Creating a Character Bio

From Memory-Zeta

Categories: Info | Player Tools

To begin putting your character bio on Memory Zeta you will first need to Register. Once you have registered you will then be able to edit pages freely.

If you need help or have any question then please feel free to email the wiki team - mailto:wiki_team@sixth-fleet.co.uk

Resources

To Help you create an all-singing and dancing Character there are a couple of pages that will help.

Firstly, to see how others have created their Characters Bios take a look at the Sample Bio Category - Click Me!

For other resources that will help you in creating your Character Bio take a look at the following:

• Rank Insignia Images
• 2373 Rank Insignia Image Graphic Codes
• Medals, Ribbons and Awards
• Character Bio Template

First Steps

Before we begin it may be of use if you take a look at How to Edit a Page over at Wikipedia, as this contains a lot of the formatting and codes we will be using. Understanding what is contained there is not essential, but it is a helpful reference source.

Now, we need to check that the page doesn't already exist.

• Log in to Memory Zeta and type the name of your character in the search box and hit go. Note:Your characters name will be the name of their bio page, so please just use names without titles or ranks. Once a page has been named and created it is difficult to change.
• You should now have a Search Results page, and assuming that the page doesn't already exist, it should have returned no results. There should also be the following:

There is no page titled "Eric Twinge". You can create this page.

• Click on "Create this Page" and you will be taken to the main Editing page. Here, in the white box is where you will create your character bio.

Character Bio Template

Now that we have an editing area for your bio we need to copy in the bio template layout, so that it matches the other bio's on Memory Zeta.

• To do this we need to go to the Character Bio Template Page (It may help to open this in a new window from you Characters Bio) - Click Me!
• You should now be looking at the Character Bio Template. What we need to do now is access the code that created this page.
• Click on the "Edit this page" link at the very top of the page.
• This should bring up the Editing box for the Character Bio Template.
• Select ALL of the text in the box, scrolling down to ensure you get it all. Then copy and paste this into the Editing area for your Characters Bio.

• At any stage during this process you can Save your work by hitting the Save Page button that appears below the Editing Area.

Editing Character Info Box

• Now that we have the basic layout in your characters bio, we need to begin editing the information. Firstly though lets take a look at what we have so far. Scroll down to underneath the Editing box and you should see three buttons, "Save Page", "Show Preview" and "Show Changes". Click on "Show Preview".
• When the page has refreshed you should now be presented with a Preview of the current page, which, assuming you've done everything correectly should look exactly like the Character Bio Template.

Previewing a page lets us see how it is looking before we save it. So try and use this frequently as we create your Character Bio to check on your progress.

• The first section we will work on is the Info Box. This is the box on the right hand side that contains the Characters name, picture, race and position.

In your editing box you should now see the following code:

| align="center" colspan="2"|

{| border=0 align=right cellpadding=4 cellspacing=4 width=240
style="background:#f9f9f9; text-align:center;"

! align=center colspan=1 | [[Image: Who.JPG | 150px]]<br>'''Rank and Name Goes Here'''<br>[[Image:2373-R1-FO6.png]][[Image:2373-R2-Blank.png]]

|}

|-

|Full Name||

|-

|Alias(es)||

|-

|Position||

|-

|Species

|

|-

|Born

|

|-

|Homeworld

|

|-

!colspan=2| OUT OF CHARACTER

|-

|Status

| [[Player Character]]

|-

|Played by

|

|-

|Affiliation

|

|-

|Actor

|

|-

|}

Don't Panic! Most of this is just boring stuff that creates the box that your characters info will be in. The area we need to look at first is your Character Picture.
Uploading Character Picture

As you'll see from the preview your Character's picture is a shadowy figure with a big question mark for a head. Now obviously we don't want that, but if you haven't got a picture just yet, please leave it there.

