Welcome to the Borant Corporation's Communications Department. The Administrator role requires passion, experience, flexibility, and a willingness to learn and adapt to the whims of the community and fandom.com's System.
1. Orientation
Welcome to your new role as an Administrator! Before getting started, consider introducing yourself to the community by adding {{User Info}} to your profile. This spoof on the character infobox invites users to be as creative or silly as you like.
Now that we've broken the ice, please familiarize yourself with the following resources:
- Manual of Style. This includes page content guidelines and naming conventions. The naming conventions are particularly important because Fandom is sensitive to capitalization, and mobile and desktop keyboards default to different apostrophes; both factors contribute to a large number of broken links and duplicate pages.
- Spoiler Policy. Includes our full spoiler policy, plus a detailed breakdown of how and when to use our spoiler templates ({{SpoilH}} and {{Spoiler}}).
- Wiki Rules. General code of conduct for all users.
- Image Policy. This... desperately needs to be updated.
- Community Page. Fandom automatically creates and promotes "Community" pages, but not many users know they exist. This page is most useful for new users to get the lay of the land, and to track any ongoing projects (which can be updated by editing the "From the community" section).
2. Fandom.com Wikis 101
2.1 Wikitext
Fandom.com pages default to wikitext (AKA wiki markup) with limited HTML/CSS functions. The content model of a page can be changed using Special:ChangeContentModel/PageName, but I do not recommend altering this for most pages due to how Fandom handles JSON and mobile formatting.
Wikitext Formatting Primers:
- Help:Wikitext by Fandom.com. This is a great at-a-glance intro to different formatting functions on Fandom.com, and a good resource for new editors.
- Help:Wikitext and Help:Cheatsheet at Wikipedia. Better for advanced editors, these provide a more detailed overview of wikitext. The first link is particularly valuable because it explains how the different functions work and when to use them, but these pages are tailored for Wikipedia editors, and Fandom doesn't support all of the same templates or HTML functions.
2.2 Wiki Page Types
On any wiki, every page is either sorted into the mainspace (e.g. articles like "Carl" and "Donut"), or into a single namespaces (e.g. Category: or Template:). The "Recent Wiki Activity" sidebar only reflects changes to pages in the mainspace, but all edits can be reviewed in Special:RecentChanges.
The (16) standard namespaces allow you to group and separate different types of content on a wiki, and some namespaces have special properties or behaviors. The full list of active namespaces on DCC's wiki can be reviewed at Special:NamespaceInfo. You can learn more about namespaces at Help:Namespaces by MediaWiki, but here's the important stuff:
- Category: namespaces group pages (e.g. "Category:Characters"), and are the building blocks of wiki organization.
- Dungeon Crawler Carl Wiki: are behind-the-scenes pages like this, policies, projects, etc. You can also link to these pages by using the Project: namespace: Dungeon Crawler Carl Wiki:Wiki rules and Project:Wiki rules both lead to the same place.
- File: (also called Image:) namespaces record the metadata and licensing information for images, videos, sound clips, and other media. To add files to articles:
[[File:Image.png]]produces the file inline on the page.[[:File:Image.png]]links to the file page.
- Help: namespaces are typically reference pages, but these are finnicky on Fandom. We substitute "Dungeon Crawler Carl Wiki:" for "Help:" pages here.
- Media: is the direct file link, bypassing the File: page. So
[[Media:Image.png]]would link directly to the image file, but wouldn't show the licensing or metadata. - Special: pages are auto-generated statistics and monitoring pages that update every ~24 hours or so on Fandom.com. See the full list of special pages at Special:SpecialPages.
- Talk: namespaces exist for every page and page type except Special Pages. These are typically used to discuss changes to the corresponding page, and entries should be signed by
~~~~. - Template: namespace is used for standardized text or formatting that needs to be included (called "transcluded") on multiple pages.
- User: namespaces are assigned to each user, and are linked to from histories, watchlists, changes, etc. You can link to a user by typing
[[User:Eekz]].
As of April 25, 2025, we do not have forum support.
2.3 Templates
Templates are pages, scripts, and design elements that are used on multiple pages (e.g. infoboxes, citations, and spoiler filters). All templates are organized in Category:Templates, and every template should include documentation explaining the template's purpose and parameters (e.g. the book number in {{SpoilH}}).
