Squad Wiki Editorial

What is the Squad Wiki Editorial
The Squad Wiki Editorial (in short, "The Editorial") is a close-knit community of dedicated wiki editors and wiki admins that work for the Squad Wiki in an organized and closely coordinated manner. '''Communicate. Coordinate. Conquer.''' This also applies to our wiki.

We already have public wiki editors working on the wiki. They did and will continue to do valuable and important contributions to the wiki. However, reality over the last two years has shown that those edits are mostly random, uncoordinated and focus on the fancy pages such as weapons, vehicles and maps. Many of the gameplay pages have never been touched by public editors and some pages have not been update for over a year. With only public editors, the wiki will always remain incomplete, inconsistent and half out-of-date. To compensate for this, the Squad Wiki Editorial was founded. The Editorial is a group of volunteer wiki editors and admins who deeply care about the wiki and are seriously committed to putting in extra effort to ensure the wiki is developed across its entirety and kept up-to-date.

Squad Wiki Editorial is still in its founding phase and we have to see if it will be successful. It was officially announced in March 2018 and is currently still in beta: it's mostly functional and anyone can apply for it (see for more details), but it has not officially launched and wasn't widely promoted yet. The beta phase will test if the Editorial's concept really works and what it needs to make it effective and successful. The duration of the beta phase has not yet been determined.

How does the Squad Wiki Editorial work
The Squad Wiki Editorial organizes, coordinates and performs tasks for the wiki.


 * We have set our goals and direction for the wiki development in our vision and mission statements and set a strategy with our development roadmap. This is what we are trying to achieve.
 * We organize all open tasks in a centrally structured . All members can suggest tasks and we work together on resolving them. We prioritze our tasks and work on the most important areas of the wiki.
 * We detail and structure more complex tasks on Wiki Projects pages.
 * We comply to the Wiki Style Guide for all editorial tasks in order to ensure consistent quality across the entire wiki.
 * We use Discord for internal communication and coordination. We have our own channels for the wiki, public and restricted ones.
 * We often check Special:RecentChanges to see who is working where and how we can best help.

All public editors are welcome to help with the tasks listed in the. You don't have to be a member of Squad Wiki Editorial to work on them. However, if you want to join the Squad Wiki Editorial, read through the sections below.

Tasks
The Squad Wiki Editorial performs a variety of tasks for the wiki.


