User talk:Lhynard

__NEWSECTIONLINK__ Note: Lhynard is at a conference. He will have access to Internet, but will not be updating his projects and will be slower to respond than he normally is.

Talk Archives: 2014

Creature vs. Inhabitant
Okay, Lhyn has given me an opportunity to discuss the question on whether creatures are inhabitants... a long time ago, High admin FW stated only specific persons, such as Drizzt Do'Urden go into Category:Inhabitants of Toril and drow do not... so I would like to have another vote on what other editors think... just pasting, since you are SO fast with the edits :) - Darkwynters (talk) 16:53, November 30, 2014 (UTC)


 * Got it! Replied over at Talk:Dragon turtle. ~ Lhynard (talk) 16:58, November 30, 2014 (UTC)

Read: Help:Writing an article about a person... now we might change this, but let's wait to see what others think. - Darkwynters (talk) 17:00, November 30, 2014 (UTC)

Copyright Question
Are we not allowed to post pics from sourcebooks? I've seen hundreds of pics taken directly from D&D sourcebooks on this site. Artemas Entreri (talk) 12:39, March 20, 2015


 * It is considered "fair-use" to use a low-resolution picture/image to illustrate a page about a topic about that picture. However, a scan of text is a different thing altogether. Copying text verbatim is a form of plagiarism, and that's precisely what a scan of text is. If you wish to include the information in that table, it needs to be rewritten in your own words and in your own format.


 * Check with the admins for more information.


 * It's good to see more info about Zakhara, by the way. Thanks!


 * ~ Lhynard (talk) 18:02, March 20, 2015 (UTC)

Manshaka
Hi Lhynard. As you wished, I added some more about Vajra Valmeyjar. Enjoy!

At some point in these comics, I'll need to do a lot of work on Manshaka. Thanks for starting an article stub on that. I made some notes on the place, but didn't get around to writing an article; the amount of work required just to start adding the comics lore was what put me off the comics for a while. I would at some point, but to avoid stepping on each other's toes, did you have plans to work on Manshaka in the future, along with your Calimshan work? — BadCatMan (talk) 09:55, April 6, 2015 (UTC)


 * Great!


 * Yeah, it's tough summarizing down large chunks of story.


 * Yes, Manshakalaka is on my list. (One of my key NPCs is from there.) I'll bump it up in my priority and get to it sometime this week. ~ Lhynard (talk) 10:50, April 6, 2015 (UTC)


 * No hurry, we don't visit the place until issue #13 :) Big Vajra story, that one, with flashbacks to her past. For now, I'll focus on Pasha Abon Duum and his bounty seekers, and add to Manshaka as I come across lore. I think we can make a pretty cool article together. :) — BadCatMan (talk) 11:44, April 6, 2015 (UTC)


 * Ok, all finished with Manshaka. See what you think. ~ Lhynard (talk) 21:35, April 6, 2015 (UTC)


 * Damn, you work quick! Excellent work. See, you know all about Calimshan's history and know what drudachs and such are, which saves me some hassle. :) I'll add what else I've found later. It's amazing how many people claim to have survived and escaped the unsurvivable and inescapable Blood Arenas... — BadCatMan (talk) 08:37, April 7, 2015 (UTC)

N-Dashes
FYI, you do not need to bother putting n-dashes in page ranges inside a Cite template. Dashes are automatically converted to n-dashes by the template. It won't hurt if you do, but it's an unnecessary step while editing. If you discover otherwise, please let me know. &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 15:19, April 7, 2015 (UTC)


 * Yeah, I know. BatCat did that; I didn't bother correcting him.
 * By the way, I was impressed when I figured out that you auto did it! It's a pet peeve of mine when folk don't use en dashes in ranges. Honestly, it helped keep me involved here, because I saw that the admins care about details. ~ Lhynard (talk) 15:24, April 7, 2015 (UTC)


 * Fonts, typesetting, and mathematical notation have been a minor fascination for me since the days of (showing my age here) the Selectric typewriter. I think it adds credibility to our wiki if we keep it scholarly, focused, adhere to our policies, and pay attention to detail. And hey, if it prompted you to stick around, it's working! :) &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 19:09, April 7, 2015 (UTC)

XML Best Practices
Please take a glance at XML Syntax and try to maintain good XML syntax when you are editing. The TLDR version: instead of  it should be enclosed in quotes with a space before the closing, like. Just because we can get away with bad practices now, doesn't mean we will in the future. I didn't change your style on Wild dwarf because it was easier to cut and paste the tags rather than risk typos. I will do a global search and replace when I'm done adding 2e info, unless you beat me to it. Thanks! &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 15:00, April 12, 2015 (UTC)


 * I thought wiki's used HTML, not XML, which was why I wasn't wasting space. Sorry, I can switch over my style from here on out. ~ Lhynard (talk) 15:10, April 12, 2015 (UTC)


 * Wiki's come in lots of different flavors and HTML will work on this wiki, but I'm looking toward the future and trying to be XHTML compliant (the XML article was just the first one I came to that had the syntax spelled out). For reasons, you can start with HTML Versus XHTML, if you're interested. As for space, please feel free to add whitespace and arrange your pages to make the wiki code readable and maintainable (of course, the look of the rendered wiki page should take precedence). When a single image file can take up hundreds of kilobytes or more, it's hard to care about a few bytes for spaces, double quotes, and slashes. If you were talking about screen real estate, well, I would still opt for readability over compactness, but that's a personal preference. Hope that helps. &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 00:57, April 13, 2015 (UTC)