See All About Templates for an explanation of how to use templates, and a list of resources to help create and update templates. Fandom.com includes a comprehensive infobox builder which I highly recommend using to create new infoboxes because it automatically generates some of the trickiest code.
NOTE: Do not use the "Notice" Template type. This template type does not appear on mobile, and will not be visible to most visitors.
2.4 Magic Words
Magic Words are basically shorthand cheat codes. "Behavior switches" can change a page's standard layout (e.g. __NOTOC__ hides the table of contents), while "variables" return page-relevant information and metadata (e.g. {{PAGENAME}} returns the article's full name). Magic words also include statistics functions like those used in {{Statistics}}, seen on the main page. You can use Special:PagesWithProp to retrieve a list of pages that use certain Magic Words.
See Help:Magic words at MediaWiki for a comprehensive list of magic words. Not all work on Fandom, but most do.
3. DCC Wiki
3.1 Making Changes
Before making substantial changes to the community or content structure, either (a) at least 50% or two members of the admin team (whichever number is greater) must agree that the changes will best serve the community, or (b) the community voted in favor of the change.
3.2 Target Audience
The 2024 Admin Team determined that organizing the wiki for and specifically targeting fan content creators like artists, fanfic writers, DMs, etc., would also satisfy casual fans and readers while offering more content. The headings and page structures outlined in the Manual of Style reflect this choice.
Most visitors view the wiki on their mobile devices, so the bulk of content and formatting decisions are based on what can be viewed on mobile. Fandom.com stripped away most mobile CSS, JavaScript, and HTML support, and superimposes its own code so thoroughly that even the wizards at Marvel Database can't overwrite it; the best we can do is work around it. This is why our spoiler filter is not particularly elegant, why we use the half-highlight for formatting, why we do not have cool features like tabs and really cool custom fonts, and why we do not use standard "Notice" templates.
3.3 Categories
Any MediaWiki, but especially one hosted on fandom.com, lives and dies by category organization. Wikipedia summarizes best practices at Wikipedia:Categorization, but it's a long read and a great cure for insomnia, so here's how we tackle it:
The DCC Wiki is organized like a tree: Every category except Category:Dungeon Crawler Carl Wiki belongs to another master category, and all pages must belong to at least one category. This prevents pages from getting lost in the shuffle.
Characters should be separate from location, item, etc. categories, and every character should be assigned to both Category:Characters and any relevant character subcategories. You can add pages to a category by typing [[Category:Characters]] at the bottom of the page; this does not create a link. To link to a category without adding a page to the category, type [[:Category:Characters]].
Keep an eye on users creating new categories without instruction or checking with admins first. You can quickly check for weird categorization at this version of the Special:CategoryTree page.
3.3a Creating a New Category Page
For formatting purposes, be sure to include:{{DISPLAYTITLE:Category Name}}at the top. The page title will only show the category name instead of "Category:Category Name".- {{CategoryH}} for formatting the category title.
- A brief description of what types of pages should be sorted into this category. Do not use category pages as a substitute for articles because they're difficult to link to, and most casual users may never see it. If there's a lot of context for something or organization, create a separate article (e.g. Loot Boxes or Floor 1 Achievements).
- Any relevant navboxes.
- To force a subcategory to show at the top of its master category list, add it using
[[Category:Master Category | {{PAGENAME}}]]. Only edit "Master Category."
3.3b Monitoring Categories
Regularly check the following for strays:
- Special:UncategorizedPages
- Special:UncategorizedCategories
- Special:UncategorizedTemplates
- Special:UnusedCategories -- for candidates for deletion.
- Special:WantedCategories -- often typos that need to be corrected.
- Special:UncategorizedFiles -- due to our nebulous Image Policy, this one will probably be a mess until we get a better handle on Category:Images.
3.4 Cool Formatting No One Knows We Have
We have some custom code that you can use in pages.- To add spaces between bullet points, use
<div class="half-space-list">. It's all over this page, so check the source code for the best way to use it. - To add half-highlighting to a text, use
div class="dcc-highlight">text</div>. The class applies to a full line, and will break the text out from any paragraph it's in. - We have three special table styles:
- dccTable, which is easier to read than Fandom's standard.
- dccProgTable, which is in use on Carl/Floor 1 and several other pages.
- nav, which is used in the navboxes.
