Guide to a Wiki-Style Factbook, Embassies, and Consulates

[Union Of Canadorian Socialists Republic]

I have finally decided to get my lazy butt and update my factbook. I am rather fond of the image boxes and captions.


http://www.nationstates.net/nation=unio ... /id=255889

What dimensions are they? (pixels please)

Of what picture?

[Post War America]

Still very much in the WIP Stage but I thought it'd be time for a shameless post

http://www.nationstates.net/nation=post ... ok/id=1394

[Federation of Trelatche]

Still very much in the WIP Stage but I thought it'd be time for a shameless post

http://www.nationstates.net/nation=post ... ok/id=1394

you're gonna add more pictures to the top chunk of text right? But anyway, I like it!

[Post War America]

Yes, I am hence the WIP status... my plan basically speaking is to record all of my information, then add pictures... then do other code (and therefore character heavy) prettifiaction (Adding linked pages, aligning everything correctly and the like), but once my pics are done I'm removing the WIP tag because it will for all intents and purposes done.

[St Nevis And Kitts]

Ponderosa’s Guide to a Wiki Style Factbook

How often have you come across a bloggy factbook, consisting of multiple articles with only a few sentences each? A wiki-style factbook allows you to condense a lot of information in only one factbook, and looks much more professional.

Wiki style factbooks are inspired from Wikipedia articles and other wikias. In this guide, I will show you how to create an article that is highly informative, organized, and visually appealing.

Disclaimer: This guide is designed for the gameside factbooks, found on your nation page. Some codes and templates do not work well on forumside factbooks. If you have any questions, please submit them in the thread here. I prefer not to receive telegrams with questions.

Contents

Sidebar
Title and Introduction
Table of Contents
Body
Images
Template Source Code

Sidebar
This is a major part of a wiki factbook. It provides quick facts and statistics about your nation.
What to Include

- Nation name and pretitle
- Flag
- Motto
- Anthem Title
- Small map or orthographic showing where your nation is located (no details!)
- Capital and Largest City
- Demonym
- Government (e.g., national leader, legislature, etc)
- Geographic Statistics (land area, water percentage, etc)
- GDP
- And more. See my factbook or Wikipedia entries to draw inspiration.

How to make it
The sidebar will be the very first thing in your factbook code. It will involve the use of [box] and [floatright] tags.
1) Put a [box] and a [floatright] tag at the beginning of the code.
2) Start filling in information! Use small images for your flag and orthographic, and divide each section with underscores or [.hr] tags.
3) Finish the sidebar with the appropriate end tags

Sidebar Template

Code: Select all

[floatright][box][center][b]The PRETITLE of NATION[/b]
[hr]

INSERT FLAG HERE
[b]Flag[/b]
[hr]

[b]Motto: [/b]
[hr]

NSERT SMALL MAP OR ORTHOGRAPHIC
[b]Location[/b]
[hr][/center]

[b]Population:[/b]
[b]-Density:[/b]
[hr]

[b]Capital:[/b]
[b]Largest City:[/b]
[hr]

[b]Official Language:[/b]
[hr]
[b]National Language:[/b]
[hr]
[b]Demonym:[/b]
[hr]

[b]Government[/b]
- President:
- Vice President:
- Speaker of the House:
- Chief Justice:
[hr]

[b]Legislature[/b]:
- Upper House:
-Lower House:
[hr]

[b]Establishment:[/b] from (INSERT OTHER NATION)
Independence: INSERT FOUNDING DATE
[hr]

[b]Land Area:[/b] mile²
                          km²
Water Area: km²
Water %:
[hr]


[b]Elevation[/b]
Highest Point:
Lowest Point:
[hr]

[b]GDP (nominal):[/b]
[b]GDP (nominal) per capita:[/b]
[hr]

[b]Human Development Index (NS Version):[/b]
[hr]

[b]Currency:[/b]
[hr]

[b]Time Zone:[/b]
[hr]

[b]Drives on the:[/b]
[hr]

[b]Calling code:[/b]
[hr]

[b]Internet TLD:[/b]

[/box][/floatright]

Title and Introduction
The title of your factbook is automatically set across the top of the page. There is no way to remove it. If you’d like a second, more colorful title, feel free to add it.