 * Editing
 * Creating and editing pages on the Squad Wiki
 * Uploading and updating media (e.g. in-game screenshots, graphics)
 * Proof reading (grammar, spelling, clarity)
 * Updating out-of-date pages, applying latest patch notes
 * Researching topics and creating concepts for complex single pages or page series (page series = content/topics that spread across multiple wiki pages)
 * Managing item pages, i.e. creating and implemeting concepts for infoboxes and common content for such pages (item pages = pages that have many sub-pages for similar items, e.g. weapons, vehicle, maps, factions, deployables, kits, game modes)
 * Applying the Wiki Style Guide to all wiki pages
 * Regularly patrolling public edits and dealing with vandalism (via recent changes)
 * Optimizing wiki pages for mobile viewing on smartphones
 * Creating and maintaining templates (see examples)
 * Improving and maintaining the Wiki Style Guide and Wiki Help
 * Improving and maintaining the Squad article on Wikipedia
 * Section responsible: overlooking an area of the wiki and ensuring consistency, correctness, up-to-date-ness, quality, etc. (e.g. gameplay pages, weapons, vehicle, maps, factions, deployables, Modding, etc.)
 * Designing (here is our work pipeline for these kind of tasks)
 * Creating and updating artwork needed for the wiki (e.g. animated gifs, diagrams, illustrations, banners, icons, etc.) - example: vehicle infosheets, animated gif, illustrations
 * Creating screenshots in the Squad SDK (used on wiki pages as graphics or illustration) - example: US Army faction models
 * Creating sound clips from Squad (used for sound-related illustrations, e.g. weapon sounds)
 * Designing new and updating existing page layouts and templates and designs for complex pages (e.g. the main page, info boxes like Template:Vehicle infobox)
 * Programming
 * Updating the wiki's CSS style sheets
 * Creating scripts (e.g. Cargo, Lua with Scribunto) - for projects like this
 * Creating or maintaining external tools needed for the wiki - for projects like this
 * Consultancy
 * Provide Squad-related expertise (e.g. deep knowledge on gameplay, meta, military tactics, vehicles, weapons, damage model etc.)
 * Community support
 * Answering wiki-related questions or suggestions from the community or public editors on Discord or Forums
 * Answering and supporting discussions from public editors on wiki talk pages
 * Promoting the Squad Wiki
 * Promoting the Squad Wiki Editorial
 * Internal collaboration
 * Collaborating with and supporting other editors in larger tasks/projects
 * Helping with the onboarding of new members
 * Participating in editorial meetings
 * Maintaining a friendly, fun, highly motivated and collaborative atmosphere in the Squad Wiki Editorial
 * Internal administration
 * Recruiting new Squad Wiki Editorial members
 * Updating internal pages, e.g. Squad Wiki:Community portal, Squad Wiki:Translation portal, Squad Wiki Editorial
 * Holding editorial meetings and writing meeting minutes from them
 * Wiki Admin tasks
 * Answering questions on the Admin noticeboard
 * Resetting the patrol flag (i.e. review public edits and confirm their validity; fix problems immediately)
 * Deleting pages
 * Blocking users (e.g. for vandalism or other misuse)
 * Editing protected pages (only a few pages are set to protected to prevent the worst possible vandalism or when it contains official information only OWI can approve)
 * Choosing, configuring and maintaining useful Mediawiki extensions
 * Regularly check the Special:AbuseFilter and other logs
 * Updating and maintaining internal adminstrative documents
 * Coordinating with Gamepedia wiki staff and admins of other wikis (e.g. troubleshooting the wiki, configuration of Wiki, adding MediaWiki extensions, creating sub-wikis for translations, knowledge and best practice sharing)
 * Coordinating with the devs (e.g. fact checking, requesting media, coordinating activities or publications)

Lots of tasks, right? Hence, we need your help. But don't let this list overwhelm you - you will not have to do everything at once. Also, before applying for membership, try some of these tasks for awhile as free public editor and see if you enjoy them. If you haven't reached the minimum of Special:WikiPoints, you'll have to do some editing before applying anyway.

Roles
The Squad Wiki Editorial has a few different roles.


 * Squad Wiki Contributors: volunteers that support the Editorial without being full members
 * Squad Wiki Editor: editor that can perform almost all of the tasks listed above (except of admin tasks) - as Editor you are a full member of the Editorial
 * Squad Wiki Specialist: specialist on non-editing tasks such as programming, creating artwork or consultancy; could also be freelancer. This role is also less taxing on your time and you can jump in and out of small specific tasks as needed. As Specialist you are a full member of the Editorial.
 * Squad Wiki Admin: editor with admin permissions; performs all tasks, plus those of an admin

Anyone can become a Squad Wiki Contributors, you don't have to fill out below application, just express interest and we will invite you to our dedicated Discord Server. You volunteer to support the Editorial; you don't have responsibilities but you are also not a full member of the Editorial with full access and all benefits. If you do not contribute over a long period of time or behave in inapproriate ways, the Editorial will remove your Contributor role at their discretion.

If you want to become Squad Wiki Editor or Squad Wiki Specialist, you have to become a Squad Wiki Contributors first for some time and then complete this. You cannot apply for the role of Squad Wiki Admin; this role is by invitation only to existing Editors.

