How to Use Sources and References

The purpose of PPC Wiki is to help people understand and navigate the vast and bewildering morass that is the Protectors of the Plot Continuum universe. Wait, are we technically a multiverse now? Multiverse, then. But the point stands: it's big. Really, really big. And confusing. Therefore, when you are writing a wiki article about certain topics in the PPC, it is very important to list sources or use references. There are three reasons for this:


 * 1) Information. Sources/references allow people to see quickly and easily where certain ideas came from.
 * 2) Navigation. Sources/references allow people to easily find stories that involve the persons, places, or things they're interested in.
 * 3) Verification. Sources/references let us know the thing in question wasn't just made up on the fly, but actually comes from a written work or works by someone with Permission.

Not everything needs to be sourced&mdash;we all know the Sunflower Official is the head of the Department of Mary Sues, for instance&mdash;and not everything is sourced the same way. This guide won't cover all the intricacies of when and how to source or reference, but it should touch on the most commonly used forms.

Source vs. Reference
What's the difference between a source and a reference? Basically, references use numbered, inline tags that involve a bit of wiki code, and sources don't. References are useful when a page's information comes from many varied works. Sources are best when a page's information comes from a small or connected body of works; this avoids cluttering up the page with lots of tags that point to the same stuff over and over.

Another difference is that references always appear under a section header called "References." Sources may appear under different names, as best fits the situation. This will be discussed more as we go.

Basic Sources
Your typical "Sources" section goes at the bottom of the article under a second-level header:

Most sources will be missions. For example, let us assume our source is a Lord of the Rings mission by Agents Alice and Bob in the Department of Mary Sues:

For more about how to format mission links, see Posting New Mission Reports.

If the source is an interlude, that may be noted with an  tag in place of the canon title.

If the source is a non-narrative PPC work, it should be credited to the author of the work:

.

(The  may be omitted if the author doesn't have a user page on the wiki.)

Basic References
A references section also goes at the bottom of the page. If a Sources section exists, it should go below the Sources section. A References section must include a  tag beneath the header, like so:

Links are formatted the same way as in sources, but they must be placed between opening and closing  tags in the article body. Note that the ref tag should come after any punctuation at the end of a clause, not before, and there should be no space between punctuation and tag.

All together, a reference and reference section should look like this.

References

Canon Pages
Canon pages (including canon continua, canon characters, canon items, etc.) rarely need sources or references, since the information on the page can be assumed to come from a) the canon works in question, and b) the personal experience of the PPCers who are part of that fandom. Granted, it would be nice if people could offer evidence to back up their claims about fandom tendencies, but we understand that this is often difficult if not impossible.

References should be used if one wishes to cite a work that is not part of the canon's main corpus.

Department Pages
Department pages typically use a reference section, especially the larger ones that have been written about extensively by many different people. Things that are generally accepted as common knowledge, such as the head of department and flash patch, need not have a reference in most cases. If the information comes from somewhere besides a story in a spin-off, though, that may warrant referencing.

Specific statements about a department's description, methods, special equipment, and especially history should be referenced, especially if they weren't established in an obvious place or by obvious people.

A Sources section may be used instead of a References section if all the information about the department comes from just one or two places, especially if they're part of a single spin-off. For instance, this currently applies to the Department of Angst and the Eclectic Subdivision of Advanced Species.

PPC Character Pages
Almost all character pages use sources, usually in the form of a "Mission Logs"/"Mission Reports" or "Appearances" section. All the information about a particular character is assumed to come from the spin-off or various stories in which they appear, so exact references are not needed. See How to Make a Character Page for more information on formatting this section of a character page.

Some character pages may need a References section in addition to their list of appearances. A perfect example of this is Makes-Things. As one of the most popular free-to-use NPCs, he is written about by lots of different people and mentioned as often as he is written into a scene. Most Flowers also fall into this category.

PPC Events and History Pages
These should be sourced or referenced as appropriate. A Sources section is usually called "Sources" or "External Links" in this context.

PPC Invention Pages
Pages about PPC technology, substances, afflictions, etc., should be sourced or referenced, depending on the number and variety of sources involved. A Sources section may be called "Sources," "External Links," "Use in Missions," "Examples," "Appearances," and so forth; whatever seems most fitting. (But not actually "So Forth." Come on, guys.)