User talk:Thehawk

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References

Hi Thehawk,

I noticed that you seem to be having a few problems with formatting reference tags here on Sarna. I'm a big fan of reference tags myself - the more here, the better, as far as I'm concerned - so I thought I'd give you a couple of tips, in the hope that they might prove useful.

Generally, there are two kinds of references here - the ones only used once in an article, and the ones that get used repeatedly. Something like a single 'Mech variant from a record sheet on the BattleMech page will probably only have a single-use reference tag because it's just a single paragraph, where something like a unit article on a major unit will use the multiple-use tags much more, because often there'll be lots of information going in from the same source.

The text part of a reference tag should normally contain three parameters - the name of the source, the page(s) from which the information is drawn, and the title of the specific section on those pages from which the information comes, if appropriate.

So, if I wanted to quote a 'Mech variant from a particular section within the "Variants" section of the Phoenix Hawk 'Mech entry in Technical Readout: 3025, the three parameters of my reference would be:

''Technical Readout: 3025'', p. 50, "Variants"

That tells someone that if they want to check the source I've quoted, they want the paragraphs under the subtitle "Variants" on page 50 of Technical Readout: 3025.

Where the single use and multiple use parts of a reference come in is how the wiki code around those parameters is written. If a reference is only going to be used once, then it can just go inside basic ref tags:

<ref>''Technical Readout: 3025'', p. 50, "Variants"</ref>

If I wanted to use that reference more than once, it's more efficient to make it a multiple use tag, like a variable in computer programming terms. I need to create a name for that reference, so that Sarna picks up that I'm repeating the same reference tag. What format that name takes is up to you, but I generally try and make my references fairly intuitive, so that it's clearly linked to the source I'm quoting - that way, if I'm doing an edit that involves quoting several different sources repeatedly, I can keep track of all the tags. For something like the reference above, I'd use this kind of tag:

<ref name="TRO:3025p50">''Technical Readout: 3025'', p. 50, "Variants"</ref>

Then, when I want to reuse that tag, all I need to do is insert the following shorthand tag to repeat the entire reference at the appropriate points in the article:

<ref name="TRO:3025p50"/>

The shorthand inside the tag - the "TRO:3025p50" bit tells me that it's Technical Readout: 3025 page 50; the fact that I put it inside quotation marks is an old computer programming hangup of mine - quote marks inside a tag typically mean "the bit inside the quotes is all one string".

Does that help at all? BrokenMnemonic (talk) 00:05, 25 January 2013 (PST)

Commando: Death's Knell

Hello again,

I just went back to check and noticed that you've been working on the Commando unique variant from MechWarrior Online. Unfortunately, the reference you've added isn't appropriate - it states that the Death's Knell is a variant detailed within the Technical Readout: 3025, which I don't think it is. That doesn't mean that a reference can't be added for it, though; I don't play MWO, so I'm not familiar with what the user documentation is like for the game, but there are various ways we could add a reference citation for it. Is the Commando variant detailed in a user guide for the game, or on one of the official web pages hosted by the company running MWO? If you can give me a link to where the information on it is recorded, I can show you how to create an appropriate reference for it here on Sarna. Drop me a line here or on my talk page and I'll see what I can do to help BrokenMnemonic (talk) 00:33, 25 January 2013 (PST)

Yes, If you have an e-mail I can show you a scan of BT 3025 pg. 14, under the "notable mechs/pilot section," that talks about Bono Duganmare (this is in the section titled Commando-2D). Bono Duganmare and the "Death's Knell" are also described in the TRO 3050 book. The MWO developers included "The Death's Knell" based on the TRO description, but since a record sheet was never made for it, they completely made up its loadout making it aprocryphal 'canon'-influenced. I have a lot of the TRO's so I go through them carefully to make sure I'm editing only correct information. I was hesitant to edit, since I messed up tagging, but I understand it now. The MWO, unfortunately, do not display detailed Mech information or history on anything in the game on their website, but instead point to links on Sarna for people to read.