Minecraft Discontinued Features Wiki:Tutorials/Creating a Page
This page is a tutorial on the basics of creating a new feature page. Every page should cover all the content that is seen on this page. If an existing page does not, then the relevant information should be added. If not enough relevant information is added after the page is created, or it does not meet the necessary guidelines as outlined in the style guide, it may be deleted.
Before Creation
Questions
Firstly, thanks for wanting to help grow the wiki! Creating a new page may be somewhat of a daunting task. If you have any question on any part of this process, please feel free to ask! The official Discord is the most responsive place to ask, but the help page is also available for those who do not wish to use Discord.
Should My Page Be Added?
The Minecraft Discontinued Features Wiki, as the name states, documents discontinued features. A discontinued feature for the purposes of this wiki is defined as: "A feature of Minecraft, whether through a bug or an intentional feature, that you could obtain in older versions of the game, and the ability to get this feature was at some point removed. This feature also must be able to be updated to a version where it is unobtainable without being lost." The updateability of the feature to a version where it is unobtainable is key! If you cannot update the feature into a version where it is unobtainable, then it is not discontinued.
This does not mean that your feature has to survive to the latest version, or be unobtainable in the latest version. Features that were unobtainable for a short duration but were made obtainable again such as Java Edition:Gravel and Sand ("recontinued features") or features that are not updateable to the lastest version such as Java Edition:Locked Chest ("deleted features") are perfectly valid discontinued features.
When creating a page, ensure that there is enough information on the page for it to be useful to both players and future editors. If you know a feature exists, but you cannot create a page as not enough information is known about it, then add it to the list of needed pages.
Not all wiki pages are for documenting discontinued features, of course. New pages may be created for other purposes, but this tutorial focuses on creating a new feature page. Examples of non-feature pages include tutorial pages or navigation pages.
These features must be applicable to vanilla Minecraft versions. Modded versions are not applicable.
Feel free to check the style guide for specific inclusion rules.
Style Guide
The style guide contains specific information for page formatting. It is important for maintaining consistent formatting for easy reading and editing. For this tutorial's purposes, it can be condensed to the following:
- Title Case should be used for the feature title and page name
- All features should be placed into the correct namespace
- Use American English spelling (e.g. use "color", not "colour")
- Versions should follow the official naming scheme
- Follow the capitalization rules
- Main feature image should be an isometric render, nicely cropped and clean screenshot (no HUD elements, particles in the way, etc.), or the results of a /data command
- Unknown or untested information should be marked with the
{{test}},{{WIPpage}}or{{WIPsection}}templates where applicable - Links to other pages should use the
{{page}}template
Choose Your Title
It is important to give your page an accurate and descriptive title. Avoid words like "and" and "or", or using "/" when possible. Try to be as descriptive as possible of what the feature is, but don't be too descriptive. What the best title for a feature should be is subjective, so don't worry too much if your title isn't perfect. Below are some example titles for the feature described on the page Java Edition:Piglin Equipment to help get a feel for titles.
- "Piglin Equipment": This is the current title of the page. It tells what the feature is (equipment - generally this includes armor, weapons, and tools, but for this case tools are not included) and where you get them (dropped from piglins). It is rather unspecific due to the broad nature of the feature (it includes duplicate enchantments and incompatible enchantments on a wide assortment of items), but specific enough to differentiate it from similar pages.
- "Overenchanted Golden Swords and Crossbows and Golden Armor": This is a poor title. It is quite long and wordy, and uses "and" twice.
- "Overenchanted Piglin Equipment": An acceptable but flawed title. Slightly more descriptive than the current title, but "overenchanted" is vague. For this feature, it means that duplicate and incompatible enchantments are present, but "overenchanted" often means containing enchantments of a higher level than normally possible, which this feature does not have.
As stated before, do not worry too much if your title isn't perfect. Once you have a title, it's time to start creating your page!
Getting to the Creation Page
Reaching the creation page can be done in a number of ways.
Method 1 - Use link in sidebar
In the sidebar (docked to the left side of the screen for desktop, under the page on mobile), under the "Tools" section, there's a link to create a "New page". Clicking on it will take you to a special page, which will provide you options to enter namespace and page name. Once done, click "Create" to proceed.
Method 2 - Search for the page
To get to the creation page you can click on a red link or use the search page. Search for your desired page title. Ensure that you are including the applicable namespace! After searching, click on the red link with that name.
Page Contents
Image
All feature pages should have a main image of the feature. A clean screenshot from the game is a good starting point. If the feature is directly visible in a screenshot, then this is quite easy. More hidden features may require the usage of the /data command, NBT editors, or a screenshot of a file explorer to see. More advanced users may use the Isometric Renders mod to create clean images of features. After you have your image, make sure to crop it to contain just your feature or just the results of a /data command.
To upload your image, go to the upload page to upload your image. In most cases, you can use the same name as the title of your feature for the main image name.
/data
/data is a Java Edition exclusive command. It is very powerful, but it may be daunting to those who are not experienced with Minecraft commands and NBT. Below are some commands that newer users may find useful (the syntax below will work for Java versions 1.14 and above):
/data get entity @e[type=!player,sort=nearest,limit=1]: Get the NBT data of the entity nearest to the player./data get entity @s SelectedItem: Get the NBT data of the player's currently held item./data get block <x> <y> <z>: Get the NBT data of the block entity at the given x, y, and z. These coordinates may be tab completed with the block the player has highlighted.