Wanted Articles
You know, Lhynard, you don't have to make these articles. Abyssal drake only gets 61 links because it appears in List of demons, which is used 61 times. It doesn't actually appear in the Realms, AFAIK. You could save your excellent article-writing skills for more Realms-focused topics. — BadCatMan (talk) 08:34, April 15, 2015 (UTC)


 * Should it perhaps be deleted from Template:List of demons? I figured A) it was known to be in the Realms because it was included in that list and B) I thought I read somewhere on this wiki that material about creatures from the Outer Planes was assumed Realms canon unless conflicted elsewhere. Maybe I misunderstood that latter part? ~ Lhynard (talk) 13:38, April 15, 2015 (UTC)


 * Most things in D&D can appear in the Realms, true, but they don't necessarily will appear either. But we do accept these things as valid material. The Unrelated template is to indicate an article doesn't necessarily connect specifically to the Realms, even if it is technically canon. I made it ages ago, and I'm giving it new life based on a Candlekeep discussion (start at the bottom).
 * But my main point was... No one cares about abyssal drakes. :) It's not a highly wanted article, it only achieves that status by virtue of appearing in a connections template. I'm not concerned about red links myself. It's not a Realms-specific subject. So, don't feel obliged to write it because of the list, write up what interests you (as I would tell all editors). — BadCatMan (talk) 15:36, April 15, 2015 (UTC)


 * I really like your Template:Unrelated and will start tagging articles as I find them.


 * FWIW, I agree with you and others on the Candlekeep forum that it's a waste of time to write articles not part of the Realm. Again, here I was misled in thinking that it was listed on Template:List of demons because some FR sourcebook I've not seen included such information. (Is there an FR sourcebook on demons and devils?)


 * What about all these author pages? Can't we just have the links in the citation template point out to Wikipedia? That's what I've been doing with the ones for things like Atari.


 * In general, for things like Chasme, which is a wanted article primarily because of the Template:List of demons but which you also link to in your Vajra and co. articles, should we just link out to somewhere else?


 * I have a completely different response towards red links than you. :) I hate seeing them. (Maybe it's a psychological problem I have? :) ) Seriously though, it's frustrating if I'm reading through an article and see that an abomination runs such-and-such a guild, yet I have no idea what an abomination is.


 * Anyhow, I get it; focus more on confirmed FR things.&hellip; ~ Lhynard (talk) 16:01, April 15, 2015 (UTC)


 * Well, one thing I noted at Candlekeep was that the FRW has become the de facto Core D&D wiki. Drive-by editors tend to add these creatures. While they're valid for the wiki, they're not particularly relevant to the wiki, which is kind of a quandary most wikis deal with. I've heard it said, and said before at Talk:Willow, that the more comprehensive a wiki becomes, the more information it has to cover from the real world and other worlds. This is an extension of that, really. We have to bear a lot of core-only material, on the basis that it may one day have a Realms connection. We'll have a page on Krynn at some point, due to crossovers and references, as we already do on Oerth.


 * No, there's no specific FR sourcebook on demons and devils, but they certainly get a lot of references in novels and sourcebooks.


 * Author pages are fine, IMO, they're extensions of the pages for sourcebooks and novels. The authors probably like them too. :)


 * I should write an article on chasme at some point, as they reappear in the comics. I need to find a source for them, though.


 * I'm not a fan of external links within the main article. That's why I've developed the External Links section and a lot of templates leading out to other wikis. That clearly shows to the reader that a link goes elsewhere, that it won't be part of our wiki. Within the main text of an article, I prefer links feed back to other pages on the wiki, as it encourages editors to build the web of intra-wiki links and build a more comprehensive wiki (as you have been doing a good job of). A red link just demands a new article, as you know, but a pale blue one does not.


 * Perhaps the main problem is those Content templates. I don't often use them myself, but other people seem to. A red link is unhelpful, and does give the wrong impression that X should appear on the wiki when it's only been included in the list for completeness's sake, not relevance. — BadCatMan (talk) 03:30, April 16, 2015 (UTC)


 * Just want to stick my nose here, I would like to keep the creatures, sooner or later a creature of that type will appear and give a name to that type of monster and if we get willow, Chamse should have a go as well. I get the Red link hatred, I use too have to to I went after the demon pages sadly I did copy-paste parts of it... The thing about the Boxes and there red links is that when you start looking you will find more to fill the box... and that makes even more 60+ Red linked pages :S!. Also I am biased as I like to make creature and monster pages ^^! Terrorblades 's Far Realm logs dated  08:05, April 16, 2015 (UTC)

Template Etiquette
Dude. DO NOT make significant changes to a critical template without testing it in your sandbox first. Furthermore, we have a Forum for discussing proposed changes to infoboxes and other elements of the wiki. Please use it. &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 12:54, April 15, 2015 (UTC)


 * I'm sorry. I made sure I tested it thoroughly with the preview feature where I could. I made certain that my changes would not be disruptive to anyone else; the only page content that visibly changed during the entire process was Aranea, and I left a comment for others to respond there, which they have (Talk:Aranea). So while I could have done better in not having as many page edits (though it was only 7), I did try hard not to break anything and I did request feedback before adding the appearance tabs to any other pages. (Now that would have been disruptive!) I'll go start a forum page now, if you'd like me to. I was just following wikipedia:en:WP:BOLD, and I was careful. If you want me to revert my changes, I won't be offended. Again, sorry if I posed any problems for you; I'm just trying to make this wiki a better place like the rest of you, and honestly, I was inspired by the awesome things you've done here with template in the past. ~ Lhynard (talk) 14:23, April 15, 2015 (UTC)


