so yeah I've been hearing people mention how there's lots of parts to C&C now and that it could be confusing for new people, and I agree, so I wrote this. the target audience is someone who is relatively new to C&C/Smogon and wants to get involved.
I think it includes all the relevant information from announcements/stickies in the subforums I frequent, but I didn't include stuff for Articles, In-Game Expansion, or 2v2. Even though there are info stickies in those subforums some of them haven't been updated in a while and I don't know what's current. so if you think there should be something in here about those sections, please write it up!
thanks to ete for reading the draft and giving some good suggestions for stuff to include.
finally I think this might help the most if it was stickied in C&C or was an announcement. but you guys can figure out what to do with it lol
---
So you might be a little intimidated by all the rules in C&C and don’t know how to start contributing. There are three related but slightly different ways to get involved; you can be a writer, you can be a proofreader, or you can be a content and logic checker. Or you can be all three!
What is C&C?
Basically all of the content on the Smogon website – from articles to guides to Pokemon analyses – was created by ordinary users. When a user feels like there should be something on-site that isn’t on-site, whether it is a new Pokemon set, guide, or article, or if the current analysis for a Pokemon is just outdated, he can write up a polished draft of what he feel should be on the website and post it in the appropriate subforum. Most subforums have reservations systems to ensure work doesn’t get done twice. After the writer posts his draft, grammar checkers and content checkers (again, just ordinary users) read it over and give suggested changes. Eventually, after the moderators feel that the product is finished, they give it a final check and upload it.
That is the short story of how C&C works. The rest of this post is a lot more detailed and tries to cover everything that someone who wishes to contribute might want to know.
What are all these subforums?
Articles and Analyses is where lots of on-site content is produced. In the Articles subforum, the end product is posted to http://www.smogon.com/dp/articles/. The Ubers, OU, UU, and Little Cup subforums represent each individual metagame, and these finished products end up at http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/. The analyses section is probably the most active part of C&C.
Quality Control is functionally a component of the Analyses portion of C&C. All new analyses must first be posted in this forum, and only after they are approved by the Quality Control team are they moved to the appropriate metagame subforum by a moderator. More information on how this process works is below!
Under the Projects heading, the subforum relevant to most users is In-Game Expansion, which is designed to provide a reference for competitive players while running through their cartridge games.
The Archive is essentially for documentation purposes; there is a section for uploaded analyses and one for outdated analyses that may potentially become useful someday. If you are a new user, you probably won't find much use for this section since you can't post in it.
Finally, there are some useful threads in the main C&C forum. Everyone should read all the informational stickies and announcement, as well as some of the more recent discussion threads that aren’t stickied since they can give insight on the philosophy of C&C. The small changes threads (discussed under Content Revision) are located here.
Writing
There are a few different ways to get started. The first scenario is that you have inspiration and know what you want to write. Depending on what topic you want to write about, you should go to either Articles, Analyses, or In-Game Expansion. Since more than one user might want to write about the same thing, there are reservation threads for each category. [the in-game expansion sticky was last updated in March -- is this still going? if no one responds i'm just taking this part out.] Here is a list:
Ubers (Analyses): http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60461
OU/BL (Analyses): http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57960
UU (Analyses): http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53440
Little Cup (Analyses): http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60081
Articles: http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68647
If you check the relevant thread and determine that no one is already writing what you have in mind, then make a post reserving your chosen topic and you can start writing it!
The second scenario for someone wanting to write is that you know you want to do something, but don't know what to do. In that case, those same lists can come in handy, because you can figure out what isn't being done -- and pick something out of those.
For analyses, there are several types of work you can do. You can write a completely new analysis (pretty rare, and are mostly lower tiered Pokemon in upper tiers), update an outdated analysis, condense an existing analysis for easier reading, or write up a new set for an existing analysis. The titles you should give your threads are (Analysis), (Update), (Concise), and (Insert Set Name) respectively; basically, follow the same format as the other threads in the forum.
This is a template that analyses should generally follow. The bolded parts are what actually go in the analysis, while the normal font is explanations. For full analyses and updates, you should use the full template. If you are doing a concision of an existing analysis, you don't need to recreate all the code based off what is visible on the website; this code exists behind-the-scenes, and you can ask any C&C regular with a badge to pull the code for you. Finally, if you are writing a single set for an existing analysis, you shouldn't use the Overview, Optional Changes, Team Options, or Counters tags.
