Getting involved: Difference between revisions

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:Getting involved with the '''{{SITENAME}}'''.

If you're interested in helping out the wiki but don't know where to start, here are some things we would appreciate help with.

~~'''~~Before reading / Guidelines~~''' ~~

==Before reading / Guidelines==

;Contributing

'''{{SITENAME}}''' focuses on detailed and advanced information for "[[:Category:Emulators|software emulators]]", [[Preservation projects|preservation projects]] and other related stuff such as "[[Hypervisors|hypervisors]]", "[[Simulators|simulators]]", "[[Compatibility_layer|compatibility layers]]", "[[Wrappers|wrappers]]" and "[[FPGA]]". Recommended to see [[Emulation accuracy]] and [[High and low-level emulation]] pages for more information about these terms.

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;Compatibility & Accessibility

To ensure compatibility, accessibility and reliability with older systems and retro web browsers (and [[Preservation_projects#Proxy_projects_for_retro_web_browsing|related proxy projects]]), please avoid (as much as possible) using redirection links and other elements on pages that rely on JavaScript. Opt for non-JavaScript alternatives whenever possible, as JavaScript can cause issues with legacy systems/retro web browsers and ~~the Wayback Machine (web.archive.org)~~.

To ensure compatibility, accessibility and reliability with older systems and retro web browsers (and [[Preservation_projects#Proxy_projects_for_retro_web_browsing|related proxy projects]]), please avoid (as much as possible) using redirection links and other elements on pages that rely on JavaScript. Opt for non-JavaScript alternatives whenever possible, as JavaScript can cause issues with legacy systems/retro web browsers and Web Archiving Services.

;Mindfulness

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This is for a variety of reasons, some of which are links connected to or committing copyright infringement (such as violating the GNU GPL license).

While registration is not required, we strongly encourage users to create an account before sharing unofficial third-party download links. Unofficial compiled binaries and unverified, closed-source builds can carry significant security risks, such as malware or malicious code. When links are posted by anonymous IP addresses, it is much more difficult to verify the source or maintain a history of trust. Registering an account provides a layer of accountability, helping the community identify reliable contributors and ensuring the long-term safety of our users.

;Censorship and restriction

~~'''~~You don't need to self-censor for neutral wording~~'''~~ when editing Emugen Wiki.

You don't need to self-censor for neutral wording when editing Emugen Wiki.

Keep in mind that [[Special:ProtectedPages|some pages]] on {{SITENAME}} (such as the [[Main Page|front page]]) are restricted to only edits by autoconfirmed users to '''prevent vandalism''' and edit warring. In order to become autoconfirmed on {{SITENAME}}, you must have an account that is at '''least 2 weeks old''' and that has made at '''least 20 edits''' to the wiki. In addition to obvious vandalism (spam, blanking, nonsense edits), attempts to force ideological changes (such as systematically censoring derogatory or taboo language or removing "factual but controversial" information) can be treated as disruptive editing or edit warring: and ~~typically~~ reverted ("undone") by the community. ~~Any~~ revert or undo inherently suppresses one version of the content in favor of another, so it can reasonably be viewed as a form of censorship in the broad sense / dilemma ~~(preventing information from appearing as edited)~~. However, on this wiki, such actions usually aim to enforce stability, verifiability, and resistance to personal/ideological agendas rather than bowing to moral panics, activism, or external pressures. The Emugen wiki community typically appreciates direct language without forced self-censorship. This anti-self-censorship stance exists to prioritize the unfiltered, accurate preservation of emulation knowledge over unending sanitization. Always discuss contentious changes on the talk page first instead of edit warring.

