MarioWiki talk:Citations

Great page, but just one problem. Why can't we still use <ref> for written sources? Even though written sources can't be linked to, why can't you cite the without a link?Knife (talk) 20:25, 26 January 2008 (EST)

Why? The section says that written sources also can be used in ref tags. I don't understand. :S - Cobold (talk · contribs) 05:28, 27 January 2008 (EST)

I think we should source the games when an information might seem obscure/false to a number of fans. Bonetail being a Skeleton because he/she didn't eat anything and died might seem an important bit of info, however, the only source for that is that guy who tell stories in Rogueport (What is his name again?). Blitzwing (talk · gnome work)

That's a different case. You can still use the <ref></ref> tags, but you shouldn't say "Source: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door", but rather use a footnote: "This information comes from Grifty, a storyteller in Rogueport's East Side.", or something like that. - Cobold (talk · contribs) 06:51, 27 January 2008 (EST)

The part that confuses me is this sentence "To cite a written source, which you cannot provide a link to, you only need to state it exactly.". That sentence seems to imply that we cannot use <ref> for things that can't be linked to. And using <ref> isn't always about linking to another website.Knife (talk) 19:50, 27 January 2008 (EST)

This is outdated

It says in the "Why Sourcing" section that we need sources on the wiki because we "recently" got a flood of information about "new games" like Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Now, Brawl was released almost five years ago now and this needs to be updated. Could a sysop please fix this? Pseudo-dino (talk) 12:28, 27 April 2013 (EDT)

Yeah, we should really remove specific games since time goes on Ray Trace^(T|C) 12:38, 27 April 2013 (EDT)

Link needs to be fixed

There's a link to MarioWiki:Beta Elements instead of MarioWiki:Pre-release and unused content under the "Requesting a source" header. Niiue (talk) 20:33, 30 December 2015 (EST)

X Bosses

On the bosses in the Mario & Luigi series pages, I removed the information on the X bosses seeing that they already have their own articles. Can I add links to those pages on the original like Bowser Memory ML to Bowser Memory MLX? The RPG Gamer (talk) (edits) 19:21, 6 May 2016 (EDT)

Related on RPG Infoboxes

I think it's time we remove the related section in the RPG Infoboxes that have them because since we redesigned them the related part has disappeared so there is now no real need to have it anymore. The RPG Gamer (talk) (edits) 18:25, 4 June 2016 (EDT)

I beg your pardon? How is this and your previous conversation relevant to sourcing? It's me, Mario! (Talk / Stalk) 18:29, 4 June 2016 (EDT)

Elite Gombule source

The Elite Goombule page needs a referenceable page number. It says citation needed on the reference bit but I don't have a copy of the guide, could someone who actually has the guide source the page number? The RPG Gamer (talk) (edits) 18:51, 6 June 2016 (EDT)

Out of curiosity, why did you ask this on this page and not the page for Elite Goombule? Hello, I'm Time Turner.

This citation...

This citation seems to have some problem with wikicode: the final "!" character should be a part of the URL but MediaWiki doesn't recognize that. Before fixing, however, I'm not sure how to cite a page from another wiki. Should it be

The Cutting Room Floor contributors. Prerelease:Wario Land: Shake It!. The Cutting Room Floor.

or

Prerelease:Wario Land: Shake It!. The Cutting Room Floor.

? The original citer didn't leave the retrieval date either. A gossip-loving Toad (Talk) 11:42, 9 June 2016 (EDT)

Something Annoying

Why is it that when I try to edit a citation from clicking "edit" on a section of an article that I end up getting a "cite error"? It's weird because this doesn't seem to happen when I just click "edit" from the top of the article. It's really annoying. LuigiMaster123 02:23, 18 September 2017 (EDT)

What is the exact message of the error? Hello, I'm Time Turner. 02:34, 18 September 2017 (EDT)

This: "Cite warning: <ref> tag with name Website cannot be previewed because it is defined outside the current section or not defined at all." LuigiMaster123 02:39, 18 September 2017 (EDT)

I think I may see the issue, but to be sure, can you also provide the citation you were trying to add? Hello, I'm Time Turner. 02:50, 18 September 2017 (EDT)

The citation was an already existing citation on the Mario Party: The Top 100 article that I was trying to apply to another character. Here. LuigiMaster123 02:58, 18 September 2017 (EDT)

Yep, there's the issue. I'm assuming that the citation was in the form of <ref name="Website"/>, or something along those lines; in that case, it's looking for another reference tag with the name "website", but since you're editing from a section, it isn't able to find the original reference tag, hence the error. The best way around it would be to either edit the entire page or just ignore the error and save the page. Hello, I'm Time Turner. 03:05, 18 September 2017 (EDT)

Alright, that makes sense. Thanks for your help! :) LuigiMaster123 03:07, 18 September 2017 (EDT)

How to Win at Super Mario Bros.

People have been using the book How to Win at Super Mario Bros. as a citation. As this isn't an official product, is it a good source? JoeRunner (talk and stuff) 22:52, September 21, 2019 (EDT)

Pretty sure that was licensed by Nintendo. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 23:16, September 21, 2019 (EDT)

The question is more "is it a valid source", which I personally figure it CAN be to a degree. I ALSO personally wouldn't rank it over most other primary sources, though, and I'd probably treat it like Prima guides if anything (i.e. mostly noting errors that the guide makes). Now if it IS licensed by Nintendo and includes info not mentioned in (m)any other sources, then that's probably different. Wonder what other people think. -- Lord G. matters. 00:46, September 22, 2019 (EDT)

What is this book? 00:53, September 22, 2019 (EDT)

this one. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 01:29, September 22, 2019 (EDT)

Unofficial boooks are not good references. That said, How to Win at Super Mario Bros., while published by Tokuma Shoten, is one of the officially-licensed guides that predates Nintendo Power. Product Analysis Manager Howard Phillips was involved as a U.S. editor of the book with Lynn Griffes, and the book states © 1987 Nintendo of America Inc. for the U.S. edition and shared © Nintendo and © TOKUMA SHOTEN overall. It does add that it is a translation of Tokuma Shoten's Super Mario Brothers Kanzen Koryakubon from 1985, and I'm not sure if that version was officially licensed by Nintendo of Japan, as it's possible that Nintendo of America secured the rights for it knowing it was a #1 Bestseller in Japan. However, that doesn't change the fact that the English version, at least, is official. LinkTheLefty (talk) 00:57, September 22, 2019 (EDT)

Update: How to Win at Super Mario Bros. now has its own page. The book's illustrations also appeared in the November 1985 issue of Family Computer Magazine (Famimaga), another Tokuma Shoten publication. Famimaga was an independent publication that worked closely with Nintendo. Although Nintendo is mentioned in the copyrights, I am unsure if it was endorsed by them. 1980s and 90s Japan was full of books that may or may not have been approved by Nintendo. Before Nintendo Dream began in 1996, the Japanese branch may have been completely reliant on outside publishers. As a side note, Foxfire turned out to be an official name.--Platform (talk) 22:07, August 19, 2022 (EDT)