[Overview]
This is what you see at the very top, right after base stats are listed but before any sets are listed. Here, provide a somewhat flavorful description of the Pokemon in general -- it's an overview of its capabilities. Be careful to give due diligence to its flaws as well.
[SET]
This tag marks the beginning of a new set. Sets are usually listed in order of popularity and effectiveness.
name: name of the specific set in question. usually give it a simple name that describes its purpose; only use nicknames if they are accepted by the entire community.
move 1: usually the moves that “define” the set go near the top
move 2: etc
move 3: etc
move 4: you need four moves on a set!!!
nature: you can slash two natures together here if you feel there are strong reasons to use both; be sure to talk about them both under the additional comments
item: you can also slash two items together; again, be sure to talk about the benefits and weaknesses of each under additional comments
ability: only list an ability if the Pokemon has more than one
evs: EVs should round down to the closest multiple of 4, which means you should say 4 HP instead of 6 HP. The proper order for EVs is "# HP / # Atk / # Def / # SpA / # SpD / # Spe". If the set uses 0 EVs in a stat don't include it.
[SET COMMENTS]
generally 1-2 paragraphs. explain how the set plays and its purpose. explain the primary moves on the set and how they interact with each other. use logical splits if necessary for your paragraphs.
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
this is what shows when you click the link at the bottom of most new analyses and is extra information that may not be immediately important for the reader to see, but is useful to know regardless. you should usually use a new paragraph for each section of this.
each set requires different information here, but if you are unsure what to put then here are some suggestions. you don’t necessarily need to have all of these – the general rule is: if it helps the reader, put it in; if it doesn’t, omit it. some suggested content:
- if there are extended tips on how to use the set, move them here instead of saying it all in the set comments.
- comment on the EV spread, nature, and item but only if there is something interesting to say about them. don’t just say Choice Scarf is used to increase Speed 1.5x, but if there is something specific the EV spread does, definitely mention it.
- describe counters to this set. usually there are a few Pokemon that counter most sets of a Pokemon, but there are still some Pokemon that counter specific sets better than others. focus on the Pokemon that counter this set especially well.
- describe team options for the set. just like there are some Pokemon that counter most sets of a Pokemon but one set better than the rest, there are team options that work better with one set than the other sets. you can even link to other parts of Smogon (Trick Room guide for TR sweepers and Rain Dance guide for Rain sweepers, etc).
<h3>Damage Calculations</h3>
only if necessary. use these sparingly and only when they are very convincing.
<ul class="damage_calculation">
<li> put the actual calc in here (x Atk EV [name of attacker] vs y Def EV [name of defender]: percentage) </li>
</ul>
[Team Options]
this section is designed to inform the reader of how you can fit it onto a team.
[Optional Changes]
talk about moves that this Pokemon gets that could be useful but aren't reliable / good enough to make it onto a set. mention alternative EV spreads, especially different speed tiers that the Pokemon can hit and what different attack/defense levels accomplish. it may be helpful for readers if you compile a list of all the EV spreads used for every set here just so he can compare them all at a glance. if there is a nature shift that applies to most sets, talk about it here. if the use of Hidden Power is important to the Pokemon, talk about the differences in-depth here. basically this is a catch-all for changes you can make!
[Counters]
describe counters to the Pokemon. how do they counter it? what do they have to be careful to look out for?
So those are the format and content expectations for the actual writing process. But don't start writing just yet! As mentioned above, all analyses must pass through the Quality Control forum before going through the normal C&C process. This means you should not make any threads in the Ubers, OU, UU, or Little Cup forums. The only forum you should make a new thread in is the Quality Control forum. The point of this forum is to increase efficiency so that sets that need to be locked won't be written up and checked multiple times before they actually get locked which means we waste a lot less of everyone's time. However, you don't actually need the post the entire analysis in the forum -- in fact, it is recommended that you only post an outline. Then, after your analysis is approved, you can take that outline and expand it into a full analysis. For detailed instructions on what to do when you get to this set, click here.
After your set (hopefully) gets approved by QC and is moved by a moderator to the appropriate subforum is the critical time for most analyses. Keep checking your own writing and making additions and improvements, even without external input. This cannot be stressed enough; the reason so many analyses don't make it onto the site is because their owners leave them to languish and only update when other users post grammar and content checks. Don't do this. Analyses are never "finished" and always can be improved upon, whether it is through checking for grammatical correctness, adding useful information, cutting down on extraneous fluff, or just polishing the prose. If you are at an impasse and need some help with determining what to write, perhaps for the Team Options or for the Additional Comments of a set, don't be afraid to ask for help -- but only after you've tried your best to do it on your own.
