Akadimía Setting Content Creation

 

Content Characteristics

 

Point of View

Articles are intended to have one of two points of view: Narrator or Author.  

Narrator

The narrator POV can be any one of the Fýlakes. Please be familiar with the mission of the Order of Akadimía and try to carry that forward into your writing.   Note, where you are using Narrator POV, try to use a quote to spice up the text. See quotes below.   There are no special tags required for Narrator POV, it is the assumed default.  

Character POV

The final method of conveying out of character information is via the Gamemaster POV This may include game mechanics, or other elements that while not strictly author or creator, clearly aren't available to those inhabiting the world.   There is no special formatting required for in-character POV shifts within an article. However, please ensure the shift is clear in the text to the reader.   Tag the article with all individual character POVs as charactername-character-pov. charactername can be the first name of the character only, so long as the name is unique. If it is not, you should include the last name in the tag with no spaces or other separators. You may need to include more than one tag if a POV shift occurs in the article.

charactername-character-pov

  If the entire article is in this POV, you can add the character-pov tag.

character-pov

 

Author POV

The Author POV can be used to convey out of character context. This may include game mechanics, inspiration or thematic guidance, or any other information not privy to the world.   When using Author POV, please use the following BBCode tags to denote your shift in POV. (Akadimía only.)

 [section:ooc]Author POV text[/section]

  If the entire article is in this POV, you can add the author-pov as a shortcut.

author-pov

 

Creator POV

The Creator POV can be used to convey out of character context. This may include game mechanics, inspiration or thematic guidance, or any other information not privy to the world.   When using Author POV, please use the following BBCode tags to denote your shift in POV. (Akadimía only.)

 [section:ooc]Author POV text[/section]

  If the entire article is in this POV, you can add the creator-pov as a shortcut.

creator-pov

 

Gamemaster POV

The final method of conveying out of character information is via the Gamemaster POV This may include game mechanics, or other elements that while not strictly author or creator, clearly aren't available to those inhabiting the world.   When using this POV, please use the following BBCode tags to denote your shift in POV. (Akadimía only.)

 [section:ooc]Gamemaster POV text[/section]

  If the entire article is in this POV, you can add the ooc-pov as a shortcut.

gm-pov

 

Audience and Tone of Voice

The target audience should be considered generally knowledgeable (e.g. gamers) but not experts.   World building and Campaign / RPG articles take on a neutral tone (e.g. Wikipedia). The intent is to generally inform.   Storytelling articles can take on a variety of tones, with intents varying from telling a story, to describing events, to convincing others.   The tone depends on the contents of the article. In general we strive for a respectful, confident tone from the narrator POVs. Where providing author POVs, strive for a respectful or optimistic tone.  

Components of Akadimía articles

 

Article Introductions

When writing articles in Akadimía, You are required to provide a clear introduction to the article at the top of the page. The article-introduction container is the recommended method of doing this.   The basic structure is to wrap the introduction in a container with the style article-introduction. This is followed by the first element of the introduction, an h1|introduction tag with the title Article Summary. This should be followed by an explicit paragraph (p tag) of text indicating the purpose of the article and what it includes. An unordered list with the TOC references to each H1 ID is strongly recommended, but not strictly required for small articles. Note, that for WA generated headers, this may not be possible without placing an internal anchor in the text.   The introduction for this page is shown as an example below. We recommend for consistency that you copy-and paste the template that follows when you first start an article.

[container:article-introduction]
[h1|introduction]Article Summary[/h1]
[p]This article provides guidance on authoring articles for the Akadimía setting. These include:[/p]
[ul]
[li][url:#characteristics]Characteristics of Akadimía content.[/url][/li]
[li][url:#modules]Components of Akadimía content.[/url][/li]
[li][url:#pagetypes]Differing categories of page layouts.[/url][/li]
[li][url:#navigation]Designing articles for navigation.[/url][/li]
[li][url:#access]Applying access control.[/url][/li]
[li][url:#workflow]Akadímia setting editorial workflow.[/url][/li]
[li][url:#conversion]Designing for conversion.[/url][/li]
[/ul]
[/container]

 

Narrator and Character Quotes

Where you are using Narrator POV, try to add an in character quote to the page. It's best to place this at the top of the page, or bracketed in appropriate sections.   The code to do this is:  

[quote]Text of the quote|Speaker/Author[/quote]

  Note, when using this type of quote, you can link the Author using BBCode article linking.   Also, please ensure when a quote by a character other than a narrator is used, the appropriate character POV tag is included.  