Your introduction section is basically a summary of your nation. The first paragraph is typically a description of where your nation is located, which nations border it, and a list of territories. The second paragraph (often merged with the first) is a brief description of your nation’s geography, usually including land area and population.

The next few paragraphs are often a summary of your nation’s history. If you’re like me and can’t be bothered to write a very detailed history of your nation, leave it all for the body.

The final paragraph of your introduction describes your nation’s position in the present day. It is essentially a ego-rub that brags about your nation’s economic status, positions of world power, and freedoms. If you’d like, you could otherwise use this space to talk about how dirt-poor your nation is. It doesn't matter. Nobody’s going to read it anyway.

Remember, leave details to the body paragraphs!

Table of Contents
If you want a bit of a challenge, you can add a table of contents to your factbook. This typically comes after your introduction. This involves the use of [anchor] and [url] tags.

1) Write your Table of Contents without any BB code. Just a list format.
2) Put [box] and [floatleft] tags at the beginning of the list, and put the necessary / tags at the end of the list.
3) Publish your factbook and obtain the url (or internet address).
4) Go back to the editing page. Put [url]tags at the beginning of each item, and paste the url into the tag.
5) Add a hashtag and some other word that will identify the part of the wiki that the table of contents will link to. The code for your table of contents should look something like this:

Code: Select all

[box][floatleft][b][center]Contents[/center][/b]
[url=http://www.nationstates.net/nation=ponderosa/detail=factbook/id=97589#Ety]1 Etymology[/url]
[url=http://www.nationstates.net/nation=ponderosa/detail=factbook/id=97589#Hist]2 History[/url]
[url=http://www.nationstates.net/nation=ponderosa/detail=factbook/id=97589#Geo]3 Geography[/url]
[/box][/floatleft]


6) Go to each section of your factbook and add [anchor] tags to each section’s title. [anchor=] will allow you to link each section to the table of contents. For example, to link to the table of contents above, use the code below.

Code: Select all

[b][u][size=150][anchor=Ety][/anchor]Etymology[/size][/u][/b]
[b][u][size=150][anchor=Hist][/anchor]History[/size][/u][/b]
[b][u][size=150][anchor=Geo][/anchor]Geography[/size][/u][/b]


Body
This is going to be the meat of your factbook, where all the tiny details you excluded above will now be recorded. If you have even more in-depth articles, you can add an indented link to your “main article” like so:

Code: Select all

[list][i][url=http://www.nationstates.net/nation=ponderosa/detail=factbook/id=97593]Main Article: Religion and Religious Policy in Ponderosa[/url][/i][/list]

Main Article: Religion and Religious Policy in Ponderosa

The body can really have whatever you want in it, but popular sections include Etymology, History, Geography, Demographics, Government, Military, Economy, Infrastructure, Culture, and more.

Images
I've received several questions on how to post images in your factbook, and I will attempt to answer them. You will need to upload your images to an image-sharing site, such as Photobucket, Tinypic, or Imgur. For the purposes of this guide, I will demonstrate how to use Imgur to upload images.

1) Go to [url=imgur.com].
2) Under the "Upload images" header, you will see a link that says "Computer." Click on that.
3) A window will open, allowing you to search for and select your file from your computer. Select your file, and click "Open."
4) After uploading the image, you will arrive at a new page on which your image is in the center. If you like the image, copy the code under the heading "BBCode (message boards & forums)."
5) Paste the code into your factbook.

Now you have your image! However, you may not like the size. Luckily, back on step 4, there is a link in the upper-right that says "Edit image." After clicking that, you can resize your image using the box in the upper-right. Make sure the proportions are locked! Once you've set the image to the preferred size, click "Apply", then "Save."

Template Source Code
As part of this guide, I have included the source code for a wiki factbook template. If you don’t understand this guide, or just don’t want to read it, you can simply copy/paste this template and fill in the information.

