SiIvaGunner Wiki:Manual of Style/Rips

This a guide to creating rip pages using the Rip infobox, and / or the Rip form.

This guide is only a general outline about rip pages. For a complete list of stylistic standards for rip pages, see Project:Manual of Style.

It is highly suggested that Source edit mode is used to create rip pages instead of the VisualEditor.

A rip page generator can be found at this site.

For an example page, see this page.

Quick page creation
A rip page is made of an infobox and a joke list. Once you have a joke list ready, all you need is the rip infobox and categories.

The rip infobox can be generated using the following steps:
 * 1) Go to https://siivagunnerdatabase.net/generate/ and type in the YouTube URL of the rip. The site will try its best to generate wikitext for the rip.
 * 2) Copy the wikitext and paste it into a new page.
 * 3) The site will also give you the rip's thumbnail. If the thumbnail of the rip's game does not exist on the wiki, you can upload it to the wiki. The name of the thumbnail must match the name beside   for the thumbnail to be added to the page.

You can add categories by inserting  onto the bottom of the page (while using the Source editor). Categories for jokes can be found under Category:Rips featuring... and Category:Rips by joke.

A more detailed guide on making rip pages begins below.

Rip page basics
To start, create a page using the "Create rip page" box on the Main Page or click the "create a new page" link when creating a new page. Creating a page in this way uses the "Rip form", which automatically places code onto a page. The rip form is designed to help editors quickly make new pages without having to copy / paste code. This guide can be used with or without using the rip form.

Another option is to use the rip template generator to generate the infobox and introductory paragraph (see ). It is not 100% accurate, so it is important to understand what the code means so you can correct it.

Components of a Rip Video
A YouTube video page consists of several components: the title, the thumbnail shown in the sidebar, the description underneath the video, the upload date and the video itself.

A SiIvaGunner video contains all of these elements and usually follows a predictable format:
 * The title is the ripped track followed by " - " and the ripped game.
 * The thumbnail is of the ripped game and is the same for all rips from the game.
 * The video description has: Music, Composer, Playlist, Platform and a catchphrase.
 * The video has:
 * a length
 * an upload date
 * a background that is usually the thumbnail.
 * a joke in the music track or the visuals.

These components translate to a rip page.

Components of a Rip Page
A typical rip page has:
 * A title (the full title of the rip)
 * An infobox with:
 * A thumbnail
 * The metadata of the video (such as length and upload date)
 * Some information about the rip (such as its creator or author)
 * A recreation of the video description with a music, composer, platform and catchphrase.
 * An introductory paragraph
 * A "Jokes" section explaining the joke
 * Categories that correspond to many of these elements.

Infobox
The infobox contains most of the information contained in a rip. The infobox is used by inserting the following code onto a page:

Alternatively, the rip form will insert this code onto a page:

The text surrounded by  are comments and can be deleted after you finalize the page. The comments explain what each template parameter does, with more detail below:
 * is thumbnail image of the rip. Do not include the "File:" prefix. If an image of the thumbnail does not exist on the wiki upload it (see the thumbnails section for more information).
 * is the YouTube video ID of the rip. It can also be the full URL.
 * is the game of the rip. It should be the name of a category on the channel.1
 * is the playlist ID of the rip. It can also be a the full playlist URL.
 * is the upload date of the rip on the SiIvaGunner channel.
 * is the length of the rip. (XX:XX)
 * is the name of the event (or events) the rip was uploaded as part of. To add multiple events, add a semi-colon between the event names (e.g. )
 * is the person who made the rip, not the original composer. If the rip was not an album release, you must cite any authors with references. You do not need to surround the name with a link if it is only one contributor and does not need a reference.

The other parameters are explained below.

Album Info
Some rips have been released in albums.

To add album information, use these lines of code:
 * album =
 * track =
 * is the name of the album (or albums).
 * is a link to the album; it is not a "raw" URL, but a MediaWiki-style link. For example, for "Katamari on the Memes", the syntax would be

Multiple releases
If a rip has had multiple album releases, list every album in chronological order, and use this format for each album:

Note that you must separate each album name with a semi-colon, otherwise it will not work.

For the  for multiple releases, use " " for each track.

Video description
Most rip videos follow the pattern of Music:

Composer:

Playlist:

Platform:

[catchphrase]

All but the "Playlist:" (which is used by ) is accounted for in the video description section of the infobox:
 * music=
 * composer=
 * platform=
 * catchphrase=

If needed, there are  and   parameters as well.

Sometimes the labels are different, such as during the Talk Like a Pirate Day event or the Reboot. To change these labels, use


 * music label=
 * composer label=
 * platform label=
 * arranger label=
 * performer label=

Thumbnails
If a thumbnail for the rip's playlist exists on the wiki, then it should be used as the.

