Required Process for Submissions to the Mizahar Wiki

[Gossamer]

Introduction Developing material for Mizahar can be a completely rewarding experience. Not only is it fun, but in doing the research needed to write an in depth article for our wiki, one often finds themselves highly educated as well. And, in addition to having fun, learning new things, one can also earn a Medal called "Lore Author" for having a completed submission added to the wiki. We will announce other Medals later for individuals that contribute large amounts of material to the wiki as well. As individuals might have realized by now, Mizahar enjoys a fully original theme and strictly enforces wiki articles being fully original (especially in terms of flora, fauna, gnosis, magic, and new races). Please do not post concepts ripped off of other fantasy worlds, books, movies, or videogames - they will be rejected, wasting your time and ours. Other skills, such as blacksmithing, have a less original theme, but are still fully needed. These more 'mundane' articles need to be written just as badly as new monsters need to be added to the wiki. However, we do require the material be fully original and laced with Mizaharian mythology and history. Please ask a Founder before starting an article in case someone else is already working on it. Many of the Founders have works in progress or completed works that just aren't posted yet. These individuals have produced the largest pool of wiki articles to date, so its nice to make sure there's no overlap. The Phases of Submitting a World Development Article Pre-Approval Phase: Every article must have pre-approval before the author can post up a Lore article. This is so the author can check to see if there is interest in their submission BEFORE they spend copious amounts of time researching and working on their writeup and then potentially find it is not as original as they thought or not fitting into our theme. Post a HD Ticket for Pre-Approval to Write an Article. Preference will be given on skills over monsters, but monsters can be approved as long as they are original or familiar RL (not Mythical) creatures with an original twist. Prior to this Pre-Approval process, a discussion thread can be posted to see if there is gamewide interest. Without Pre-Approval your article will not be allowed to remain posted in the WD forum. Peer-Review Phase: Post a completed Full Draft Article in the World Development Forum for Peer Review. The words [Peer Review] need to be in the title. Full draft articles must come complete with a link to their help desk ticket where said topic is given permission to be pursued. Once the Peer Review Phase is underway, authors must get at least five people to give a review of the article, their likes and dislikes of it, things they feel need expanded or elaborated on, or conversely why they feel it is strong as it stands. There needs to be at least one Peer Review for Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation. Reviews of 'Looks great!' do not count. The reviewers need to go in-depth in their reviews. We suggest authors volunteer to review the articles of others in exchange to gain faster responses. Peer Editing Phase: This is where the article author goes back, reviews the Peer Reviews, and makes appropriate changes to their articles based on the feedback they have received. This step may be skipped if the author has satisfied the player base and his or her reviewers. That does not mean, however, that a Founder won't ask for changes. Founder Review Phase: Repost a second version of the article in the Original Thread reflecting the changes the author has made. The title of the original thread must be changed to reflect its [Founder Review] status. This thread should have a link at the very top to the FIRST thread. Founder Input Phase: Get at least two Founders to provide input. Founder Editing Phase: Based on the Founders' Feedback, the article author should make suggested changes and then repost a FINAL DRAFT version. Final Approval Phase: Post a Final Draft taking into considerations the feedback the Founders gave and making any changes they request. [Final Approval] Must be placed in the title. Wiki Addition Phase: Once an "Article Approved Stamp" is placed in the thread by a Founder, then you are free to add your article to the Wiki. Anyone can add the 'approved' article to the wiki if the author feels uncertain about their wiki skills or needs help. Approval Stamp Additional Information To further read up on our creative process, please see the following three articles. Creative Manifesto Article Guidelines Wiki Rules Keep in mind, all articles need to be written within the context of the game. This means, no highly specific skills when general overarching skills can be written instead. Also, PCs can learn in numerous ways; picking up a book, observation, having a teacher, or just by trial and error. Keep this in mind when writing up articles on skills. Do not require a skill to be learned via a mentor or instructor. Critques When posting a potential article to the World Development Forum, you are soliciting PUBLIC feedback, critique, and inviting discussion. Founders will post to your articles and will point out flaws, weaknesses, or areas that lack attention to detail. This is a critique. Remember, the definition of a critique in this context is a critical review of a written piece of work. We are not critiquing people because we enjoy pointing out their mistakes. We are instead critiquing them because we hold our Wiki entries to a high standard and expect when people develop material for Mizahar that they comply to these standards as well. Remember, anyone can help review an article. However, just saying something is 'great' is not really helpful when the piece needs work. Helpful feedback consists of opinions on material, suggestions for improvements of grammar, spelling, punctuation. Polite disagreements of outlined material are also helpful but please provide evidence as to why you disagree. Collaboration on articles is also appreciated and encouraged. Team effort can often generate more elaborate and effective material. Discussion threads posted in the World Development Forum prior to starting development can also be incredibly helpful and are encouraged. Participation in the World Development Forum can be challenging and incredibly rewarding to anyone remotely interested in contributing and volunteering to see the game grow and expand. And most importantly, have fun! The Founders

[Gossamer]

Greetings Mizaharians!

The procedures for submitting an article have been updated based on your feedback as per this Discussion Thread. Thank you so much for everyone's input on how to better streamline this process. We took all your suggestions into account and condensed them into a system we feel will work to streamline the current process and facilitate communication.

Current articles will be grandfathered in under the old system for the next month. However, authors have until August 1, 2010 to get their work stamped with approval or they will be required to resubmit under the new system complete with a pre-approval via the Help Desk! It was through your advice and feedback we are constantly making Mizahar better. Thank you to all who participated in the discussion and weighed in with their ideas.

On behalf of the Founders,

Gossamer

[Gossamer]

Please Note: There's been one minor change to the submission process. When an article goes for 'Founder Review' please REPOST the article in a new thread with a link at the top to the original thread. This way we aren't reading the first article in the thread, reviewing that, then actually looking down twenty posts and finding a revised reposting within that very same thread... which has happened to me in just about everything I've reviewed. I just don't like to read other's reviews before giving my opinion because I don't want to be biased by them (or twenty pages of GREAT JOB! and no helpful critique).

Thanks!