PCGamingWiki:Editing guide/The infobox
An infobox is the first element of an article. It provides basic information on a game (ex. release dates, developers, publishers, etc.), along with the box art/logo and links to major databases with relevant info (currently Wikipedia, SteamDB, Co-Optimus, StrategyWiki and WineHQ).
There are two main types of infoboxes (and two niche types) available.
Game infobox
Syntax (main)
{{Infobox game |title = |cover = |developers = <Developer field rows go here> |publishers = <Publisher field rows go here> |engines = <Engine field rows go here> |release dates= <Release date field rows go here> |steam appid = |steam appid side = |gogcom id = |gogcom id side = |strategywiki = |wikipedia = |winehq = |license = }}
Syntax (developer field row, normal)
- This is the normal format used for the Developer field row.
{{Infobox game/row/developer|<DEVELOPER NAME>|<OPTIONAL DESCRIPTOR>}}
Syntax (developer field row, porters)
- This format is for developers that are responsible for porting the game to a specific OS.
{{Infobox game/row/porter|<DEVELOPER NAME>|<OS NAME>}}
Syntax (publisher field row)
{{Infobox game/row/publisher|<PUBLISHER NAME>|<OPTIONAL DESCRIPTOR>}}
Syntax (engine field row)
{{Infobox game/row/engine|<ENGINE NAME>|<OPTIONAL DESCRIPTOR>}}
Syntax (release date field row)
- The
<OS NAME>
section will only accept the following values:PC booter
,DOS
,Windows 3.x
,Windows
,Mac OS
,OS X
, andLinux
{{Infobox game/row/date|<OS NAME>|<DATE>}}
Developers | |
---|---|
Developer | |
Windows | Developer 2 |
macOS (OS X) | Developer 3 |
Linux | Developer 4 |
Publishers | |
Publisher | |
Europe | Publisher 2 |
Engines | |
Engine | |
Release dates | |
DOS | June 12, 1996 |
Mac OS (Classic) | July 4, 1998 |
Windows | January 3, 2012 |
macOS (OS X) | March 21, 2013 |
Linux | Early access |
The most common infobox available, it is mainly used for game articles.
General rules
- For release dates, list the earliest official platform release first (ex. if the game was released on OS X first, list the OS X release date at the top)
- In the case that multiple releases share the same date, organize the dates in the following order (for all the platforms that apply):
- PC booter
- DOS
- Windows 3.x
- Windows
- Mac OS
- macOS/OS X
- Linux
- For games with unknown release date, use
TBA
as the date. Only replace the date when the game has official release date. - For games in Early Access, use
EA
as the date. Only replace the date when the game has officially left Early Access. - For games that are still available to public via Early Access or public beta test, but remain incomplete and it is not known whether the game will ever be finished, use
Unknown
as the date. - For games that used to be available to public via Early Access or public beta test and are no longer available with no official announcement of their cancellation, use
LC
(Likely cancelled) as the date. - For games that used to be available in some form and were officially cancelled, use
Cancelled
as the date.
- In the case that multiple releases share the same date, organize the dates in the following order (for all the platforms that apply):
Field breakdown
Section | Definition | Notes |
---|---|---|
Title | The name of the game. | An optional field, it is automatically set to the page name if left blank. It is only required for games with "optional" title modifiers (see SimFarm). Otherwise, it should be left alone. |
Cover | The cover/logo of the game. | The full name of the image file (including extensions) must be provided. See The Cover subsection for details. |
Developers | The name(s) of the game developer(s). | List all the developers involved in the PC releases of the game. The main developer should always be listed first, regardless of involvement. |
Publishers | The name(s) of the game publisher(s). | List all the publishers involved in the PC releases of the game. The main publisher should always be listed first, regardless of involvement. If the publisher is the same as the developer, leave the field blank. |
Engines | The name(s) of the game engine(s) used. | Leave the section empty if the engine used is unnamed or in-house. Do not list game engine middleware (ex. Havok Physics) under the Engines section. See the Middleware table for details. |
Release Dates | The earliest public release date of the game. | All dates are to be written down in the following format: mm dd, yyyy (where mm is the full name of the month). See the General rules section above for further details.
|
Steam AppID | The Steam ID associated with the game. | See Database IDs for details. |
Steam AppID side | The Steam ID associated with the game's DLC. | Use commas , to separate multiple Steam IDs. See Database IDs for details.
|
GOG.com page | The GOG.com ID associated with the game. | See Database IDs for details. |
StrategyWiki | A link to the game's StrategyWiki page (if one exists). | See Database IDs for details. |
Wikipedia | A link to the game's Wikipedia page (if one exists). | See Database IDs for details. |
WineHQ | A link to the game's WineHQ page (if one exists). | The field is meant for games that do not have a native Linux version available. Leave it blank otherwise. See Database IDs for details. |
license | The license the game is available under | Should be set to one of the following: commercial , former commercial (paid games that have been re-released for free), freeware , or free-to-play . This information is not shown on the game page but is used to populate other pages such as the List of Freeware Games.
|
Database IDs
This is a list of the database ID formats for all the databases the infobox supports
Database(s) | Example URL | What to provide |
---|---|---|
gogcom appid (GOG Database, game association for external database use) | ||
gogcom appid side (DLC/package association for external database use) | ||
steam appid (Steam DB, Co-Optimus, Steam game association for external database use) | http://store.steampowered.com/app/2310/ | 2310 |
steam appid side (Steam DLC association for external database use) | http://store.steampowered.com/app/9040/ | 9040 |
strategywiki | http://strategywiki.org/wiki/Quake | Quake |
wikipedia | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quake_(video_game) | Quake_(video_game) |
winehq | https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=930 | 930 |
Non-game infobox
Syntax
{{Infobox non-game |title = |cover = |developers = <Developer field rows go here> |release dates = <Release date field rows go here> |winehq = |wikipedia = }}
Developers | |
---|---|
Valve Corporation | |
Release dates | |
Windows | September 12, 2003 |
macOS (OS X) | May 12, 2010 |
Linux | February 14, 2013 |
A less commonly used infobox, it is meant for general software that is related to games in some manner (ex. DOSBox).
