The Sims Wiki:Fanon Creation

Welcome to The Sims Wiki's Fanon Namespace! We look forward to seeing your works join our extensive and varied library of Sims fanon and fan fiction content. However, before you begin bringing your ideas to life, we have a few pointers you might want to take into consideration, as well as some rules and guidelines to be aware of. After all, The Sims Wiki is an encyclopedia about The Sims series, and while we welcome fanon content and encourage editors to be creative in contributing their content, our main mission is to preserve and develop the canon information. Because of this, we do have a few definite policies that we enforce regularly. We try to make these rules as easy to follow and understandable as possible. Our goal is to make sure that you are able to create excellent fanon content without negatively affecting other content on the wiki.

Before putting pen to paper (metaphorically speaking)
Unless you're logged in or registered, you unfortunately are unable to create fanon content. This is because we attribute all fanon content to their respective creators, and to make this possible, each author must have a Wikia account. Should you not be registered with Wikia, click here to register a free account. Once you've registered, please make sure you log in every time you edit the wiki or within the Fanon Namespace. These are the pages detailing our regulations and rules. All are extensive, so you know exactly what to and what not to do. Remember to abide by the policies! We also have a few policies applying specifically to the Fanon Namespace. Many are already here, but be sure to take a look at the official policies anyway. If you have any questions, you can ask any administrator. Reading other users' fanon may help inspire you for your own! We recommend taking a look at a few examples before starting to write.
 * Create an account or log in
 * Read The Sims Wiki's policies
 * Read and understand our fanon policies
 * Take a look at other users' fanon!

Creating fanon, step by step
All fanon pages are located within the Fanon Namespace. This means that they all have a 'Fanon:' prefix to differentiate them from mainstream, canon articles. Example: Fanon:Ecclesiarchy.
 * Step 1 - Naming the page.

Alternatively, below is an article creation box, which you can use to create new fanon articles! Be sure to type in the name of your article after the prefix!

width      = 40 default= Fanon: preload=Template:Property/preload buttonlabel = Create fanon article

This template lets everyone else know just who wrote the awesome fanon they are about to read. If you created the article through the article creation box, the template will already be preloaded, and will appear as  in your editing window (It will automatically become Property when you publish your page!). If not, add to the top of the page.
 * Step 2 - Add the Property template to your page.

This is, without any doubt, the most important and fun bit in creating fanon - writing the fanon itself! Make sure you write as much as you can to make your fanon understandable and interesting. Make sure you use correct spelling, grammar, punctuation and capitalization. Separating your fanon into sections (such as "History") if it's an 'informational' article, or chapters if it's a story, will help you organize the page and it'll also make it easier to edit, because you can edit individual sections later.
 * Step 3 - Write your fanon!

It's always useful to add templates to the page. It helps to create a more organised look to the page. Here is a rundown of templates you can add.
 * Step 4 - Add templates to your page.


 * Infoboxes
 * Infoboxes help to create a summary of the page, and to make the page look more organized. Here is a list of infoboxes available for use. Be sure to choose one that is relevant to what your page is about (i.e. Sim for Sims, NeighborhoodInfobox for Neighborhoods, etc.).


 * Fanon-uc
 * Chances are, you won't be able to finish your fanon in one sitting! If you can, that's awesome, but if not, add the Fanon-uc template to the top (below the Property template) to let people know that you're still working on the page. This is to make sure administrators won't think you've abandoned the page and delete it. However, if it does end up being deleted, do not despair, as you can always ask an admin to un-delete it.


 * Evolve
 * If you are still writing your fanon, another useful template to use is . This lets users know that the story is ongoing and will change over time.


 * Adult
 * If your fanon deals with mature topics that other users may find offensive, be sure to add to the top of the page.

Post-creation
From time to time other users may decide to stop by and read your fanon. They may even choose to leave reviews and comments! Check back often to see what those comments are and take them into consideration.
 * Check for comments

When you get reviews, you may want to make edits and/or revise your fanon based on the advice others have given you. As your writing skills improve, maybe even revisit the fanon and rewrite parts of it! Constant improvement is a good thing, so don't be afraid to change things.
 * Edit your fanon

We recommend that you get your fanon reviewed by the Fanon Peer Review Team. They are a volunteer team of Reviewers who will always be happy to check over your work. They'll give your fanon a rating, upon which you can ask any Reviewer for more information on how to improve your fanon. If your fanon gets a good rating, it might even get featured in the near future!
 * Get your fanon Peer Reviewed

Removing fanon
If you don't want to continue writing a fanon for whatever reason, you can let others know that you're no longer continuing by placing a Fanon-abandoned template on the page. We recommend authors to place the abandoned template rather than ask that it be deleted so that readers can enjoy your fanon even though you are no longer working on it. However, if you insist on deleting the page, add Author request or blank the entire fanon page and an administrator/content moderator will delete your article.

Should you wish to resurrect your deleted fanon later on, you always make a request at the Administrators' noticeboard and it will be un-deleted, complete with everything that was there before the article was deleted.

Tips

 * Before you fill your page with chapters, ensure that your fanon has an audience first. It can be a little intimidating for readers to find so much already on the page.
 * Create a chapter release schedule to keep your audience's attention. Make sure it does not span over long periods of time, such as months, since the audience's attention would easily be lost. Similarly, make sure it does not span over very short periods of time, such as 1-2 days, since the audience would be unable to keep up with the fanon. A weekly schedule would be ideal.
 * If you need any other assistance, don't hesitate to pay a visit to the help desk!