[Ben_Goten78]

The General Guides Forum

Quality · Enjoyment · Knowledge

Table of Contents
 » Introduction
 » Quality
 » Rules
» For Guide Posters
» For Repliers
 » Warning System
 » Banned Topics
 » Formatting your Guide
 » Posting in GG
 » Writing a Guide

Introduction

The purpose of the General guides forum is to collect a wealth of information for the users of this community, and for the thousands upon thousands of visitors who visit us here. The purpose of this forum, is to inform. All miscellaneous guides can be posted here to assist other players in their gaming experience. We do not accept Quest, City, Skill or Guild guides, as these are found on Zybez.
Keep in mind that not all guides posted in this forum will be used on Zybez.

Quality

Guide Quality is a MUST for our forum.
If you cannot submit a coherent, good quality guide, it will be rejected without warning.

Do not write a guide for the sake of writing a guide or becoming popular. Writing bad quality or useless guides will not give you any positive recognition. Also, use your own data, pictures and strategies. Do not copy from other sites, and think "it all ends up being the same information." Remember that many sites give incorrect XP values and information.
Prior to submitting your guide to GG for review by our staff, you must:
- ensure that what you are submitting has not already been written - remember, there is more than one page here. However, if you feel that your guide contains mostly different information on a topic that already has a guide and is in some way unique, then you may consult with a Guides CL to submit your guide.
- ensure there are no spelling or grammatical errors (run it through Microsoft Word spell-check).
- ensure that it is in a legible format (layout)
- ensure that there is no internet slang, 1337speak, or TXT language.
-- Example: ur, u r, cuz, uber, orsum, kul, 1337, 0r5um, etc.
- check the Guides and Maps Needed topic, to see if you could write it for Zybez.
- think to yourself: is this useful?

Rules

For Guide Posters
Do not post a guide that we already have; all it does is create spam. However, if you believe you can provide vastly different information, or strategies to a current guide, you may post it; that is, if you feel you can better the current one. It will be at the discretion of the GG staff as to whether or not it will be accepted.

Always check with a Zybez Content Team member prior to writing a new guide. This is just to make sure that you don't submit a guide that Zybez is already working on. Check with one of the Guides CLs.

Always acknowledge your sources. Copying text or images from other websites is forbidden - it is plagiarism, and violates copyright laws.

Do not use images or maps from other websites. Where possible, only use graphics or information from Zybez, or use your own. Also, if you take an image or map from Zybez, credit the guide it originated from (not the author), along with a link to the guide .

Full screen images must be re-sized. If you use your own images that are taken in full screen, please make sure that it is re-sized to the maximum of 768 by 502 pixels. A guide on how to easily re-size from full screen can be found here.


For Repliers
There is to be NO rating of guides. This includes, but is not limited to the following: `nice guide; 8/10 nice; good work; gr8 very helpful.` Only post to give constructive feedback, a detailed comment, a suggestion, an update or a question. Post only to give constructive feedback, detailed comment, suggestion, updates, or queries.

Report any posts breaking any rules. This includes spam, flaming, and other illegal posts.

Warning System

This section outlines the possible punishments for those who break the rules. We are lenient, and will only show such leniency in certain circumstances. Note: the colored text below corresponds with the set out in the rules above.
Offence #1 ,.::;' PM may be sent; posts will be deleted; you will be blacklisted for a month.
Offence #2 ,.::;' PM will be sent; post count may be reset or reduced; suspension (up to a week); blacklisted for two months.
Offence #3 ,.::;' Suspension (over a week); posts will be deleted (post count may be reset to zero); blacklisted for good.
Offence #4 ,.::;' Suspension (over two weeks); post count will be reset to zero, and all your posts will be deleted.
Offence #5 ,.::;' Ban from RuneScape Community.

Banned Topics

Firstly, the banned list for guide-types is as follows: Skill guides, Quest guides, Guild guides, City guides. This is because these guides are already found on Zybez, and there is no need for duplication. Below outlines the banned guide-topics:
» Incomplete guides
---- These will only be accepted if there is one or two small sections missing.
» Useless guides
---- This includes, but is not limited to: tips for certain skills; short `answer` guides; map guides.
» Picture/Video guides
---- These guides will only be accepted if there is sufficient text accompanying the images or video.
» Green dragon/Blue dragon hunting (money making) guides
---- There is simply too many of these for further guides to be of any use.
» Barrows/TzHaar guides (incl. video guides)
---- This includes guides such as: Defeating Tz-Tok Jad; Barrows strategies; Fight Caves; TzHaar training. These guides are banned for the same reason as Green dragon/Blue dragon hunting guides; there are simply too many of them.