 * I totally missed your request for feedback because it was done in an Edit Summary instead of on a Talk page or Forum post, and it was done in the wee hours of the morning (I was asleep) after you had already made several edits to the template. Granted, you got a thumbs up from at least one admin, but could you give us at least a day to review big changes? And if you don't get sufficient feedback, please bump your request. I try to be on-line every day, and I religiously (one might even say compulsively) refresh the Recent Changes page, but I had no idea you had altered the template until I got to work and glanced at the wiki again.
 * As for being disruptive, keep in mind that this wiki gets at least 50K hits per day (I've seen it as high as 80K, but I don't keep track). Seven edits over the course of an hour is potentially quite disruptive, even if you're being careful. So please, use the sandbox for testing to minimize the possibility of messing up a forward-facing template. Maybe there is someone else out there like you that pays attention to the details and might be turned off by broken infoboxes. Okay, I'll stop now before I go hyperbolic. The appearance box looks nice, but someone chose really ugly text and background colors. :b Can we just let those go to default, or use one of the Creature subtemplates? Curmudgeonly yours, &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 17:30, April 15, 2015 (UTC)


 * I totally agree about those colors! I just left them there because they were there when I arrived. Done and done. ~ Lhynard (talk) 18:45, April 15, 2015 (UTC)
 * P.S.: enjoyed your closing


 * Lhyn, you are doing good work on this wiki... but you are making ONE fatal mistake... this wiki is a community...for the most part, we work together... we are not lone wolves... if I have an idea, I share it with other editors... I have been cringing every time I get on the wiki lately, because I monitor for troll activity and there have now been a billion edits everyday... now this is a good thing, but also a bad thing... I am betting that you have no idea how much time and effort, Movie, has put into his templates... and you have changed them without consulting the wiki community... my advice, SLOW DOWN... and COMMUNICATE... I usually wait until 2 people (admins, for the most part) are okay with my idea before going edit-crazy. So continue your impressive editing, but remember this wiki is a community. Thanks :) - Darkwynters (talk) 21:33, April 15, 2015 (UTC)

Quick on the Draw
Thanks for adding those categories to Castle Maerimydra and the Courtyard of Lolth pages. I'd barely made the article and I'd got an e-mail saying you had already updated the pages...fast work! I was wondering as well if the image field has been updated in Road Template or if it was a general wiki update? It seems to automatically size images to 250px and only use the file name now. Not sure if you've encountered it before or if you tweaked the template is all. Seems like a good idea anyway.--Eli the Tanner (talk) 13:54, April 23, 2015 (UTC)


 * Thanks for adding another road.
 * Sorry about the image confusion. I made the Road template recently, and I chose to make the image and caption work this way, because it was cleaner and simpler and easier to change globally at a later point if we, for example, wanted all pics to be 300px instead of 250px. As far as I know, it's the only infobox to do it that way. I didn't want to mess with all the other infoboxes! (Before this, folks were using either Location or Building for roads.) ~ Lhynard (talk) 14:00, April 23, 2015 (UTC)

Levelling up
Hi Lhynard.

I've been impressed with your good work and dedication to the wiki. In only your first four or so months, you've made over twice as many edits as I made in my first eight. :o Your articles are consistently well-written, clear, complete, and interesting. You quickly picked up all the details of formatting, categories, referencing, and style. It's a great start. And you've lasted a good few months.

Furthermore, you've gone beyond your own areas of interest to help the wiki in general, editing articles from other users; developing templates and codes; adding needed articles and lore; going on long editing tours to update things; getting involved in and starting discussions of features, policies, and organisation; and in general working very well with other users and admins, by helping others, sharing work and info, and graciously accepting corrections.

These are all the traits of a good editor, and a good admin. So, do you want to become an administrator here? :)

Of our regular admins, Moviesign and Darkwynters are doing a great job, and I suppose I am too. :) But the rate of new pages on the wiki with 5th edition and the Neverwinter MMO is quite high and only likely to grow when the new setting properly arrives, so another admin on the team would be vital. But, moreover, you've done such a good job that being an admin would help you do a better job here.

You'd get the power to delete and undelete pages; merge pages (it's just deleting and undeleting in a certain way); rename pages without leaving redirects; mark new pages as patrolled; access to more special pages and management features (I suspect you could do a lot with that); and the power to block users being trolls, vandals, pirates, or you just need to put them on hold for a while (use it wisely), as well as to lock at-risk pages while still accessing locked pages. Plus, the automatic message to new users will bear your name occasionally (if you were the last admin to make an edit). You'd keep doing what you're doing now, but with a greater capacity to clean up and manage the wiki, while also welcoming and handling new editors.

I've already gone and given you rollback rights (mainly to check that I could), so you can quickly undo a swathe of edits from the most recent editor on a page. It's good for cleaning up after vandals. — BadCatMan (talk) 05:30, April 25, 2015 (UTC)


 * I just got back from a 100+-mile bike tour and am dead.
 * Short answer is that I'm interested, but I don't want to say yes just yet until I have time to read through this more thoroughly and have a chance to pose some questions.
 * Thanks for the compliments and the offer! I'll give a proper response after I rest a bit.
 * ~ Lhynard (talk) 23:19, April 26, 2015 (UTC)


 * Heh, and here I was worrying I'd scared you off. :) Okay. — BadCatMan (talk) 02:11, April 27, 2015 (UTC)


 * So, you've outline some nice perks&mdash;I've been wanting to be able to delete and merge for a while&mdash;but you didn't really mention any responsibilities. Besides "doing what [I'm] doing now" (as you put it), what else would I be expected to do?


 * In general, it seems like MovieSign is the template guy and DarkWynters is the category guy. Were such roles assigned? Or did they fall into place naturally? Is there a particular area lacking that you need filled?