Creator, Author or Gamemaster Callouts

When you are using Creator, Author, or Gamemaster POV you may need callouts as part of the page. In Encounter articles for example, these might be text to be read aloud to the players describing a scene or event.   The code to do this is:  

[aloud]Add your text here[/aloud]

 

Imagery

Where possible, try to include at least one or two images on the main page. These images should be either real-world (potentially cropped and edited) photographs that convey the scenery, or fantasy images used to convey a creature or item. Please make sure that these images are loaded into the image gallery, and that they are tagged with the appropriate image link, image description and image artist.   To display these, use either the float right or float left sections.   Example 1: Left floated photograph.

[section: float-left][img:1714116][/section]

  Example 2: Right floated image, with transparency allowing for wrapping.

[section:float-right][img:1404270][/section]

   

Calls to Action (Primary CTAs)

Where an article has a clear next step, please include a clear call to action. This will render as a button that will direct the reader to that next action. (Akadimía only.)   An example using a category target is shown below:

 [section:CTA][category:e7a48b63-156e-448f-ac16-0642fee87897]Discover Zihæt [section:far fa-angle-double-right] [/section][/category][/section]

  Please place this at the top of the sidebar, or immediately below the appropriate section.  

Explore More Links (Secondary CTAs)

Often an article has a series of linked articles that are not clear from navigation. Please mark these with a clear "explore more" button. This will render as a less prominent button. (Akadimía only.)   An example linking to the first in a series of sub-articles is shown below:

[section:explore][category:e7a48b63-156e-448f-ac16-0642fee87897]Explore Inspirations [section:far fa-angle-double-down] [/section][/category][/section]

  Please place this at the top of the sidebar, or immediately below the appropriate section.   In the event of both a CTA and explore button, place the CTA button first.   Note, the double down arrow is a convention indicating that the next article is a sub-article.  

Imageblocks (Tertiary CTAs)

Article blocks are used where you need to provide more prominent blocks to link to related content (as opposed to inline references using the at-referencing system.   Article block references can be retrieved from the preview of the page near the footer, from the edit mode of the page under advanced tools & options, metadata (block link), or by using the at-referencing system to get the textual link and then copying the ID into an articleblock reference.   As with images, these can be used in combination with the float-left & float-right containers.   Example 1: Left floated photograph.  

Akadimía Setting Content Creation

Generic article | Jan 8, 2021

  Example 1 Code:

[section: float-left][articleblock:72436b3b-f608-4d8c-bd93-0827f8790c6e][/section]

                      Example 2: Article Block reference for this article     Example 2 Code:

[articleblock:72436b3b-f608-4d8c-bd93-0827f8790c6e]

    Example 3: Right floated image, with transparency allowing for wrapping.  

Akadimía Setting Content Creation

Generic article | Jan 8, 2021

  Example 3 Code:

[section:float-right][articleblock:72436b3b-f608-4d8c-bd93-0827f8790c6e][/section]

               

Types of Page Layouts

Home Page

The home page is the main entry point into the site, and the "recovery" point when individuals get lost.  

Section 1: Hero Image and Title and Subtitle

WorldAnvil manages these automatically.  

Section 2: Primary and Secondary CTAs

The primary CTA for the site (usually drives to Introduction). This should be above the introduction and below the subtitle so small screen devices see this component first.  

Section 3: Introduction / Orientation

The image and text supporting the primary introduction and orientation to the setting and its components. This is the primary focus for new users.  

Section 4: L1 Landing Page Links

The Introduction L1 landing page will already be linked. The remaining L1 landing pages should all be linked here. This is the primary navigatoin section.  

Section 5: Linear Navigation

Previous, parent and next articles.  

Section 6: Metadata

Tabbed medta data section, generated by WA automatically. Includes tags for navigation, primary article meta data and publication status.  