For clarification on ANY of the above content, feel free to drop any one of the CL's a PM!

This post has been edited by Shadowmu: 26 August 2009 - 04:40 PM

[Ben_Goten78]

Pre-Formatted Templates

Below are two Pre-formatted guide layouts that anyone may use to set out their guide with. This is a basic guideline, and you can of course, create your own, or change any colors you wish. The visual version of the layout has information included, whilst the code version (below it) does not.

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

Guide Layout one:

Guide Title

By: Guide Author

Alternative colors for title and author: #006699; #61B329; orangered; #663333; #D2B48C

Table of Contents

• i - Revision history
  
• 1.0 - Introduction
  
• 2.0 - Section two title
  
• 3.0 - Section three title
  
• 4.0 - Section four title
  
• 5.0 - Frequently Asked Questions
  
• 6.0 - Credits

__________________________________________________________________________

Alternative colors: Always attempt to use the same colors for titles of sections throughout your guide.
Never use the same color for the titles as you did for the titles above.
#006699; #61B329; orangered; #663333; #D2B48C

i - Revision history [optional]
» DD/MM/YYYY - What you did
» DD/MM/YYYY - What you did
» DD/MM/YYYY - What you did
» DD/MM/YYYY - What you did

__________________________________________________________________________

1.0 - Introduction
» Introduce the topic of the guide
» Do the Where and How, Why, and What.
» Maybe use a rectangular image here, no bigger than 500x200px [ remember to only use images from runescape.com, zybez.net or your own ]

__________________________________________________________________________

2.0 - Section two title
Develop your guide further, with whatever information you need to include.

__________________________________________________________________________

3.0 - Section three title
Develop your guide further, with whatever information you need to include.

__________________________________________________________________________

4.0 - Section four title
Develop your guide further, with whatever information you need to include.

__________________________________________________________________________

Alternative colors for questions and the splitting text (___): #27789A; #FF6347; #00CC00; #C5AB78

5.0 - Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Question here?

» A: Answer here.

__________________________________________________________________________

6.0 - Credits
Contributor's name: Contribution [ ie. what they contributed: grammar/spelling fixes, pictures, information etc ]
Contributor's name: Contribution [ ie. what they contributed: grammar/spelling fixes, pictures, information etc ]
Contributor's name: Contribution [ ie. what they contributed: grammar/spelling fixes, pictures, information etc ]

Quote

Guide Copyright Notice:
All Guides are Copyright © Zybez Corporation, RuneScape Community and the origonal author, 2001-2006+; All Rights Reserved.

All guides submitted to Zybez or RuneScape Community become property of the Zybez Corporation. Use on any other website is PROHIBITED!
Guides can only be used on other sites with permission from Zybez Staff AND the author.

[codebox]

[font=Trebuchet Ms][center][color=#1E90FF][size=5][u][b]Guide Title[/b][/u][/size][/color]

[size=2][color=#61B329][i][b]By: [u]Guide Author[/u][/b][/i][/color][/size][/center][/font]


[color=orangered][b][size=3]Table of Contents[/size][/b][/color][list]
[*][i]i - Revision history[/i]
[*]1.0 - Introduction
[*]2.0 - Section two title
[*]3.0 - Section three title
[*]4.0 - Section four title
[*]5.0 - Frequently Asked Questions
[*]6.0 - Credits
[/list][center][color=gray][s]__________________________________________________________________________[
/s][/color][/center]

[size=2][i]i - Revision history[/i][/size] [optional]
[b]»[/b] DD/MM/YYYY - What you did
[b]»[/b] DD/MM/YYYY - What you did
[b]»[/b] DD/MM/YYYY - What you did
[b]»[/b] DD/MM/YYYY - What you did

[center][color=gray][s]__________________________________________________________________________[
/s][/color][/center]

[color=goldenrod][size=2][b]1.0 - Introduction[/b][/size][/color]
[b]»[/b] Introduce the topic of the guide
[b]»[/b] Do the Where and How, Why, and What.
[b]»[/b] Maybe use a rectangular image here, no bigger than 500x200px [ remember to only use images from runescape.com, zybez.net or your own ]

[center][color=gray][s]__________________________________________________________________________[
/s][/color][/center]

[color=goldenrod][size=2][b]2.0 - Section two title[/b][/size][/color]
Develop your guide further, with whatever information you need to include.