 * Is it a problem that I know nothing&mdash;and really don't care to know&mdash;about 4e or 5e lore?


 * Would I be able to use the bots? (They would make [wikia] life much easier!) Or are those owned by particular users?


 * Thanks again for the positive feedback.


 * ~ Lhynard (talk) 02:40, April 27, 2015 (UTC)


 * It's hardly perks; administrating inevitably means more work and responsibilities (okay, they're mostly self-imposed). :) But it's mostly up to you. Each admin settles into their specialities according to areas of expertise, time available, and temperament. Darkwynters handles a lot of categories and organisation, Moviesign coding and templates, I cover language and style matters. We all get into clean-up and maintenance as needed. We all get involved in debates on policy, organisation, and resolving problems as they arise. There's also the overall look and functionality of the wiki via the Wikia features and settings, spruiking the wiki around various forums, and forming connections and relationships to other wikis. But any user can get into that (except for Wikia features and settings, which are usually locked for non-admins).
 * As I said, "also welcoming and handling new editors". As an admin, your signature will sometimes appear on the automatic greeting to new users, so they might contact you. But generally, if you see a new user hanging around and doing a bit of work, you can greet them more personally, correct them on a few problems, offer some advice, and generally coax them to stick around or get more involved.
 * There's also troll-fighting duty. If you spot a vandal or troll, or rampant plagiariser, you can block them, undo/rollback their edits, and talk them down if they start an argument.
 * An admin can also mark new pages from non-admins as "patrolled" if they've been checked and are all a-okay (good language, referenced, categories, from a reliable user) or tagged for later work. They're highlighted for admins at Special:NewPages. Since you've been handling copy-editing, and rather well too, you could join me in patrolling them there. There's quite a flood of new articles that need language corrections. New articles from new and anonymous users also often need fact-checking, plagiarism-checking, references, categories, infoboxes, etc.
 * Nope, knowledge of 4e and 5e lore isn't a requirement. I don't know much 4e lore, and only have access to a few 4e core and FR sourcebooks, and I don't care to look at them too much (unless I'm shooting for completeness or featured article status). I know zip about 5e, I left in 4e and it's completely passed me by. I copy-edit the articles, but can't fact-check. TBH, we do need a dedicated 4e/5e expert to confirm the new lore, but that's not a requirement.
 * Bots are owned by particular users. Mine is UnseenServantBot. Another is StoneGolemBot from former/occasional user Jandor (they don't have to be called Bot or anything, it just stuck). You don't have to be admin to have one (though I would prefer them to be managed by admins for technical reasons), and not all admins get them. If you want one, you make a second Wikia account, then contact Wikia to have it registered as a bot (there's instructions for it). Bot edits are by default invisible (because they make hundreds of repetitive edits) unless you choose Show Bots on the recent changes page. Or you can use your own account as a bot, which won't be invisible. Then you get a wiki browser program (I use AutoWikiBrowser), interface it with your accounts, and use it to find pages, add or remove or change text according to rules, and so on (knowing regular expressions helps). If you need bot-work done occasionally, a simple repetitive change on a set of pages in a category, linked to from another, or containing certain text, you can put in an order on UnseenServantBot and I'll see what I can do. They can make updates much easier, but sometimes making the settings for a complex change can be harder than simply doing it by hand. — BadCatMan (talk) 03:50, April 27, 2015 (UTC)


 * In answer to your first question, and in the name of full disclosure, you might want to read my response to this conversation that took place on my talk page last year (muahahaha). Next question, DW and I just gravitated to our "specialties" and took responsibility for them. BCM foresees the need for more hands on deck to handle the waves of new pages we've been getting (at least that's my view of a need that needs filling), but no one is required to do anything. It's a wiki, folks volunteer. :) You don't have to know anything about 4e and 5e (I've never even played a 3rd edition game), but you may have to edit pages that include that stuff, and toe the "all editions are valid and need to be preserved" line. Over time it has gotten easier, and even enjoyable, to pull info from across all editions into an article and I've learned a lot. Your mileage may vary. Must sleep nowzzzZZzz. &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 04:16, April 27, 2015 (UTC)


 * Both BadCat and Movie are correct! Basically, Movie is a tech-head, BadCat's a fine bureaucrat, and I am just OCD... it does take some work being an admin... I try to limit myself on edits, but sometimes it is kind of an obsession keeping the wiki monitored... cleaning up and fighting off trolls... yet, I feel I am capturing a part of myself which I found 23 years ago... I have now played every edition besides 4e (unless you count Neverwinter (game)) and I feel like I am a researcher keeping the Forgotten Realms lore alive. As Cherlindrea says to Willow, "The choice is yours." :) - Darkwynters (talk) 04:52, April 27, 2015 (UTC)


 * Well done on the nomination Lhynard, you are one of the most prolific editors we've had and much of what you are doing now is the type of work the mods do anyway. For example your implementation of the Template:Location/Road and adding the Template:Unrelated tag to articles is great because you haven't stopped at just suggesting it but gone out and added them to the wiki yourself :) I was wondering what your specialism might be and from what I've seen you are quite good at developing portals (connections) in the wiki...your languages project and road templates are good examples of this. That said, you'll surely find your own specialism over time and there is no harm in overlapping with other mods, it helps keep them in check ;)


 * Also I think most of the recent extra work the mods have been doing because they are trying to keep up with your editing...BadCatMan's plan to bring you into the fold is a devilishly clever move.--Eli the Tanner (talk) 13:02, April 27, 2015 (UTC)


 * Ok, then, sign me up! ~ Lhynard (talk) 16:40, April 27, 2015 (UTC)