Benefits
Being a member of Squad Wiki Editorial comes with various benefits and privileges:


 * Be proud to be a member of the Squad Wiki Editorial - and show it to everyone with your brand new official Discord role "Squad Editor"
 * Proudly make substantial and lasting contributions to the Squad Wiki
 * Accumulate Special:WikiPoints as you work on the wiki. If you reach above 500 points a month, you earn a free PRO subscription (among other things, ad-free browsing of all Gamepedia wikis)
 * Access to restricted editors-only channels on Discord
 * Become eligible for the role of Squad Wiki Admin

Entry requirements
You want to become a member of Squad Wiki Editorial, either as Editor or Specialist? Please check if you meet the following entry requirements and then proceed to the
 * You have been a Squad Wiki Contributor for some time and demostrated your motivation and capabilities
 * You love the Squad Wiki, agree with our vision and mission statements and you have a deep aspiration for making the wiki a huge success
 * You own and play Squad (in order to be able to competently work on gameplay-related wiki pages, create in-game screenshots and verify game-related data and facts)
 * You have a registered wiki user (sign-up)
 * You have a registered forum user (sign-up, required for communication and coordination)
 * You have a Discord user and you have joined the “Squad Community” Discord server (required for communication and coordination)
 * You have good English skills in writing, reading and speaking (the Editorial is working on the English pages of the wiki; other languages are for the translators)
 * You have earned a score of 500 Special:WikiPoints or more on the Squad Wiki (to demonstrate your dedication to the Squad Wiki and your basic competency in working with a wiki)
 * You enjoy writing text and structuring written information and numbers - you have to enjoy this because you will be doing it a lot. A LOT!
 * You have patience and endurance - because quality editing and good design is a tedious task and updating the wiki a long-term project; you don't rush and do sloppy edits but apply your best
 * You are resourceful and creative to complete complex tasks by yourself - often, a task description will not tell you how to complete the task, you have to figure it out yourself
 * You conduct yourself in a mature and professional manner. This includes: if you have a question or cannot continue your work, you'll ask (not: sit and do nothing); if there are tensions in the team, you bring them up and are willing to talk about it; you can deal with differing opinions and constructive criticism
 * You have the necessary skills (or the determination to learn them) required by the specialized roles you want to work for
 * You are committed to regularly work on the wiki (in average, a minimum of 2 hours per week; more is welcome of course); if you are inactive unexcused for a longer period or not responding to direct messages for days, you might get kicked out of the Editorial (see )
 * You communicate in a friendly, constructively, accurately and timely manner with your fellow editors; communication also includes you reading what other members have written and responding to it; Discord is our main communication tool, so you should check it at least once a day; the Special:RecentChanges are the best way to see what others have been doing on the wiki
 * You are a reliable team player and willing to coordinate with your fellow editors and work on shared goals and tasks

Why are there so many entry requirements? We are looking for qualified, dedicated and motivated members. Enthusiasm alone will not be sufficient and normally doesn't last long enough. But don't worry, you don't have to be world-class in all of these criteria (but you shouldn't totally suck on them either).

If you are unsure if this is for you, or if you haven't reached the minimum of Special:WikiPoints yet (check your user page), don't worry. Just do some public editing on the wiki before applying for the Editorial. Sooner or later you will find out if you are interested and qualified for the job.

Of course, you don't have to apply to the Editorial to work on the Wiki. Anyone can be an independent public editor or a Contributor and work on the wiki at your own pace.

Application process
You can only apply for the roles of Squad Wiki Editor and Squad Wiki Specialist (Squad Wiki Contributors do not need to complete this application process). You cannot apply for the role of Squad Wiki Admin; this role is by invitation only. Be a good Squad Wiki Editor and earn your respect in the wiki community, the Editorial and among the devs; if there is need for new/more admins, you might be offered the role.

The application process is as following:
 * 1) Read this entire page very carefully. Questions? Don't hestitate to ask any questions on Discord #wiki or direct message to Usgu
 * 2) Read this page again. Is this really what you want to sign up for? Think about it before you proceed
 * 3) Check if you fulfill all entry requirements
 * 4) Submit your application to Usgu via direct message on Discord. Please provide the application details below. Feel free to ask any questions you might have
 * 5) Wait for a reply
 * 6) We might consider doing an interview with you to get to know you better and to answer all your questions
 * 7) If you receive a positive reply, the  starts
 * 8) You will go through a 4 to 6 weeks long probation period in which both you and the Editorial feel each other out to see if this is a fitting match; during this period you are restricted to the Discord channel #wiki
 * 9) At the end of the probation period you will either become a full member of the Editorial or you'll continue your editing career as public editor; only with your full membership will you earn your Discord role #wiki-editor and be allowed to the inner realms of the Editorial

