Foreward

First off, Id like to apologize for the strange font here. I wrote this in Google Docs to save progress as I write. Apologies if this is not the right subforum — this part of the WBO typically isnt as active when it comes to animanga content, so Im not sure if Im doing something wrong

Okay, some background: Please note that this is regarding animanga info. The wiki does an exceptional job with Bey parts and toys, no doubt. I only want to suggest some improvements on the animanga aspects.

I have edited on the Beyblade wiki awhile back, having around 2k edits on an account of the same name. Some experience with wiki clean-ups here and there, and editing on the Beyblade wiki itself, I noticed some things Ive been meaning to talk about for away. Although I do not edit much anymore, I am still very much a reader of the wiki. As such, I want to propose some changes/suggestions as to make the wiki more professional-looking and nicer to read, if that is not too much of a hassle. I am proposing changes because I dont see a lot of guidelines for the animanga content, and I resonated with some viewers’ feelings when they said the wiki is a mess at times


Proposal One: Make a standard for image captions

Spoiler (Click to View)

As expected, the image captioning function serves to detail the image for the viewer. It provides context and an explanation for readers. While this is certainly a helpful feature, a couple users and I noticed how it can be really unprofessional in some parts. There seems to be no standard and instruction on how to use them for the Beyblade wiki, and thus results in weird, random captions

For example, on Phi’s gallery page:

Spoiler (Click to View)

This is just one example of odd captioning. In other instances, a user noticed a caption that said something odd like “Aiga’s beautiful eyes” and usage of internet/slang words such as “glomp”

While some of the captions are quite professional and straightforward on the wiki, the lack of a standard leaves space for less professional uses such as informal words and personal opinions. And in extension, has a less strict guide on how the image can be captioned -- the captions can range from describing the scene to quoting a character. Sometimes there are no captions at all!

There are three ideas I have:

No animanga captions unless it describes a special move, Beyblade, etc.

I couldn’t quite word this one, but here I go: The Beyblade wiki obviously has many images from the anime. And many of those images are quite mundane, such as characters hugging or smiling or looking at something. Those do not need a caption, simply put

Images that SHOULD have a caption should be something like a picture of a special move or Beyblade, for example. And that caption should be the name of those said things that are depicted in the image

We do not need to see a description of a character smiling. What is helpful, on the other hand, is a good description of what special move is in the picture


Only caption non-animanga official sources

Images that source from the anime/manga do not deserve a caption. However, for official and external material that is added to galleries, I suppose they can have a caption. This can be helpful, as not everyone views Twitter or reads interviews to get exclusive information. Thus, an image of character sketches with “Sketches of [character] by [artist]” as a caption can be helpful in some cases, especially when explaining the context

This option would save time from captioning animanga images

Caption screenshots with its source

The images -- especially animanga screenshots -- should all be consistent in their captions. This is one problem I mentioned earlier: The captions are all over the place, from quoting the character to describing a character’s look, etc. 

The captions could possibly follow a sourcing format, such as listing the name of the series, season, and then episode number. For example, this is a possible caption for a Burst image: “Burst: Evolution Ep. 10.” I am highly in favor of this option because it builds a consistent format and keeps stuff in order, so that people can refer to episodes as needed (instead of asking a pal, “what episode is this?”


In the end, there are many solutions to this. All that matters in the end is that we find a way to write professional, consistent captions

Proposal Two: Only link one instance of a page

Spoiler (Click to View)

Most other wikis (including Wikipedia) link each page in only one instance. This means that if something new comes up, it should be linked once and thats it. All repeated mentions should be not linked. For example, if Shu’s page is already linked, do add another one! This gives a professional look and makes the page more organized. For example, look at the image below. The blue text indicates a link

Spoiler (Click to View)

Valt is linked multiple times, which can be unprofessional and distracting. His page should only link him once the first time around, and every other links should be removed. Without mandating only one link each instance, this opens up space for edit farming. People would be editing every page to add small links here and there, and this leads to little contribution to the wiki

Proposal Three: Make a standard for trivia

Spoiler (Click to View)

I will be completely honest: I do not enjoy the current state of the wiki’s trivia sections. Many of them have really small trivia, speculation, or needless ones that do not need to be noted. Many of them are also lacking a citation next to them

