The Article Layout Guide shows how articles should be structured and organized on the wiki. This page will explain the organization of different types of articles, as well as how to properly add content to each section.
For the purposes of this guide, it will be assumed that whoever's reading it knows the basics of editing. If not, there are plenty of tutorials available over at Community Central, as well as in Help:Contents. Asking more experienced users, as well as the wiki's staff, is also a good way to learn.
Please keep in mind that some of the policies on this page may change.
General Sections
These sections can be applied to most, if not all, of the articles on the wiki. Any guidelines listed must be followed regardless of the type of article they appear on.
Article Introduction — The text directly below the article's title that introduces the reader to the subject, usually through a short description or brief summary of the subject's role.
- If an article requires one, the appropriate infobox should be used for the appropriate page. Infoboxes should be the first thing placed on the page.
- Please see Category:Infobox templates for the wiki's complete list of infobox templates.
- The first instance of a subject's name, its equivalent, and/or any listed aliases or nicknames should be bold.
History — The history of the subject throughout the series.
- All events, excluding those that are included in the Background subsection, should be written in the order that they happened in the story.
- All information should be recorded as it was presented in series. No speculation or opinions should be present in this section.
- This section should be written in-universe (meaning no mentions of episodes or seasons) and in past tense.
- Background — Anything that happened in the subject's history prior to the start of the timeline of the series.
- Events that are shown in flashbacks should be included in this section.
- For some pages, this subsection may be divided into different sections. For example, Eleven's background is split into “Birth and Early Life” and “Psychokinetic Training”.
- Some subjects may not have this subsection due to there being no information about their past.
- Year— Here is where the events that took place in the timeline of the season will be recorded. This section is usually what takes up a majority of the article.
Behind the scenes — This section is for "real-world" facts. Facts about casting and production should be written here. This section should be written in paragraphs, not bullet points. Also, it should not be written from an in-universe point of view.
Trivia/Notes — A collection of interesting, often little known facts about the subject. All facts should be written in bullet points. For character pages, this section will always be called "Trivia". This section can include:
- Observations made about the subject by observing background clues or hints present in dialogue.
- Facts revealed about the subject in interviews, or any other official source.
- Acknowledgment of fan reactions and fan theories.
- This section is also one of the few sections where speculation is somewhat acceptable, as long as it is made clear that it has not been confirmed.
- Any other information that would otherwise not fit into the article.
Gallery — Galleries display interesting images of a subject.
References — A list of sources for information used in the article. This section will always be at the end of an article.
Character Pages
Character pages should be placed in Category:Characters and any appropriate subcategories. The {{CharacterNav}} (character) navbox should be placed at the end of every page.
Page Layout
Character pages should more or less follow this layout:
== History == === Background === === Year # === == Personality == == Relationships == === Familial === === Non-familial === == Appearances == == Memorable quotes == == Behind the scenes == == Trivia == == Gallery == == References ==
Note: Some characters may not have enough information to justify including all the above sections. Pages for more complex characters, such as Eleven and Vecna, can contain additional sections.
Sections
Infobox — Provides a image of the character, listing their name, birthday, aliases, residence, relationships, and more.
- If a character is deceased, they should only be listed as deceased. The cause of death is a gratuitous detail that does not belong inside an infobox (infoboxes are geared towards bite-sized pieces of information); simply referring to the character as 'deceased' is enough.
- The {{Character}} infobox should be used.
- Infobox image selection is subject to various guidelines:
- In most cases, episode screenshots should be used for infobox images, unless the character only appears in the comics, in a video game, etc. Concept art or other images might be permitted in some unusual cases. For example, the Demobats page uses concept art; since the Demobats are near constantly in motion while on-screen, it means the concept art is of much greater fidelity and makes for a more effective image. However, these unusual cases ought to be discussed amongst editors.
- The series includes many hallucination scenes; when possible, these hallucination scenes should not be used as a source for infobox portraits. For example, though Vecna primarily appears in hallucinatory form in Season 4, his '1986' portrait comes from a non-hallucination scene.
Quote (optional)
- {{Quote}} can be used to highlight a quote, spoken by the relevant character.
- The quote should be placed between the infobox and the article introduction.
- Quote lengths should be kept minimal, when possible.
- Please bear in mind: a quote does not need to be added to every single character page. A quote should only be added if it adds substantial value to the top of the page - ask yourself, is the quote memorable, or interesting? Does the quote reflect the character's personality and traits in revealing ways? All of these justifications are valid, but there needs to be some kind of rationale as to why a quote has been added.
Article Introduction — Introduces the character, usually by stating their role in the season(s) and a brief summary of the character's storyline.
- In the opening paragraph, real-world details about the character are permitted. These include:
- The actor(s) who portrays the character.
- The particular season(s) of Stranger Things/the expanded media in which the character appears.