To get the thumbnail of any video, go to  and replace   with the video's YouTube ID.

If the video does not have a, it may have another format of thumbnail that can be accessed through any of these methods:
 * Use https://boingboing.net/features/getthumbs.html and download one of the images.
 * Google "[game_name] siivagunner" in Images, it is usually the first picture.
 * Download the video and do a screenshot with VLC media player.

Once the thumbnail has been uploaded, upload it to the wiki. Make sure to name it something recognizable (such as the name of the game), add a description of what the thumbnail depicts, and categorize it under Category:Thumbnails.

Introductory paragraph
Every rip page needs an introductory paragraph or "intro paragraph" to explain to the reader what the page is about. On the, the introductory paragraph has these components:
 * The title of the rip in bold and surrounded by quotation marks (not necessarily the rip's page's title)
 * The advertised track surrounded by quotation marks
 * The version of the track, if applicable.
 * The game the rip is from in italics.

Regardless of how ridiculous or fake the game, mix, or track is, to preserve the kayfabe of the channel we follow this format to make it appear as though the rips are genuine. The current format looks like this: "" is a high quality rip of the MIX of "TRACK" from GAME.
 * The  is replaced by the title of the page. If the title is wrong when you preview the edit, such as if the page's title is invalid, then replace this text with the title of the rip.
 * TRACK and MIX are the track and its version listed the rip, like "Snow halation (Beta Mix)". In this case, "Snow halation" is the TRACK, and "Beta Mix" is the MIX, so the phrase would be '[...] rip of the Beta Mix of "Snow halation" [...]'. Use your best judgement when writing the MIX, especially if there are two mixes.
 * GAME is the game listed.

For example, a rip called "Coasting (Hummed) - Transistor": "Coasting (Hummed) - Transistor" is a high quality rip of the hummed version of "Coasting" from Transistor. "Coasting (Hummed) - Transistor" is a high quality rip of the hummed version of "Coasting" from Transistor.

Joke list
The jokes of a rip are the ways the rip has been altered from the original track. On this wiki, jokes are put under a suitably-named Jokes list, with time stamps for when the alterations enter the rip. Listening to the original track and then the rip is often recommended to completely get all the jokes, however many well-experienced in the SiIvaGunner's memes can instantly recognize various frequently used melodies.

There are a number of very distinct jokes:
 * Melody changes are the most prolific and easiest joke to spot (besides vocal mashups with an instrumental track). Melody changes involve replacing the melody of the advertised track.
 * Melody changes are not to be confused with arrangements, which are more complete recreations of a song, not just its melody.
 * Mashups involve using the vocal channel of one song on another song. One of the channels is usually pitch-shifted or beat-shifted to fit the other song.

In additional, several recurring musical themes or memes are used on the channel:
 * "Meet the Flintstones" is the most used meme by far, with an instantly recognizable melody.
 * "Snow halation" is also extremely prolific with rips using its chorus's melody and vocals.

The joke list is usually written in the form of "At X:XX, the [part of the original song] is changed to [joke]," such as "At 0:10, the lead melody is mashed up with 'Crazy Frog'."

Sometimes jokes are songs that are not SiIvaGunner memes. In this case, the artist needs to be specified, such as "...'Death Of A Bachelor' by Panic! At The Disco".

If you know that the rip has a joke but you don't know what it is, add Incomplete list to the top of the jokes section and denote the missing joke and bold it. For example, "At 2:21, the melody is changed to an unidentified source."

Medley rips and joke tables
Medley rips, or rips with at least five alterations from the original track, need to have a joke table with a list of jokes in the rip. This joke table is not about the form of the medley rip (such as "mashup" or "medley change"), but the memes or songs featured in the rip. Joke tables usually replace the joke list.

To make a joke table, make a table with "Time stamp", "Meme / joke" and "Source" as column headers. Code for a sample table is below:

Occasionally, to make a long table sortable,  may be used instead of.

Transcripts and lyrics
A few rips need transcripts or lyrics in addition to a jokes section. A great way to add a transcript is to create another section called "Transcript" or "Lyrics". Since the editing software does not like single line-breaks,  tags will need to be added between each line or lyric.