Take a look at the image below and I will explain why some of them are not considered “good” trivia

Spoiler (Click to View)

The first trivia has speculation in it. Unless straightforwardly said by official sources, we should not let ordinary wiki editors/audience to connect things to a character

The second trivia is a part of the Burst universe, which many of us already know. At this point, many Burst viewers know how Bey names are similar to its Blader. That trivia should be removed because it is a plot point, not an ominous fact barely anyone knows

The third trivia is what other wikis call “numbering trivia.” It is unneeded because it causes unnecessary stress -- admit it, we all hate numbering stuff off, especially when more would be added later on and we are forced to changed the info later on. Additionally, from experience, readers are annoyed because numbering trivia is vague. For example, “first” could mean anything: First character in-universe? First character in chronological episode order? It is so vague, people hate it

One exception is if the numbering trivia is stated in-universe — for example, the anime says that X is the first character to ever do Y. The problem isnt numbering trivia itself, its just that theyre often from reader inferences and thus, could be inaccurate

Finally, the last three trivia are comparison trivia. Most of us know by now that the Beyblade series are not connected to each other in any way. To compare x to y is unneeded, as it gives the reader an impression that there is inspiration behind the scenes. Believe me, Ive seen people being misled into thinking series share the same universes or that character A is based on character B. Its just unneeded


I have a short guideline (not solid/complete!) on what trivia sections could possibly be like:

Good trivia (often with citations/proof):
* Statements from official material, such as Hiro Morita’s Twitter page or bonus manga pages
* Minor fun facts from the anime, that do not belong in personality sections (ex. “X likes pineapple pizza”)

Bad trivia
* Speculation and theories (Ex. “Red Eye is possibly based on a character from the anime called X)
* Comparisons (Ex. “Valt is similar to Gingka because they are protagonists”)
* Numbering trivia, UNLESS official materials outright say something crucial (Ex, “X is the first villain in Beyblade.”)
* Voice actor listings (Ex. “X shares the same VA as y”)
* Coincidences to other works, unless proven to be intentional 
* General unneeded stuff, such as plot points made obvious to viewers 

Conclusion

Yep, Im aware that cleaning up the wiki is a hecking pain. It takes effort and energy to make things nice. But I suppose everything comes with a price

Im only here today to suggest these changes because I love Beyblade. And I think its time to reach out and inquire if the wiki could be touched up. Whereas I could always edit myself, I wanted to suggest these changes as to not do huge cleanups without warning and to connect others. Awhile back, a staff member noted that there was a disconnect between the wiki and the WBO — which is true, since some users and I find that the information is messy and displayed unprofessionally. And thus it creates an odd vibe where we dont wanna touch the wiki, eek

I believe that, with a little effort, the wiki can be touched-up one step at a time. Everyone can pitch in and contribute to the cleanups, and the wiki would ultimately be a nicer place to get animanga info at. It might take awhile, but what matters most is that it happens

My final disclaimer: Im just glad if anyone reads this! And Im also aware that not every wiki runs the same and things might actually turn out well for one wiki, whereas it doesnt for another. These are just suggestions based off the thoughts of a couple users and I

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Call me either Sands/Suns! That one female Beyblade fan

Pfp: Cedric from Arcaea by Nataslyn on Discord

[Status: Lurking]

I actually think this is a great idea; I've been active on a couple other fandom wikis and they appear to be more organized than the Beyblade wiki, for reasons stated above.
(Btw, I noticed that apparently, only some people are allowed to edit the wiki. Is this to prevent anyone from adding whatever they want on pages? And how do you gain access to editing?)

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I'll definitely put something here soon.
Probably.
Maybe?
Naaaaah.

you have done it again Great idea

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   "From this moment on... You shall be know as Darth Vader" - Palpatine probably

I actually think this is a great idea; I've been active on a couple other fandom wikis and they appear to be more organized than the Beyblade wiki, for reasons stated above.
(Btw, I noticed that apparently, only some people are allowed to edit the wiki. Is this to prevent anyone from adding whatever they want on pages? And how do you gain access to editing?)

