Editing Incubator escapee wiki:WikiProject Soap Operas (section)

==Guidelines and recommendations==
{{anchor|Style guidelines}}
{{Infobox soap character
| name           = Tasha Roma 
| series         = The Sun Also Sets
| portrayer      = [[Natalie Zea]] (1994–1999) <br> [[Kelly Monaco]] (2000–2005)
| duration       = 1994–2005
| first          = 1994
| last           = 2005
| creator        = [[Darren Star]]
| image1         = Eva Gonzalès - Morning Awakening.jpg
| caption1       = [[Natalie Zea]] as Tasha Roma
| image2         = Isabella Colbran.jpg
| caption2       = [[Kelly Monaco]] as Tasha Roma
| gender         = Female
| occupation     = [[Lawyer]], [[Monarch]]
| parents        = [[Julian Crane]] <br> [[Barbara Ryan]] <br> [[Asa Buchanan]] (stepfather)
| siblings       = [[Brooke Logan]] (half-sister) <br> [[Jason Morgan (General Hospital)|Jason Morgan]]
| spouse         = [[Holden Snyder]] (1997–1998) <br> [[Cord Roberts]] (2000–2002)
| romances       = [[Lucas Roberts]] (1995) <br> [[Ethan Winthrop]] (2003)
| children       = [[Brennan Buchanan|Bree Brennan]] <br> [[Leora Hayward]] (adopted)
| grandparents   = [[Alice Horton]]
| aunts/uncles   = [[Claudia Blaisdel Carrington|Claudia Carrington]]
| cousins        = [[Tina Lord]] <br> [[Luke Snyder]]
| nieces/nephews = [[Hugh Hughes (One Life to Live)|Hugh Hughes]]
| relatives      = [[Timmy Lenox]]
}}
All articles within this wikiproject's realm of influence must follow [[WP:Policies and guidelines|all commonly accepted]] [[WP:List of guidelines|guidelines]] and [[WP:List of policies|policies]], mainly the [[WP:Article titles|article titles policy]], the [[WP:Manual of Style|Wikipedia Manual of Style guideline]] (and its subpages [[WP:Manual of Style/Writing about fiction|on fiction]] and [[WP:Manual of Style/Television|on television]]), as well as the [[WP:Notability|notability guideline]]. Nevertheless, the following recommendations relate some of these rules specifically to soap opera-related topics.

===Program articles===
A soap opera article should include:

*The name of the series (in '''''bold italics'''''), network affiliation, first airdate and, if applicable, final airdate
*A ''brief'' overview of ''notable'' historical and current storylines on the show
*Cultural impact of the series and/or its characters
*Notable cast members

===Character articles===

====Notability standards====
All soap-related articles, and character articles in particular, must meet [[Wikipedia:Notability|Wikipedia's notability guidelines]], including the [[Wikipedia:Notability#General notability guideline|general notability guideline]]. Though there is [[Wikipedia:Notability (fiction)|no special guideline for the notability of fictional elements]], a topic is presumed to be notable if it has received significant coverage in [[Wikipedia:Reliable sources|reliable sources]] that are [[Wikipedia:Verifiability#Sources|independent]] of the subject.

An article should be created about a soap opera character only if the character is notable within the series and has been the subject of third-party discussions. Otherwise, the character should simply be included in a "List of characters" for that particular program. 

Character articles should always be written from a "real world" perspective, and should definitely not consist simply of in-universe plot summary. As such, it should include:
* Real-world dates for when the character was created
* Which actors have played the character, and when
* Any awards which were won by the actor for playing that character

The article should ''not'' be used for a collection of storyline trivia about the character.  As a rule of thumb, only those events which were significant enough to have been written about in third-party sources should be included. Remember that we are here to create an encyclopedia, not to provide a comprehensive guide to soap opera storylines. Wherever possible, try to discuss the character in "real world" context: Why are they important to non-fans, how are they affecting modern  culture, what have they done that is historic in a real-world context.  If a detail is only interesting to those who watch the show, it is probably not worth including in the Wikipedia article.  See [[WP:CRUFT]] and alternatively [[WP:NOCRUFT]]. 

See the "[[#Examples|Examples]]" section lower on this page for samples of good articles.