Infobox
Add an infobox including the template shown below at the top of your page. There are many other parameters that this template includes such as additional start and end versions or deleted versions. If you want more information on those other parameters, the documentation for the template has guides on how to use them. You can upload an image using the upload page.
Below is an example infobox:
{{Discontinued Feature Infobox
| image = Missing Texture.png
| caption = This is a caption to go along with the image, should be descriptive and simple
| type = Type of discontinued feature
| version = Start & End Version
| startversion2 = Start Version #2
| endversion2 = End Version #2
}}
Introductory Paragraph
After the infobox, there should be an introductory paragraph. This should include a brief description of what the discontinued feature actually is (even if quite obvious), as well as other useful information such as its properties, the total obtainable version range, when it was converted or deleted if applicable, etc. If there are not many uses for something they can also be included in this section, otherwise it should be included in a separate uses section. This is a required section.
Obtaining Section
After the introductory paragraph, there should be an obtaining section with subsections for each method. Each subsection should include the version range it was obtainable and how to get it. If you are creating a method page, then this section should be called Performing instead.
Uses Section
If there are multiple uses for this discontinued feature that either make the game easier to play or can lead to other discontinued features, include each use in a subsection in this section.
Gallery section
Upload and add images representing more aspects of this feature.
<gallery> File:File 1.png | Caption of File 1 File:File 2.png | Caption of File 2 </gallery>
Combos Section
Create the list of other discontinued features that can be combined with feature, if applicable. If needed, divide them with slashes, if they are mutually exclusive.
See Also Section
After the information should be a see also section that links to other related pages. 2 or 3 other page links are good. This is a required section.
Additional Information Section
Anything interesting about this feature that aren't directly applicable to Minecraft should go here.
References Section
References should be the final section if any references exist. If the bug is tracked on the Mojira Bug Tracker, it should be included using the {{bugref}} template.
Categories
Finally, categories should be included at the end of the page. See the category tree for more examples of categories. Each section of categories must be used when creating your page, including its availability, intention, method, movability, observability, permanence, persistence and type. For each intended block, the page must include all categories above it.
Availability
[[Category:Java Availability]]
[[Category:Java Edition:April Fools']]
[[Category:Combat Tests]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Development]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Downgrade]]
[[Category:Java Future]]
[[Category:Java Multiplayer]]
[[Category:Java Multiplayer Exclusive]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Release]]
[[Category:Java Singleplayer]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Singleplayer]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Snapshot]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Experimental Snapshot]]
[[Category:Java Unsupported Version]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Upgrade]]
[[Category:Java Versions]]
Intention
[[Category:Java Intention]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Intentional]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Unintentional]]
Method
[[Category:Java Edition:Methods]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Cheats]]
Movability
[[Category:Java Movability]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Movable]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Unmovable]]
Observability
[[Category:Java Observability]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Directly Observable]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Indirectly Observable]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Semi-Observable]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Unobservable]]
Permanence
[[Category:Java Permanence]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Permanent]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Temporary]]
Persistence
[[Category:Java Persistence]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Current]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Deleted]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Recontinued]]
Type
[[Category:Java Type]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Individual Blocks]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Block Configurations]]
[[Category:Java Block Entities]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Block NBT]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Block Data Values]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Liquid Blocks]]
[[Category:Java Dangerous]]
[[Category:Java Computer Damage]]
[[Category:Java Corruption]]
[[Category:Java Crash]]
[[Category:Java Dangerous Version]]
[[Category:Java Destruction]]
[[Category:Java Duplication]]
[[Category:Java Entities]]
[[Category:Java Entity NBT]]
[[Category:Java Effects]]
[[Category:Java Inventory]]
[[Category:Java Hostile Mobs]]
[[Category:Java Neutral Mobs]]
[[Category:Java Passive Mobs]]
[[Category:Java Villagers]]
[[Category:Java Trades]]
[[Category:Java Players]]
[[Category:Java Statistics]]
[[Category:Java Stacked Entities]]
[[Category:Java Items]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Block Items]]
[[Category:Java Equipment]]
[[Category:Java Armor]]
[[Category:Java Tools]]
[[Category:Java Weapons]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Item Data Values]]
[[Category:Java Item Count]]
[[Category:Java Item Entities]]
[[Category:Java Item Entity NBT]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Item NBT]]
[[Category:Java Durability
[[Category:Java Enchantments]]
[[Category:Java Duplicate Enchantments]]
[[Category:Java Incompatible Enchantments]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Lists]]
[[Category:Java Modifications]]
[[Category:Java Data Packs]]
[[Category:Java Modified Client]]
[[Category:Java Mods]]
[[Category:Java Plugins]]
[[Category:Java Resource Packs]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Cheats]]
[[Category:Java Self Replicating]]
[[Category:Java World State]]
[[Category:Java Dimension Exclusive]]
[[Category:Java Alternate Dimension]]]
[[Category:Java End]]
[[Category:Java Nether]]
[[Category:Java Overworld]]
[[Category:Java Files]]
[[Category:Java File Manipulating]]
[[Category:Java External Tools]]
[[Category:Java Edition:Level Conversion]]
[[Category:Java File Deleting]]
[[Category:Java File Moving]]
[[Category:Java File Renaming]]
[[Category:Java Time Changing]]
[[Category:Java level.dat]]
[[Category:Java Region File]]
[[Category:Java Terrain]]
[[Category:Java Biome]]
[[Category:Java Structure]]
After Page Creation
- Go to pages that should link to your page and add links to it.
- Go to the correct version page (eg. Java Edition:1.7) and add the discontinued feature to the table.