Im not sure what is going on, to be honest. Around my time, theres these:

* Only Beyblade wiki content moderators and above can edit popular pages such as protagonists (to prevent vandalism and false info). This can be seen by a lock next to the page’s edit button, even if you made an account
* If you recently made a new Fandom account, theres a 5-day wait for auto confirmation. This means you cant edit during your first 5 days
* Beyblade wiki is currently not allowing guests (unregistered accounts) to edit

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Call me either Sands/Suns! That one female Beyblade fan

Pfp: Cedric from Arcaea by Nataslyn on Discord

[Status: Lurking]

Hmm, that would explain why I couldn't edit anything (I had a fandom account for over 2 years now, but I don't have the mod status).
That aside though, I hope someone else who has the ability to edit the wiki sees this thing; it can help greatly in making it more organized and professional.

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I'll definitely put something here soon.
Probably.
Maybe?
Naaaaah.

I just logged into my account again

Huh, popular pages like Valt are oddly unlocked again? Im not sure if theyre locking/unlocking pages with notices up and all that. I can also edit pages fine — apologies, Im not quite sure what is up (maybe its because Im a trusted user? I did interact with wiki staff a lot awhile back)

Other than that, yeah, I hope someone sees this soon. Maybe a word from Mana or KJ since theyre staff members I often see on the wiki. People can technically change info on their own, but rule of thumb is that very big changes shouldnt be made unless wiki mods are aware/allow you to do them. Not to mention theres been edit warring in the past about what constitutes as good trivia

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Call me either Sands/Suns! That one female Beyblade fan

Pfp: Cedric from Arcaea by Nataslyn on Discord

[Status: Lurking]

In regards to guidelines, the wiki does have a Manual of Style but no one bothers reading it. For example, we do have a section regarding specifically what bad trivia would look like - the thing is most editors making these poor edits aren't the sort of people who would bother reading guidelines before editing in the first place.

The issue is spotting and removing dodgy trivia and image captions, because we don't have editors who can 100% look at every page and piece of trivia. Sometimes stuff just goes under the radar.

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Currently translating the Beyblade X manga. Canadian Beyblade Wiki editor and occasional manga translator.

Yeah, thats completely understandable. Its hard to look after a lot of edits and I definitely understand edits getting under the radar. I just wanted to mostly suggest some more comprehensive/detailed information in the current edit guidelines — but in the end, theres gonna be that crowd on every wiki that does not review editing guidelines. Its sad

Based on my time there — and the fact that theres a fair amount of wiki editors who are unfamiliar with the WBO — I do have a couple more suggestions if it doesnt hurt!

List of wiki staff

Based on experience on other wikis, one reason why things get swept under the rug is that we editors dont tend to report (unfortunately). For most people, its kinda hard to find people to report to if theres no easy-to-find list of them. Especially if theyre not on the WBO like we are, and they might not know who is actually who. Thus, they also dont have a presence on the WBO Discord seever. Of course, I myself try to find mods myself, but others might not fare as well as I do. Who knows? Having an easy-to-find list of wiki staff could help things, even if just a little

Modicons

Modicons are little images/symbols next to a mod’s username, typically for users to know that “wow, this user must be special around here.” One example is the Wings of Fire wiki, where every mod has an icon of their liking (from a dragon to Shrek, etc.). These icons show up on the wiki editing feed as well as message walls. Even those who dont speak English can tell theyre mods. Whereas wiki admins and above on the Beyblade wiki have colored usernames (if I recall correctly? Unless Im remembering the wrong wiki), there are normal content mods with not a lot to mark them off besides the on-profile label

Visuals help a lot, its universal. People tend to take visuals importantly and remember a lot from them. Modicons might make it easier for people to understand who are mods



I myself could try to help things a little. I could make a new account (I havent used my old one in awhile) and work on editing some things around, especially the trivia and looking for odd captions. Though, for stuff like linking, Ill just wait until theres a more concise stance on whether we should only link once or not

Thank you and the other wiki staff for looking after the wiki! It means a lot, and even moreso that you guys look over feedback. Awesome

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Call me either Sands/Suns! That one female Beyblade fan

Pfp: Cedric from Arcaea by Nataslyn on Discord

[Status: Lurking]