Editing Help:Cleanup

Some times, in the course of your browsing around BattleTechWiki, you may encounter pages which need correction. These pages may be confusing, inaccurate, or very poorly written, among other potential problems. There might also be a notice at the top of the page indicating a problem with the article. What should be done in this situation? Well, if possible, try to fix it yourself!

A list of pages marked for cleanup can be found at the [[:Category:Cleanup|Cleanup]] category page.

==Cleaning up a page==
The goal of cleaning up an article is to make it accurate, understandable, and enjoyable to read. It is also important to be respectful of the work done by previous contributors.
===Signs an article needs cleaning===
*Confusing - article or portions of the article make little or no sense. Just because an article is about something you are not familiar with doesn't mean it should be confusing - an article should do its best to explain itself to casual readers, often through linking to other articles which define terms or concepts
*Inaccurate - article contains information which you know is inaccurate, or information which contradicts information from other sources
*Poorly written - if an article contains very bad grammar or spelling, it may be difficult to read. Sometimes this will overlap with "confusing"
*Strong opinions - article is essentially a rant, or contains excessive or annoying opinion on the topic (for example, "Clanners are all assholes!") or first-person commentary ("I hate Clanners")
*Vandalism - article contains spam, advertisements, "notes" (such as, MrAwesome is the best at MW3!!!), or other obvious signs of being tampered with
*Unrelated - some aspects of the article are completely unrelated to the article's topic
===Cleanup guidelines===
Do your best to improve the article without damaging the work of previous contributors. Try to correct something before completely rewriting it, and note and explain any changes you make in the article's Talk page. If you aren't sure whether to change something, ask about it in the article's Talk page. If you don't know how to fix all or part of an article, consider adding a cleanup tag to the top of the page (explained later).

*Confusing: Try to rewrite or rearrange sections of the article to make them less confusing. Add wikilinks ('''<nowiki>[[ ]]</nowiki>''') to terms or concepts that a casual reader may not be familiar with. If there is no article to explain that term or concept, you should still add the link so someone else can write the article later. Or, try writing it yourself!
*Inaccurate: Correct with accurate information. If necessary, research the topic to make the best decision.
*Poorly written: Try to improve the grammar, spelling, and sentence structure of the article. Do your best to preserve the original meaning.
*Strong opinions: Remove strong opinions from the article. However, you shouldn't just remove the opinion completely, even if you disagree. Instead, add a section where you note that particular feeling in a neutral manner (for example: "Some consider camping to be an unfair practice").
*Vandalism: Remove the vandalism, and if necessary, restore any damaged sections from previous edits in the history page.
*Unrelated: Remove unrelated information, or if possible move it to a more relevant page. 

==Cleanup Tags: When you can't fix it yourself==
Sometimes you may encounter an article which you can't clean up yourself. This may be because you do not have sufficient knowledge of the topic being discussed, don't have time to make the corrections yourself, don't fully understand the editing process, or just aren't sure how to rewrite whatever needs correction. In any of these situations, it may be appropriate to place a cleanup tag at the top of the page, in order to mark it so that others can make changes.

===Guidelines===
Try to fix a page yourself before marking it for cleanup. If you feel you cannot adequately correct the page for any reason, then it may be time to add a cleanup tag. If still you aren't sure if a cleanup tag is appropriate, it may be best to ask about the problem on the article's Talk page instead. If you mark a page because you don't currently have time to clean it yourself, please remember to come back and look at it when you have time!

===How Cleanup Tags Work===
Cleanup tags call premade templates which are displayed where the tag is located in the article. Inserting a tag is simple - all you have to do is copy the tag from here and paste it into the article (you can also type it in manually). Generally, it is best to insert the tag at the top of the page. However, if you feel it only applies to a certain section, you may wish to place it directly above that section instead.

The main cleanup tag adds the page to the [[:Category:Cleanup|Cleanup]] category. Other tags usually add pages to their own special categories, listed below.

===Types of Cleanup Tags===
* '''<nowiki>{{cleanup}}</nowiki>''' - Use this tag to mark a page for generic cleanup.  It is helpful to leave a few notes about your concerns in the Edit Summary, or in the Discussion tab of the page in question. Spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors get this tag.

Does the page need more or better references? 
* '''<nowiki>{{cn}}</nowiki>''' -  Add this to the end of a sentence or paragraph to indicate that this would be a good place to place a reference. It looks like this{{cn}}.  This tag does not add the whole page to a category.
* '''<nowiki>{{refimprove}}</nowiki>''' - Place this at the beginning of an article when the entire article has either no references, or could be improved by adding more. This adds the page to [[:Category:Articles with unsourced statements]].
* '''<nowiki>{{verify}}</nowiki>''' -  Add to either a section in an article, or possibly at the top of the article, when, regardless of references, you question if the information given is ''correct.''  Please add your concerns to the talk page as well. This tag adds the page to [[:Category:Articles needing verification]].

Does the page look incomplete to you?
* '''<nowiki>{{sectionstub}}</nowiki>''' - Add this to a specific section that has little or nothing in it.  
* '''<nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki>''' - is placed at the top of an article to indicate that the whole thing feels incomplete.
Both of these tags add the page to [[:Category:Stub]].  Remember: just because an article is ''short'' does not mean it is a stub.  Some characters or concepts appear only briefly in a single sourcebook or story. A "stub" is a topic about which more could be written.  

Are you looking at more than one of the above?
* '''<nowiki>{{multipleissues}}</nowiki>''' - Add this to pages where several distinct problems exist.  Explain your concerns further in the summary or on the discussion page.  This adds the page to [[:Category:Multiple issues]].

===Other Tags===
These are not the only tags you will encounter.  [[:Help:Template gallery]] gives a more complete list of the tags you might encounter (and use!), along with examples of how they look on a page.

[[Category:Help|Cleanup]]