 * I hereby dub thee Sir Lhynard. Here's the keys to the staff toilet. I kid, I kid, there is no toilet. :)


 * So, have a look around, explore your new powers and things you have access to now. And ask Moviesign, Darkwynters, or I if you have any questions about what you can do. I can teach you the arcane art of merging articles later. — BadCatMan (talk) 02:10, April 28, 2015 (UTC)


 * Congrats, Lhyn... good show!!! A small piece of advice, if you feel like messing with the templates, ye might want to communicate with the rest of us... remember, we are a community and we are made stronger by unity. Cheers! (DW pick pockets keys and uses the magical toilet of the admins and returning the keys says, "BadCat never gave me such keys." - Darkwynters (talk) 04:59, April 28, 2015 (UTC)


 * Hay, Congrats! You deserve the promotion, just don't accept any deals from Asmodeus directly... No wait he'd anticipate that! Terrorblades 's Far Realm logs dated  14:59, April 29, 2015 (UTC)


 * So, about those keys&hellip;. Is there, in fact, any way for the admins to communicate to each other in a non-public fashion short of exchanging e-mail addresses? ~ Lhynard (talk) 20:10, May 23, 2015 (UTC)


 * Not that I'm aware of. &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 20:58, May 23, 2015 (UTC)
 * I was totality sure that Admin's had there own secret section of the wikia, where evil plans are hatched and they control the dice rolls of the universe. Terrorblades 's Far Realm logs dated  22:13, May 23, 2015 (UTC)
 * Moviesign whistles nonchalantly. &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 22:39, May 23, 2015 (UTC)


 * BTW, Lhyn, you are doing a great job as an admin :) - Darkwynters (talk) 19:36, November 25, 2015 (UTC)


 * thanks! ~ Lhynard (talk) 22:36, November 26, 2015 (UTC)

Tense of Many-Windowed Tower
Hi there, thanks for cleaning up the article I started, Many-Windowed Tower. I am just curious as to why it is now in past tense. I don't see any information on it or its inhabitants being gone now. Kalabac (talk) 06:06, April 29, 2015 (UTC)


 * Thanks for your addition to the wiki!
 * To answer your question, this wiki has a policy of writing all articles (with only a few exceptions) in the past tense&mdash;just like one might find in a novel. The whole policy is here:
 * Forgotten Realms Wiki:Remove wiki from timeline
 * A list of all our current policies can be found here:
 * Category:Policies
 * Thank you again for your help in making this wiki a useful source for Realms material.
 * ~ Lhynard (talk) 13:09, April 29, 2015 (UTC)

Userboxes
I love how your user page shows the % of pages you created compared to the total and how you prefer 3rd Edition. Could you help me edit my user page to show the same % for pages I created and that I prefer 2nd Edition? Artemas Entreri (talk) 14:06, May 12, 2015 (UTC)


 * I added the wiki code to your page for you.


 * Note: you have to manually increment the number every time you add a new page. There is a way of making it automatic, but I haven't done it yet.


 * To see a list of all your new pages, you can use Moviesign's handy tool:




 * &hellip;which gives:


 * This user has created 66 pages.Ab'iAdder RiverAgalAkil FestirAkyid al-NetiAl-Adib RiverAl-BadiaAl-Bidir Sallah</LI>Aleaxtis</LI>Alyana al-Azzazi</LI>Asgetrion</LI>Barkskin's storehouse</LI>Bison-gourd</LI>Bloodberry bush</LI>Burning Pool of Natifa</LI>Burrowing owl</LI>Chaos Bay</LI>Corsair Council</LI>Daraq</LI>Desert's Virtues</LI>Duhuls</LI>Elfinster</LI>Exterminators</LI>Fabada</LI><LI>Fetchigrol</LI><LI>Fire Falcon</LI><LI>Firethorn</LI><LI>Genie's Turban</LI><LI>Genies' Anvil</LI><LI>Goblinberry bush</LI><LI>Gorgondy wine</LI><LI>Grand Bazaar</LI><LI>Grinning Skull</LI><LI>House Fajirik Military Camp</LI><LI>Jamal Oasis</LI><LI>Kaitlin's weed</LI><LI>Khalil al-Assad al-Zahir</LI><LI>Kohl</LI><LI>Krammoch Arkhstaff</LI><LI>Mamluk</LI><LI>Mamluk Council</LI><LI>Mishtan</LI><LI>Mountains of Forgotten Dreams</LI><LI>Neldorild</LI><LI>Nishaadhri</LI><LI>Pit of the Ghuls</LI><LI>Quabah</LI><LI>Raziz</LI><LI>Razor grass</LI><LI>Renn min Zann</LI><LI>Rootweal</LI><LI>Salt bond</LI><LI>Sampranasz</LI><LI>Sandberry bush</LI><LI>Sembian cradle</LI><LI>Seven Wanderers</LI><LI>Shambarin</LI><LI>Sheirtalar</LI><LI>Spire of Kor</LI><LI>Suhailah al-Hawai</LI><LI>Thamilas</LI><LI>Vahtov</LI><LI>Vishap's Teeth</LI><LI>World Serpent Inn</LI><LI>Yarrat</LI><LI>Zakharan Calendar Months</LI></UL>


 * Enjoy! ~ Lhynard (talk) 14:23, May 12, 2015 (UTC)


 * Awesome, thanks! It adds a nice flare to the profile. :) Artemas Entreri (talk) 15:39, May 12, 2015 (UTC)


 * I just fixed it so that it will update the count automatically. You can read the doc for it here: User new pages. ~ Lhynard (talk) 18:13, May 12, 2015 (UTC)


 * I hate to rain on anyone's parade, but this method of counting a user's contributions has a limit of 500. This is why I haven't bothered to use it on my profile, because it always shows 500 :'( So, be forewarned that if/when you hit your 500th article, you'll have to continue with the manual counting method, unless we find another way of doing it. Until then, it's pretty cool :) &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 18:24, May 12, 2015 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the warning, Movie. :) The count is wrong for me anyhow, since it does not count redirects that have been made into articles. That's why I'm still manually updating mine. ~ Lhynard (talk) 18:28, May 12, 2015 (UTC)


 * P.S. Have you manually counted your pages yet?