[center][color=gray][s]__________________________________________________________________________[
/s][/color][/center]

[color=goldenrod][size=2][b]3.0 - Section three title[/b][/size][/color]
Develop your guide further, with whatever information you need to include.

[center][color=gray][s]__________________________________________________________________________[
/s][/color][/center]

[color=goldenrod][size=2][b]4.0 - Section four title[/b][/size][/color]
Develop your guide further, with whatever information you need to include.

[center][color=gray][s]__________________________________________________________________________[
/s][/color][/center]

[color=goldenrod][size=2][b]5.0 - Frequently Asked Questions[/b][/size][/color]

[color=#3E5E75][b]Q: Question here?

» A: [/b][/color]Answer here.

[center][color=gray][s]__________________________________________________________________________[
/s][/color][/center]


[color=goldenrod][size=2][b]6.0 - Credits[/b][/size][/color]
[color=orangered][b]Contributor's name:[/b][/color] Contribution
[color=orangered][b]Contributor's name:[/b][/color] Contribution
[color=orangered][b]Contributor's name:[/b][/color] Contribution


[center][quote][b][u]Guide Copyright Notice:[/u]
All Guides are Copyright © Zybez Corporation, RuneScape Community and the origonal author, 2001-2006+; All Rights Reserved.

All guides submitted to Zybez or RuneScape Community become property of the Zybez Corporation. Use on any other website is PROHIBITED!
Guides can only be used on other sites with permission from Zybez Staff AND the author.[/b][/quote][/center]

[Blenders]

The Do's and Dont's of Posting in General Guides

Table of Contents

• Why with the good posting habits?
  
• Posts/Topics to Avoid Making
  A. Posts
  B. Topics
  
• Good Posts
  
• More resources
  
• CLs are your friends!
  
• FAQs
  
• Updates
  
• Credits

======================

1. Why with the good posting habits?
Its getting more and more difficult for guide authors to find good, constructive posts on how to improve their guides. These hard working authors have to dig through countless spam posts to find methods to improve their guide. This post will show you examples of good and bad posts so you will be a better asset to the General Guides forum (Will be hereafter referred to as simply 'GG'). If you break any rules in this post I shall smite you with a wooden spork.

======================

2. Posts/Topics to Avoid Making
A. Posts to avoid

1. "Good Guide 5/10"
Two things wrong there: NO rating guides and NO posting "good guide" or anything that resemble it without also giving constructive feedback. As a general rule any post 3 words or less is probably spam.

2. "Wow, great guide, the pictures make it looks very professional"
Believe it or not, that is spam. Nothing constructive in saying what you like about a guide.

3. "This guide isn't done, it belongs in content camp"
A CL or Moderator has to approve a topic made in GG before it is made visible to the public. If you can see it then it belongs here.

4. "^^What they said"
Repeating even constructive feedback is a waste of posting space. Unless the author disagrees with someone else's feedback but you think you can convince them to add something then you are spamming. Having 10 people say "more pics pl0x" doesn't help.

5. "Your guide sucks, give up on life"
Flaming is NOT tolerated. Feedback is to be constructive. Even if you are being constructive, flaming is not permitted.

6. "Awesum guild, mabe we can go play kill teh KQ 2gether sumtime, k?"
Just because an author is writing a guide on something doesn't mean they want to do it with you. Unless the author states they are looking for participants to do something. (if they were looking for a KQ partner then the post would be ok)

7. "Anything unconstructive"
Anything unconstructive is considered spam.
con·struc·tive- adjective
1. Serving to improve or advance; helpful: constructive criticism.
If you can't post something to advance the guide, you shouldn't be posting at all.

======================

B. Topics to avoid

1.BANNED topics!
Banned topics can be found HERE

2. "Can sum1 make me a guild about carving wooden shoes plz"
No. Bad. Requests for guides are to be made in the sticky HERE

3. "Guide to underwater basket weaving IRL"
This is RUNESCAPE Community. The guides here should only be about RUNESCAPE or things closely related, such as video programs.

4. "Teh s00pur guide 2 chopping teh w00ds!!11!!eleventyone!11"
Skill guides can be found on Zybez. Please do NOT duplicate any guides found on Zybez.

