferred instead of uploading here. {1}

Main card pages / card table related

 * Video game names and lores should be provided even if they are exactly the same as the OCG/TCG card lore.
 * Japanese images are preferred for anime cards, as they show more details (lore/effect and Type, for instance). {1} {2}
 * In lists and tables, rarity abbreviations (e.g. "SR" for "Super Rare") should be used to reduce redundancy and save space. In prose, the first occurrence of a rarity should be spelled out and linked (e.g. Super Rare ).
 * Anime-only cards use the animelore parameter, not the lore parameter.
 * Characters in card page names: {1}
 * Straight quotation marks and apostrophes (" " and ') are preferred, not the fancy/curly ones (“ ” and ’).
 * The hyphen-minus sign (-) is preferred, instead of em dashes, en dashes, negative signs (–, — and －), or other dash lookalikes.
 * Octothorpes (#), opening and closing square brackets ([]), and opening and closing curly braces ({}) cannot be used in page names for technical reasons and should simply be omitted.
 * Octothorpes in card names should not be in superscript:
 * Jinzo #7
 * Jinzo #7


 * Effect types:
 * We used to add:
 * |effect1 = Summon
 * |effect2 = Trigger
 * and we used to only mention one of each effect type.
 * Now we add each effect as a list, including duplicate types, and in the exact order, e.g.
 * |effect = Summon, Trigger, Trigger


 * Japanese lore:
 * |japlore
 * |jplore


 * Card lores should generally not be updated until newer lores are actually known (the card is reprinted or a newer lore is announced). So, don't go to a page with an old card where Konami has not announced a reprint and apply Problem-Solving Card Text to it. This applies to the lores for old anime and manga cards, as well. {1}
 * The English card image takes priority if it is available, and the image of the card from the newest set is preferred. If a card is released in the same set and has multiple rarities, avoid Ultimate Rares and Ghost Rares if possible. The quality of the image does not matter; if it is bad, it should encourage someone to click on the image and then use the 'Upload a new version of this file' button to upload a clearer one.
 * For anime-only cards, the clearest Japanese screenshot is preferred, but if a Tag Force image is available, we use that.
 * For manga-only cards, the clearest image should be used. {1}


 * Anime appearance syntax:
 * First old example: 106/116/125
 * Second old example:
 * The new example: 106, 116, 125

Archetype and series

 * An "archetype" is determined by a card effect that only applies to cards with a certain string in their Japanese name; this string will appear in quotes (「」 on Japanese cards; "" on English cards).
 * That card is then a support or anti-support (depending on its effect) card for the archetype its effect mentions.
 * A card that supports each member of an archetype individually is not support for that archetype (e.g. "The Sanctuary in the Sky" is not a support card for the "Archlord" archetype).
 * All cards with that string in their Japanese name are members of that archetype, including Spell and Trap Cards (even if they aren't actually affected by any of the archetype's support or anti-support cards).
 * Even if a card's English name matches an archetype's English name when its Japanese name does not, it is still not a member of that archetype (for example, "Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1" is not a member of the "Guardian" archetype because its Japanese name, "をる", does not contain "ガーディアン").
 * Archetypes usually have an underlying "theme".
 * Cards do not have to fit this theme to be a member of the archetype; they only need to have the required string in their Japanese name.
 * Cards that fit this theme but do not have the required string in their Japanese names are related to the archetype; they are not members.
 * Groups of cards without support or anti-support cards, such as Monarch, Warriors, King, and Generation Fish, are series.
 * Series are determined entirely by their "theme"; most often, a series consists of a group of related cards used by a character in the anime or manga.
 * A card's Japanese name does not determine whether it is a member of a series. For example, Big Eye is not a member of the the King series because it doesn't fit the theme.
 * Cards are usually either a member of a series or not related to it at all; most series will not have any related cards.
 * An otherwise-unrelated card that has a name similar to other series members, is still not a member of the series or even related to it.
 * Cards that do not totally fit a series' theme are related to the series. For example, Mobius Castle and Lightning Crash are related to the Monarch series as they have multiple things in common with members of the series, but do not totally fit its theme.
 * Card storylines have their own page, do not qualify as either archetypes or series, and should not use the archetype or archrelated parameters.
 * A card that appears on or features another card does not make either card related to any archetype or series the other is part of (e.g. "Ojama Yellow", "Ojama Green", and "Ojama Black" appearing on "Harpies' Hunting Ground" does not make them related to the "Harpie" archetype, nor does it make any "Harpie" related to the "Ojama" archetype). This is also true for two cards that appear together in a third card's artwork (e.g. "Mokey Mokey" and "Ojama Yellow" appearing on "The League of Uniform Nomenclature" does not make "Mokey Mokey" related to the "Ojama" archetype, nor "Ojama Yellow" related to the "Mokey Mokey" archetype). These should instead be mentioned on the card's Trivia pages.
 * If a group is already categorized as an archetype, it should not also be categorized as a series.