• To Upload your character picture to Memory Zeta click here - Click Me!
• You should now be in the Upload File area. Click on the browse button and locate the file on your hardrive. (Most graphic file types should be ok, but generally JPEG and PNG are good.) Open the file.
• The Destination Filename will be the name of your picture on the Memory Zeta System. You can fill out the Summary area with more details if you wish, but it isn't essential.
• Click the Upload File Button.
• Your picture should now be displayed. Remeber the filename and lets go back to your Character Bio Page.
• To input your picture into your page look at the code we saw above in your editing area. In the above text (7th line down from the top) you will see a bit that says [[Image: Who.JPG | 150px]].
• Change the Who.JPG to the file name of your picutre, included its extension - .jpg, .png, .gif, .JPG. Note - This is case sensitive, so if your file name is capitals, you need to put captials here. If your file names contained spaces you will need to put a _ where the space should be.
• Once you have changed it, make sure that the |150px]] is still there (This tells MZ what size to make the picture) and click on the Show Preview button underneath the editing area.
• Hopefully your picture should have replaced the Question-Mark Head and we can move on. If for some reason it hasn't worked, review the above steps and check that you haven't removed any code. The line should read something like this now:

! align=center colspan=1 | [[Image: Bobs_Bio_Picture.png | 150px]]<br>'''Rank and Name Goes Here'''<br>[[Image:2373-R1-FO6.png]][[Image:2373-R2-Blank.png]]

Character Rank and Name

Now that we know what your character looks like we need to put their rank and name.

• In the code for the Info Box (see above) you should see the following code(just after where we editied the Image):

<br>'''Rank and Name Goes Here'''<br>

• Ignore the <br> and the '''. The br tells MZ to put the name under the picture, and the ''' tell it to make the text bold.
• Edit where it says "Rank and Name Goes Here" to the Rank a name of your character. Note - Rank should be Commander, SCPO, Lance Corporal. Name should just be the first and surnames. Middles names and such are put in elsewhere.

Remember if you want you can use the Show Preview button to check on your progress.

Rank Images

Underneath your characters Picture, Rank and Name we want to display there rank insignia.

1. Look for this bit of code (just after where we edited the name) :

[[Image:2373-R1-FO6.png]][[Image:2373-R2-Blank.png]]

1. A useful page to have open while we do this is: Click Me!
2. On this page find the insignia that matches your Characters rank. If you can't find it leave the current one and contact the wikiteam for help: mailto:wiki_team@sixth-fleet.co.uk
3. Underneath the image that matches you should see the following: 2373-Y1-FO3.png | 2373-Y2-Blank.png . These are the file names for the images we want to use.
4. Go back to you Characters Bio editing area and change 2373-R1-FO6.png and 2373-R2-Blank.png to the ones for your characters rank. Note - The left one usually contains the rank insignia (unless your character is Bajoran or a Flag Officer) and the Right one is generally blank.

Now that we have changed your characters picture, rank, name and Insignia this area of code should look something like this:

| align="center" colspan="2"|

{| border=0 align=right cellpadding=4 cellspacing=4 width=240
style="background:#f9f9f9; text-align:center;"

! align=center colspan=1 | [[Image: Laurel.JPG | 150px]]<br>'''Private Stanley Laurel'''<br>[[Image:2373-R1-FO6.png]][[Image:2373-R2-Blank.png]]

And when you click the Show Preview button your Characters Bio Info box should look something like this:------------------------------------------------>

Private Stanley Laurel
Full Name
Alias(es)
Position
Species
Born
Homeworld
OUT OF CHARACTER
Status	Player Character
Played by
Affiliation
Actor

Info Box Other Information

Now that we've done the hard bit the rest is easy.

The next section we need to look at is this:

   |-
   |Full Name||
   |-
   |Alias(es)||
   |-
   |Position||
   |-
   |Species
   |
   |-
   |Born
   |
   |-
   |Homeworld
   |
   |-
   !colspan=2| OUT OF CHARACTER
   |-
   |Status
   | [[Player Character]]
   |-
   |Played by
   |
   |-
   |Affiliation
   |
   |-
   |Actor
   |
   |-

*In this bit of code the | and |- are there to tell MZ where to put the lines for the box. In the first three lines, Full Name, Alias (es) and Position, after the two || type in the relevant information:

   |-
   |Full Name||Stanley Laurel
   |-
   |Alias(es)||Stan
   |-
   |Position||Marine Trooper<br>[[Starbase 218]]
   |-

• Position is the current job your character does on their simulation: Chief Engineer, Science Officer, Weapons Expert. This should be followed by the simulation your character appears on eg USS Athena (NCC-80353). To make the simulation name into a link put [[ ]] either side of it, like this - [[USS Athena (NCC-80353)]] which will result in this - USS Athena (NCC-80353).