Once your analysis is moved into the proper subforum, other users will begin posting comments and revisions of your work. Be sure to incorporate their changes, but only if you agree with them. Eventually, when you think your analysis is done, PM the appropriate mods and they will check it over.
Grammar Checking
Grammar checking is an integral part of the process, as it ensures the work on Smogon is of the highest quality. While checking grammar should always be happening throughout the analysis writing process, C&Cers should only focus explicitly on checking grammar when the analysis's content issues have been ironed out and it is almost finished. When a freshly posted analysis gets a bunch of basic grammar issued nitpicked, it doesn't affect the final product much since there are going to be lots of changes until it's actually finished, which means it's kind of like wasting your time.
When an analysis is moved from the Quality Control forum to its correct subforum, the first few days should be reserved for content comments and suggestions. During this time the writer should be eliminating obvious grammar mistakes from the analysis. After content is more-or-less finalized, it will be moved into the “grammar check” section of the queue; grammar checkers are welcome to check any of the analyses in this section. A note, though: you shouldn’t grammar check an analysis until the previous check has been recognized and edited into the main post by the writer. To finish up the grammar stage, members of the Grammar / Prose team (currently taking applications) perform two final checks. After that, the mod in charge of the analysis performs a final check and uploads it.
This page is very useful for Smogon-specific grammar issues.
Content Revision
While the quality of the writing in sets is important, the quality of the sets themselves are just as important. Content checks should be started when the analysis is first posted in the Quality Control subforum, and only stopped when the analysis actually gets on-site. Anyone can -- and everyone is encouraged to -- post content checks, but be sure to back up your arguments with logical reasoning and solid warrants.
Apart from the content checks done on analyses, there are two very active small changes threads. Ever found a spelling error in an analysis, or read something that doesn’t quite make logical sense, but didn’t know where to report it? You’re looking for these two threads. The subjective changes thread covers changes such as modified EV spreads and move sets or additions to the Optional Changes or Counters sections. The objective changes thread should be used for changes that do not affect the structure or meaning of a page—typoes, grammar errors, etc.
That's it! Hopefully this was a helpful explanation of how C&C works, and happy contributing!
I think it includes all the relevant information from announcements/stickies in the subforums I frequent, but I didn't include stuff for Articles, In-Game Expansion, or 2v2. Even though there are info stickies in those subforums some of them haven't been updated in a while and I don't know what's current. so if you think there should be something in here about those sections, please write it up!
thanks to ete for reading the draft and giving some good suggestions for stuff to include.
finally I think this might help the most if it was stickied in C&C or was an announcement. but you guys can figure out what to do with it lol
---
How to get involved in C&C!
So you might be a little intimidated by all the rules in C&C and don’t know how to start contributing. There are three related but slightly different ways to get involved; you can be a writer, you can be a proofreader, or you can be a content and logic checker. Or you can be all three!
What is C&C?
Basically all of the content on the Smogon website – from articles to guides to Pokemon analyses – was created by ordinary users. When a user feels like there should be something on-site that isn’t on-site, whether it is a new Pokemon set, guide, or article, or if the current analysis for a Pokemon is just outdated, he can write up a polished draft of what he feel should be on the website and post it in the appropriate subforum. Most subforums have reservations systems to ensure work doesn’t get done twice. After the writer posts his draft, grammar checkers and content checkers (again, just ordinary users) read it over and give suggested changes. Eventually, after the moderators feel that the product is finished, they give it a final check and upload it.
That is the short story of how C&C works. The rest of this post is a lot more detailed and tries to cover everything that someone who wishes to contribute might want to know.
What are all these subforums?
Articles and Analyses is where lots of on-site content is produced. In the Articles subforum, the end product is posted to http://www.smogon.com/dp/articles/. The Ubers, OU, UU, and Little Cup subforums represent each individual metagame, and these finished products end up at http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/. The analyses section is probably the most active part of C&C.
Quality Control is functionally a component of the Analyses portion of C&C. All new analyses must first be posted in this forum, and only after they are approved by the Quality Control team are they moved to the appropriate metagame subforum by a moderator. More information on how this process works is below!
Under the Projects heading, the subforum relevant to most users is In-Game Expansion, which is designed to provide a reference for competitive players while running through their cartridge games.
