Help:Formatting
Unrevised Style Guide SectionThis section of the Style Guide has not been revised from early drafts. As a result, this information is disorganized (as you can see) and possibly not representative of current wiki policies. While you may find useful guidance here, it should not be taken as gospel nor used to settle disputes without wiki mod confirmation.
Consistent formatting not only keeps the Wiki looking tidy, it helps users find, read, add, or update information efficiently. The following outlines the preferred formats from most general to most specific.
General Formatting should always be done via wikitext, not through special characters, which may not be displayed correctly. When writing pages, the first use of the page's name should be in bold, with subsequent
Please stick to the default font, font size, and font color to keep the look of the Wiki consistent. Small changes to the font style may be helpful and/or interesting in portraying creative content; this is fine, but restraint is recommended. Pages on the Wiki are left-aligned by default, and should only be changed when the page content calls for it; e.g., using the block quote format for quotes, “excerpts,” etc.
You can use wikitext/the wiki editing panel to format your section headings consistently and hierarchically. This formatting should be used exclusively rather than changing font size, position, color, etc. to create a section heading. MediaWiki will automatically create a Table of Contents at the top of the page if your page has more than three section headings, but you may choose to use to create a table of contents for fewer sections (particularly if they are long enough to require scrolling to see them all) or to place the table of contents after an introductory paragraph.
On team pages, player pages, and community-created pages, the Community Lore banner should be used to signal a shift from historical record to fan content. Place the banner after the end of the last factual section and before the heading of the first community lore section.
Links In paragraph text, first instances of topics with their own page should be linked, subsequent instances not. If the page is relatively long with multiple sections, you can link the first instance of the topic in each section for readers’ convenience. In tables, be consistent, linking either every entry in a column or none.
When linking to Wikipedia or other fan communities, use an inter-wiki link.
Renaming a Page/Redirection To keep our links clean, please use best practices for pages that are misspelled or no longer needed.
For pages that are misspelled, please use this Help page for a step-by-step guide for renaming pages.
For instances where you are combining pages or otherwise abandoning a specific page, please use this Help page for redirecting to the new article.
Dead Links In other wikis, having dead links is considered messy and is typically frowned upon. On the Blaseball Wiki, tactical deployment of links to Wiki pages that don't exist is a method by which to imply hidden or cursed knowledge that cannot be allowed to exist. Depending on the context, this can create a comedic, mysterious, and/or sinister effect—all very useful when writing for the Blaseball universe. However, this technique should be used sparingly so as not to lose impact.
Season Page Formatting Season pages consist mostly of high-level recording of the factual events of that season, and thus the majority of content is handled by the wiki team. Exceptions will be explicitly invited; e.g., frequent events that don’t substantially change a player or team may be up to community members to record if they see fit. A past example is the Enhanced Party Time game event, which changes an individual player’s star rating but nothing else, and often happens multiple times per game for many games in a row.
The section order for Season pages is as follows: Notable Events Ongoing Decrees Standings 3.1 Divine Favor Postseason Election ballot 5.1 Decrees 5.2 Blessings Election results 6.1 Tidings 6.2 Decrees 6.3 Blessings 6.4 Credits Game Events Sections added in chronological order of introduction of the event, e.g. 7.1 Incinerations 7.2 Siphoning 7.3 Enhanced party time
The Historynav goes at the bottom of the page.
Additional sections may be added at the discretion of the Wiki team. Community lore should not go on the Season page even if it is related to a specific season. Depending on the scope, it may be appropriate for a Team page, a Team History page, a Player page, or a community-created page of its own.
Season pages should always have the Season and History categories applied.
Team Page Formatting Unlike Season pages, Team pages contain both factual historical records for that team and community-created lore. The Wiki team will always create new Team pages when needed, and will typically make significant factual updates such as roster changes, election results, and notable events. To add detail, missed information, season recaps/results, and fan lore, Team pages are open to community editing. This section outlines the Team page format that should be followed.
