Forum:SH Archive/Help me hammer out this CT proposal!

Hey everyone,

I've been going to a few people to seek advice on a detail of the OOU Layout Guide, but I figured that it's probably best to just make an open forum about it here so that everyone can weigh in. Before I bring this thing back to the CT, I want to ensure that the organization of the sections is the best that it can be. Right now there's one section that I'm not entirely certain about. It may end up splitting the vote, but it's a minor enough issue that I think we can come to an agreement here and prevent that split from happening.

After the closure of the last CT about an OOU layout guide, I gave it a lot of thought and realized that I quite liked the suggestions that were given. More specifically: Moving Plot summary to the beginning of the article and mandating the inclusion of a Publisher's summary (if one exists). Kilson also recently pointed out that my proposal was missing a Cast section, which is key for works that have casts (films, TV episodes, radio dramas, etc). So! The layout guide that I want to re-propose would look like...

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Out-of-universe articles on published narrative works

Wookieepedia also has guidelines for the organization of out-of-universe articles on published narrative works, including but not limited to novels, book series, comic issues, comic series, short stories, and video games. Though there is some flexibility, an out-of-universe article on a published narrative work should typically be structured as follows:

Items 1 through 8 of the layout guide and an introduction begin the article. The body of the article is then composed of the following sections.


 * 1) Plot summary summarizes the plot of the work, written in-universe and in the present tense. If the article is about a collection of multiple works (eg, a book trilogy or a comic book story arc), the summaries should be more condensed than if the article is about an individual work (eg, a single book or comic). If the article is about an individual work that has a publisher's summary, then the (sourced) publisher's summary should lead the section. If the work includes an Opening crawl, it can be added at the beginning of this section using Template:Opening crawl.
 * 2) Conception discusses background, events, and decisions that brought about the development of the work. These events should be written in the past tense. This can be further sub-sectioned if necessary.
 * 3) Production discusses decisions made by, ideas of, and concepts discarded by the author(s)/developer(s) throughout the production of the work, as well as information on the work's publication and release. These events should be written in the past tense. This can be further sub-sectioned if necessary. If there is not enough information to justify two sections, Conception and Production can be merged into a section titled Development.
 * 4) Main characters is a sub-sectioned section that individually gives brief descriptions of major characters who appear in the work, and their role within. If pictures of the characters exist, they should be included consistently on either the left or right side of the page. If available, pictures of the characters from the actual work (book cover, comic pages, etc.) are preferable.

A character profile should be written in-universe in the present tense, but a leading out-of-universe paragraph giving background information on the character is optional.
 * 1) Continuity discusses past continuity used/referenced/retconned by the work, continuity errors, and significant continuity created by the work that has been later used/referenced/retconned.
 * 2) Reception discusses response, reaction, and reception to the work, including professional reviews, significant fan response, awards won, sales, and media spotlight. If no such information is available, this section need not be included.
 * 3) Legacy is a section that discusses the impact of the work on later Star Wars media, and, if applicable, broader popular culture. If no such information is available, this section need not be included.
 * 4) Media is a section with different uses for different types of articles. Articles on comic series make use of Template:Prettytable. Articles on individual works include a cover gallery, if more than one cover exists. Articles on novels list the various editions of the work complete with ISBN numbers and publication dates. For other types of works, the section is optional and can be filled with applicable media at the editor's discretion.
 * 5) Cast should be a bulleted list of the work's cast (if applicable).
 * 6) Appearances uses Template:App and is only necessary for an article on an individual work, such as a single novel or comic.
 * 7) Collections is a bulleted list of any collections the work has appeared in (such as trade paperbacks or short story collections). If not applicable, this section need not be included.

Following this, items 20 through 24 of the Layout Guide conclude the article.

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OK! So... the section that I'm not really sure about is Main characters. Should it go before or after the Development info?

Taking a cue from Tales of the Jedi, I've always given character profiles a leading OOU paragraph (see here, here, here, and here). Some of the comments in the last CT indicated that both Plot summary and Main characters should go before the Development info, but if Main characters has a leading OOU paragraph that draws on info already established in the Development sections, then I feel like it should go afterward. For example, Han's character profile in Agents of Chaos (see here) talks about how Han's pulpy adventures are a tribute to Brian Daley, and I really don't think that that's the right place to introduce Luceno, Daley, their friendship, and Daley's death, all for the first time.

However! It seems intuitive that Plot summary and Main characters should be paired together. Would the article seem too disjointed if they were so far apart from one another? That's where I want you to weigh in!

If we jettisoned the leading OOU paragraph from character profiles, then it would be no problem to pair Plot summary and Main characters together at the beginning. But I think that there's a lot of worth to the leading OOU paragraphs. They focus some of the OOU info, and they give an idea of what the character's been up to beforehand (in Legacy 23, for example, the character profiles talk about what the character has been up to in the 22 previous issues). Info like "This guy is the series' main character" is also always handy.

So, basically, what I'm wondering is --- should Main characters keep the leading OOU paragraph and go after Conception and Production, or should it jettison the leading OOU paragraph and go before? Or... any other ideas?

Also, if you have any other suggestions or ideas for how this layout guide can be improved, feel free to lay them on me. Sorry that this is so long, but I think that it's really important to hammer out this detail now rather than potentially split the vote. The sooner we get a layout guide, the better. Aaaaaand.... go! Menkooroo 07:29, March 20, 2011 (UTC)