Note - Between your characters position and the simulation put a <br>, this splits them onto seperate lines. Also do this between other positions if your character holds more than one.

This section should now look like this:

   |-
   |Full Name||Stanley Laurel
   |-
   |Alias(es)||Stan
   |-
   |Position||Marine Trooper<br>[[Starbase 218]]
   |-
   |Species
   |
   |-
   |Born
   |
   |-
   |Homeworld
   |
   |-
   !colspan=2| OUT OF CHARACTER
   |-
   |Status
   | [[Player Character]]
   |-
   |Played by
   |
   |-
   |Affiliation
   |
   |-
   |Actor
   |
   |-

• Next input the information for Species, Born and Homeworld. Type the Information underneath the heading after the |.
• Species is the Character race eg, Human, Vulcan etc Make this an internal link using [[ ]] either side.
• Born is your characters Date of Birth. Put the year as a link eg ([[2350]]) which will result in - (2350).
• Homeworld is where you character was born/considers home.

Info Box Out of Character

Now that the Character information is complete we need to look at the Out of Character section. This area details who the character is played by, whether Player Character or Non-Player Character and which actor they resemble.

This is the section we are now working on:

   !colspan=2| OUT OF CHARACTER
   |-
   |Status
   | [[Player Character]]
   |-
   |Played by
   |
   |-
   |Affiliation
   |
   |-
   |Actor
   |
   |-

• Status is either Player Character or Non-Player Character. Change it to reflect your characters status, leaving the [[ ]] either side.
• Played by is your own name. Underneath where it says Played by, after the | put your name. If you have a Player page on Memory Zeta make this a link by using the Internal Link button above the Editing Area, or put [[ ]] either side.
• Affiliation is the simulation that your character is associated with. So if your character plays on the USS Athena for example, put [[USS Athena]] after the | underneath where it says Affiliation.
• Actor is the person you have used in the characters picture. After the | underneath where it says Actor put the actors name. If you don't know who it is put Unknown.

Excellent! We have now completed the Info box for your character. With a bit of luck, and if the above instructions are any good and you've followed them the code in your editing area should resemble something like this:

Private Stanley Laurel
Full Name	Stanley Laurel
Alias(es)	Stan
Position	Marine Trooper Starbase 218
Species	Human Male
Born	16th June (2360)
Homeworld	Earth
OUT OF CHARACTER
Status	Non-Player Character
Played by	Rob Gotcher
Affiliation	USS Athena
Actor	Stanley Laurel

   |-
   |Full Name||Stanley Laurel
   |-
   |Alias(es)||Stan
   |-
   |Position||Marine Trooper<br>[[Starbase 218]]
   |-
   |Species
   |[[Human]] Male
   |-
   |Born
   |16th June ([[2360]])
   |-
   |Homeworld
   |[[Earth]]
   |-
   !colspan=2| OUT OF CHARACTER
   |-
   |Status
   | [[Non-Player Character]]
   |-
   |Played by
   |[[Rob Gotcher]]
   |-
   |Affiliation
   |[[USS Athena]]
   |-
   |Actor
   |[[Stanley Laurel]]
   |-

Which should look like this ------------------------------------------------------------------>

Synopsis

For this section we want the line of text in you Editing area that reads:

'''Character Synopsis Goes here (delete this sentence.)'''

The Character Synopsis is a brief introduction to your character. It can be as short or as detailed as you wish, but should at least give your characters current position and assignment.