Keep in mind that [[Special:ProtectedPages|some pages]] on {{SITENAME}} (such as the [[Main Page|front page]]) are restricted to only edits by autoconfirmed users to '''prevent vandalism''' and edit warring. In order to become autoconfirmed on {{SITENAME}}, you must have an account that is at '''least 2 weeks old''' and that has made at '''least 20 edits''' to the wiki. In addition to obvious vandalism (spam, blanking, nonsense edits), attempts to force ideological changes (such as systematically censoring derogatory or taboo language or removing "factual but controversial" information) can be treated as disruptive editing or edit warring, and usually reverted ("undone") by the community. We're aware of the potential contradiction: any revert or undo inherently suppresses one version of the content in favor of another, so it can reasonably be viewed as a form of censorship in the broad sense, a dilemma. However, on this wiki, such actions usually aim to enforce stability, verifiability, and resistance to personal/ideological agendas rather than bowing to moral panics, activism, or external pressures. The Emugen wiki community typically appreciates direct language without forced self-censorship. This anti-self-censorship stance exists to prioritize the unfiltered, accurate preservation of emulation knowledge over unending sanitization. In that respect, "anti-censorship != cucking to vandalism" is still consistent, and actual vandalism should get nuked instantly. That's not ideology, that's keeping the site from turning into garbage. The problem is when Wikimedia's ideologues redefine "vandalism" or "disruption" to include any pushback against their worldview; that's using moderation tools as a political cudgel. It pretends to be the "sum of all human knowledge" while quietly curating what counts as knowledge through a progressive filter. That's why trust in it keeps dropping among anyone not already in the "bubble". We don't want that here. Always discuss contentious changes on the talk page first instead of edit warring. And don't forget to sign your messages with 4 tildas by adding <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> at the end in talk pages.

;Sandboxing

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;Cites and references

Editors should largely follow Wikipedia's citation rules (listed [[wikipedia:Wikipedia:Citing sources|here]]), with the exemption that twitter and other sources by the other are allowed.

:~~Guide lines~~:

:Guidelines:

* Cite clearly viewable content. Not things such as Discord, where it requires you to have an account.

* Primary sources are commonly used, secondary news sources should also be cited when available.

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==Low effort==

* Updating [[:~~Category:Emulator templates~~|~~emulator~~ versions]]. You can find news and new releases on [https://www.emunations.com/ EmuNations], [https://www.zophar.net/ Zophar's Domain], [https://www.ngemu.com/whats-new/posts/2223790/ Next Generation Emulation], [https://www.emu-france.com/ Emu-France], [https://www.emucr.com/ EmuCR], [https://www.planetemu.net/ Planet Emulation~~], [https://retro-replay.com/emulator-news/ Retro Replay~~] and [https://www.aep-emu.de/ AEP Emulation Page].

* Updating [[Template:Version|software versions]] (add new software version templates there upon their creation). You can find news and new releases on [https://www.emunations.com/ EmuNations], [https://www.zophar.net/ Zophar's Domain], [https://www.ngemu.com/whats-new/posts/2223790/ Next Generation Emulation], [https://www.emu-france.com/ Emu-France], [https://www.emucr.com/ EmuCR], [https://www.planetemu.net/ Planet Emulation] and [https://www.aep-emu.de/ AEP Emulation Page]. For convenience, you may also track relevant specific software's releases with services like [https://newreleases.io/ New Releases] (supports GitHub, GitLab, Codeberg, Bitbucket, Gitea, SourceForge and more)

* Updating the [[Template:News|News section]] on the [[Main Page]].

* Cleaning up any "bad" URL hyperlinks. E.g. by removing tracking tokens (e.g. "&fbclid=" by Meta/Facebook, "?si=" by YouTube and similar ones; not only are they used to spy on people to push targeted ads, but they also make web addresses unnecessarily bloated) and referral URLs (e.g. "?ref_src=twsrc" in X/Twitter post links), replacing occasional [[Wikipedia:Accelerated Mobile Pages|AMP]] links with regular ones, replacing "http://" with "https://" (unless the site linked to is ill-configured and simply refuses to load via https), etc. "Clean" links improve readability, user experience and safety/privacy.

* Correcting any redirect that [[Special:DoubleRedirects|links to another redirect instead of a page]].

* Finding categories to put [[Special:UncategorizedPages|these pages]] in.

* Finding categories to put [[Special:UncategorisedFiles|these files]] in.

* Finding categories to put [[Special:UncategorizedTemplates|these templates]] in.

* Finding categories to put [[Special:UncategorizedCategories|these categories]] in.

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* [[:Category:Outdated|Outdated articles]] – These articles contain information that might no longer be accurate and need to be updated.

* [[:Category:Article stubs|Articles stubs]] – These articles are stubs and need to be expanded with more information.

* [[#Layout|Update/create new emulator pages]] - Copy the template below, add {{t|WIP}} if you need help or intend to finish the page later, add {{t|stub}} if everything is finished but it should be longer.

* [[#Layout|Update/create new emulator pages]] - Copy the template below, add {{t|WIP}} if you need help or intend to finish the page later, add {{t|stub}} if everything is finished but it should be longer. '''Don't forget to categorize your articles and, if they are about emulators, list them in articles listing emulators OF a particular system (just for example, [[PlayStation 2 emulators]]) and articles listing emulators ON a particular system (for example, [[Emulators on macOS]]). Additionally, if you create a software version template using [[Template:Version|the parent template]], please add your created template accordingly to the list there to keep the list verison templates' list up-to-date!'''