File naming

 * See also: Project:Image policy

Card images

 * List of symbols/characters to include or omit:
 * Keep: Ω α β γ à ã æ é É Ü ö ü ú (all letters and numbers, including those from other languages or with diacritic marks)
 * Don't keep: - ., ' " : ・ / ~ & = ? ! % (and space) (all punctuation and special characters)


 * Common mistakes:
 * Old layout: For OCG/TCG card images: There is no dash (-) between the card name and the set abbreviation (CardNameSET-LN-R-ED.png)
 * New Layout: For OCG/TCG card images: There is a dash (-) between the card name and the set abbreviation (CardName-SET-LN-R-ED.png)


 * Official Proxies use OP; for example File:AlexandriteDragon-PHSW-EN-OP.jpg (CardName-SET-LN-OP.png). Unlike regular card images, rarities and edition tags aren't included (You can't tell R from ScR, proxy images technically don't have rarities anyway, and no card to date has had two proxy images from the same set with different rarities or editions). A source must be provided somewhere when uploading these (preferably on the image description page), or they may be deleted. {1}

Anime screenshots
Sx### Description.jpg or Sx### Description.png
 * If the image is not of a card or a NC monster, screenshots from the anime should have names with this format:

S is the series.
 * DM = Yu-Gi-Oh! (second series anime)
 * GX = Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
 * 5D = Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
 * ZX = Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL
 * See naming anime and manga card images for more series tags.

### is the episode number.

For example: File:5Dx154 Team 5D's panorama.jpg and File:GXx013 Doctor.jpg

However, the naming of anime screenshots and manga images are not heavily enforced. A sensible file name is sufficient. {1}

Manga images
S-### Description.jpg or S-### Description.png
 * If the image is not that of a card or a NC monster, images from the manga should have names with this format:

S is the series.
 * The tags should be the same as the tags for naming anime and manga card images.

### is the chapter number.

For example: File:GX-001 Jaden VS Ryuga.jpg and File:D-001 Duel Monsters at school.jpg

Booster pack images
SET-BoosterLN.jpg or SET-BoosterLN.png
 * Booster pack images should use the following format:

LN is the two letter language code.
 * JP = Japanese
 * EN = English

For example: File:GENF-BoosterEN.jpg and File:PHSW-BoosterJP.jpg

Episode and chapter articles

 * Do not overlink. A given term should only be linked once per section. Do not link to things like 1500 ATK Monster Cards and Cannot be destroyed by battle under any circumstances.
 * The lead paragraph should use the name used in the English adaptation of the episode/chapter, followed by the Japanese name. Air/print dates are listed afterwards. A short summary should then be listed, using episode summary or chapter summary.
 * Articles should use character and card names used in the English adaptations of each series. Events which take place in the original version take precedence over events that take place in the dub, however. Dub changes should be listed in parentheses in the "Summary" section. Be specific. Do not simply tell us something was changed. Tell us what it was changed from and what it was changed to. Simply saying dialogue was removed does not suffice. What was removed? If a card has a TCG name, but the English anime/manga uses a different name, the name used in the anime should be used, with the link pointing to the TCG name with a pipe (yes, avoid the redirect. Because hovertext is awesome).
 * The summary section should provide more than an overview of what happens in an episode or chapter. Any important pieces of dialogue should be mentioned, and in the best-case scenario, a blow-by-blow retelling of what happened in the episode. Summaries which do not do this should be marked using incomplete.
 * The Featured Duel section should provide a blow-by-blow of every move performed in a Duel, with no other elements present unless they directly affected the Duel. Dialogue that takes place during the Duel goes in the summary section. Instead, a link can be provided to an article on the Duel itself if such an article exists. The Duel should be prose, not written as a list.
 * The Featured cards section should list every card shown in the episode or chapter, with debuts in italics. A debut is defined as the card's first appearance in the anime and manga in general, not in each series. For example, "Reload" debuted in . Its appearance in does not constitute a debut. Any appearance counts, including cards shown in the hand, while searching a Deck, or in other places, such as briefcases or cards flying through the air. Duel spirits count as appearances (yes, I'm biting the bullet and saying they do for simplicity's sake. If anyone disagrees, let me know), though they should be in their own separate list in the Featured cards section.
 * If a source for such can be provided, a cast list should be given in its own seperate section.
 * If mistakes were made in either version of the episode, a section can be added to list them. Please specify which version(s) has the mistake. Card name changes are not mistakes. "Phantom Skyblaster" being called "Illusion Brigadier" is not a mistake. It's a name change.
 * If the effect of a card is different in the TCG then in the anime/manga, such differences are listed in the "Notes" section, not in the prose with giant "NOTE: Lol" paragraphs.
 * If the episode had a preview which displayed things that did not happen when the episode aired, a "Differences from the preview" section should list those changes.
 * If an episode is directly based on a chapter, or vice versa (some DM articles and some ZEXAL articles), a "Differences from the manga" or "Differences from the anime" section should be presented.