• To edit this section delete all of the text that says '''Character Synopsis Goes here (delete this sentence.)''' and replace it with your own.
• If there are elements of your synopsis that you think can link to other pages in Memory Zeta, then by all means use the Internal Link button aboave the editing area, or put [[ ]] around the text. eg, [[USS Athena]]

• Some examples of Characters synopsis are:

Commander Jacen Parami is a part-Human, part-Betazoid Starfleet Officer, currently serving as the Executive Officer aboard the USS Cambrian. He served as a Fighter Pilot during the Dominion War, and has subsequent service as a Security Officer, and as a Field Operative for Starfleet Intelligence. He is married to Yorzi Edden-Parami, and has two children: twins Alexander and Takara.

Background

For the Character background we are looking for the section of code in the Editing Area that reads:

== BACKGROUND ==

<br />

The Background area is where we detail your characters background and service history. It can start with their birth and cover all of their life before Starfleet, and then go into what has happened to them during their career.

• To begin editing your characters background delete the ext that reads '''Character History, both Personal and Career Goes here (delete this sentence.)''' and replace it with your characters history. (We leave the ==BACKGROUND== as this is the section heading, and the <br /> tells Memory Zeta to leave a space between your history and the enxt section.)
• Again if there are elements of your background that you think can link to other pages in Memory Zeta, then by all means use the Internal Link button aboave the editing area, or put [[ ]] around the text. eg, [[USS Athena]]

To see how others have presented their Characters Background take a look at the Sample Bios.

Starfleet Service Record

This table displays your characters career record, showing promotions, positions and assignments in chronological order.

To edit this section we are looking for the following code in your Editing Area:

{| align = center cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 85%;"

|align="left" width="80" |2384-2385

|align="center" width="240" |[[Image:2373-R1-FO6.png]][[Image:2373-R2-Blank.png]]

|align="left" width="200" |Character Position Goes here

|align="left" width="200" |Assignment goes here eg USS Edison

|-

|align="left" width="80" |2384-2385

|align="center" width="240" |[[Image:2373-R1-FO6.png]][[Image:2373-R2-Blank.png]]

|align="left" width="200" |Character Position Goes here

|align="left" width="200" |Assignment goes here eg USS Edison

|-

|align="left" width="80" |2384-2385

|align="center" width="240" |[[Image:2373-R1-FO6.png]][[Image:2373-R2-Blank.png]]

|align="left" width="200" |Character Position Goes here

|align="left" width="200" |Assignment goes here eg USS Edison

|-

|align="left" width="80" |2384-2385

|align="center" width="240" |[[Image:2373-R1-FO6.png]][[Image:2373-R2-Blank.png]]

|align="left" width="200" |Character Position Goes here

|align="left" width="200" |Assignment goes here eg USS Edison

|}

Which results in:

2384-2385		Character Position Goes here	Assignment goes here eg USS Edison
2384-2385		Character Position Goes here	Assignment goes here eg USS Edison
2384-2385		Character Position Goes here	Assignment goes here eg USS Edison
2384-2385		Character Position Goes here	Assignment goes here eg USS Edison

The first few lines are just code that create the table so we can ignore those. These are:

{| align = center cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 85%;"

The ones that we want to edit are:

|align="left" width="80" |2384-2385

|align="center" width="240" |[[Image:2373-R1-FO6.png]][[Image:2373-R2-Blank.png]]

|align="left" width="200" |Character Position Goes here

|align="left" width="200" |Assignment goes here eg USS Edison

• The frist line that reads |align="left" width="80" |2384-2385 is the year that the event/assignment took place. Ignore the portion which reads |align="left" width="80" | as this is just there to tell Memory Zeta what width to make the column/cell. After the | delete 2384-2385 and replace it with the relevant year for your characters history.

Note - If the event/service occured solely in one year then there is no need to put that year twice.

• The second line that reads |align="center" width="240" |[[Image:2373-R1-FO6.png]][[Image:2373-R2-Blank.png]] is the rank of your character at this time. Similar to what we did above we need to have open the rank graphics pages:

Rank Insignia Images
2373 Rank Insignia Image Graphic Codes

Find the ones that relate to your character and this particular event and point of time and after the | replace [[Image:2373-R1-FO6.png]][[Image:2373-R2-Blank.png]] with your own.