Fushigi da ne ima no kimochi Sora kara futte kita mitai Tokubetsu na kisetsu no iro ga tokimeki o miseru yo Fushigi da ne ima no kimochi Sora kara futte kita mitai Tokubetsu na kisetsu no iro ga tokimeki o miseru yo

Fushigi da ne ima no kimochi

Sora kara futte kita mitai

Tokubetsu na kisetsu no iro ga tokimeki o miseru yo Fushigi da ne ima no kimochi

Sora kara futte kita mitai

Tokubetsu na kisetsu no iro ga tokimeki o miseru yo

Alternatively, lyrics and lines of dialogue can be surrounded by  to eliminate these problems: Fushigi da ne ima no kimochi Sora kara futte kita mitai Tokubetsu na kisetsu no iro ga tokimeki o miseru yo Fushigi da ne ima no kimochi Sora kara futte kita mitai Tokubetsu na kisetsu no iro ga tokimeki o miseru yo

If you do not have time to insert a transcript or lyric, place Incomplete lyrics into the section.

Transcripts
For transcripts, the Dialogue template can help format pieces of dialogue quickly. To use the template, insert Speaker, where "speaker" is the character saying something, and "Dialogue" is what they say.

Just like with lyrics, this template needs linebreaks or  tags to put each line of dialogue on a different line.

For sound effects used in transcripts, surround text with square brackets and italicize the words: ["Meet the Flintstones" plays in the distance] ["Meet the Flintstones" plays in the distance]

More information can be found at the template's documentation page.

Dropdowns
Sometimes lyrics and transcripts are too long to fit neatly on a page. To fix this issue, the Dropdown template is used to collapse the transcripts and lyrics.

The syntax for the Dropdown template is:

"TEXT" should be replaced with lyrics or dialogue, and "Header text" is the text displayed at the top of the Dropdown.

For example:

More information can be found at the template's documentation page.

Categorization
On the, categories allow a reader to navigate through the database of rip pages.

The rip template will automatically categorize several things as long as the Rip infobox is filled out correctly:
 * Category:Rips: All rip pages should be about rips, and the template will use this category for every page with the Rip template.
 * A subcategory of Category:Rips by month: the  date and   date (if they are formatted correctly).
 * A subcategory of Category:Playlists: the given  (can be more than one).
 * A subcategory of Category:Albums: the given  (can be more than one).
 * A subcategory of Category:Rips by author: the given  (can only be one).

However, several other components of a rip page need to be manually categorized, especially if the automatic categorization fails. The main joke of the rip (how its form is different from the source track) is usually categorized first, followed by the memes included in the rip.

To categorize a page, simply add  onto a page (where "X" is the name of the category), or use the Categories module. These categories should be subcategories of Category:Rips by joke, and in rare cases, Category:Rips by author and Category:Rips by album.

Linking
Once the rip page is complete, links between the rip and other pages should be added.

Lists
List of songs featured in rips, List of rips referencing media, and List of rips referencing YouTubers should be updated to link to relevant rips. Contributors' lists of contributions, and other lists should also include the rip

Many rips reference other rips, such as with Twin rips. Twin rips should be listed in List of twin rips, and the rips should link to each other.

Albums
If a rip was released in an album, it should be linked to under the Track list.

References in other rips
If one of the rip's jokes is a melody of another game's track, then a link to the rip should be put under the playlist's References in other rips section.

What makes a title invalid?
The wiki will tell you whether a title is invalid when you try to create a page, usually by redirecting you to a page that says "Bad title".

There two common types of invalid titles:
 * Titles with any of the following symbols:
 * Square brackets [ and/or ], such as the subtitles of CCC episodes
 * The pound or "hashtag" symbol #, like #420AnnounceIt"
 * The greater than symbols
 * The "pipe" symbol |
 * Curly brackets { or }
 * The underscore _, like _RATS (Meme Machine MKII)
 * ...and some ASCII characters.
 * Titles starting with a lowercase letter - the letter will become uppercase

For a full list of invalid titles, many of which are extremely uncommon, see Manual:Page title on MediaWiki.org.

How to fix invalid titles?
When you have a title with an invalid symbol, you must omit the symbol. If the symbol is a square bracket, you can instead replace the square bracket(s) with curved bracket(s). For example, if the title is "Foo [Bar]" you can use "Foo (Bar)" instead.

There is no way to completely fix page titles, but we can fix how the titles are presented. There are three places where titles are shown on a usual rip page:
 * 1) The top of the page in the title area
 * 2) At the top of the infobox
 * 3) As a part of the introductory paragraph

In all cases, the presentation can be fixed by doing the following:
 * 1) Add  to the top of the page (above the infobox code). This will replace the title the page displays to whatever   is.
 * 2) Add the parameter  to the infobox code. This will replace the text at the top of the infobox with whatever comes after the equals sign.
 * 3) Edit the introductory paragraph to remove the old title (sometimes it looks like  in code) with the title of the rip.

Example page
See this page.