The Team page infobox uses a specific template which should not be edited except by the Wiki team. The infobox contains the team’s name and a logo image (remember to credit) agreed upon by the team’s fans. The infobox has two tabs: Official Records, which contains factual information, and Rumors and Reports, which contains commonly held fan information. Fields in the Official Records tab should be completed fields in the Rumors and Reports tab may or may not be, according to fan consensus. Formatting for the Official Records tab is as follows:
Division the team’s current division only, linked Modifications modifications that have been applied to the entire team, with graphics and, if relevant, the season the modification was active Home Town the team’s hometown, linked only if there is an article for the location Team Slogan the team’s official slogan from Blaseball.com Team Colors the hex codes for the team colors, in the relevant color, as agreed on by the team’s fans Emoji the team’s official emoji from Blaseball.com Arcana the Arcana awarded to the team in the Season 11 Election, Roman numeral then name
There are many potential fields for a team’s Rumors and Reports Infobox tab. Popular options include Stadium, Friends, Rivals, Mascot, and Social Media, but teams/the community should not assume that filling in more information is necessarily better. To reiterate, consensus community lore is not canon - it is merely one of many ways to enjoy Blaseball.
Team pages should begin with an introductory paragraph (typically 2-3 sentences) stating the team’s current and former divisions and leagues, as well as when the team joined the ILB. Next, they should have a Table of Contents outlining the page’s sections and subsections.
The section order for Team pages is as follows: Roster 1.1 Lineup 1.2 Pitchers 1.3 In the Shadows Former Players 2.1 Incinerations 2.2 Feedback Swaps 2.3 Blessings and Trades Season Results: This section should contain a chart with the team’s win-loss record for the regular season, playoffs, and finals (filled in with N/A when appropriate) listed for each season. Notable Events: Subsections (4.1, 4.2, etc.) should be added for each season that has notable events. We are omitting them here for brevity.
The Community Lore Banner should be placed on the page after the end of the last factual section and before the heading of the first community lore section. There is much more flexibility in headings, subsections, and content in this part of the Team page. The following is one option that covers content that many teams have, but this can be altered to better fit the actual content the team’s fans have created for the page.
Team Overview: This should be the information you consider most important for those who want to get to know your team’s lore. This section should be a summary or subset of the content on the team’s History page, and should begin with the line “For a more in-depth look at the team, see Team Name/History.” in small text. Staff: This might include the team’s ownership, managers/coaches, mascots, and other relevant figures. Fan Culture: This section should be a summary or subset of the content on the team’s Fan Culture page, and should begin with the line “For a more in-depth look at [team] fan culture, see Team Name/Fan_Culture.” in small text. Fan Art: This section should be formatted as a gallery, and all art should be correctly credited and linked to the artist.
The team’s individual Navbox goes at the bottom of the page, followed by the Teamnav.
Team pages should be assigned categories for their League, Division, and any former Leagues and Divisions that are no longer active. For example, the Hawaii Fridays are in the Good League category, but the Philly Pies are not in the Mild Low category following their departure since it is still an active division.
Player Page Formatting Player pages also contain both factual historical records for that player and community-created lore. The Wiki team will typically make significant factual updates such as roster changes, election results, and notable events. Star rating changes are updated via bot. To add detail, missed information, and fan lore, Player pages are open to community editing. This section outlines the Player page format that should be followed.