Code: Select all

[floatright][box][center][b]The PRETITLE of NATION[/b]
[hr]

INSERT FLAG HERE
[b]Flag[/b]
[hr]

[b]Motto: [/b]
[hr]

NSERT SMALL MAP OR ORTHOGRAPHIC
[b]Location[/b]
[hr][/center]

[b]Population:[/b]
[b]-Density:[/b]
[hr]

[b]Capital:[/b]
[b]Largest City:[/b]
[hr]

[b]Official Language:[/b]
[hr]
[b]National Language:[/b]
[hr]
[b]Demonym:[/b]
[hr]

[b]Government[/b]
- President:
- Vice President:
- Speaker of the House:
- Chief Justice:
[hr]

[b]Legislature[/b]:
- Upper House:
-Lower House:
[hr]

[b]Establishment:[/b] from (INSERT OTHER NATION)
Independence: INSERT FOUNDING DATE
[hr]

[b]Land Area:[/b] mile²
                          km²
Water Area: km²
Water %:
[hr]


[b]Elevation[/b]
Highest Point:
Lowest Point:
[hr]

[b]GDP (nominal):[/b]
[b]GDP (nominal) per capita:[/b]
[hr]

[b]Human Development Index (NS Version):[/b]
[hr]

[b]Currency:[/b]
[hr]

[b]Time Zone:[/b]
[hr]

[b]Drives on the:[/b]
[hr]

[b]Calling code:[/b]
[hr]

[b]Internet TLD:[/b]

[/box][/floatright]
[size=200][b]NATION NAME[/size][/b]
[hr]

The PRETITLE of NATION commonly called NATION, is a GOVERNMENT TYPE in LOCATION. It is bordered on the north by OTHER-NATION, on the south by OTHER-NATION, by the east by OTHER-NATION and on the west by OTHER-NATION. NATION covers LAND AREAsquare kilometers and has has an estimated population of POPULATION. NATION comprises of NUMBER SUBDIVISIONS and NUMBER TERRITORIES.

DESCRIPTION OF YOUR NATION’S ROLE IN THE WORLD

[floatleft][box][center]Contents[/center]
[url=INSERT-FACTBOOK-URL#Ety]1 Etymology[/url]
[url=INSERT-FACTBOOK-URL#Hist]2 History[/url]
[url=INSERT-FACTBOOK-URL#Geo]3 Geography[/url]
[url=INSERT-FACTBOOK-URL#Demo]4 Demographics[/url]
[url=INSERT-FACTBOOK-URL#Pop]4.1 Population[/url]
[url=INSERT-FACTBOOK-URL#Lan]4.2 Language[/url]
[url=INSERT-FACTBOOK-URL#Reli]4.3 Race[/url]
[url=INSERT-FACTBOOK-URL#City]4.4 Largest Cities[/url]
[url=INSERT-FACTBOOK-URL#Govt]5 Government[/url]
[url=INSERT-FACTBOOK-URL#FRM]5.1 Foreign Relations and Military[/url]
[url=INSERT-FACTBOOK-URL#Econ]6 Economy[/url]
[url=INSERT-FACTBOOK-URL#Cult]7 Culture[/url]
[url=INSERT-FACTBOOK-URL#Infra]8 Infrastructure[/url]
[url=INSERT-FACTBOOK-URL#Energy]8.1 Energy[/url]
[/box][/floatleft]

[b][u][size=150][anchor=Ety]Etymology[/anchor][/b][/u][/size]

DESCRIBE ORIGIN OF NATION NAME

The standard way to refer to a citizen of NATION is as a "DEMONYM."

[b][u][size=150][anchor=Hist]History[/anchor][/b][/u][/size]

DESCRIBE HISTORY

[b][u][size=150][anchor=Geo]Geography[/anchor][/b][/u][/size]

DESCRIBE GEOGRAPHY

DESCRIBE CLIMATE

DESCRIBE ENVIRONMENT

INSERT MAP

[b][u][size=150][anchor=Demo]Demographics[/anchor][/b][/u][/size]

[b][u][anchor=Pop]Population[/anchor][/b][/u]
DESCRIBE POPULATION

[u][b][anchor=Lan]Language[/anchor][/b][/u]
DESCRIBE LANGUAGE

[u][b][anchor=Reli]Religion[/anchor][/b][/u]

DESCRIBE RELIGION

[u][b][anchor=Race]Race[/anchor][/b][/u]
DESCRIBE RACE

[u][b][anchor=City]Largest Cities[/anchor][/b][/u]
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)