======================

3. Good Posts
I figure people won't mind if I use their names on this section.

1. "Here is a vid i did.(nothing special no music but it give ppl an idea on how to defeat jad as well as make sense on his attacks..." -Bullet626 (posted in "Guide to Obtaining a Fire Cape")
Adding your own videos, pictures, or links to other resources on rsc or Zybez is wholeheartedly welcomed.

2. "Great guide, but I have only 1 question
Your not guaranteed to get a Dragon 2H, are you?" -mike7vick (posted in "Chaos Elemental Guide")
Asking questions is great, it helps to further guides.

3. "you might want to add rune defender (rune pure), mith defender (mystic putre)" -Messs Wid Me (posted in "How to Develop a Pure")
Adding data or alternative methods of doing something is greatly appreciated and helps to further guides. (yes he typoed, bigf deel)

======================

4. More resources
General Guides Forum Rules - Includes: Rules, the warning system, banned topics, and how to format your guide
Comments, Questions And Requests - Request a guide, ask a question, or make a suggestion you feel would benefit GG.

======================

5. CLs are your friends!
The General Guides and Content Camp Forums are led by: Karll, Shadowmu, vegury, Maxman, Aragon, Avicenna, and Tera Chaos.
Don't be afraid to pm one of them if you have any questions or requests.

Report posts! Don't call attention to rule-breaking, it is far better to just hit the "Report" button. Feel free to ask the CLs questions. Remember to ALWAYS private message a CL prior to writing a guide. If you feel your guide needs a lookover from a CL from spam (we should keep them clean of general spam) because you feel like yours is overrun then please PM one of us.

======================

6. Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Help I cant find my guide! I just posted it and it's not here?
A. Your guide is invisible until a CL approves of it. Your guide will either be approved to General Guides, or moved to the Content Camp.

======================

7. Updates
8/14/06-Guide started by Blenders
9/7/06-FAQs added, Fluff added to credits
4/8/09-Updated and Revamped by Aragon

======================

8. Credits
Blenders - Obviously the hawtest CL on RSC
Cyrax - Prettied up the guide, curse my inablility to coordinate colors!
Fluff - first FAQ added
Aragon - Revamped & updated guide

Any questions about the above; PM a Guides CL.

This post has been edited by Shadowmu: 27 July 2009 - 03:13 PM

[five aces]

Guide To Writing Guides

A Guide by Five Aces

[ Introduction ]

This guide is a result of me seeing too many guides that were simply difficult to read. This guide will look at the layout of the guide, and the progression of information within the guide, but will not be looking at the actual content. Content is up to you, the guide writer, to decide.

I'll be pointing out a few things, mostly to do with the use of BB-codes. This includes colours, alignment, etc.

============================

[ Contents ]

• General Layout
  
• Progression of Information
  
• General Text
  
• Colours
  
• Assorted BB-Codes

============================

[ 1. General Layout ]

A good guide flows visually, just as much as it flows information-wise. No matter how good your content may be, if it looks bad, people will not read it. The fundamental rule to layouts is the separation of different topics, and the use of headings in conjunction with that.

Firstly, look at this guide. It is split up into five sections, each dealing with it's own aspect of writing a guide. (This doesn't include the Introduction or Conclusion.) Though some of these may overlap, none of them fully cover each other. Their headings are simple, and tell the reader exactly what will be in that section.

Looking at the sections, each is split up into paragraphs. Each paragraph is separated by a blank line. This helps to keep the guide feeling spacious, and not making a reader feel crowded by the words on the page. Short paragraphs help with this, as it makes the guide seems shorter, and easier to read. Make sure, however, you are not spliting a topic too much with your paragraphs.

Also remember that you can make an important point by making it a paragraph of its own.

With your headings, try and make them stand out, and try to keep them numbered, so that people can note their progression through your guide. It's no good to have a reader constantly wondering if they might have missed a section, or what order they should be in. Don't let your reader become confused, show them in the right direction.

Sub-Headings

With sub-headings, make sure they stand out, but also make sure they do not over-power the main section heading. Whether or not you choose to mention your subdivisions of your sections in your Table of Contents is up to you - in a long guide it may make the Contents seem cluttered and disorganised, while in a short guide it may make the guide seem larger than it is. It's up to you to judge whether or not to mention them.

============================

[ 2. Progression of Infortmation ]

Considering that people will not read your guide if it looks bad, I've placed the General Layout section first. However, in the long run, equally, if not more, important is the progression of information within your guide. If a reader is getting confused, or feels they need to double back to verify a point, then they are likely to stop reading. If they feel they are reading something that requires more background information (information that may be located further into the guide) then they will stop reading. If they're not quite sure what the guide is going to cover, then they probably won't give it much of a chance.

