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IOP Wiki:How To/References

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A reference[1] is a small link to another part of the article where sources or notes are listed. Sources make articles more reliable and trustworthy.

  1. ↑ Like this one

References as sources edit

Sources are necessary to make information independently verifiable. This way, anyone can check if an information is true and up-to-date. Without a source, an information is less trustworthy.

To add a simple reference, use the "ref" marker like this: <ref>My source</ref>. Then, usually at the bottom of the article, there should be a section with ==References== and <references /> to hold the reference list. The reference list is handled automatically in most page templates. For images, the source can be indicated plainly on the file page, like here.

Where are sources needed? edit

Gameplay

References are usually not necessary for gameplay information since it's easy to verify: it's from the tutorials, the unit skill descriptions, and so on. Sources become necessary for gameplay information when it's not readily verifiable, such as the date a feature was implemented, or a community-investigated drop rate. In such cases, there should be a link to official announcements or external community-made documents.

Story

The narrative of Girls' Frontline is extremely dense, and it can be difficult to know what's an official lore information or a theory made up by fans. For this reason, all lore information should have a reference to its source media.

Template:cite is used to generate a unified format for the main sources. A good level of detail for a source is to mention the game, the story part (such as an event) and a chapter number or name. If the information is extremely specific, a short contextual explanation can also be given (see examples at Tactical Doll#References).

Files

Files extracted from the games themselves don't need a source. Contributors should refrain from uploading game files that they haven't extracted themselves, because files found from other sources may not be of the original quality or be otherwise altered.

For any other file, especially images, the source should be indicated plainly on the file's page. It can be a link like here or a page number like here.

Real-world

Real-world information, such as details on game development, promotional events or notable community-driven material, should always be sourced with social media posts, news articles or otherwise trustworthy outlets. Without a serious source, a real-world information becomes a rumor or a “drama”, which is against IOP Wiki's content policy. Case-by-case exceptions can be made when an original source has been lost or is otherwise no longer accessible (such as privated social media posts).

References as footnotes edit

Some lore or real-world topics can use a Footnotes section to provide extra details that would be clunky to integrate into the body of the article. See examples at List of Locations#Notes and Sunborn#Notes.

To add a Note, use the "ref" marker like this: <ref group=Note>My note</ref>. Then, above the regular References section, there should be a section with ==Notes== and <references group=Note />.

Regarding the Girls' Frontline narrative canon edit

There's little to no official comments regarding the enforcement of Girls' Frontline's narrative canon, making the resolution of narrative inconsistencies (especially in the timeline) an unofficial matter. To determine which information should be presented first in case of inconsistencies, IOP Wiki relies on observed community consensus when applicable, and otherwise on definition methods implemented in many long-standing fandoms. These rules may be applied to specific subsections of a single media:

  1. Official and serious: Fan-works, canceled media and parodies cannot be part of the canon. Note that it is common on the Japanese market for fan-works of professional quality to be officially licensed and sold in collected format, these sanctioned fan-works are not canon because the authors are not officially affiliated with the franchise.
  2. Core media: Girls' Frontline is mainly a game franchise. As such, the narrative of the games has greater weight than the narrative of other forms of media like books, animations or social media posts.
    1. A derivative from this rule of Core language. Girls' Frontline is originally written in Standard Chinese, so this version is the source of truth when contradicted by localization in English, Japanese, Korean, Traditional Chinese or any other language. All key terms should have their Standard Chinese version mentioned in their main article for reference.
  3. Recency: The most recent version of the narrative is preferred. Old prototype works with no obvious connections to the current narrative are ignored.

These rules only influence which information is presented first. Inconsistencies should always be addressed in footnotes or any other appropriate format, but never omitted. Inconsistencies are part of the growth of the Girls' Frontline franchise, and IOP Wiki aims to cover every aspect of it.

Canon and non-canon works according to IOP Wiki edit

Canon
Not canon
Ambiguous canon
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