[b][u][size=150][anchor=Govt]Government[/anchor][/b][/u][/size]

DESCRIBE GOVERNMENT

[b][u][anchor=FRM]Foreign Relations and Military[/anchor][/b][/u]

DESCRIBE DIPLOMACY

DESCRIBE MILITARY

[b][u][size=150][anchor=Econ]Economy[/anchor][/b][/u][/size]

[floatright][box]
[center][b][u]Economic Indicators[/b][/u][/center]
[b]Rank:[/b]
[b]Currency:[/b]
[b]Fiscal Year:[/b]
[hr]
[b]GDP (nominal):[/b]
[b]GDP (nominal) per capita:[/b]
[b]Labor Force:[/b]
[b]Unemployment:[/b]
[/floatright][/box]

DESCRIBE ECONOMY

[size=150][b][u][anchor=Cult]Culture[/anchor][/size][/b][/u]

DESCRIBE CULTURE

[size=150][b][u][anchor=Infra]Infrastructure[/anchor][/size][/b][/u]

DESCRIBE INFRASTRUCTURE

[b][u][anchor=Energy]Energy[/anchor][/b][/u]
DESCRIBE ENERGY

Template by [nation=Ponderosa]


Previous thread located [url=http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=13419]here[/url].

[Post War America]

-Snipetts-

Why did you repost this?

[Post War America]

This is a provisional code for a sidebar for pages regarding conflicts/wars. Plug it in tell me what you think... I will try to improve it as we go.

Code: Select all

[floatright][box][align=center][b]Conflict Name Here[/b][/align]

[hr]

[img]Appropriate  Cover Image/s/ url here[/img]
[i]Caption Here[/i]

[hr]

[b]Date:[/b] START DATE HERE-END DATE HERE
(DURATION HERE)

[hr]

[b]Location:[/b] LOCATION HERE

[hr]

[b]Result:[/b] RESULT HERE

[hr]

[b]Territorial Changes:[/b] INSERT TERRITORIAL CHANGES

[hr]

[align=center][b]Belligerents[/b]

DEFENSIVE ACTOR NAME HERE

[img]TINY FLAG IMAGE URL HERE[/img] NAME HERE (Time and/or Role Limitation [Optional])
Repeat as necessary

OFFENSIVE ACTOR NAME HERE

[img]TINY FLAG IMAGE URL HERE[/img] NAME HERE (Time and/or Role Limitation [Optional])
Repeat as necessary

[hr]
[b]Leaders and Generals[/b]

DEFENSIVE ACTOR NAME HERE
[img]TINY FLAG IMAGE URL HERE[/img] NAME AND TITLE HERE (TIMES [Optional])
Repeat as you see fit (Generally High Ranking Officers/Government Officials)

OFFENSIVE ACTOR NAME HERE
[img]TINY FLAG IMAGE URL HERE[/img] NAME AND TITLE HERE (TIMES [Optional])
Repeat as you see fit (Generally High Ranking Officers/Government Officials)

[hr]

[b]Forces[/b]

DEFENSIVE FORCE NAME HERE
List Assets as you see fit

OFFENSIVE FORCE NAME HERE
List Assets as you see fit

[hr]

[b]Casualties[/b]

DEFENSIVE FORCE NAME HERE
List Casualties as you see fit

OFFENSIVE FORCE NAME HERE
List Casualties as you see fir[/align][/box][/floatright]

Below is the trial run in my own factbook, as a general idea of how the sidebar should look.

http://www.nationstates.net/nation=post ... /id=274310

[Nolor]

I am having trouble setting up my Factbook Wiki. I post the codes on my Factbook page when I edit it, but it does not work. Can someone tell me what I am doing wrong?

[Nolor]

I got it to work, except for my flag. I tried inserting an image in the appropriate place, but nothing shows up.

[Todlichebujoku]

I got it to work, except for my flag. I tried inserting an image in the appropriate place, but nothing shows up.

Did you use the

Code: Select all

[img][/img]

tag?

[Nolor]

It worked. Thanks.

[Hallowell]

I'm making a factbook on a war, how would I add a vertical line in between the lists of combatants?