* Don't forget that unlike in Wikipedia where they only put the most subcategories into articles, we tend to put both subcategories and their parent categories those subcategories are parts of. For example, [[PPSSPP]]'s article isn't only included under subcategory [[:Category:PlayStation Portable emulators]], but also under its parent [[:Category:Handheld console emulators]], which itself is a subcategory for its parent [[:Category:Console emulators]].

* Keep in mind that category redirects are useless in practice because if you put an article into a category which is just a redirect to another category, then the destination category '''will NOT''' be populated with your article's entry. So if you put an article A into Category:B which redirects to Category:C, then once you open Category:C page, you won't see your article A listed there.

* Adding licensing info to [[:Category:Images|Image files]] using [[:Category:Image_wiki_templates|Image wiki templates]] for licensing info.

;Archival and preservation.

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* Fixing broken links with archived versions using [https://archive.org/ archive.org] or [https://ghostarchive.org/ ghostarchive.org]

* Identifying broken links with tools such as [https://www.deadlinkchecker.com/website-dead-link-checker.asp deadlinkchecker.com]

* Updating tables for hardware features and peripherals and enhancements by checking out their availability in emulators/compatibility layers in articles dedicated to targeted systems

* Adding old news [[Template:News#Previous_years|previous years section]] of the news template, using [[Talk:Emulators_on_Legacy_systems#Old_emulator_lists_and_news|this list]].

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==Similar and related sites==

;For similar sites see:

;For similar sites, see:

* [https://fantasyanime.com/emuhelp/ FantasyAnime] - Has in-depth pages on the options of each emulator. {{SITENAME}} focuses on detail of the history of a emulator on its page and details of our many [[Main Page|other articles]].

* [https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/ PCGamingWiki] - Focuses on PC gaming instead of emulators. (Emulation specific pages are outdated).

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[[Category:FAQs]]