Application details:
 * Link to your wiki user page - example: https://squad.gamepedia.com/UserProfile:Usgu
 * Link to your Squad forum user profile page - example: http://forums.joinsquad.com/profile/4974-usgu/
 * Your in-game user name in Squad - example: Usgu
 * Your (Google) email address (needed for sharing of documents in Google Drive)
 * Your home country or time zone and your main languages - example: Germany; German, English
 * What role and tasks you want to take on in the Editorial - example: general editing; CSS programming
 * Reason why you want to become a member of the Squad Wiki Editorial

Onboarding
You are a new and proud member of Squad Wiki Editorial? Welcome. Please take a look at the following list with onboarding instructions for you. It should list everything you need to know to get started in no time. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask on Discord.


 * 1) Take in the information from this page - this is what the Squad Wiki Editorial is about and how it works
 * 2) Read the Vision, Mission Statements and Roadmap - this is what we are trying to achieve, this will be your new goal, too
 * 3) Take a close look at the Editorial's workflow
 * 4) Take a look (and make a bookmark) of our  - this is our master work list
 * 5) Read the Wiki Style Guide (yes, the ENTIRE thing); regularly come back to it for reference and stick to it in all your edits
 * 6) Go through ALL wiki pages (yes, ALL, except for the repeating item pages for weapons etc.) - you have to know the content and structure of the wiki
 * 7) If you are still not familiar with the all wiki syntax, you will have to learn it. A good starting place is the Gamepedia help and starter tutorials. Please also check our own Wiki Help and our Quick Reference. Topics you must be familiar with: create a new page, editing, the purpose and how to create and use templates, the purpose and how to create new categories and how to add them to pages. Over time, you will get to know everything you need to know. Feel free to add to our Wiki Help to make it an as useful reference information as possible for yourself and other new editiors.
 * 8) Know the frequently used categories and templates (lists to be found in the Wiki Style Guide)
 * 9) Come to our Discord and introduce yourself to the Editorial team on #wiki-editorial.
 * 10) Let us know your Steam64ID so we can give you admin permissions on our test servers.
 * 11) Please read very carefully our rules regarding Discord and dev communication (pinned in #wiki-news) and stricly follow these rules - disobedience will get you permanently kicked from the Editorial.
 * 12) Please read up in #wiki-news, particularly the pinned messages. Also read up on the recent conversations in #wiki-editorial, so you are familiar with our current activities and discussions. Feel free to jump right in.
 * 13) During the onboarding process, one experienced member of the Editorial will be your mentor and will answer all your questions and help you get settled in. Ideally, your mentor is in a similar time zone to yours.
 * 14) You can choose freely what you want to do in the Editorial and on the wiki, as long it's useful to the wiki, and ideally, ranking high on the tasksheet. It would be pointless to force someone to do specific tasks. If we decide together, you can pick what you like to do most and we can point out what we think would be most important at the moment. Win-win for both of us. Feel free to point out new tasks you think are important for the wiki at any time.
 * 15) For complex tasks, we create project pages on the wiki or Google Documents to manage the complexity and coordinate the work among ourselves. We also started to experiment with Trello boards, so please check out our main boards. Please follow the board invite links, so we can add you as Trello team member.
 * 16) If you have any questions, ask them in #wiki-editorial or to your mentor.