Section 7: Comments

Comments section. Note: this needs to have the ability to disable for certain articles that doesn't exist right now.  

Landing Pages

Note: RIght now the landing page panel layouts are not consistent or effective. Some landing pages feel more like article pages with subnav, while other landing pages feel barren with no supporting text. Need to find the right balance of content (why are you at a landing page), whitespace and visual queues, and differentiation from article pages.  

Section 1: Hero Image and Global Nav

This has the article cover image, and return to world navigation. Some articles may have tabbed navigation.  

Secton 2: Left Panel (primary)

The primary panel on the left side is for the landing vignette with the following content:

• Article Introduction
• Article Headers
• Article Content
• Optional Narrator or Character Quotes
• Optional Creator, Author or Gamemaster Callouts
• Recommended Imagery
• Level N+1 Landing Pages Tertiary CTAs

 

Article Introduction

See the article introduction component above.  

Article Headers

Headers in the main body should begin with H1 (these are downleveled to H2 by World Anvil).  

Article Content

The main content of the article, interspersed with one or more of the following elements identified in this section.  

Optional Narrator or Character Quotes

See the narrator and character quote components above.  

Optional Creator, Author or Gamemaster Callouts

See the Creator, Author or Gamemaster callout components above.  

Recommended Imagery

One or more imagery components. We recommend you start with float-right towards the top of the page and alternate as you go down. Be careful to sequence any tertiary CTAs as well. See the imagery components above.  

Tertiary CTAs

The supporting list of Level N+1 landing pages should be done as Article Blocks, floated right or left. This is to make them more prominent and break up layout of left panel. Be careful to sequence with any imagery. See the Tertiary CTA components above.  

Section 3: Right Panel (secondary)

The secondary panel on the right side is for:

• Primary and Secondary CTAs
• "At a glance" information
• Subordinate articles
• Featured Article(s) or Categories

 

Primary CTA & Secondary CTA

These go in the Sections tab, SIDEBAR: TOP field. There are no headers used in this area.   The secondary CTA should always go to the first article page in this level (if there are any). See Setting Themes. Use the CTA and Explore components.  

At a glance

These go in the Sectionst ab, SIDEBAR: CONTENT PANEL TOP. Headers should start with h1, which will be downconverted to h2 in the HTML by World Anvil.  

Subordinate articles

These go in the Sections tab, SIDEBAR: CONTENT PANEL BOTTOM field. Headers should continue with h2, assuming there was an at-a-glance element above. This will be will be downconverted to h3 in the HTML by World Anvil. In the event this is the first header, start with H1.  

Featured Articles or Categories

These go in the Sections tab, SIDEBAR: BOTTOM field. Headers should continue with h2, assuming there was an at-a-glance element above. This will be will be downconverted to h3 in the HTML by World Anvil. In the event this is the first header, start with H1.   Since subordinate articles can be very long, recommend using lists with at-references rather than tertiary CTAs (article blocks) in right panel.  

Section 4: (optional) Learn More links

A three column layout linking to other articles of interest. Use Tertiary CTAs (Article Blocks) in this section.   If these are used, test to be sure you aren't overriding people's behavior towards your "next" articles. You may need a primary CTA in Section 3 if that's occurring to reinforce the desired progression.   In landing pages these may conflict with the main panel navigation, use with caution.  

Section 5: Linear Navigation

Previous, parent and next articles. World Anvil manages these. You need to set the Navigation tab, Basic Navigation sub-tab, PARENT CATEGORY indicating the category that represents the right location in the IA.   You will also need to set the Navigation tab, Linear Navigation sub-tab, Previous Article and Next Article appropriately. The articles should exist and have been saved before you attempt to link them. You may need to re-load the edit view of the page after they are saved for the target pages to be referenceable.  

Section 6: Metadata

Tabbed medta data section, generated by WA automatically. Includes tags for navigation, primary article meta data and publication status. World Anvil manages this section.  

Section 7: Comments

Comments section. World Anvil manages this section. If you choose to provide author commentary, use the Sections tab, Footer Section subtab, AUTHOR'S NOTES field.   Note: this needs to have the ability to disable for certain articles that doesn't exist right now.  