 * Yeah, that's probably not going to happen. :P &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 20:58, May 23, 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for all of the help/info guys! I plan on hitting 500 pages in the near future. :D Artemas Entreri (talk) 19:59, May 12, 2015 (UTC)

Tense for years
Do we keep the DR years in present tense? Artemas Entreri (talk) 17:04, May 13, 2015 (UTC)


 * Yes. (It's an exception to the usual rule.) ~ Lhynard (talk) 17:18, May 13, 2015 (UTC)

Gotcha, thanks! Artemas Entreri (talk) 13:13, May 14, 2015 (UTC)

Items Template Question
I plan on adding some specific types of Zakharan boats to the wiki. Would I use the regular "Item" template for these or something else? Thanks for any advice! Artemas Entreri (talk) 00:17, May 16, 2015 (UTC)


 * Folks in the past have used the Item template for boats.


 * Someday, I'd like to see a template specifically for boats, because boats are very different from items in that they have crews and what-not, but it's low on my priority list. Maybe it can be the first Template you create? :) ~ Lhynard (talk) 00:26, May 16, 2015 (UTC)


 * Could Building work? That has owners, staff/crew, services, etc. — BadCatMan (talk) 13:07, May 17, 2015 (UTC)


 * That would be the other alternative, yes, but still not ideal in my mind. Ships are in some ways like items and in other ways like buildings.


 * I'd say use either Item or Building for now, whichever works best in the particular case.


 * (I tend to lean toward an object-oriented view of how to use templates: have child templates that inherit from parent templates, and have template subsections that act as their own templates for use among any infoboxes that need them, etc. This design pattern has many advantages. It gives consistency in style, provides a central place to make formatting changes for all templates, lessens cut-and-pasted code, and allows custom-tailoring for specific cases. But then, I'm a programmer, so it's how I think. We'd have to work together to refactor all the templates to play better with each other, and that's a large effort that I don't think we need to worry about anytime soon, but maybe someday.)


 * ~ Lhynard (talk) 14:31, May 17, 2015 (UTC)

Ethoist Priest
Ethoists were a special priest/cleric kit for the Al-Qadim setting. I'll get around to creating a page for this and all the other class kits soon. Artemas Entreri (talk) 02:21, May 18, 2015 (UTC)


 * Cool! ~ Lhynard (talk) 02:22, May 18, 2015 (UTC)

Askar
Could you take a look at the askar page I created to make sure the format is ok? This is the first of the Zakharan kits I plan to add but I just wanted to make sure this one was fine before adding others. Artemas Entreri (talk) 14:59, May 19, 2015 (UTC)


 * I cleaned up a few things, but it looked good for the most part. To be fair, though, I've not written many class-type articles myself. It might be worth checking with one of the other admins.


 * The main thing I changed was to move your note into the proper format. Another thing was to remove the section title "Kit Description". "Kit" is a "metagaming" concept, that is, it doesn't exist to a character in the Realms universe only to us who play the game. As such, I think it should be avoided like we avoid "crunch".


 * Good work, as usual! ~ Lhynard (talk) 18:53, May 19, 2015 (UTC)


 * Awesome, thanks! I'll have the other Al-Qadim kits uploaded soon. I'm debating on how to tackle the Sha'ir kit because there is extensive information about it in the form of it's own handbook.Artemas Entreri (talk) 19:01, May 19, 2015 (UTC)

Scanned Pics/Diagrams from Sourcebooks
Is it permitted to scan pics/maps/diagrams from a sourcebook and upload it on an article here as long as I give credit to the sourcebook and/or author? I guess the main question is: do sourcebooks fall under "fair use?"Artemas Entreri (talk) 20:04, May 20, 2015 (UTC)


 * This depends. Fair use has some limitations. The best overview of how this works is found here:
 * Forgotten Realms Wiki talk:Uploading images


 * Note that diagrams are never permitted. You have to come up with your own unique way of presenting the same information.


 * Crops of maps and pics are okay in low-resolution. (I make sure that the image is smaller than 300px wide.) I blank out any text if I can.


 * ~ Lhynard (talk) 20:15, May 20, 2015 (UTC)

Edit Questions
I was away for a few days but I'm back now. Here are answers to some of your edit questions from pages I made:

Lost Messenger- yes it actually says "o'clock" in the reference Artemas Entreri (talk) 22:27, May 24, 2015 (UTC)

Troll
Looks like a troll has struck Rennbuu and The Vast. Artemas (talk) 19:14, May 27, 2015 (UTC)


 * Sticking my nose in here but there is the Undo option in the recent changes, It's the tool for us to anti troll... The bans on the other hand are Admin work ;) Terrorblades 's Far Realm logs dated  19:22, May 27, 2015 (UTC)


 * I've seen the undo option on pages that I created but must have missed it on these ones. Anyway, I'm glad the troll is gone! Artemas (talk) 13:33, May 29, 2015 (UTC)


 * Banned and deleted. Thank you, both. ~ Lhynard (talk) 19:27, May 27, 2015 (UTC)