Administrative process:
 * Decide on mentor
 * Assign Discord role "wiki-editor"
 * Write welcome message in #wiki-news (mention his mentor, encourage him to write a personal introduction)
 * Start onboarding period - here some tips for the mentor:
 * Introduce yourself as his mentor immediately upon his arrival via direct message
 * Ask him how familiar he is with wiki editing; if necessary, help and support him getting started (he should read up on tutorials/help info himself, you don't have to teach him)
 * Review his initial edits on the wiki and give hints to him if necessary
 * Read his messages on all Discord channels and respond if necessary with guiding hints (sometimes better done in direct messages to give additional support to him or address sensitive/personal aspects)
 * Ocassionally ask him if he's ok or has any questions; it's good practise to regularly touch base and establish a good relationship with your recruit
 * Add to Trello team via email invite
 * Give admin permissions on our test server(s)
 * Add to active member list (after a 6-12 weeks of probationary period)

Deboarding
It's time to say farewell to a former member of Squad Wiki Editorial.

When or how does a member leave the Squad Wiki Editorial?
 * If member requests to leave or retire
 * If member is inactivity for 6 weeks
 * If member has demonstrated dishonorable behaviour (shame on you - don't be that guy)

Administrative process:
 * Update Editorial Google sheet for this member
 * Remove Discord role "wiki-editor" or "wiki-admin" from this member (give him a chance to say goodbye to the team)
 * Remove member from (below) active member list and add to retired member list (unless discharged dishonorably)
 * Remove member from our Squad test servers
 * Remove member from Trello team and boards
 * Write farewell message in #wiki-news

Admin onboarding

 * Do the onboarding via voice chat - much more effective and faster for explaining and doing questions & answers
 * Give wiki-admin role on Discord(s)
 * Give "admin" privileges on the Squad Wiki (-> Special:UserRights, enter user name, check "administrator", set to Expires to "Does not expire", enter a reason for the user rights logs, click "save user group")
 * Add name to Squad Wiki:Community portal and Squad Wiki Editorial
 * Explain additional admin channels on Discord
 * Explain communication rules with the devs
 * Forward Gamepedia Discord invite (formerly Slack, now Discord) and explain Gamepedia Discord and general rules
 * complete verifcation in #verification using the command "!verify gamepedia Username"
 * read #rules
 * encourage to help other admins and seek their advice
 * Introduce to our Wiki manager (see section "Staff Contact" at the end of this page)
 * helps if our wiki has unique problems (other Gamepedia wikis are not affected)
 * adds/removes MediaWiki extensions
 * Explain admin tasks (-> Squad Wiki Editorial / Wiki Admin tasks), most importantly/frequent:
 * Resetting the patrol flag when reviewing public edits
 * For easier patrolling, check the options at the top of Special:RecentChanges: Hide/show registered users, Hide/show anonymous users, Hide/show my edits, Hide/show bots, Hide/show minor edits, Hide/Show page categorization, Hide/show patrolled edits
 * Editing protected pages when needed
 * Coordinating with Gamepedia when the Squad Wiki experiences technical problems
 * Check their Discord (#feedback-gampedia, #announcements-gampedia, #general-gampedia) if there is a Gamepedia-wide problem
 * If nothing is being reported, report our problem on #feedback-gamepedia with a good description and a link to our wiki or the affected page
 * Regularly check the Gamepedia Discord (#announcements, #announcements-gampedia)
 * Immediately fixing vandalism and blocking users (if it's a user, permanently; if it's an IP address, just 2 weeks (blocking it for longer is pointless))
 * Deleting pages (regularly check Category:Candidates for deletion); always check "What links here" for a page before deleting (example Special:WhatLinksHere/RPG-7)
 * Trustworthy editors can be given "autopatrol" - see Special:UserRights
 * Explain admin special pages
 * Special:Analytics (explain rules of use) - take monthly screenshots and store them in our restricted Google Doc (you can always only see the past 30 days)
 * Special:AbuseFilter (explain the common problems)
 * Global AF - New user adding link at end or in heading
 * Global AF - Section removal
 * Please read https://help.gamepedia.com/User_groups_and_permissions
 * If anything important is missing from this checklist, please add it. If you can make the description more self-explanatory, useful or complete, please do so. You are helping your fellow admins in the future.

Admin deboarding

 * See also Squad Wiki Editorial.
 * Remove admin privileges on the Squad Wiki
 * Remove name from Squad Wiki:Community portal

Decision Making