- The type of role they play - e.g. protagonist, antagonist, or just 'character'.
- We insist that terms like "secondary" or "tertiary" must not be used when describing an antagonist - this is far too subjective or arbitrary for any one person to decide. Rather, list an antagonist as "minor," "recurring," or "main." These terms are grounded in a more concrete rationale, as they refer to real-world terminology surrounding casting.
- These rules do not apply to non-human characters, such as the Demogorgon and the Mind Flayer.
- In the following paragraphs, real-world details are not permitted. The opening paragraph (not including 'Trivia' and 'Behind the scenes' sections) is the sole exception to the rule that character articles must be written from an exclusively 'in-universe' perspective. For more information, see the "Point of view" guidelines.
History — The character's storyline throughout the series written in-universe and in past tense.
- Background — This section consists of events that took place in the character's life before the start of the timeline of the series.
- Year— The character's storyline throughout the timeline of the season.
Personality — Here the qualities of the character's personality will be described. This section may sometimes be called “Personality and Traits”.
- It's not enough to just say a character is brave. Give some examples of the character's bravery.
- The character's likes and dislikes can be noted here.
- Any other traits, characteristics, and mannerisms can also go here.
Relationships — Here is where the character's relationships will be described. Basically, summarize the characters' interactions.
- This section usually has two subsections:
- Familial – This can also include adopted and surrogate relationships.
- Non-Familial – this includes all other relationships that are not part of the character's family. Friends, romantic interests, enemies, and other relationships should go here.
- The relationships should be written mostly from the perspective of the character.
- Only notable relationships should be described here.
- Because some interactions between characters may have different meanings and interpretations to some people, it can be easy to get carried away with personal opinions. Avoid this as much as possible and instead focus on how the characters' relationships were meant to be depicted in the story.
Appearances — This is where the character's episode appearances are noted. This section can consist of "season appearance" templates (for appearances per season) or the more comprehensive "series appearances" template.
If a character appears in multiple seasons, it is preferred that the "series appearances" template is used.
Memorable quotes — Here notable things said by the character will be listed. The quotes should be placed with bullet points and have quotations marks.
- The Quotes should be important and have impact. Less is more, so please keep the quote as short as possible.
- Fan-favorite lines and "one-liners" can go here.
Behind the scenes — Facts about casting and character creation, and all other relevant real-world information, should be written here.
- Trivia — Interesting facts about the character.
- "Trivia" is usually its own section (as described below), but it can also be a subsection of "Behind the scenes". This subsection approach is only approprate when there's also a "Theories" subsection.
- Theories — Where appropriate, "Theories" can be added to "Behind the scenes" as a subsection:
- This section is only for popular and widely-held fan theories. A balanced approach is recommended, discussing the evidence that supports the theory, while also offering a critique. These theories should be grounded in what the show presents, or real-world information related to the show's production.
- The speculation template should be added to the top of the subsection.
Trivia — Interesting facts about the character.
Gallery — A collection of images of the character during interesting or major situations.
References — A list of sources for information used in the article.
Episode Pages
The {{Episode}} infobox should be used. Episode pages should be placed in Category:Episodes and any appropriate subcategories. The {{Navbox/Episode}} template should be placed at the end of every article.
Page Layout
Episode pages should more or less follow this layout:
== Synopsis == == Plot == == Cast == == Music == === Soundtrack == === Original score === == Behind the scenes == == Notes == == Gallery == == References ==
Note: Some episodes may not have enough enough information for all of the sections included on the above list. Some episodes may even need additional sections depending on the information.
Sections
Synopsis — A brief summary of the episode. The official synopsis written for the episode on the Netflix website should be written here.
Plot — This section is much like the History section on character pages, only this time you will just describe what happened in a single episode, as well as the storylines of all characters.
- All events should be written in the order that they happened in the episode.
- All information should be recorded as it was presented in the episode. No speculation or opinions should be present.
- No information from future episodes should be present.
- Events should be written in present tense and in-universe.
Cast— Here all of the cast members that appeared in the episode will be listed alongside their characters. Major cast members should be listed first.
Music — All the music heard in the episode will be listed here.
- This section will have two subsections:
- Soundtrack – All songs produced by others artists
- Original score – All songs produced specifically for the show by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein.
- All songs should have a short present tense description of the scene where they are heard.
Behind the scenes - Facts relating to the development and filming of particular scenes of the episode will be written here.
Notes — Interesting facts and notes about the episode.
Gallery — A collection of interesting images from the episode.
References — A list of sources for information used in the article.
Gallery Pages
If and when an gallery section in an article exceeds 20 images, the gallery section should be removed and a dedicated subpage containing those same images, known as a "Gallery page" or "Gallery subpage", should be created. The Gallery pages should be placed in Category:Galleries.