For events that occured earlier in Starfleet history there may only be one graphic image needed.

• The Third line that reads |align="left" width="200" |Character Position Goes here is your characters position at this point in time. For example, Chief Conn Officer, Medical Officer, Commanding Officer. To edit, after the | just delete the text that reads Character Position Goes here and replace with your own.

• The Fourth line that reads |align="left" width="200" |Assignment goes here eg USS Edison is for your characters assignment at this point of time. This will usually be a ship or other facility, for example, USS Athena (NCC-80353), Starbase 326. Note- If this assignment is a sim with Sixth Fleet remember you can make it into a link by using the [[ ]] or the Internal Link button above the editing area.

• After this line you should see a |- again this is code to tell memory zeta that we have finished that row and are moving on to another.

• After the |- you should see that the above starts again. Follow the above procedure for each event in your characters service history, copying the four lines if you need more rows. Note- Remember that you will need a |- between each four lines of the row.

• Hopefully now that you've gone through each year of your characters service record your should have code in your editing area that looks something like this:

{| align = center cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 85%;"

|align="left" width="80" |2360

|align="center" width="240" |[[Image:2373-Y1-FO1.png]][[Image:2373-Y2-Blank.png]]

|align="left" width="200" |Operations Officer

|align="left" width="200" |Starfleet Headquarters

|-

|align="left" width="80" |2360-2364

|align="center" width="240" |[[Image:2373-Y1-FO2.png]][[Image:2373-Y2-Blank.png]]

|align="left" width="200" |Operations Officer

|align="left" width="200" |[[Starbase 326]]

|-

|align="left" width="80" |2364-2366

|align="center" width="240" |[[Image:2373-Y1-FO3.png]][[Image:2373-Y2-Blank.png]]

|align="left" width="200" |Operations Officer

|align="left" width="200" |USS Banana NCC-90999

|-

|align="left" width="80" |2366

|align="center" width="240" |[[Image:2373-Y1-FO4.png]][[Image:2373-Y2-Blank.png]]

|align="left" width="200" |Assistant Chief Operations Officer

|align="left" width="200" |[[USS Oberon (NCC-80111)]]

|}

Which, if you use the Show Preview button below should look something like this:

2360		Operations Officer	Starfleet Headquarters
2360-2364		Operations Officer	Starbase 326
2364-2366		Operations Officer	USS Banana NCC-90999
2366		Assistant Chief Operations Officer	USS Oberon (NCC-80111)

---

Personal Records

This next section deals with your characters personal records. Family members, personality traits, education etc.

The code we are looking for now is:

== PERSONAL RECORDS == '''Character Personality Traits, Family etc goes here (delete this sentence.)'''<br />

For examples of how others have used this section take a look at the Sample Bios.

• When you are ready to begin editing delete the text that says '''Character Personality Traits, Family etc goes here (delete this sentence.)''' and put in your own characters information.
• Use some of the wiki code mentioned in the First Steps section above, as these will help you create a neat looking Record.

---

Medical Records

This next section deals with your characters medical records. Vital statistics, height and weight, medical reports etc.

The code we are looking for now is:

== MEDICAL RECORDS == '''Character Vital Statistics and Medical Records Goes here (delete this sentence.)'''<br />

For examples of how others have used this section take a look at the Sample Bios.

• When you are ready to begin editing delete the text that says '''Character Vital Statistics and Medical Records Goes here (delete this sentence.)''' and put in your own characters information.
• Use some of the wiki code mentioned in the First Steps section above, as these will help you create a neat looking Record.

---

Commendations and Ribbons

This section is where to display all of the awards, commendations and ribbons that your character has, or will receive. To begin editing this section we need to find the following code in your editing area:

== COMMENDATIONS AND RIBBONS ==

{| align="right" border="1" cellspacing="1"

|

{| style="background:#cfcfcf; color:black; text-align:center; width:390px;"

cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"

|-

|

[[Image:bio-combadge.png]]

|}

|}

'''Character awards and medals goes here. (delete this sentence.)'''

No this all looks very complicated, but similar to what we have already done most of it is just there so Memory Zeta knows how to display the information.