The Player page infobox uses a specific template which should not be edited except by the Wiki team. The infobox contains the Player’s name and a header image (remember to credit) agreed upon by the player’s current team’s fans, determined according to collaboration policy. The infobox has two tabs: Official Records, which contains factual information, and Rumors and Reports, which contains fan information determined according to collaboration policy. Fields in the Official Records tab should be completed; fields in the Rumors and Reports tab may or may not be, according to fan consensus. Formatting for the Official Records tab is as follows:
Basic Information Team the player’s current or final team only, linked Former Team all of the players former teams, linked Status Active, Incinerated, Shadowed, or Released Batting rating (in stars) Pitching rating (in stars) Baserunning rating (in stars) Defense rating (in stars) Modifications modifications that have been applied to the player, with graphics and, if relevant, the season the modification was active Dates active the IRL dates the player was active for, terminating in “present” if the player is still active External links links to the player’s pages on Blaseball-Reference, Reblase, and Blaseball.com
Personal Information Item item name (linked), or None. Armor armor name (linked), or None. Evolution Base Pregame ritual player’s pregame ritual from Blaseball.com Coffee Style player’s Coffee Style from Blaseball.com Blood type player’s Blood Type from Blaseball.com Fate player’s Fate from Blaseball.com Soulscream player’s Soulscream from Blaseball.com
There are many potential fields for a player’s Rumors and Reports infobox tab, sorted into Biographical Details, Personal Relationships, and Other Background Information. Popular options include pronouns, species, and relationships, but teams/the community should not assume that filling in more information is necessarily better. To reiterate, consensus community lore is not canon - it is merely one of many ways to enjoy Blaseball.
The only required sections for Player pages are the introductory paragraph and Official League Records. The intro paragraph (which may be as short as a single sentence) has a prescribed structure as follows:
Example Player is a [current position] for the [current team], and has been with the team since ([linked Season #, plaintext Day]/the [link to season election results | Season # elections]). [Last name] has played for the [past teams].
Next, they should have a Table of Contents outlining the page’s sections and subsections. The first section heading should be Official League Records. This section contains a historical record of notable events in the player’s career. The first line should describe the player’s debut using the following format:
[Last name] joined the ILB as a [starting position] for the [starting team] (on [linked Season #, plaintext Day]/during the [linked season election results | Season # elections]) (after the incineration of [incinerated player]) (via the [link to season blessings list | Blessing name] blessing).
Events in the player’s official record should follow chronologically. Items that should always be included are: blessing trades, incinerations, retreats to the Shadows, Feedback swaps, Reverb resulting in a position change, Shelling, and Freeing from Shelling. Items that may be included at the discretion of the player’s team’s fans and/or the Wiki team, depending on availability for maintenance, are: blessing stat changes, peanut reactions, Blooddrain (siphoner), Blooddrain (siphoned), and Enhanced Party Time boosts. Other notable events such as rare/unique plays, special game events, or glitches may be appropriate for the OLR. However, they are better suited to a Community Lore section if there has been any elaboration, narration, speculation, or inference beyond the explicit game events shown on Blaseball.com (also available via Reblase).
The formatting for the infobox, intro paragraph, and OLR is always available at Help:Example_Player.
The Community Lore Banner should be placed on the page after the end of the Official League Records section and before the heading of the first community lore section. There is much more flexibility in headings, subsections, and content in this part of the Player page. Common headings include Early Life, Career, Career in [City], Personal Life, and Fan Works. Section headings should follow Wiki voice. Wikipedia entries for baseball players (whatever those are) can be good references for writing a heading that fits the style.
Players should always be assigned the Player category, the category for their current position only (pitchers or lineup players), and the category for their current team (or status, if they are no longer on a team’s roster). Additionally, they should be assigned the Former [Team] Players category for every team for which they formerly appeared on the roster. Additional categories may be warranted, but those are outside the scope of this Guide and it is up to the community to maintain accuracy of community-created categories.
New Player Pages New player pages are always created via template through the Form:Player page. This ensures the page is consistent with all other Players pages, and this task will typically be done by the Wiki team and subsequently locked for at least 24 hours, in accordance with the Collaboration Policy. In the case that a community member needs to create or update a player page, the correct page content and formatting can be found at Help:Example_Player.
Navboxes The table(s) of related content at the bottom of many Wiki pages are called Navboxes, and they are used to make navigating the Wiki simple and clear. They are listed below along with their preferred structure, content, and placement. They can be found and edited on the Wiki at Template:[Navbox name].