~~__NOTOC__~~

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 :Getting involved with the '''{{SITENAME}}'''.<br>
 If you're interested in helping out the wiki but don't know where to start, here are some things we would appreciate help with.<br>
-<font size="4"><b>'''Before reading / Guidelines'''</b></font><br>
+==Before reading / Guidelines==
 ;Contributing
 '''{{SITENAME}}''' focuses on detailed and advanced information for "[[:Category:Emulators|software emulators]]", [[Preservation projects|preservation projects]] and other related stuff such as "[[Hypervisors|hypervisors]]", "[[Simulators|simulators]]", "[[Compatibility_layer|compatibility layers]]", "[[Wrappers|wrappers]]" and "[[FPGA]]". Recommended to see [[Emulation accuracy]] and [[High and low-level emulation]] pages for more information about these terms.
@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 ;Compatibility & Accessibility
-To ensure compatibility, accessibility and reliability with older systems and retro web browsers (and [[Preservation_projects#Proxy_projects_for_retro_web_browsing|related proxy projects]]), please avoid (as much as possible) using redirection links and other elements on pages that rely on JavaScript. Opt for non-JavaScript alternatives whenever possible, as JavaScript can cause issues with legacy systems/retro web browsers and the Wayback Machine (web.archive.org).<br>
+To ensure compatibility, accessibility and reliability with older systems and retro web browsers (and [[Preservation_projects#Proxy_projects_for_retro_web_browsing|related proxy projects]]), please avoid (as much as possible) using redirection links and other elements on pages that rely on JavaScript. Opt for non-JavaScript alternatives whenever possible, as JavaScript can cause issues with legacy systems/retro web browsers and Web Archiving Services.<br>
 ;Mindfulness
@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 This is for a variety of reasons, some of which are links connected to or committing copyright infringement (such as violating the GNU GPL license).
+While registration is not required, we strongly encourage users to create an account before sharing unofficial third-party download links. Unofficial compiled binaries and unverified, closed-source builds can carry significant security risks, such as malware or malicious code. When links are posted by anonymous IP addresses, it is much more difficult to verify the source or maintain a history of trust. Registering an account provides a layer of accountability, helping the community identify reliable contributors and ensuring the long-term safety of our users.
 ;Censorship and restriction
-'''You don't need to self-censor for neutral wording''' when editing Emugen Wiki.<br/>
+You don't need to self-censor for neutral wording when editing Emugen Wiki.<br/>
-Keep in mind that [[Special:ProtectedPages|some pages]] on {{SITENAME}} (such as the [[Main Page|front page]]) are restricted to only edits by autoconfirmed users to '''prevent vandalism''' and edit warring.  In order to become autoconfirmed on {{SITENAME}}, you must have an account that is at '''least 2 weeks old''' and that has made at '''least 20 edits''' to the wiki. In addition to obvious vandalism (spam, blanking, nonsense edits), attempts to force ideological changes (such as systematically censoring derogatory or taboo language or removing "factual but controversial" information) can be treated as disruptive editing or edit warring: and typically reverted ("undone") by the community. Any revert or undo inherently suppresses one version of the content in favor of another, so it can reasonably be viewed as a form of censorship in the broad sense / dilemma (preventing information from appearing as edited). However, on this wiki, such actions usually aim to enforce stability, verifiability, and resistance to personal/ideological agendas rather than bowing to moral panics, activism, or external pressures. The Emugen wiki community typically appreciates direct language without forced self-censorship. This anti-self-censorship stance exists to prioritize the unfiltered, accurate preservation of emulation knowledge over unending sanitization. Always discuss contentious changes on the talk page first instead of edit warring.
+Keep in mind that [[Special:ProtectedPages|some pages]] on {{SITENAME}} (such as the [[Main Page|front page]]) are restricted to only edits by autoconfirmed users to '''prevent vandalism''' and edit warring.  In order to become autoconfirmed on {{SITENAME}}, you must have an account that is at '''least 2 weeks old''' and that has made at '''least 20 edits''' to the wiki. In addition to obvious vandalism (spam, blanking, nonsense edits), attempts to force ideological changes (such as systematically censoring derogatory or taboo language or removing "factual but controversial" information) can be treated as disruptive editing or edit warring, and usually reverted ("undone") by the community. We're aware of the potential contradiction: any revert or undo inherently suppresses one version of the content in favor of another, so it can reasonably be viewed as a form of censorship in the broad sense, a dilemma. However, on this wiki, such actions usually aim to enforce stability, verifiability, and resistance to personal/ideological agendas rather than bowing to moral panics, activism, or external pressures. The Emugen wiki community typically appreciates direct language without forced self-censorship. This anti-self-censorship stance exists to prioritize the unfiltered, accurate preservation of emulation knowledge over unending sanitization. In that respect, "anti-censorship != cucking to vandalism" is still consistent, and actual vandalism should get nuked instantly. That's not ideology, that's keeping the site from turning into garbage. The problem is when Wikimedia's ideologues redefine "vandalism" or "disruption" to include any pushback against their worldview; that's using moderation tools as a political cudgel. It pretends to be the "sum of all human knowledge" while quietly curating what counts as knowledge through a progressive filter. That's why trust in it keeps dropping among anyone not already in the "bubble". We don't want that here. Always discuss contentious changes on the talk page first instead of edit warring. And don't forget to sign your messages with 4 tildas by adding <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> at the end in talk pages.
