Along with documenting the hundreds of fangames inspired by Yume Nikki, Yume Wiki also has information on the authors of the games. In an effort to shine the spotlight on the artists behind the art, and give credit where credit is due, systems have been devised for authors and author pages. This guide explains all information relevant to authors.
Rules involving authors
As seen in the wiki rules, Yume Wiki recognises author ownership of work, and respects the decisions of authors to limit certain content about themselves and their creations. Above all, editors should keep in mind that authors are the reason fangames exist in the first place, and that the wishes and wellbeing of other people is more important than the service of documentation.
More specific rules may be developed over time
Individual authors
Yume Wiki currently has two systems for individual authors: developer pages and author categories.
Pages are used mainly for authors of solo games, and contain a short bio usually consisting of social links and a description of the author's style. These pages are mostly in the mainspace, but if a game the author developed has a separate wiki, the author may have a separate page on that wiki, or in some cases only on that wiki.
Categories are used for authors of collaborative games with wikis, such as Yume 2kki. The author's category lists the locations and/or BGM the author created, along with related info. A bio of the author is given in the same way as pages, with the exception that these bios are not placed on the category itself - they are pulled from the wiki author lists, which are pages that can be seen listed in the parent Authors category.
Collaborative game authors
Authors of collaborative games can be listed in the game's page, but should not be given individual pages. The only exception is if the collaborative game has strict "administrator" or "founder" positions; in this case it may be permitted. If an author that contributed to a collaborative game already has a page, the game can be listed on their page.
If the collaborative game has its own separate wiki hosted on Yume Wiki, that wiki should have its own "Authors" page that lists each author using the {{Author}} template. Map authors and BGM authors should also have their own categories, and these categories should make use of the {{AuthorCat}} template which automatically provides information on the author.
Types and roles
Authors of collaborative games are given a "type" and "role" based on their work for the game. These labels are intended to give information on the author's relationship with the project and what they have contributed. It is not for commentary or comparison of the author's quality or "greatness", but rather an objective view that has implications on what information should be found on the wiki.[note 1]
The below tables list each author type and author role. Each type/role may imply the preceding types/roles (e.g. an author that is a developer may or may not count as a composer). There is no strict relationship between type and role, and they are to be considered separate attributes.
| Type | Explanation |
|---|---|
| associate | The author does not have the ability or authority to contribute assets to the game directly; the author must have their work implemented by a core author. Most authors with the contributor role are associate authors. Many Yume 2kki map developers are associate authors working through the proxy system. |
| core | The usual type of author, who has what is considered to be a "normal" level of rights in the game project. Most authors should be of this type. |
| admin | Authors with an official higher position of authority. These authors are not more responsible for the content or quality of the game, but do have rights and responsibilities that set them apart from normal core authors. |
| Type | Explanation |
|---|---|
| contributor | Authors who provide any assets besides BGM (such as tiles, character GFX or designs, sounds, event code, etc.) which have been used in a map or event by another author. Alternatively, authors who are responsible for implementing assets or maps into the game. |
| composer | BGM authors with music present in the game. |
| developer | Map authors who are listed as the primary author of at least one location. |
Crediting authors
Authors can be credited wherever is suitable, but there are a few places where they are expected:
- An author of a location should be listed as the primary author in the
Primaryfield of {{Locationbox}}.[note 2] - Authors should be listed as contributing authors in the
Contributingfield of {{Locationbox}} if they contributed assets to another author's map, or helped implement the location into the game. - The list of {{BGM}} on location pages should make use of the
authorfield to list the creator(s) of the track. - BGM files on the wiki should list the creator(s) of the original game file using the
creatorfield of {{Infobox file}}.
Author categories
An author who is a composer or developer should have a category page to list their works. The category is mainly for listing maps they have created and/or BGM files they are responsible for. Naturally, all information must be manually added by an editor in some way, but almost all of it is either listed automatically by the MediaWiki software or managed by {{AuthorCat}}.
The information listed for an author can be for multiple collaborative games if the author has contributed to more than one under the same name.
Automatically listed
The following information is always placed in the author category:
- Locations using {{Locationbox}} where the author is set as the primary author.
- BGM files using {{Infobox file}} where the author is listed as the creator.
- Any page where an editor manually added the author's category.
AuthorCat
Using {{AuthorCat}} in an author category will place the following information:
- Any author's bio as written in a wiki's author list page.
- List of locations where the author is a contributing author.
- Locations that make use of the author's BGM.
Additionally, the template places a copy of the author's locations with image thumbnails using {{ListThumb}}.