====Character article format====
Articles should include:
* The '''{{tl|Infobox soap character}}''', with basic information included. See the template documentation for important notes on usage.
* A [[WP:LEAD|lead paragraph]] which indicates the name of the character, when it originated, current or last portrayer, and a very brief summary of the other material in the article.  A good lead encapsulates the entire article in a couple of paragraphs.
* Notation of all of actors that have played the character, and the dates; this is usually done in the infobox, and often summarized in the lead section.
* Storyline summary; 500-1000 words '''maximum'''
* A list of the awards that have been won for the role
* Sources and references. Every article ''must'' have [[WP:V|verifiable]] sources such as newspaper and magazine articles that talk about the character, or at the minimum, links to character biography pages on the official website for the series (per policy, fansites are usually considered unreliable). If a character is not notable enough to be mentioned in outside press, then they're not notable enough to have an article on Wikipedia!
* Appropriate categories; see [[:Category:Soap opera characters]]

====Character relationships====
Soap opera characters tend to have complex family and romantic relationships. Obviously, notable relationships can and should be mentioned in the text of the article as they apply to a character's storylines. Though extensive relationship lists within the body of articles may seem helpful for navigation, article quality assessments have generally deemed them trivial and as having a negative impact on article quality. '''To keep articles visually appealing and manageable, relationships should be "listed" only in the infobox.''' The {{tl|Infobox soap character}} contains a collapsible section to accommodate this. In order to keep these lists manageable, use judgment on which relationships to include. 

* For most characters, relatives listed should be limited to closer family and generations having some relevance to the character in question. Remember, more distant relations (step-great-grandchildren?) will be noted in the infoboxes of other characters more closely related to them. This is especially important for long-running characters, who tend to have an excessive amount of relations. See [[Template:Infobox soap character#Relationship parameters]].
* For miscarriages or other unsuccessful pregnancies (common in soap operas), list these only on the pages of the parents, along with the year that the event occurred. In many cases a footnote may be preferred to present this information.
* To conserve space and improve readability, [[WP:COMMONNAME|Common names]] (usually the article name) should be used for links in infoboxes. For example, [[Sami Brady]] instead of the piped link [[Sami Brady|Samantha "Sami" Brady DiMera]].

====Notable couples====
In  general, articles should be about individual characters, rather than about couples; however bonafide [[supercouple]]s and other highly notable couples may be eligible for their own Wikipedia articles if:
* They have won a major award as a couple
* They have appeared on multiple "couple" lists
* They have been cited in outside (non-soap) press as a notable couple
However, large amounts of information should not be repeated on multiple articles; consider instead interlinking individual character and couple articles in a logical way to present all pertinent information without redundancies.

===Plot summaries===
: ''Keep summaries brief.''
Plot summaries should be kept brief, only as an overview of the topic.  The main purpose of Wikipedia articles is to provide encyclopedic information about a subject, such as its cultural impact, and not to provide a detailed and lengthy description of story events.  The Wikipedia articles can then provide links to other websites which have more detailed storyline information.

"Brief" in this context means a plot summary of approximately 500 words for a typical character article, though more may be appropriate for longrunning characters where there has been a great deal of real-world impact.

====Storyline sourcing====
As agreed by WikiProject participants, storyline sections do not require sourcing, as the programme itself acts as the source. These sections can be verified by watching the series.

====Tense====
Articles about fiction, like all Wikipedia articles, should adhere to the [[Real life (reality)|real world]] as their primary [[frame of reference]]. The approach is to describe the subject matter from the ''perspective of the real world'', in which the work of fiction and its publication are embedded. The [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Writing about fiction|Wikipedia Manual of Style guideline for fiction]] and [[WP:FICTENSE]] advise writing about fictional subjects in the present tense. Works of fiction are generally considered to "come alive" when read or viewed; they exist in a kind of ''perpetual present tense'', regardless of when the fictional action is supposed to take place relative to "now." Dates should be used when possible to establish the relative passage of time and establish real-world context:

{{Quote|In 1995, Amanda schemes to seize control of Warren's fortune, making several enemies along the way; she is murdered on January 22, 1996, leaving a string of suspects.}}

The basic intent of this tense guideline is to stylistically differentiate between real-world and fictional events. Past tense may sometimes be used for plot information which is framed by real-world content and described from that perspective:

{{Quote|When contract negotiations broke down, Stevenson was replaced by actress Judith Cray in 1976. Cray's Angelique immediately seduced longtime series patriarch Trent Dunham (original cast member Larry Braxton), branding her a villainess in viewers' eyes. Ratings soared when Trent's wife Olivia (Barbara Swain) finally learned of the affair and confronted her rival. Olivia slapped Angelique and called her a "whore," a choice the network had debated and initially regretted, before the anger of key sponsors was overpowered by a flood of viewer accolades, press coverage, and the highest ratings the show had seen in five years.}}

===Prose vs. lists===
: ''Avoid lists within articles whenever possible.''
The [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Bulleted and numbered lists|Manual of Style]] specifically notes "Do not use lists if a passage reads easily using plain paragraphs" and [[Wikipedia:Embedded list]] asserts that (among other things) "Most Wikipedia articles should consist of prose, and not just a list of links. Prose allows the presentation of detail and clarification of context, while a list of links does not. Prose flows, like one person speaking to another, and is best suited to articles, because their purpose is to explain ... ''In an article, significant items should be mentioned naturally within the text rather than merely listed.''"

Trivial lists such as "Crimes committed" or "Previous occupations" are also inappropriate, as they generally fail notability requirements. If events and details are notable, they will have a natural place within the text of the article.

===Images===
The use of non-free (copyrighted) images is of course tightly regulated to protect the rights of copyright holders, and all editors should familiarize themselves with the [[Wikipedia:Non-free content|non-free content guidelines]], [[WP:Image use policy|policies of image use]], and [[WP:non-free use rationale guideline|non-free use rationale guideline]] so our articles and images stay in compliance. In the context of soap-related articles, we need to remember to use only as many images per article as are necessary, and as few images as possible. Specifically:

====Usage====
*One main title image to identify the show in [[:Template:Infobox television|Show infobox]]
*One image per performer to identify the character in the [[:Template:Infobox soap character|Soap character infobox]]
*Subsequent images as necessary, to illustrate only ''notable'' elements discussed in the article, such as characters/relationships, storylines, or real-world coverage on magazine or book covers
*For articles featuring several characters, try to only feature images of the most notable, as necessary. Too many images in such articles may appear to be a gallery or repository of images, which push the boundaries of fair use.
*For a non-free image of the actual soap opera actor, if that person is living and neither ''retired'' nor ''deceased'', do not add it to a biography of the living person. An image of that person may exist with either "[[Creative Commons|some rights reserved]]," [[public domain|an expired copyright, or a failure to comply with copyright laws]].

====Image description page====
Images themselves must have certain information on their description pages, in particular the names of articles in which the image is used must be noted (not just auto-displayed under "The following pages link to this file") and ''each use must have its own fair use rationale''.

The image upload process can automatically insert the proper [[:Category:Non-free use rationale templates|non-free use rationale template]]. '''Be sure to put in the proper info for each parameter''', or the image will be tagged by a bot and deleted for non-compliance. You must also designate licensing by inserting the appropriate [[Wikipedia:Image copyright tags/Non-free|image copyright tag]], which can also be chosen by pulldown during the upload process.

For images used in multiple articles, each use much have its own rationale, so the separate templates '''{{tl|Non-free image data}}''' and '''{{tl|Non-free image rationale}}''' can be used in conjunction with each other. ''Each image should contain one instance of {{tl|Non-free image data}} with all parameters filled in, and then one instance of {{tl|Non-free image rationale}} '''for each use'''.'' It is also helpful to note the uploader of the current version under "source", whether or not an actual source weblink is available.

Many shows have image categories, so categorize images as appropriate. And of course, existing images should also be made fully compliant if not already. Be sure to "watch" any images you upload or care about, so that if they are tagged you can make the proper adjustments.

;Image examples for copying and study:
*'''[[:File:Tina-AndreaEvans-2008-06-11.jpg]]''' - Clean example of a character screenshot which is used in only one article.
*'''[[:File:Vanessa Gold.jpg]]''' - Example of a promotional image used in one article; note the different copyright tag under Licensing.
*'''[[:File:Super Friends.jpg]]''' - Image used in multiple articles; note that the "media data" (blue) template appears once but the "media rationale" (pink) template is repeated, and the "purpose/rationale" may be slightly different for each, depending on that particular use.