As an example: The Gallery subpage for Eleven is Eleven/Gallery.
- A link to the Gallery page is created via the {{Gallery}} template.
- {{GalNote}} — This template appears at the top of the page and displays the rules of adding photos to the Galleries. This template should be added before anything else on the page.
Season Pages
The {{Season}} infobox should be used. Season pages should be placed in Category:Seasons and any appropriate subcategories.
Page Layout
Season pages should more or less follow this layout:
== Synopsis == == Plot summary == == Cast and characters == === Main cast === === Recurring cast === == Episodes == == Development == == Production == === Filming === === Special effects === === Music === === Post-production === == Marketing == == References ==
Note: Additional sections may need to be added depending on the information.
Sections
Synopsis – A brief summary of the season. The official synopsis written on the Netflix website should be written here.
Plot summary – A condensed description of the season's plot. This section should be written in present tense.
Cast and characters – A list of the cast and their characters, along with how many episodes they appear in, in bullet point form.
- Main cast – All major cast members and their characters.
- Recurring cast – Recurring cast members and their characters.
Episodes – The season's episodes displayed in a table. The table should include an image from each episode, as well as each episode's title, director(s), writers, and synopsis.
Development – Anything relating to the development of the season, such as conception, crew, and casting. Each aspect of development should be it's own subsection. Subsections may vary.
Production – Anything relating to the production of the season, such as filming and special effects.
- Filming – Any details about the season's filming, such as schedules and filming of particular scenes.
- Special effects – Any details about how the season's SFX were accomplished.
- Music – Details about the music used in the season. Can include details about both the original score, as well as the soundtrack.
- Post-production – Any details involving post-production, such as editing.
Marketing – Advertising for the season. This section may consist of the season's trailers or posters from social media marketing campaigns.
Comic Series Pages
The {{Comic Series}} infobox should be used. The pages should be placed in Category:Comics and any appropriate subcategories.
Page Layout
Comic Series pages should more or less follow this layout:
== Issues == == Characters == == Development == === Story === === Illustration === == Promotion == == References ==
Sections
Issues – The comic issues displayed in a table. The table should include a cover from each issue, as well as each issue's chronology, synopsis and date of release.
Characters – A list of the characters, along with how many issues they appear in, in bullet point form.
Development – Anything relating to the development of the comics series, such as conception, story, and illustration. Each aspect of development should be it's own subsection. Subsections may vary.
- Story – Any details about the conception of story of the series should be added.
- Illustration – Any details about how the art and design of the comic issues were accomplished.
Promotion – Promotion for the comic series.
Comic Issue Pages
The {{Comic Issue}} infobox should be used. The pages should be placed in Category:Comics/Issues and any appropriate subcategories.
Page Layout
Comic Series pages should more or less follow this layout:
== Synopsis == == Plot == == Characters == == Variant Covers == == Promotion == == Trivia == == References ==
Sections
Synopsis – A brief summary of the issue. The official synopsis should be written here.
Plot — This section should contain the description of the issues' plot, as well as the storylines of all characters. Similar to the plot section on episode pages, the events should be written in present tense and no information from future issues should be present.
Characters – A list of the characters that appears in the issue, in bullet point form.
Variant Covers – A collection of images of the different covers of each issue designed by the artists.
Promotion – Promotion for the comic issues. This section may consist of info regarding ashcan copies or images of some preview pages of the issue.
Trivia — Interesting facts and notes about the issue.
Other Pages
While all other page types on the wiki don't have specific layouts that should be followed, it is important that they still follow the wiki's guidelines and maintain a certain level of consistency.
Minor Pages
Multiple subjects, such as characters, locations, etc., that alone do not have enough information for their own article can be combined into one article. On these pages, subjects will be listed alphabetically and each have their own section. An image of the subject should be displayed on the right. The {{Clear}} template should be placed at the end of each section to ensure that images don't overlap into another section. Categories and templates for these pages will vary, but should correspond to the subjects listed.
Location Pages
The {{Location}} infobox should be used. Depending on the type of location, there may be a list of inhabitants, staff, students, etc. There may also be a profile listing all of the location's known rooms and areas. Location pages should be placed in Category:Locations and any appropriate subcategories.
Cast Pages
For cast pages, the {{Actor}} infobox should be used. The article introduction will consist of a summary of the cast member's career. Be respectful when adding information. Cast pages should be placed in Category:Cast. Subcategories will depend on the season(s) the cast member appeared in.
- Filmography – A list of media the cast member has worked on over their career displayed on a table. May sometimes be divided into subsections, such as “Film”, “Television”, etc.
Crew Pages
Director, producer, and writer pages will all use the {{Crew}} infobox. Depending on the crew member, they should be placed in the Directors, Producers, and/or Writers categories.
- Credits – a list of the crew member's directing/producing/writing credits throughout the series.