Community Portal

BYOAC Portal Community Portal

This is the main community page for those who wish to contribute to the BYOAC Wiki. The Wiki is nothing more than a collection of user contributed articles written by arcade enthusiasts just like you. This is a community site, and depends on your contributions as an editor or author to keep it current, relevant and growing.

Be a Contributor!

To contribute as an author or editor, you first need to create an account on the BYOAC forum and then use that user name and password to log in to this Wiki. Creating an account takes only a minute or two and requires minimal information. Once you have an account and have logged in, you can edit or create a new article. To edit any article, just click on the edit tab at the top of that article. To create a new article, please do a search first to see if a similar article exists. If it does not exist you can easily create it from the search results page by clicking on the this exact title link that will come up on the search page at the top. Then link your article to the appropriate portal below.

Editing and Formatting

This Wiki uses the MediaWiki software system. Formatting of pages is unique to this system, but easy to learn by browsing a few examples. Click on the edit tab on any page to see what the source document looks like. The Wikipedia quick guide offers some basic formatting options including a cheatsheet to help you contribute to this Wiki. The Wikpedia extended editing guide provides more detailed formatting options. For more detailed discussion of style, see the Wikipedia Style Manual.

Add an Article, Not Just Links

We want the BYOAC Wiki to be a true arcade control encyclopedia and not just another collection of links. While it is perfectly appropriate to add some links - especially to the pages dedicated to links, it is also important that you contribute real content. You can write a new article on just about anything arcade related, or consider adding a paragraph or two to an existing article. Your thoughts might prompt someone else to add a few paragraphs, and before you know it we will have a true arcade encyclopedia.

Some Editing Guidelines

• Articles should be named by the shortest possible keyword - ideally one or two words
• Articles should contain real content (with the exception of specific link pages such as the list of suppliers) and not be just a collection of links.
• Articles should start with a short definition or introduction of the topic being discussed (the topic name is usually bolded in the introduction)
• Articles should use headings as appropriate to organize topics in the article
• You can use the code __NOTOC__ at the top of a page to supress the automatic generation of a contents box for short articles. Longer articles should include the automatic contents box.
• Unless the page is a simple definition, it should include the ==See Also== heading near the end of the page and link back to the main portal and other related pages.
• External site links should be added at the bottom after the See Also section under the title ==External Links== if appropriate
• All pages require a category using a category statement at the very bottom of the page such as [[Category:portalname]]. Categories for major portals are listed below.
• Definitions should, as a minimum, be added to the Index category with the code: [[Category:Index]]. Other pages can be added to the Index using the same code, even if they are also members of another category (i.e. you can have more than one Category statement at the end of an article). Not every article needs to be in the Index - only those that are commonly used terms.
• Try to avoid orphaned pages - pages you create should be linked to either another page (as might be the case for a definition) or a main portal (for a more substantial article).

The Index

The Category:Index exists to list major terms and topics. You can add a page to the Index with the code: [[Category:Index]]. However, not every page needs to be added to the index. Only major terms and topics should be listed. For example, it would be inappropriate to list every example, vendor or possible item, but it might be appropriate to list a top level page such as Venrods.

BYOAC Portals

Wiki pages are organized into projects that each have a main portal and a main category assigned. Where possible, the larger projects correspond to main entry portals on the main page. To join a project as an editor or author, simply add your name to the editor column for the major projects listed below. We recommend that you contact the other editors for your project to coordinate before jumping in with major changes. Please be sure to link new pages to the appropriate portal page and category for the portal you are editing.

Project Portal	Categories	Description	Editors, Authors
Basics	Category:Basics	Arcade Cabinet Basics	None
Building	Category:Building	Design and Building	None
Controls	Category:Controls	Control Panels, Controls and Interfaces	None
Finishing	Category:Finishing	Finishing, Artwork and Misc	None
Vendors	Category:Vendors	Listing of Vendors and Suppliers	None
Software	Category:Software	Software, Emulators, Front Ends & Games	None
Examples	Category:Examples	Arcade Cabinet Examples	None
Video	Category:Video	Video Monitors and Interfaces	None
Main Page	Category:Portals	Main Page and Main Portals	Doc-

To Do List

The BYOAC Wiki is a work in progress. Unfortunately many of the pages are still incomplete pages or stubs. Below are some of the largest items that need to be either completed or reworked.

• [Insert your "To Do" items here]

Special Pages For Editors

• Special:Categories - A list of all categories
• Special:Deadendpages - Pages that dead end (no 'See Also or External Links)
• Special:Uncategorizedpages - Pages not assigned to a category
• Special:Wantedpages - Pages that are just stubs and have no content whatsoever
• Special:Lonelypages - Orphaned Pages
• Work In Progress - Pages who need cleanups

External Links

• Wikipedia quick guide
• Wikpedia extended editing guide
• Wikipedia Style Manual