Want to know how you can help out CollinWiki? There's a lot to be done, and the most efficient way for that to happen is for different people to begin working on different areas simultaneously. We can all check each others work later, once the bulk of it has been input. If you need help figuring things out, or just want some questions answered, click on the discussion tab at the top of this page and ask away!
And remember, edits don't have to be major. If you're unconfortable making any big contributions, start out by fixing a spelling mystake or other typo. Every little bit helps.
Areas Needing Work
There are so many different facets to Dark Shadows, and so many different types fans. Since everyone has their favorite area, here are some suggestions of places where you can jump in if you're unsure where to begin:
- Synopses for every episode need to be written. Pick your favorites and fill them in.
- The site needs more pictures. Photos for cast and crew members need to be uploaded, plus at least one still from each episode.
- Cast and crew bios need to be written up. Currently, they mostly just include birth/death dates, which role(s) they played and which episodes they appeared in or worked on.
- Select your favorite point in the series and create or fill in the articles for those episodes.
- We need someone to accept the massive undertaking of documenting all of the costumes for each character. Dark Shadows is one of the rare TV shows where you see characters wearing the same outfits more than once, so it'd be nice to see a complete list of every costume on the show and when they appeared.
- Information about movies, novels and comics, as well as information on the 1991 series and 2004 pilot need to be added.
- Non-fiction books, videos/DVDs and collector's items need to be included.
- Many "Special Pages" such as the Main Page, Community Portal (here), About page, Current Events page, and others can all stand to be either created, rewritten or expanded.
- We need a logo. Currently, we're just using the standard Wikicities logo in the top left corner, so we still need an artistically gifted individual to create a CollinWiki logo.
Current Projects
Once you've begun work on a certain area, add your name here and give an explanation of which area(s) you're working on so everyone knows what's already in progress.
- Proudhug has begun working through articles for the 1966 episodes in order from episode 1 on, documenting as much information as he can and incorporating it into the appropriate articles. He is writing it from the perspective of someone who's watching the show for the first time (ie. ignoring information from later episodes until he reaches them), in order to be the most thorough, but feel free to change/add things that are changed/revealed at later points in the series.
- Mysticpen has begun working on articles for the 1841 PT episodes starting with episode 1203. He will eventually go back and add episodes 1186 - 1202, which also cover portions of the storyline.
Suggestions
Have a suggestion about how the site can be improved, but don't want to go ahead and do it without asking first? Post it right here and get others' opinions. Remember, you can also post more general questions in the Discussion page by clicking discussion at the top of this page.
Reminders
All information in the entries for characters, locations and items in the Dark Shadows universe must be cited. It's not enough to know that David Collins once had a dog named "Dog," you have to know that this information came from episode 153 before it can be input.
Speculation or popular opinion on things is to be kept to a minimum and only included when it's felt to be an important element to the show. Always strive for objectivity whenever possible.
This is not a site for discussion of Dark Shadows, unless it specifically pertains to the creation of this encyclopedia. There are many other locations on the internet to talk with fans about the show.
Be kind and understanding. The very nature of the Wiki format means that others may edit your work. What you write does not belong to you, it belongs to the community, so don't be offended if it's changed. Anyone editing other people's work is only doing so for the betterment of this project.
And most importantly, have fun. We're all doing this for the love of Dark Shadows, to create an easy-to-use ultimate encyclopedia of information, and to establish a new community of creatively-driven fandom.