User Page issue
Can you tell me what's wrong with the user boxes on my page? The following message is showing up toward the bottom: Extension:DynamicPageList (DPL), version 2.3.0 : Warning: No results. Artemas (talk) 13:53, May 29, 2015 (UTC)


 * Excuse me, jumping in here. You just needed to use your new login name, "Artemaz". This should now work until you hit 500 pages. :) &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 14:17, May 29, 2015 (UTC)


 * Great, thanks! Artemas (talk) 14:18, May 29, 2015 (UTC)

Def Sort
Now that I know what it is and what it does, I'll help you tackle all of these "def sorts" for the character pages. Artemas (talk) 19:54, May 29, 2015 (UTC)


 * Thanks! Be careful, though; you've done a few of them incorrectly. Only Midani language names that start with "al-" or "el-" are last names. ~ Lhynard (talk) 19:56, May 29, 2015 (UTC)


 * Sorry about that. I saw your corrections on those and won't make that mistake again. ;) Artemas (talk) 20:03, May 29, 2015 (UTC)

Infobox Question
If I have tons of empty lines after filling in an infobox, should I delete the unused lines or just leave them be? I know the empty lines don't show up on the actual page, but it looks pretty cluttered when I go back to edit (like for all of these "def sorts" I'm doing). Artemas (talk) 20:42, June 3, 2015 (UTC)


 * Usually leave them be. I personally remove deprecated lines, but in general it is best to leave them blank to make it easier for future editors to add information. ~ Lhynard (talk) 21:23, June 3, 2015 (UTC)


 * Will do. I've seen a ton of them that have been cleared out while doing the "def sort" edits. Artemas (talk) 01:20, June 4, 2015 (UTC)


 * Since it has no effect on the page appearance, it's no big deal. It's just a courtesy to other editors. ~ Lhynard (talk) 01:22, June 4, 2015 (UTC)


 * Chiming in. A lot were removed in the past, while some lines are new and not included in the older articles. Generally, I leave most with a view to future expansion or as an aid to other users checking the code, but delete some that just have no relevance. For example, most 1e/2e/3e characters won't have 4e and 5e stats, and vice versa, and I remove the unneeded lines. — BadCatMan (talk) 09:28, June 4, 2015 (UTC)

DM's Helper
I am totally in favor of this, even if it's just for fun. Let me know if I can help/collaborate/contribute. &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 13:47, June 5, 2015 (UTC)


 * Sure thing! I really like the cat. jump you made for the environments. ~ Lhynard (talk) 13:50, June 5, 2015 (UTC)


 * That sounds nice! I'd like to help to! Especially now that my Campaign is about to start! *nervous* Terrorblades 's Far Realm logs dated  14:49, June 5, 2015 (UTC)

Citation Issue
Could you take a look at my Ring of the holy slayer page? I cited the Encyclopedia Magica Volume 3 but am having issues getting the page number to show up correctly. Artemas (talk) 13:27, June 7, 2015 (UTC)


 * No one had created that citation template yet. I just did. It works now. ~ Lhynard (talk) 14:03, June 7, 2015 (UTC)


 * Ahh, that makes me feel better then. :) Thanks! Artemas (talk) 14:08, June 7, 2015 (UTC)

Created Pages
Could you help me add a link to my "User Created pages" box so I can create a page similar to what you have done for your created pages? Artemas (talk) 14:23, July 15, 2015 (UTC)


 * Sure.
 * Create the page User:Artemaz/Articles, (which it looks like you've already done.)
 * Use something like the following code:

==Articles I Have Created==

Total Articles Created: ###


 * The trick is to surround the whole page with  and then to surround wherever you have the number for your running tally with.
 * Your new pages count user box should then look like this:


 * This will allow you to exceed reporting past 500 pages, which you will hit soon.


 * Let me know if that works for you. ~ Lhynard (talk) 03:24, July 16, 2015 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the tips. I figured this would be a much easier way to scan through my created pages. :) Artemas (talk) 12:52, July 16, 2015 (UTC)


 * Hmm, I'm getting an "Expression error" message on my page. Do you know what's causing it? Artemas (talk) 15:28, July 16, 2015 (UTC)


 * Yep. fixed it for you ~ Lhynard (talk) 15:36, July 16, 2015 (UTC)

Teamwork!
Re: User_talk:Thomaslove92
 * Hi, glad I could help! Hope I'm not stepping on any toes. I'll do my best to finish up #2-#9 by tomorrow evening. You'r right there's not much, but I think I can meet the 3 sentence rule for most of them! Best of luck, no doubt we'll be hearing from each other soon! -Thomas Love http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/jackass/images/5/5f/Star_tiny.png [ talk ] 14:53, September 7, 2015 (UTC)


 * Nope, my toes are quite fine. :) ~ Lhynard (talk) 14:57, September 7, 2015 (UTC)

Ethnicity categories
Can you explain to me why you removed the ethnicity categories for Calishites and Chultans (from Category:Images of Rasaad yn Bashir, Category:Images of Aarin Gend, and Category:Images of Safana)? Yes, they are all humans—in the same way that a white dragon is a dragon, but in that case we include the white dragon category on the page.... —Coswig (talk) 22:01, October 3, 2015 (UTC)


