Forum:Sim Page Standardization

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Hello, I'm mhavril39 and I've been editing on this wiki, and one thing that has really come to bother me is that there is really no "stard" way to set up a sim's bio page. There are all kinds of deviations, so I thought that I'd list them and have people recommend what they think is the best way to put the information on Sim's pages, until a consensus is reached. Here are the things that deviate generally:

1. Biography-
   1. Some of the sim's actual biographies are ordered 3, 1, 2 (by game), and others 1, 2, 3.
   2. Some include what stage of the sim's life he or she was in at the time of that game in the title, and others don't.
2. Family-
   1. Some use the terms "unknown" and "none" when there is no member present, while others leave the fields blank.
   2. Many mention "deceased" after the field of a dead relative, while others do not, even when the sim is deceased
3. Life State-
   1. In the simbio boxes, "regular" sims often have the field life state left blank, while some have "Human" in this field.
   2. Some deceased sims have the field blank, some have "Human," and some have "Ghost."
4. Favorites- For the simbio3 field "Favorites," some sims have just their three, separated with commas, while others have the category names present as well (ex: "Pop, Spaghetti, Yellow" or "Music- Pop, Food- Spaghetti, Color- Yellow")
5. Spelling- Most articles seem to used mixed British, American, Australian, Canadian, etc. spellings. On Wikipedia, it is general policy to use only one, usually the one associated with the topic (i.e. the London article is in British English, the Washington article is in American English, etc.) Should a standard spelling be used for all articles, or just keep it consistent per every article?
6. Point of View- Many articles use mixed third (he, she, they), second (you), and first (I, we) person points of view. It generally preferred on Wikipedia to use third person only, although there are many articles here that use all three.

Feel free to add other inconsistent things that should be brought to view.

Suggestions

Add your ideas on how the pages should be standardized here:

Mhavril39

Here's what I think we should do:

1. Biography-
   1. Go in order 3, 1, 2, using a biography section with the games as subsections. I think they should go in chronological order since it is their biography.
   2. Don't add it, unnecessary. The reader will understand.
2. Family-
   1. Useless, as if it isn't there, I'm sure that the reader will presume that that sim's relative was never mentioned.
   2. I think we should totally drop deceased, using it only in the "playability" field in the sim's bio.
3. Life State-
   1. I suppose that Human should be used in all "regular" situations, but I could definitely be swayed on this one.
   2. Ghost is technically correct, but some deceased relative's graves are unseen, so if the ghost is never actually seen, I can't say if that is the right thing to put in that field.
4. Favorites- I feel that the category is unnecessary and the reader will understand what each favorite is.
5. Spelling- I think American English should be preferred for every article, just for the means of consistency.
6. Point of View- Because this is meant to look like a professional encyclopedia, I believe that first and second person are completely inappropriate with the exception of quotes.

ErzengelLichtes

I don't look at the simbio pages so I don't recognize most of those problems. There should certainly be some consistency however. For Spelling, I think we should use a consistent spelling method at least within each article. However, even The Sims 3 isn't particularly consistent. In my US release, most words are written in American English, but there are sometimes notable exceptions (such as Theatre) where EA Blackbox fell into their Canadian habits. As for POV, First Person should be completely and utterly off limits outside of Player Stories and Talk pages. If I ever, ever see a first person I fix it with a note in the "reason for edit" saying that first person is wrong. Second person is a bit more iffy, but should probably be avoided.

Bayoubash

Here's what I have to say;

1. For sims that appeared in the three games (such as Mortimer Goth, etc.) leave it as it is. The Sims is first, The Sims 2 is second and The Sims 3 is third. If the sim appeared in any more games just put the info on the page, not on the bio. (To make it easier, if the sim appeared in more than just 1 game, use the original template).

2. For sims that appeared only in The Sims 2, leave it as it is.

3. Biographies: Put it under an image, and not "Apperance in The Sims ...".

4. For families, it should be in every page. But, if the sim is an NPC or Townie, don't add the family name.

5. Third person view is used in a wiki, not I or me. You is good, I think.

6. If a user is a bad speller, watch out for what you typed.

7. Names should start with a capital letter, and instead of the Sims 2, the Sims 3 or The Sims 1, use The Sims 2, The Sims 3 and The Sims.

Hope that helps.

KazeNoYouko says...

These are just my opinions:

1. Biography-
   1. The 3, 1, 2 order is appropriate, because if one is writing a biography, the events should be in chronological order, no?
   2. I'm not to sure what this one is looking for...
2. Family-
   1. I use unknown when there are no parents on the family tree, or for spouse if the sim had a child without a father/mother. If the sim is too young to have a spouse, or has no siblings or children, I use none.
   2. I think we should indicate that the relative is deceased.
3. Life State-
   1. I always write Human in this field.
   2. If the Sim is actually a ghost, i.e. Lolita Goth, then the bio should indicate that. If they are not a ghost, or their grave doesn't exist, i.e. Andromache Thebe, it should just say Human.
4. Favorites- What works for me with Favourites is Music:Whatever - Food:Whatever - Colour:Whatever
5. Spelling- I haven't noticed any real spelling differences between pages. A long as the spelling and grammar are correct, the little differences shouldn't matter.
6. Point of View- Wikipedia asside, good reports and articles should be written in third person, unless the article is something based on opinions. We should even try to move off of 'you'.