Article Pages

Article pages should use a two column layout with roughly 66% assigned to the left column and 33% to the right.  

Section 1: Hero Image and Global Nav

This has the article cover image, and return to world navigation. Some articles may have tabbed navigation.  

Secton 2: Left Panel (primary)

The primary panel on the left side is for the article vignette and other main content elements:

• Article Introduction
• Article Headers
• Article Content
• Optional Narrator or Character Quotes
• Optional Creator, Author or Gamemaster Callouts
• Recommended Imagery
• Optional Key Tertiary CTAs

  In addition, it contains Article Template specific prompts/content sections.  

Article Introduction

See the article introduction component above.  

Article Headers

Headers in the main body should begin with H1 (these are downleveled to H2 by World Anvil).  

Article Content

The main content of the article, interspersed with one or more of the following elements identified in this section.  

Optional Narrator or Character Quotes

See the narrator and character quote components above.  

Optional Creator, Author or Gamemaster Callouts

See the Creator, Author or Gamemaster callout components above.  

Recommended Imagery

One or more imagery components. We recommend you start with float-right towards the top of the page and alternate as you go down. Be careful to sequence any tertiary CTAs as well. See the imagery components above.  

Optional Tertiary CTAs

Any major articles referenced that require a specific "nudge" of the user. These should be done as Article Blocks, floated right or left. This is to make them more prominent and break up layout of left panel. Be careful to sequence with any imagery. See the Tertiary CTA components above.  

Section 3: Right Panel (secondary)

The secondary panel on the right side is for:

• Primary and Secondary CTAs
• "At a glance" information
• "Statistical" information including template specific info, maps
• Related Content
• Legal or other page level callouts

 

Primary CTA & Secondary CTA

These go in the Sections tab, SIDEBAR: TOP field. There are no headers used in this area.   The secondary CTA should always go to the first article page in this level (if there are any). See Setting Themes. Use the CTA and Explore components.  

At a glance

These go in the Sectionst ab, SIDEBAR: CONTENT PANEL TOP. Headers should start with h1, which will be downconverted to h2 in the HTML by World Anvil.  

Statistical information

Much of this information is managed by World Anvil. World Anvil however does some very interesting things with its sidebar headers, including starting them at h5. This is a conscious decision, but it does mean we need to be careful with out choice of sidebar panel headers.   These go in the Sections tab, SIDEBAR: CONTENT PANEL TOP or SIDEBAR: CONTENT PANEL BOTTOM field.   For now, assume headers should continue with h2, assuming there was an at-a-glance element above. This will be will be downconverted to h3 in the HTML by World Anvil. In the event this is the first header, start with H1. If World Anvil has populated this section, you may need to do trial and error to find the right leveling.  

Related Content

These go in the Sections tab, SIDEBAR: BOTTOM field. Headers should continue with h2, assuming there was an at-a-glance element above. This will be will be downconverted to h3 in the HTML by World Anvil. In the event this is the first header, start with H1.   Since subordinate articles can be very long, recommend using lists with at-references rather than tertiary CTAs (article blocks) in right panel.  

Legal or other page level callouts

These go in the Sections tab, SIDEBAR: BOTTOM field. Headers should continue with h2, assuming there was an at-a-glance element above. This will be will be downconverted to h3 in the HTML by World Anvil. In the event this is the first header, start with H1.  

Section 4: (optional) Learn More links

A three column layout linking to other articles of interest. Use Tertiary CTAs (Article Blocks) in this section.   If these are used, test to be sure you aren't overriding people's behavior towards your "next" articles. You may need a primary CTA in Section 3 if that's occurring to reinforce the desired progression.   In landing pages these may conflict with the main panel navigation, use with caution.  

Section 5: Linear Navigation

Previous, parent and next articles. World Anvil manages these. You need to set the Navigation tab, Basic Navigation sub-tab, PARENT CATEGORY indicating the category that represents the right location in the IA.   You will also need to set the Navigation tab, Linear Navigation sub-tab, Previous Article and Next Article appropriately. The articles should exist and have been saved before you attempt to link them. You may need to re-load the edit view of the page after they are saved for the target pages to be referenceable.  