Note that it is far more sparse then the game infobox in terms of information provided to the reader. No specialized row templates are used for this infobox.
Field breakdown
Section | Definition | Notes |
---|---|---|
Title | The name of the program. | An optional field, it is automatically set to the page name if left blank. It should be left alone in most cases. |
Cover | The logo of the program. | The full name of the image file (including extensions) must be provided. See The Cover subsection for details. |
Developer | The name of the program developer. | |
Publisher | The name of the program publisher. | If the publisher is the same as the developer, leave the field blank. |
Release Dates | The earliest public release date of the program. | All dates are to be written down in the following format: mm dd, yyyy (where mm is the full name of the month).
|
Controller infobox
Syntax
{{Infobox controller |title = |cover = |xinput = |predecessor = |successor = |wikipedia = }}
XInput support | |
---|---|
Predecessor | |
Xbox Controller | |
Successor | |
Xbox One Controller | |
A niche infobox, it is meant for game controllers. A game controller can be:
- Gamepads
- Joysticks
- Steering wheels/racing controllers
- Flight controllers
- Haptic-centric controllers
- Motion-based controllers
- "Exotic" controllers (gaming keypads, dance pads, anything that does not fit in the above categories)
Note that it is far more sparse then the game infobox in terms of information provided to the reader.
Field breakdown
Section | Definition | Notes |
---|---|---|
Title | The name of the controller. | An optional field, it is automatically set to the page name if left blank. It should be left alone in most cases. |
Cover | A picture of the controller. | The full name of the image file (including extensions) must be provided. See The Cover subsection for details. |
XInput | Support for the XInput controller API. | Use true , false , or hackable to denote support level (see Section Table legend for details). A majority of the controllers released past December 2005 (particularly ones that are Xbox 360 and/or Xbox One-focused) have native support. Earlier than that, it should be assumed that the controller is using DirectInput.
|
Predecessor | The controller that was released prior to the current one (if the controllers are part of a series). | Linking needs to be done in the following fashion: [[Controller:<CONTROLLER NAME>|<CONTROLLER NAME>]] Leave blank if there is no prior release. |
Successor | The controller that was released after to the current one (if the controllers are part of a series). | Linking needs to be done in the following fashion:
|
Wikipedia | A link to the controller's Wikipedia page (if one exists). | See Database IDs for details. |
Console infobox
Syntax (main)
{{Infobox console |title = |cover = |related = <Related field rows go here> |predecessor = |successor = |wikipedia = }}
Syntax (Related field row)
{{Infobox console/row/controller|cont=[[Controller:<CONTROLLER NAME>|<CONTROLLER NAME>]]}}
Related controllers | |
---|---|
Xbox 360 Controller | |
Kinect | |
Predecessor | |
Xbox | |
Successor | |
Xbox One | |
A niche infobox, it is meant for game consoles.
Note that it is far more sparse then the game infobox in terms of information provided to the reader.
Field breakdown
Section | Definition | Notes |
---|---|---|
Title | The name of the console. | An optional field, it is automatically set to the page name if left blank. It should be left alone in most cases. |
Cover | The logo of the console. | The full name of the image file (including extensions) must be provided. See The Cover subsection for details. |
Related | A list of controllers that are related directly towards the console. | A specialized row template is used to add entries (see the "Related field row" syntax). All entries are to be placed directly below the related field.
|
Predecessor | The console that was released prior to the current one (if the controllers are part of a series). | Linking needs to be done in the following fashion: [[Emulation:<CONSOLE NAME>|<CONSOLE NAME>]] Leave blank if there is no prior release. |
Successor | The console that was released after to the current one (if the consoles are part of a series). | Linking needs to be done in the following fashion: [[Emulation:<CONSOLE NAME>|<CONSOLE NAME>]] Leave blank if there is no succeeding release. |
Wikipedia | A link to the console's Wikipedia page (if one exists). | See Database IDs for details. |
The Cover
Used in all four types of infoboxes, the cover (or box art) is the focal point of the template.
Valid covers
- These are considered acceptable to use
- Retail box art (scanned)
- Logos
- Steam banners
- In-game title screens (if the game has none of the above)
In the case of the Controller infobox, a picture of the hardware will suffice.
Invalid covers
- These sources should be avoided if possible
- Retail box art (photo)
- In-game title screens (if the game has an official box/logo/etc.)
- Fan-made box art/logos
Where to find them
There are multiple sources to find a good cover (listed in order of preference):
- High quality personal/3rd party box art scans (best case)
- MobyGames (scan quality may vary)
- Other wikis (could possibly have high quality scans, but unreliable)
- Official/developer website (most likely logos and banners only)
- Steam game pages (every game on Steam comes with a banner/logo to use. Low quality, but very reliable)
- Wikipedia (low quality, but reliable)