Welcome to Contributions & Corrections. This is one of Smogon's "workplaces" as I like to call it. Like with Muppet Lab, "the future is being made today". As the title of this forum implies, it's all about making and changing the content of Smogon.com until it's perfect and beyond that.
If you wish to help Smogon out, writing an article or analysis is a good way to start and get noticed. As long as your writing fits the rules, people (or at least the more intelligent ones) are more than willing to overlook your post count or register date and see you for what you're worth. Ignore these rules and the opposite might happen.
Before you dedicate hours and hours to writing, it is a very good idea to gain approval for an analysis. After all, you have to know whether your article is actually needed. If you post an article without approval, chances are someone puts a lock on your thread and says "sorry you wasted your time, but we don't need this!". A good way to see if something is in demand is by looking at the Suggest Guides or Analyses thread (which isn't there yet, but will be made). You should probably PM Mekkah or Obi anyway, just to make sure nobody else is writing what you wanted to. Doubling up on the same piece of work is just horribly inefficient. Lots of guides have already been done, too. Search the forums beforehand to see if your subject has been touched!
This is a guide by Articuno64 that mostly applies to the Pokemon Analyses, but some of it is relevant for usual guides as well. The HTMLish things are important if your guide is actually good enough for the site - already implementing these correctly gives you bonus points because it gives us (the Site Staff) less work. Keep in mind what it said about objective information and all that, too.
Now, with the information from above resources in mind, some general guidelines on articles.
1) While every Pokemon analysis is currently complete, they require constant updating and improvement to remain current and helpful. Do not write a new analysis for the sake of it. If you have a legitimate reason to do an entire rewrite, that will of course be accepted; but rewrites simply for the sake of them will not be accepted. Also, if you notice something that is outdated in the our analyses, that is your opportunity to contribute! Just make a thread with a title description of the Pokemon and fully explain your reasoning behind a requested change. The potential change will be discussed and then either adopted or rejected.
2) We don't want something like "Thunderbolt Analysis". Usually this just turns out to be an analysis of everything that can learn the move X, in this case Thunderbolt, bringing us back to Pokemon Analyses again. We know it's fun to write those - that's why we did it already!
3) You have to know your stuff. Lots of things in Pokemon sound nice in theory, but are just considered nonsense when it comes to competitive battling. Avoid really irrelevant stuff such as overspecialized scenarios or gimmicks.
4) Absolutely no leetspeak or anything similar. It's annoying to write and annoying to read. This is expected in every forum, but it will be particularly enforced in Contributions & Corrections.
5) Make sure your guide and / or analysis is fun to read. Going on and on about the same thing or repeatedly throwing numbers and lists is boring. Of course, you have to stay a little impartial as well - it's impossible to completely avoid bias, but try to stay reasonable. Try not to place yourself high and dry above the reader either, reading stuff written in an arrogant tone is annoying. Avoid things like "if you don't know how to use this now you never will [elitist smiley like :/]".
6) Some things are so obvious they don't really need to be put in a guide. This rule requires a little bit of common sense.
7) Split the guide in parts so it's not a huge wall of text, but more like a small book...a "guide", if you will. Heh.
8) Don't ever name a set after yourself. However creative you find "your" set, there are so many problems connected to it and so many irritations about it that it's just banned altogether now. Among them is the fact that most home made names are horribly annoying. Name the set what it is actually called in practice, if it doesn't have a widely recognized name; then simply name it something that describes the set such as "Calm Mind" or "Choice Scarf."
9) Give some indication of what rule set your guide is aimed at. If you write a comprehensive guide to the move Substitute, for instance, but are writing it for RBY, most people will assume it's for DP anyway. This will lead to people at best ignoring your guide, thinking it's full of false information, and at worst thinking it's true in DP. Just adding (RBY) to the end of your topic title will avoid this problem.
10) Do not under any circumstances insult another user's submission. This includes any and all analysis and articles. Insulting a person's submission will result in the same punishment as if you insulted them. Constructive criticism is one thing, but insulting comments are another - we know the difference.
The moderators and administrators have every right to neglect your guide for whatever reason, but we obviously won't if we like it. If you write a lot and we like what you write, you may be awarded the Contributor Badge.
Thanks,
The Smogon Community
(WRITTEN BY MEKKAH!)