In my Introduction, I tried to give a brief overview of what my guide is covering. It tells the reader basically what they will be reading, and why I've written the guide. This is always helpful to have at the beginning, even if you show what your guide will cover in your Table of Contents.

Think, while you are writing a guide, what order a reader, or person following your guide, will have to accomplish the tasks you define. If they need a certain skill level, or have to complete a certain quest, then this information should be at the very beginning. Conversly, their gal should be towards the end, after all of the preparation has been covered. Don't worry if you think that people will get bored waiting for you to get to the point - if they read through your entire guide to find out that they can't accomplish what your guide sets out to help them with, then they will be pissed off.

============================

[ 3. General Text ]

I'm going to give you a list of "Do"s and "Don't"s. (This will also show how lists can be useful when writing a guide.) The "Do" list is fairly self-explanitory, and short, with the main focus being the "don't" section.

Do:

• Use proper English.
  
• Make sure you put a space after all your commas, periods, exclamation and question marks, etc.

Don't:

• Use annoying symbols (e.g. "~", "#", "*" etc.) to define headings.
  
• Use chatspeak, 1337speak, or any other derivative of the English language.
  
• Type a solid wall of text - break it up with paragraphs.
  
• Forget to capitalise what needs to be capitalised.
  
• Forget to proof-read your guide for spelling and grammar errors. (Feel free to ask someone else to.)
  
• Use lots of different colours - keep it simple.
  
• Use lots of different alignments - keep it neat.

============================

[ 4. Colours ]

Colour choices are so important, they deserved a (short) section of their own.

There is nothing more annoying when reading a guide to find that the guide writer wanted to make it into a work of art. In all honesty, you should use colours sparingly, so that when they are used, at shows that what you're saying is important. To see guides that have five different colours used within three lines is just terrible - there is nothing wrong with leaving text the default colour.

Also, people forget, when writing a guide, that other people use a different skin. People accustomed to dark skins tend towards light colours (which are hard to see on light skins) and visa-versa. A couple of good colour choices, which are viewable on all skins, are Crimson (used in this guide), DodgerBlue (used as the main title for this guide) and Tan. Please try and keep in mind readers who are not using the same skin as you when you are deciding what colours to use.

Remember, if in doubt, simply have a look at your guide using each of the different skins.

============================

[ 5. Assorted BB-Code ]

There are a few little gems hidden away in the BB-Code that people so often do not make use of.

Lists

Lists are the number one thing that I find people fail to use. They make your Table of Contents much neater, and are an excellent way to examine different options. There are a couple of different types of lists, of which I will give examples of the three main ones, and the code.

Plain Bullet List said:

• Option 1
  
• Option 2
  
• Option 3

[list]
[*]Option 1
[*]Option 2
[*]Option 3
[/list]

Numbered List said:

• Option 1
  
• Option 2
  
• Option 3

[list=1]
[*]Option 1
[*]Option 2
[*]Option 3
[/list]

Lettered List said:

• Option 1
  
• Option 2
  
• Option 3

[list=a]
[*]Option 1
[*]Option 2
[*]Option 3
[/list]

Note that the lists are indented, and that you do not have to use the bullet BB-Code ( [*] ) on every line - any line that you do not will still be indented, it just won't have a bullet or number.

Paragraphs

Recently introduced to RSC is the paragraph tag. This clearly defines a section of text, and can be used to make people focus on a main point you are trying to make, or can be used for other purposes. Note that you cannot use all other BB-Codes inside a paragraph - you cannot use lists, alignments, indents, etc.

A paragraph allows you to further define a certain point, or can just help to keep things nice and tidy.

[p]Text.[/p]

Don't feel at all obliged to use this tag. Also, don't use it on all your paragraphs... That becomes annoying.

Indents

Some people, like myself, find that a good way of making headings stand out is by indenting all the information within the guide. Indents are also useful to make a special note stand out, or simply define an important piece of information.

Don't, however, use indeants in some places and not others - above all, you need to be consistent!

[indent]Text.[/indent]

============================

[ Conclusion ]

That concludes this guide on how to write a guide. I hope you have found it useful, and, if you're one of the people who does some of the things I say not to, I hope you will at least consider changing it to better suit the reader.

Thank you for reading. If you spot any errors, or have any suggestions, feel free to post them here.

This post has been edited by White Wolf: 27 April 2007 - 03:41 PM