The Archive is essentially for documentation purposes; there is a section for uploaded analyses and one for outdated analyses that may potentially become useful someday. If you are a new user, you probably won't find much use for this section since you can't post in it.
Finally, there are some useful threads in the main C&C forum. Everyone should read all the informational stickies and announcement, as well as some of the more recent discussion threads that aren’t stickied since they can give insight on the philosophy of C&C. The small changes threads (discussed under Content Revision) are located here.
Writing
There are a few different ways to get started. The first scenario is that you have inspiration and know what you want to write. Depending on what topic you want to write about, you should go to either Articles, Analyses, or In-Game Expansion. Since more than one user might want to write about the same thing, there are reservation threads for each category. [the in-game expansion sticky was last updated in March -- is this still going? if no one responds i'm just taking this part out.] Here is a list:
Ubers (Analyses): http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60461
OU/BL (Analyses): http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57960
UU (Analyses): http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53440
Little Cup (Analyses): http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60081
Articles: http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68647
If you check the relevant thread and determine that no one is already writing what you have in mind, then make a post reserving your chosen topic and you can start writing it!
The second scenario for someone wanting to write is that you know you want to do something, but don't know what to do. In that case, those same lists can come in handy, because you can figure out what isn't being done -- and pick something out of those.
For analyses, there are several types of work you can do. You can write a completely new analysis (pretty rare, and are mostly lower tiered Pokemon in upper tiers), update an outdated analysis, condense an existing analysis for easier reading, or write up a new set for an existing analysis. The titles you should give your threads are (Analysis), (Update), (Concise), and (Insert Set Name) respectively; basically, follow the same format as the other threads in the forum.
This is a template that analyses should generally follow. The bolded parts are what actually go in the analysis, while the normal font is explanations. For full analyses and updates, you should use the full template. If you are doing a concision of an existing analysis, you don't need to recreate all the code based off what is visible on the website; this code exists behind-the-scenes, and you can ask any C&C regular with a badge to pull the code for you. Finally, if you are writing a single set for an existing analysis, you shouldn't use the Overview, Optional Changes, Team Options, or Counters tags.
[Overview]
This is what you see at the very top, right after base stats are listed but before any sets are listed. Here, provide a somewhat flavorful description of the Pokemon in general -- it's an overview of its capabilities. Be careful to give due diligence to its flaws as well.
[SET]
This tag marks the beginning of a new set. Sets are usually listed in order of popularity and effectiveness.
name: name of the specific set in question. usually give it a simple name that describes its purpose; only use nicknames if they are accepted by the entire community.
move 1: usually the moves that “define” the set go near the top
move 2: etc
move 3: etc
move 4: you need four moves on a set!!!
nature: you can slash two natures together here if you feel there are strong reasons to use both; be sure to talk about them both under the additional comments
item: you can also slash two items together; again, be sure to talk about the benefits and weaknesses of each under additional comments
ability: only list an ability if the Pokemon has more than one
evs: EVs should round down to the closest multiple of 4, which means you should say 4 HP instead of 6 HP. The proper order for EVs is "# HP / # Atk / # Def / # SpA / # SpD / # Spe". If the set uses 0 EVs in a stat don't include it.
[SET COMMENTS]
generally 1-2 paragraphs. explain how the set plays and its purpose. explain the primary moves on the set and how they interact with each other. use logical splits if necessary for your paragraphs.
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
this is what shows when you click the link at the bottom of most new analyses and is extra information that may not be immediately important for the reader to see, but is useful to know regardless. you should usually use a new paragraph for each section of this.
each set requires different information here, but if you are unsure what to put then here are some suggestions. you don’t necessarily need to have all of these – the general rule is: if it helps the reader, put it in; if it doesn’t, omit it. some suggested content:
- if there are extended tips on how to use the set, move them here instead of saying it all in the set comments.
- comment on the EV spread, nature, and item but only if there is something interesting to say about them. don’t just say Choice Scarf is used to increase Speed 1.5x, but if there is something specific the EV spread does, definitely mention it.
- describe counters to this set. usually there are a few Pokemon that counter most sets of a Pokemon, but there are still some Pokemon that counter specific sets better than others. focus on the Pokemon that counter this set especially well.
- describe team options for the set. just like there are some Pokemon that counter most sets of a Pokemon but one set better than the rest, there are team options that work better with one set than the other sets. you can even link to other parts of Smogon (Trick Room guide for TR sweepers and Rain Dance guide for Rain sweepers, etc).