Section 6: Metadata

Tabbed medta data section, generated by WA automatically. Includes tags for navigation, primary article meta data and publication status. World Anvil manages this section.  

Section 7: Comments

Comments section. World Anvil manages this section. If you choose to provide author commentary, use the Sections tab, Footer Section subtab, AUTHOR'S NOTES field.   Note: this needs to have the ability to disable for certain articles that doesn't exist right now.  

Navigation Requirements

Information Architecture

All articles should have a home within the heirarchy of the site (Information Architecture, IA or Vertical Nav).  

Direct IA navigation

The IA can be navigted directly from the mega-nav (on the left hand side hamburger menu).  

Treed IA navigation

Readers can navigate deeper into the IA by accessing links to L1 Landing Pages on the Home Page and Level N+1 Landing Page links on Level N Landing Pages.   Explore CTAs may also navigate users down further in the IA.  

Upward IA navigation

Vertical Navigation (V) can be accessed between the Linear Navigation (L). See content threading for more on Linear navigation.
<- Previous Level N Link (L) <- ...whitespace... ^ Level N Landing Page (V) ^ ...whitespace... -> Next Level N Link (L) ->  

Heirarchy of Landing Page (generic articles) and Article Pages (various) within Categories

Due to an oddity of how WA generates its nav on categories / horizontal navigation, the content structure should resemble the following:  

• Homepage Category. Includes redirect to Home Page. All content in this category will have vertical navigation back to the homepage (the category then redirected to the article vesion)
• Home Page. The actual home page design and content. As an exception it is located in the home page category so that the vertical navigation is actually the Homepage Category. The content of this page is repeated on World Configuration Home Page Custom Content.
• L1 Landing Page #1. The first L1 content page referenced on the Home Page.
• L1 Landing Page #2. The second L1 content page referenced on the Home Page.
• ...
• L1 Category #1. The category for the L1 Landing Page #1. Should redirect to L1 Landing Page #1 generic article. All content in this category will have vertical navigation back to the L1 Landing Page #1 (the category then redirected to the article vesion.)
• L1#1 Article Page A. First article page in L1 (accessible from L1 Landing Page #1 horizontal navigation and L1 Landing Page #1 Explore button
• L1#1 Article Page B. First article page in L1 (accessible from L1 Landing Page L1#1 Article Page A.
• ...
• L2 Landing Page #1. The first L2 landing page referenced on an L1 Landing Page #1 (containing folder).
• ...
• L2 Category #1. The category for the L2 Landing Page #1. Should redirect to L2 Landing Page #1 generic article (located at the same level as this category). All content in this category will have vertical navigation back to the L2 Landing Page #1 (the category then redirected to the article version.)
• L2#1 Article Page A. First article page in L2 (accessible from L2 Landing Page #1 horizontal navigation L2 Landing Page #1 Explore button
• L2#1 Article Page B. Second article page in L2 (accessible from L2#1 Article Page A horizontal navigation
• ...
• L3 Landing Page #1. The first L3 landing page referenced on an L2 Landing Page #1 (containing folder.)
• ...
• L3 Category #1. The category for the L4 Landing Page #1. Should redirect to L3 Landing Page #1 generic article (located at the same level as this category). All content in this category will have vertical navigation back to the L3 Landing Page #1 (the category then redirected to the article version.)
• L3#1 Article Page A. First article page in L3 (accessible from L3 Landing Page #1 horizontal navigation L3 Landing Page #1 Explore button
• L3#1 Article Page B. Second article page in L3 (accessible from L3#1 Article Page A horizontal navigation
• ...
• L4 Landing Page #1. The first L4 landing page referenced on an L3 Landing Page #1 (containing folder.)
• ...
• L4 Category #1. The category for the L4 Landing Page #1. Should redirect to L4 Landing Page #1 generic article (located at the same level as this category). All content in this category will have vertical navigation back to the L4 Landing Page #1 (the category then redirected to the article version.)
• L4#1 Article Page A. First article page in L4 (accessible from L4 Landing Page #1 horizontal navigation L4 Landing Page #1 Explore button
• L4#1 Article Page B. Second article page in L4 (accessible from L4#1 Article Page A horizontal navigation
• ...
• L1 Category #2. The category for the L1 Landing Page #2 and related content. Should redirect to L1 Content Page 1. All information in this will have vertical nav link back to the L1 Landing Page. This example has no L2 landing pages.
• L1#1 Article Page A. First article page in L1 (accessible from L1 Landing Page #2 horizontal navigation and L1 Landing Page #2 Explore button
• L1#1 Article Page B. First article page in L1 (accessible from L1#1 Article Page A horizontal navigation
• ...
• ...
 