Historynav The Historynav template goes at the bottom of each Season page and pages for notable events in the history of Blaseball. The order of the eras, seasons, and events within those seasons should be chronological. The following is the prescribed format for Teamnav:
Title bar: Blaseball History Full Timeline (linked to Timeline page) Era 1 heading: Era Name Subheading for each season in that era (linked), with symbol List of notable events in that season (linked) [Additional headings for each Era, subheadings for each season, etc] Ongoing (If current Era does not have a name) Subheading for each season in the current era (linked), with symbol Community Lore heading (italicized) List of team emojis (by date of ILB entry, then alphabetically by hometown (linked to the team’s History page) Selection of Community-created pages in the History category (linked)
Teamnav The Teamnav template goes at the bottom of each Team page under that specific team’s navbox. The order of the divisions and the teams within those divisions should follow the order in which they appear on Blaseball.com. The following is the prescribed format for Teamnav:
Title bar: Internet League Blaseball Teams Division 1 heading: Division name (linked to Leagues page) List of teams in that division (linked, followed by emoji) Division 2 heading: Division name (linked to Leagues page) List of teams in that division (linked, followed by emoji) Division 3 heading: Division name (linked to Leagues page) List of teams in that division (linked, followed by emoji) Division 4 heading: Division name (linked to Leagues page) List of teams in that division (linked, followed by emoji)
[Teamname]nav (e.g., Dalenav) Each team also has its own Navbox, styled in that team’s color. The following is the prescribed format for individual team Navs: Title bar: Team name and official emoji Players heading Line 1: Batters, in the same order they are listed on Blaseball.com Line 2: Pitchers, in the same order they are listed on Blaseball.com Line 3: Shadows, only those Shadows players who have appeared publicly on Blaseball.com Line 4: Former, the most recent 5 former players in chronological order of when they left the team. When a player leaves the team, they should be added to the beginning of the list, and the last name on the list should be deleted. In parentheses next to each name, include the symbol pertaining to how the player left that team’s active roster. They are: 🔁 Traded, 🔥 Incinerated, 🎤 Feedbacked, ➡️ Sent Away, and 🥜 Taken by the Shelled One. At the end of the line is a link to the full list of former players. Stats heading Line 1: Seasons, in order starting from 1 Community Lore bar Staff heading Line 1: Direct links to pages for characters described in the Team page’s Staff section Places heading Direct links to pages for places described on the Team page, starting with the team’s stadium History heading Direct links to the team’s History page and any other important historical events or figures Other Fan Links line: Fan Culture (emoji) - Fan Art (emoji) - Tlopps Cards (emoji) Team slogan line: small text, italicized
Interdimensional Rumor Mill Formatting
[In discussions]
Multiple Player Interpretations Outside of the IRM/Randomization In the case of a contributor wishing to contribute additional character interpretations to a player, but not desiring to use the IRM, there are two easy options.
The first is to post the additional interpretation to a subpage, then create a new section on the main page called “Additional Character Interpretations,” with a link, a brief summary, and a single photo (if there is one).
The second is to host the entire character on the main page directly, again using a new section appropriately labeled to distinguish the end of one interpretation and the start of another.
Community-Created Pages Many pages on the Wiki are for entirely community-created characters, places, objects, or concepts. This is not only allowed but encouraged! While the Collaboration Guidelines do not require that lore for such pages be posted to the Talk page or explicitly allow for community review, it is expected that they will be approached in the same spirit of collaboration and inclusiveness as the lore on any Team or Player page.
The Community Lore banner should appear at the top of every page that contains exclusively community-created content. The rest of the page should follow the general formatting rules (bolding the first instance of the title, linking first instances of topics with their own pages, being in Wiki voice, etc.)
Part I: Wiki Content
Part II: Wiki Contributions
Part III: Style