<h3>Damage Calculations</h3>
only if necessary. use these sparingly and only when they are very convincing.
<ul class="damage_calculation">
<li> put the actual calc in here (x Atk EV [name of attacker] vs y Def EV [name of defender]: percentage) </li>
</ul>
[Team Options]
this section is designed to inform the reader of how you can fit it onto a team.
[Optional Changes]
talk about moves that this Pokemon gets that could be useful but aren't reliable / good enough to make it onto a set. mention alternative EV spreads, especially different speed tiers that the Pokemon can hit and what different attack/defense levels accomplish. it may be helpful for readers if you compile a list of all the EV spreads used for every set here just so he can compare them all at a glance. if there is a nature shift that applies to most sets, talk about it here. if the use of Hidden Power is important to the Pokemon, talk about the differences in-depth here. basically this is a catch-all for changes you can make!
[Counters]
describe counters to the Pokemon. how do they counter it? what do they have to be careful to look out for?
So those are the format and content expectations for the actual writing process. But don't start writing just yet! As mentioned above, all analyses must pass through the Quality Control forum before going through the normal C&C process. This means you should not make any threads in the Ubers, OU, UU, or Little Cup forums. The only forum you should make a new thread in is the Quality Control forum. The point of this forum is to increase efficiency so that sets that need to be locked won't be written up and checked multiple times before they actually get locked which means we waste a lot less of everyone's time. However, you don't actually need the post the entire analysis in the forum -- in fact, it is recommended that you only post an outline. Then, after your analysis is approved, you can take that outline and expand it into a full analysis. For detailed instructions on what to do when you get to this set, click here.
After your set (hopefully) gets approved by QC and is moved by a moderator to the appropriate subforum is the critical time for most analyses. Keep checking your own writing and making additions and improvements, even without external input. This cannot be stressed enough; the reason so many analyses don't make it onto the site is because their owners leave them to languish and only update when other users post grammar and content checks. Don't do this. Analyses are never "finished" and always can be improved upon, whether it is through checking for grammatical correctness, adding useful information, cutting down on extraneous fluff, or just polishing the prose. If you are at an impasse and need some help with determining what to write, perhaps for the Team Options or for the Additional Comments of a set, don't be afraid to ask for help -- but only after you've tried your best to do it on your own.
Once your analysis is moved into the proper subforum, other users will begin posting comments and revisions of your work. Be sure to incorporate their changes, but only if you agree with them. Eventually, when you think your analysis is done, PM the appropriate mods and they will check it over.
Grammar Checking
Grammar checking is an integral part of the process, as it ensures the work on Smogon is of the highest quality. While checking grammar should always be happening throughout the analysis writing process, C&Cers should only focus explicitly on checking grammar when the analysis's content issues have been ironed out and it is almost finished. When a freshly posted analysis gets a bunch of basic grammar issued nitpicked, it doesn't affect the final product much since there are going to be lots of changes until it's actually finished, which means it's kind of like wasting your time.
When an analysis is moved from the Quality Control forum to its correct subforum, the first few days should be reserved for content comments and suggestions. During this time the writer should be eliminating obvious grammar mistakes from the analysis. After content is more-or-less finalized, it will be moved into the “grammar check” section of the queue; grammar checkers are welcome to check any of the analyses in this section. A note, though: you shouldn’t grammar check an analysis until the previous check has been recognized and edited into the main post by the writer. To finish up the grammar stage, members of the Grammar / Prose team (currently taking applications) perform two final checks. After that, the mod in charge of the analysis performs a final check and uploads it.
This page is very useful for Smogon-specific grammar issues.
Content Revision
While the quality of the writing in sets is important, the quality of the sets themselves are just as important. Content checks should be started when the analysis is first posted in the Quality Control subforum, and only stopped when the analysis actually gets on-site. Anyone can -- and everyone is encouraged to -- post content checks, but be sure to back up your arguments with logical reasoning and solid warrants.
Apart from the content checks done on analyses, there are two very active small changes threads. Ever found a spelling error in an analysis, or read something that doesn’t quite make logical sense, but didn’t know where to report it? You’re looking for these two threads. The subjective changes thread covers changes such as modified EV spreads and move sets or additions to the Optional Changes or Counters sections. The objective changes thread should be used for changes that do not affect the structure or meaning of a page—typoes, grammar errors, etc.
That's it! Hopefully this was a helpful explanation of how C&C works, and happy contributing!