[Post War America]

I'm making a factbook on a war, how would I add a vertical line in between the lists of combatants?

Well there is a ghetto solution and it will probably be very, very ugly but shift+ the Front Slash \ Key should produce a vertical, paired with the right spacing you should have something serviceable.

[Todlichebujoku]

I'm making a factbook on a war, how would I add a vertical line in between the lists of combatants?

Well there is a ghetto solution and it will probably be very, very ugly but shift+ the Front Slash \ Key should produce a vertical, paired with the right spacing you should have something serviceable.

I don't think there is any other/non-ghetto solution to get a vertical line separating two sides of a list or two lists.
Well, maybe you could use a table... I think that might actually work better...

[Post War America]

Well there is a ghetto solution and it will probably be very, very ugly but shift+ the Front Slash \ Key should produce a vertical, paired with the right spacing you should have something serviceable.

I don't think there is any other/non-ghetto solution to get a vertical line separating two sides of a list or two lists.
Well, maybe you could use a table... I think that might actually work better...

Maybe.... I'll Guinea Pig that first.

Edit: I tried and it makes the sidebar very wide... so it is feasible, but it doesn't work well.

[Reath]

I'll have to tag this to use later on.

[Northern European Senates remnants]

http://www.nationstates.net/nation=nort ... /id=270512

[Post War America]

http://www.nationstates.net/nation=northern_european_senates_remnants/detail=factbook/id=270512

You've got some naked code at the bottom there, and it seems like its still a work in progress in general but overall its pretty nice.

[Todlichebujoku]

http://www.nationstates.net/nation=northern_european_senates_remnants/detail=factbook/id=270512

You've got some naked code at the bottom there, and it seems like its still a work in progress in general but overall its pretty nice.

eew look his background tags are showing

[Northern European Senates remnants]

You've got some naked code at the bottom there, and it seems like its still a work in progress in general but overall its pretty nice.

eew look his background tags are showing

Gee thanks.

[Acharastan]

Thank you so much for this guide. I made my factbook so much better after this. You deserve some sort of award.

[The Eastern Antarctic State]

http://www.nationstates.net/nation=the_ ... /id=265843

http://www.nationstates.net/nation=the_ ... /id=269936

http://www.nationstates.net/nation=the_ ... /id=265846

http://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=271971

Please rate up if you enjoy! Constructive Criticism welcome.

[Post War America]

http://www.nationstates.net/nation=the_eastern_antarctic_state/detail=factbook/id=265843

http://www.nationstates.net/nation=the_ ... /id=269936

http://www.nationstates.net/nation=the_ ... /id=265846

http://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=271971

Please rate up if you enjoy! Constructive Criticism welcome.

I'm not going to lie it kind of looks like all of your diagrams were drawn by penguins. I mean if you can't use Gimp or Photoshop or something... at least try and make it look like the lines are straight.

[Todlichebujoku]

http://www.nationstates.net/nation=the_eastern_antarctic_state/detail=factbook/id=265843

http://www.nationstates.net/nation=the_ ... /id=269936

http://www.nationstates.net/nation=the_ ... /id=265846

http://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=271971

Please rate up if you enjoy! Constructive Criticism welcome.

I'm not going to lie it kind of looks like all of your diagrams were drawn by penguins. I mean if you can't use Gimp or Photoshop or something... at least try and make it look like the lines are straight.

I would also advise using a different font for them, perhaps Verdana (which matches the factbook) instead of Copperplate Bold (which doesn't, and is a bit less easy to read). However you can keep it in your seal if you'd like, it's not a diagram even if it's in need of straight lines like the others.

[The Eastern Antarctic State]

http://www.nationstates.net/nation=the_eastern_antarctic_state/detail=factbook/id=265843

http://www.nationstates.net/nation=the_ ... /id=269936

http://www.nationstates.net/nation=the_ ... /id=265846

http://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=271971

Please rate up if you enjoy! Constructive Criticism welcome.

I'm not going to lie it kind of looks like all of your diagrams were drawn by penguins. I mean if you can't use Gimp or Photoshop or something... at least try and make it look like the lines are straight.

Ah, sorry guys about that... I don't have a computer and I mainly use my ipad