Card Tips

 * Anime-only cards do not need tips.
 * The Advanced Format heading is redundant and should not be added.
 * == Traditional Format == section goes after the Advanced Format tips; if the card is Forbidden or Illegal, neither heading is needed.
 * == Video games == section goes after the card game formats. This section should only contain tips using video game-only cards.
 * Quotation marks are to be added around all card names and archetype names. See also: Manual of style
 * Overlinking should not be done, one of each link per section is enough. The link in the navigation box also counts towards this.
 * Tips should be concise and the layout should be spaced out, walls of text are bad.
 * Layout sample: {1}

Card Rulings

 * A valid reference/source must be provided for all additions or changes, otherwise they will be reverted.
 * All new rulings must be an exact quote of an official ruling. Any misspellings or grammar mistakes must not be fixed, instead they are marked with Sic.
 * Rulings made by users are not to be included, even if they are correct, and will be removed on sight.
 * For more information, see the Card Rulings policy.

Card Gallery

 * NC (non-card) images of Monster Cards should not be deleted or removed from the gallery just because there is an image of the card. They should both be kept in the gallery page, next to each other. {1}
 * Gallery tag:
 * Other parameters, including "align", "perrow", and "heights", are usually unnecessary and should be removed. {1}
 * Layout sample: {1}

Set Card Lists, Set Card Galleries, and Set Card Ratios

 * See User:Dinoguy1000/boilerplate

Discussion / Comments
Created from observations and discussions. Any new section suggestions, comments, questions, etc? (stickying after any error checks/a few comments) -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 05:01, November 8, 2011 (UTC)


 * Done lots of cleanup/tweaking/rewriting (particularly around the archetype/series section); any comments or complaints? =D 「 ディノ 奴 千？！ 」? · ☎ Dinoguy1000 06:27, November 8, 2011 (UTC)


 * No complaints, just noticed a few things I forgot about. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 06:57, November 8, 2011 (UTC)

If it's not popular enough for the Image Policy, it can go here. Added anime screenshot and manga image naming. (Booster pack image naming might be popular enough to be moved into the image policy, but added it here for now.) As for boxes... File:EXVC-BoosterBoxFR.jpg or File:HA05-BoxEN.jpg..... -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 13:30, November 14, 2011 (UTC)


 * I don't think we really need to worry about whether something is "popular" enough to be added to the image policy; if someone feels like adding it (and the bit they're wanting to add isn't disagreed with), they should feel free to. That being said, the current layout of the image policy isn't exactly conducive to additions; I've been intending to rewrite it for quite a while now but haven't gotten around to it.
 * As for BoosterBox versus Box... *points at Starter and Structure Decks* 「 ディノ 奴 千？！ 」? · ☎ Dinoguy1000 19:16, November 14, 2011 (UTC)

and  ? . -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 21:51, November 14, 2011 (UTC)
 * File:5DS1-DeckEN.jpg and File:StructureDeckSD4-JP.jpg are used there, but HA05 isn't a deck so...
 * Also, what is the difference between
 * IIRC, I seen Deltaneos use


 * My comment was meant to be in favor of "Box", guess I should have actually come out and said it. =)
 * There is no difference, really. &lt;br> is the original HTML tag; &lt;br /> is the self-closing XHTML tag. All browsers (well, maybe not some pre-IE5.5 browsers, but no one cares about them any more) interpret both the same, so which you use doesn't really matter (and even less so in MediaWiki, since the tags get stripped and re-inserted during parsing anyways, which forces one particular style, regardless of which is used) - ultimately, it's personal preference. I like the self-closing version, since it makes the tags a bit easier to pick out in markup in my experience, but YMMV. 「 ディノ 奴 千？！ 」? · ☎ Dinoguy1000 22:33, November 14, 2011 (UTC)


 * Good to know that I haven't been breaking things by using  all the time.
 * (and "span id" tags because half the time direct links do not work for some reason when the title has a space in the name)
 * -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 00:13, November 15, 2011 (UTC)


 * How in the blue hell did I miss this topic's existence for almost a week despite checking the forum index daily? I'll have stuff to comment on tomorrow, and will use this opportunity to work on a style guide for episode/chapter articles, since we have discussed that in the past. Ooh, I could do a Card Appearances section too! Cheesedude (talk • contribs) 04:01, November 15, 2011 (UTC)
 * Added episode/chapter section. Any comments? Feel free to edit it. Cheesedude (talk • contribs) 16:02, November 15, 2011 (UTC)