/edit: Added rule 10. -Obi, 2007-Aug-21
/edit: Typofix. - Mekkah, 2007-Sep-28
/edit: Modified rule wording for current policy - Caelum, 2009-Feb-11
/edit: Added new rule 10 stolen from CAP - Caelum, 2009-Feb-21
/edit: Removed a broken link - Caelum, 2009-Sept-4
/edit: Rewritten and revised here, this is being archived. - Rising_Dusk, 2010-Oct-01
If you wish to help Smogon out, writing an article or analysis is a good way to start and get noticed. As long as your writing fits the rules, people (or at least the more intelligent ones) are more than willing to overlook your post count or register date and see you for what you're worth. Ignore these rules and the opposite might happen.
Before you dedicate hours and hours to writing, it is a very good idea to gain approval for an analysis. After all, you have to know whether your article is actually needed. If you post an article without approval, chances are someone puts a lock on your thread and says "sorry you wasted your time, but we don't need this!". A good way to see if something is in demand is by looking at the Suggest Guides or Analyses thread (which isn't there yet, but will be made). You should probably PM Mekkah or Obi anyway, just to make sure nobody else is writing what you wanted to. Doubling up on the same piece of work is just horribly inefficient. Lots of guides have already been done, too. Search the forums beforehand to see if your subject has been touched!
This is a guide by Articuno64 that mostly applies to the Pokemon Analyses, but some of it is relevant for usual guides as well. The HTMLish things are important if your guide is actually good enough for the site - already implementing these correctly gives you bonus points because it gives us (the Site Staff) less work. Keep in mind what it said about objective information and all that, too.
Now, with the information from above resources in mind, some general guidelines on articles.
1) While every Pokemon analysis is currently complete, they require constant updating and improvement to remain current and helpful. Do not write a new analysis for the sake of it. If you have a legitimate reason to do an entire rewrite, that will of course be accepted; but rewrites simply for the sake of them will not be accepted. Also, if you notice something that is outdated in the our analyses, that is your opportunity to contribute! Just make a thread with a title description of the Pokemon and fully explain your reasoning behind a requested change. The potential change will be discussed and then either adopted or rejected.
2) We don't want something like "Thunderbolt Analysis". Usually this just turns out to be an analysis of everything that can learn the move X, in this case Thunderbolt, bringing us back to Pokemon Analyses again. We know it's fun to write those - that's why we did it already!
3) You have to know your stuff. Lots of things in Pokemon sound nice in theory, but are just considered nonsense when it comes to competitive battling. Avoid really irrelevant stuff such as overspecialized scenarios or gimmicks.
4) Absolutely no leetspeak or anything similar. It's annoying to write and annoying to read. This is expected in every forum, but it will be particularly enforced in Contributions & Corrections.
5) Make sure your guide and / or analysis is fun to read. Going on and on about the same thing or repeatedly throwing numbers and lists is boring. Of course, you have to stay a little impartial as well - it's impossible to completely avoid bias, but try to stay reasonable. Try not to place yourself high and dry above the reader either, reading stuff written in an arrogant tone is annoying. Avoid things like "if you don't know how to use this now you never will [elitist smiley like :/]".
6) Some things are so obvious they don't really need to be put in a guide. This rule requires a little bit of common sense.
7) Split the guide in parts so it's not a huge wall of text, but more like a small book...a "guide", if you will. Heh.
8) Don't ever name a set after yourself. However creative you find "your" set, there are so many problems connected to it and so many irritations about it that it's just banned altogether now. Among them is the fact that most home made names are horribly annoying. Name the set what it is actually called in practice, if it doesn't have a widely recognized name; then simply name it something that describes the set such as "Calm Mind" or "Choice Scarf."
9) Give some indication of what rule set your guide is aimed at. If you write a comprehensive guide to the move Substitute, for instance, but are writing it for RBY, most people will assume it's for DP anyway. This will lead to people at best ignoring your guide, thinking it's full of false information, and at worst thinking it's true in DP. Just adding (RBY) to the end of your topic title will avoid this problem.
10) Do not under any circumstances insult another user's submission. This includes any and all analysis and articles. Insulting a person's submission will result in the same punishment as if you insulted them. Constructive criticism is one thing, but insulting comments are another - we know the difference.
The moderators and administrators have every right to neglect your guide for whatever reason, but we obviously won't if we like it. If you write a lot and we like what you write, you may be awarded the Contributor Badge.
Thanks,
The Smogon Community
(WRITTEN BY MEKKAH!)
/edit: Added rule 10. -Obi, 2007-Aug-21
/edit: Typofix. - Mekkah, 2007-Sep-28
/edit: Modified rule wording for current policy - Caelum, 2009-Feb-11
/edit: Added new rule 10 stolen from CAP - Caelum, 2009-Feb-21
/edit: Removed a broken link - Caelum, 2009-Sept-4
/edit: Rewritten and revised here, this is being archived. - Rising_Dusk, 2010-Oct-01