 ;Sandboxing
@@ Line 36: / Line 38: @@
 ;Cites and references
 Editors should largely follow Wikipedia's citation rules (listed [[wikipedia:Wikipedia:Citing sources|here]]), with the exemption that twitter and other sources by the other are allowed.
-:Guide lines:
+:Guidelines:
 * Cite clearly viewable content. Not things such as Discord, where it requires you to have an account.
 * Primary sources are commonly used, secondary news sources should also be cited when available.
@@ Line 42: / Line 44: @@
 ==Low effort==
-* Updating [[:Category:Emulator templates|emulator versions]]. You can find news and new releases on [https://www.emunations.com/ EmuNations], [https://www.zophar.net/ Zophar's Domain], [https://www.ngemu.com/whats-new/posts/2223790/ Next Generation Emulation], [https://www.emu-france.com/ Emu-France], [https://www.emucr.com/ EmuCR], [https://www.planetemu.net/ Planet Emulation], [https://retro-replay.com/emulator-news/ Retro Replay] and [https://www.aep-emu.de/ AEP Emulation Page].
+* Updating [[Template:Version|software versions]] (add new software version templates there upon their creation). You can find news and new releases on [https://www.emunations.com/ EmuNations], [https://www.zophar.net/ Zophar's Domain], [https://www.ngemu.com/whats-new/posts/2223790/ Next Generation Emulation], [https://www.emu-france.com/ Emu-France], [https://www.emucr.com/ EmuCR], [https://www.planetemu.net/ Planet Emulation] and [https://www.aep-emu.de/ AEP Emulation Page]. For convenience, you may also track relevant specific software's releases with services like [https://newreleases.io/ New Releases] (supports GitHub, GitLab, Codeberg, Bitbucket, Gitea, SourceForge and more)
 * Updating the [[Template:News|News section]] on the [[Main Page]].
+* Cleaning up any "bad" URL hyperlinks. E.g. by removing tracking tokens (e.g. "&fbclid=" by Meta/Facebook, "?si=" by YouTube and similar ones; not only are they used to spy on people to push targeted ads, but they also make web addresses unnecessarily bloated) and referral URLs (e.g. "?ref_src=twsrc" in X/Twitter post links), replacing occasional [[Wikipedia:Accelerated Mobile Pages|AMP]] links with regular ones, replacing "http://" with "https://" (unless the site linked to is ill-configured and simply refuses to load via https), etc. "Clean" links improve readability, user experience and safety/privacy.
 * Correcting any redirect that [[Special:DoubleRedirects|links to another redirect instead of a page]].
 * Finding categories to put [[Special:UncategorizedPages|these pages]] in.
+* Finding categories to put [[Special:UncategorisedFiles|these files]] in.
 * Finding categories to put [[Special:UncategorizedTemplates|these templates]] in.
 * Finding categories to put [[Special:UncategorizedCategories|these categories]] in.
@@ Line 60: / Line 64: @@
 * [[:Category:Outdated|Outdated articles]] – These articles contain information that might no longer be accurate and need to be updated.
 * [[:Category:Article stubs|Articles stubs]] – These articles are stubs and need to be expanded with more information.
-* [[#Layout|Update/create new emulator pages]] - Copy the template below, add {{t|WIP}} if you need help or intend to finish the page later, add {{t|stub}} if everything is finished but it should be longer.
+* [[#Layout|Update/create new emulator pages]] - Copy the template below, add {{t|WIP}} if you need help or intend to finish the page later, add {{t|stub}} if everything is finished but it should be longer. '''Don't forget to categorize your articles and, if they are about emulators, list them in articles listing emulators OF a particular system (just for example, [[PlayStation 2 emulators]]) and articles listing emulators ON a particular system (for example, [[Emulators on macOS]]). Additionally, if you create a software version template using [[Template:Version|the parent template]], please add your created template accordingly to the list there to keep the list verison templates' list up-to-date!'''
+* Don't forget that unlike in Wikipedia where they only put the most subcategories into articles, we tend to put both subcategories and their parent categories those subcategories are parts of. For example, [[PPSSPP]]'s article isn't only included under subcategory [[:Category:PlayStation Portable emulators]], but also under its parent [[:Category:Handheld console emulators]], which itself is a subcategory for its parent [[:Category:Console emulators]].
+* Keep in mind that category redirects are useless in practice because if you put an article into a category which is just a redirect to another category, then the destination category '''will NOT''' be populated with your article's entry. So if you put an article A into Category:B which redirects to Category:C, then once you open Category:C page, you won't see your article A listed there.
 * Adding licensing info to [[:Category:Images|Image files]] using [[:Category:Image_wiki_templates|Image wiki templates]] for licensing info.
 ;Archival and preservation.
@@ Line 67: / Line 73: @@
 * Fixing broken links with archived versions using [https://archive.org/ archive.org] or [https://ghostarchive.org/ ghostarchive.org]
 * Identifying broken links with tools such as [https://www.deadlinkchecker.com/website-dead-link-checker.asp deadlinkchecker.com]
+* Updating tables for hardware features and peripherals and enhancements by checking out their availability in emulators/compatibility layers in articles dedicated to targeted systems
 * Adding old news [[Template:News#Previous_years|previous years section]] of the news template, using [[Talk:Emulators_on_Legacy_systems#Old_emulator_lists_and_news|this list]].
@@ Line 143: / Line 150: @@
 ==Similar and related sites==
-;For similar sites see:
+;For similar sites, see:
 * [https://fantasyanime.com/emuhelp/ FantasyAnime] - Has in-depth pages on the options of each emulator. {{SITENAME}} focuses on detail of the history of a emulator on its page and details of our many [[Main Page|other articles]].
 * [https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/ PCGamingWiki] - Focuses on PC gaming instead of emulators. (Emulation specific pages are outdated).
@@ Line 150: / Line 157: @@
 [[Category:FAQs]]
-__NOTOC__