Content Threading (Linear Nav and CTAs)

Article Pages

Article pages should have horizontal navigation to the other Article Pages at the same level. The first article page in that level should have no "previous" link. The last article page in that level should have no "next" link.  

Landing Pages

Landing pages should have horizontal navigation to the other Landing Pages at the same level. The first landing page in that level should have no "previous" link. The last landing page in that level should have no "next link."   Landing pages should have a Primary CTA that takes you to the next landing page, and an Explore action that takes you to its first content article.  

External versus Internal Links

Often you will need to reference to external websites. Reasons for this may vary from providing a citation, to referencing a significant external work.   When doing so, add the following BBCode text to the inside of the URL tag, immediately following the anchor text.

 [section:far fa-external-link] [/section]

  For example:

[url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Bronze_Age_collapse]bronze age collapse [section:far fa-external-link] [/section][/url]

[/section]  

Theme Linking

Where an article touches on one or more of the themes identified in Setting Themes, please be sure to add a tag to the article.   For reference, these tags include:

theme-forms-of-government
theme-oligarchy
theme-slavery
theme-discrimination
theme-abuse
theme-neurodiversity
theme-mental-illness
theme-religious-violence
theme-afterlife
theme-syncretism
theme-shame-vs-guilt

 

Access Control

All articles with the exception of RPG POV articles should be set to public. See below for more information on referencing and managing RPG content.  

RPG Content Supression

RPG content has several unique characteristics.  
1. It may be monetized in the future
2. It often extends or links to copyrighted content
3. It won't be interesting for all readers
 

RPG Landing Pages

RPG landing pages are trickier. They need to be publically available, but also surpress information not interesting/relevant to non-RPG readers.   The RPG landing pages should be public, and provide information that's relevant to all readers, and the following Aloud section at the top of the page. They should be written from the GM POV (see above), but there may be instances of mixed content where other POVs are acceptable.  

[aloud]
Content within the [category:ffa2f99e-a64b-4613-b0c7-2ef06c32ef61] section refers to gaming mechanics, often with reference to published materials from other providers. While referencing these under fair use, we respect that this information should not be publicly accessible. To see this content, you will need a World Anvil account. Once you are logged in, come back to this page so you can toggle access to the RPG content by using the button in the sidebar.
[/aloud]

  The following code should be added at the top of the Sidebar Content: SIDEBAR: CONTENT PANEL TOP  

[userstate:loggedin][subgroup:bad3eadd-29c9-418c-8973-fb97a2ba4aba|dd92be98-b85b-4cd4-9162-0cab0526c2da] See RPG Content[/subgroup][/userstate][userstate:loggedout][section:CTA][url:https://www.worldanvil.com/login]Login to Enable[/url] [/section][/userstate]

  This will provide the ability to self-enroll into the RPG groups for those interested, and should also be a nudge if someone's not logged in -- and though subscribed, can't see the content b/c the system doesn't recognize them. This isn't cookie based, so it requires the extra nudge.   I'm going to consider moving these to re-usable stat blocks later.  

RPG Articles

RPG articles should be set to private, and have the "RPG Content" group added to them. They should be written from the GM POV (see above).  

Articles referencing RPG Articles

This one's a bit of a judgement call. I'd suggest treating these like RPG landing pages. Include the aloud, sidebar content panel buttons, and wrap the reference.  

Editorial Workflow

To be written. Reference the -planned, -authored, -edited tags.  

Designing for Conversion

Conversion Funnels (GA)