• First lets make a list of your characters Commendations and Ribbons.
• Take a look at the Order of Precedence to see in which order to display your commendations and ribbons.
• In the above text look for where it says '''Character awards and medals goes here. (delete this sentence.)'''.
• Delete the text including the ''' and begin to list your characters ribbons. If your characters has multiples of a ribbon put x 3 etc after the ribbon name. Note - It is a good idea to group them to match up to the rows that will appear in your rack.

An Example of how to list your Ribbons: *[[Starfleet Star]]

*[[Order of Meritorious Service]]
*[[Captain's Star]] x 2
*[[Medal of Honor]] x 3
*[[Citation of Valour]]

*[[Cross of Distinction]]
*[[Act of Distinction]] x 3
*[[Dominion War Service Medal]]
*[[Operations Expansion Course Ribbon]]

*[[Command School Ribbon]]

Remember that using the [[ ]] turns each item into a link, and this should look like the following once we hit Show Preview:

• Starfleet Star

• Order of Meritorious Service
• Captain's Star x 2
• Medal of Honor x 3
• Citation of Valour

• Cross of Distinction
• Act of Distinction x 3
• Dominion War Service Medal
• Operations Expansion Course Ribbon

• Command School Ribbon

• Now that we have a complete list of the commendations and ribbons we need to display them on the rack. For this we need this bit of the code:

|

[[Image:bio-combadge.png]]

|}

|}

• The [[Image:bio-combadge.png]] bit of the code is to display the comm badge so we want to leave that where it is.
• The image codes for all of the Ribbons can be found here - Awards (Just hover over or click an image to find its file name.
• Leave a gap beneath the comm badge image code and insert the image code for your first ribbon. Remember to start at the top and work your way down. To insert the image you can either type [[[Image:DOG.png]] or hit the Embedded mage button above the editing area.
• After each file name, after the extension you will need to add |84px. This is to shrink the image to fit in with the Comm Badge. So for example the image codes should now look like this: [[Image:DOG.png|84px]] or [[Image:CStar.png|84px]]
• When you have completed a row and wish to display the next image on the following row put a <br> after the last image. This will force Memory Zeta to display the next image on the enxt line. For example : [[Image:DOG.png|84px]][[Image:CStar.png|84px]]<br>
• Complete your rack using the above steps and you should end up with something like this:

{| align="right" border="1" cellspacing="1"

|

{| style="background:#cfcfcf; color:black; text-align:center; width:390px;"

cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"

|-

|

[[Image:bio-combadge.png]]

[[Image:SSTAR.png|84px]]

[[Image:OMS.png|84px]][[Image:CStar2.png|84px]][[Image:MOH3.png|84px]][[Image:CitVal.png|84px]]

[[Image:COD.png|84px]][[Image:02-03.jpg|84px]][[Image:DominionWSR.png|84px]][[Image:Operations_Exapnsion_Course_Ribbon.jpg|84px]]

[[Image:CommandSRibbon.png|84px]]

|}

|}

Which, when we hit the Preview button should give us this on the right:

Hopefully you now have a smart looking rack in which to display all of your characters Commendations and Ribbons.

---

Appendices

This last section is for any further information that you may wish to include. This can be character origins, or links to other pages that you feel are relevant.

The code we are looking for now is:

== APPENDICES == '''Character Appendix or Additional information goes here, if required. (delete this sentence.)'''<br />

For examples of how others have used this section take a look at the Sample Bios.

• When you are ready to begin editing delete the text that says '''Character Appendix or Additional information goes here, if required. (delete this sentence.)''' and put in your own characters information.
• Use some of the wiki code mentioned in the First Steps section above, as these will help you create a neat looking Record.

---

Saving and The End

Hopefully you now have a Character Bio that you are happy with, and one that matches those you saw in the Sample Bios.

When you are satisfied with what you have done, or during your editing process if you feel like saving the page just hit the Save Page Button below the editing area. your page should now be saved.

Congratulations! You have now created your characters bio. Remember to come back often to update the bio with new assignments and ribbons.

This guide was created by Steve Tranter on the 8th April 2009.