 * Sure.
 * This wiki's policies for categories are a little different than at other wikis. Usually, for any page, only the most specific categories are used. On this wiki, however, we make an exception for regular articles, including even the most general categories such as Category:Inhabitants. This is so that it is easier to find broad lists of things, such as all the humans in the Realms, without having to search deep through subcategories.
 * However, things are different for categorizing category pages themselves. In that case, the policy is to follow the usual policy on other wikis and only use the most specific categories.
 * So, for example, the article Aarin Gend should have Category:Chultans and Category:Humans. Likewise, the image File:Aarin.png should have Category:Images of Aarin Gend, Category:Images of Chultans, and Category:Images of humans. However, the category Category:Images of Aarin Gend should only have Category:Images of Chultans.
 * This policy is so that the category hierarchies work properly when displayed on category pages, such that any given subcategory only appears under a single collapsible plus sign on that page.
 * I hope that clarifies things for you.
 * And thank you for the help in categorizing all our images. (It's such a mess, isn't it?)
 * ~ Lhynard (talk) 00:03, October 4, 2015 (UTC)


 * Makes perfect sense. Thanks for taking the time to explain it to me. I was a bit confused because you took Category:Images of Calishites off of Category:Images of Aarin Gend instead of the human category. If I understand correctly, it should be the opposite. Can you double check to make sure I did it right? Thanks! —Coswig (talk) 02:56, October 4, 2015 (UTC)


 * Whoops! Yes, you categorized Category:Images of Rasaad yn Bashir correctly; I messed-up. ~ Lhynard (talk) 03:16, October 4, 2015 (UTC)

Silver citations
The article Silver is filled with citations. Is there some other policy or practice I've failed to follow? Thanks -Thomas Love http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/jackass/images/5/5f/Star_tiny.png [ talk ] 23:31, October 4, 2015 (UTC)


 * No, it just needs a citation for the sentence I tagged with the template. There are indeed a good number of citations. ~ Lhynard (talk) 23:33, October 4, 2015 (UTC)


 * Ah yeah! I see it now. Thanks. That sentence was basic informaiton based on real-world silver. Should I delete the informaiton if it's not cited in FR or D&D sources? Thanks -Thomas Love http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/jackass/images/5/5f/Star_tiny.png [ talk ] 23:36, October 4, 2015 (UTC)


 * My personal preference is to not use real-world information at all on this wiki, if it does not have a D&D or FR source to back it up. We can (and you did) include links to Wikipedia if people want to learn more about real-world silver. So I would remove the entire sentence.


 * However, I'm not fully certain that we have a policy on this sort of thing. If you want to start a forum post on the topic of "Statements in Articles Based Solely on Real-World Facts and How or If to Cite Them", I'd be interested what the other admins think.


 * ~ Lhynard (talk) 23:42, October 4, 2015 (UTC)


 * Cool, I'll delete the sentence for now and open up a quick discussion in the forum. Thanks -Thomas Love http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/jackass/images/5/5f/Star_tiny.png [ talk ] 23:45, October 4, 2015 (UTC)

Monster naming skillz
Thanks for naming that umber hulk on the Monstrous Compendium Volume One cover. Can you apply that same skill to this image please? I'd like to know what beastie the lady goliath is slicing up.

Thanks -Thomas Love http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/jackass/images/5/5f/Star_tiny.png [ talk ] 20:11, October 10, 2015 (UTC)


 * I think that's a green slaad, but I'm not certain on that one. ~ Lhynard (talk) 20:33, October 10, 2015 (UTC)

Marilith
I see what the editor did for that page, he capitalized marilith. I think the page should be made plural, so there is no confusion regarding whether it is about Marilith, or the mariliths on a first glance. Personally, I think the names are too similar.Gem Hound (talk) 10:17, November 21, 2015 (UTC)


 * No, it is against policy to pluralize article names. What is done in a case such as this is to use a disambiguator in the title, such as Marilith (individual). See, for example, what has been done for Balor and Balor (individual).


 * For this particular case, the image caption that the user changed is for an image from Monster Manual v.3.5, where it clearly depicts both a generic balor and a generic marilith. It was not an image of Marilith.


 * ~ Lhynard (talk) 17:56, November 21, 2015 (UTC)


 * Ok That is good enough for me(as long as the pages are different). Did you talk to the editor and explain about how creatures are not proper nouns, even though names are? Just curious.Gem Hound (talk) 19:01, November 21, 2015 (UTC)


 * No, I did not. It's a minor thing. ~ Lhynard (talk) 19:17, November 21, 2015 (UTC)
 * Okay. Also thank you for editing mongrelmen/mongrelfolk. The only problem with mongrelfolk and mongrelmen that stopped me from adding to the page is that there is completely different lore behind the two. That is unless you found a source that connects them. If we have completely opposing lore between two different D&D articles, which one takes precedence?Gem Hound (talk) 19:23, November 21, 2015 (UTC)


 * Yeah, it's tricky with how much they changed some of the races over the editions. Our rules for canon work like this:
 * A Forgotten Relams source trumps any core source, no matter the edition. If a 2e FR sourcebook gives the history of how the mongrelfolk came to be, or a descriptions of how they look, any conflicting information from 3e core D&D sourcebooks are ignored.
 * Sourcebooks trump any novels, articles, comic books, or video games.
 * Novels trump any articles, comic books, or video games.
 * Articles (such as in Dragon) trump comic books or video games.
 * Comics trump video games.
 * Newer editions trump older editions, but only if there is a direct contradiction.


 * Also, a good article on a topic with major discrepancies among editions should have notes pointing those discrepancies out. For example, see Shoon II and note how I used notes to explain the contradictions I found.


 * Keep up the good work!


 * 19:53, November 21, 2015 (UTC)


 * Ok, so that is good to know. I'll add the 3e information on them and put the Dragon magazine info on them in notes after I'm finished with Oryndoll though I personally prefer the Dragon magazine lore on them as it is just I don't know cooler and better written than the 3e lore on them and also includes a short story.
 * Also thanks!
 * Gem Hound (talk) 21:05, November 21, 2015 (UTC)