4. Admin Dashboard
As an administrator, you now have access to the Special:AdminDashboard. This basically boils down to a few key points: Analytics, Content Management, User Management, and Site Design.
4.1 Analytics
Special:Analytics is a 30-day overview of viewer interaction with the Wiki. It can only be viewed by admins and Fandom staff, and should not be shared with other users. Here's the breakdown:- All Page Views. Number of views per day including articles, categories, and files. Every month or so, use the total number to update {{Statistics}}... unless the number goes down.
- Wiki Pages. Number of page views, not including files.
- Discussions. This doesn't matter; it just shows how many people accidentally clicked into discussions while browsing on the mobile app.
- Internal Top Search Terms. Use this to prioritize page updates. Hilariously, Signet is always in the Top 10.
- Geolocation. Not super important, but it's cool to see where DCC is currently trending. The top two have held steady as the USA and Canada since early 2024, but we used to get a peculiar amount of traffic from Greenland and Norway.
- Top Viewed Pages. Another good one to help prioritize content updates.
- Most Visited Files. File views; usually attributed to particularly cool art or someone who can't remember the file name or floundered over the categories.
- Desktop vs. Mobile Sessions. Mobile users typically account for ~70-80% of DCC's wiki traffic. Realistically, the desktop users are probably editors and all of the tabs they have open.
- Browser Sessions Breakdown. Certain formatting behaves differently on Firefox, Safari, Chrome, etc., and Chrome can be particularly difficult for editors when page file sizes grow too large. Chrome has typically accounted for most traffic.
- Number of Edits Per Day. Can occasionally indicate vandalism, or - y'know - that maybe you've been spending a lot of time editing lately.
- New Visitors vs. Returning Visitors. Fandom.com has insane SEO, so new visitors are expected. If you've been doing a lot of editing, then you might be the bulk of Returning Visitors. In general, we want people to find and keep clicking through the wiki, so a returning visitor rate of 20% (preferably 30%) or more is ideal. Any less than that, and we need to look at our content structure.
4.2 Content Management
The Advanced tab in the Admin Dashboard breaks down the different Special pages, which can be used to monitor content in conjunction with Category:Maintenance. Special:TrackingCategories shows categories and page counts for auto-generated maintenance categories that might not exist in the Maintenance Category yet (e.g. due to syntax errors).
There's a lot to dig through here, and most of it's important, but here's the big ones to get started:- Special:AllPages. This lists every page (and redirect, in italics) on the Wiki, and is a great way to find duplicate pages and misspelled pages.
- Special:Categories. Full list of categories on the Wiki. See Also: "3.3b Monitoring Categories" above.
- Special:WantedPages. Pages that people have created links to, but the page does not exist. These are occasionally typos, but also a good starting point for new content creation.
4.3 User Management
As an admin, you can block users, manage user rights, view user lists, and more. Most of this is straightforward. A few notes:- New admins must be approved by the entire active admin team. Don't forget to update the CSS!
- Most wikis have a strike approach to bans, and a method for blocked users to repeal the ban. As of April 2025, DCC does not have these policies.
- To create a bot account, you will need to petition Fandom.com.
4.4 Site Design
The Admin Dashboard gives you access to a Theme Designer, which can be used to change the site logo, background image, and general color scheme. Hex# DCB400 was pulled from a paperback cover of DCC, and is broadly used as an accent color across the site.
Desktop. General desktop styling and div classes are outlined in MediaWiki:Common.css, while the rotating header text is stored in MediaWiki:Common.js; not everyone will be able to access Common.js, and edits to it require approval from Fandom.com.
Mobile. MediaWiki:FandomMobile.css adds a small amount of CSS / HTML to mobile pages, but most script added to this is summarily overwritten by Fandom.com. Similarly, the option to "Edit mobile main page" is a joke and safe to ignore.
Community Description. Community Description is a short synopsis of the wiki, and can be transcluded onto other pages (like the main page) using {{:MediaWiki:Wiki-description-site-meta}}.
Header Navigation. This one is tricky. The "EXPLORE" menu is required, but you may up to (4) more categories, which can each have up to (7) subcategories, which can have (10) subcategories, which can technically have infinite subcategories that mobile users will not be able to see. Scroll down to the NOTES at the bottom of the page for an explanation of how it works.
Now get out there and kill, kill, kill.