Wiki Rules and Writing Guide

So, you want to contribute to the wiki, huh? That's great! Here's a little help getting started.

First, it's important that you know the wiki rules, which are:

1. Please be respectful to all users, any conflicts between users should be sorted out privately. Drama should be kept to a minimum. The siren community has a bit of a reputation for infighting, let's keep it off the wiki.
2. Do not vandalize articles, edit articles for no good reason, spread misinformation, or otherwise bring harm to the wiki. You will be warned or banned, and any damage done can be very easily rolled back if necessary. This site is here for the entire community's benefit, don't ruin it for everybody else.
3. All sirens on this wiki must be real sirens and siren companies. Absolutely no fictional sirens or siren companies are allowed here. We have a sister wiki where you can write all you want about the fictional sirens and companies you've created, which can be found here.
4. Keep articles informative. A few pictures and a sentence saying who made it is not helpful to anybody. Make sure to include all relevant information about the siren or company and make use of images and paragraphs. Don't include things such as rumors or other unconfirmed information, unless you specifically mention that it is not factual information. Keep things general if you don't have access to the specifics. We want this wiki to be a great, reliable source of information! Make sure that the information you are using is correct and factual, preferably through the use of multiple sources if possible. If you are unsure about something, check with other (trusted!) enthusiasts. We don't want misinformation spreading from here.
5. Use formatting and grammar. It Is Not Okay To Type Like This. Use paragraphs when possible and proofread what you wrote before you publish your edit. Check your spelling and grammar to make sure it's cohesive and easy to read and keep mobile users in mind. If your article makes users lose brain cells from how poorly written it is, you're doing something wrong. Proper grammar and formatting are very important. Avoid making huge walls of text as, break them up into paragraphs. Images are not necessary; however, they greatly benefit an article. Make sure to include an infobox as well, which can be found by clicking "INSERT" then "Template" and then typing the manufacturer of the siren's name in, and clicking the relevant infobox that pops up, for example "Federal infobox". If it is a misc company, use the "Misc Company infobox". Do not use the "Tornado Siren Template", as it has been deprecated and is no longer in use by the wiki. For more comprehensive instructions for infoboxes, see the Writing Guide portion of this page.

These rules are not a catch-all for how to behave on the wiki. It's important to use common sense, and if you think you shouldn't do something, you're probably correct and shouldn't do it.

Writing Guide

Now that you know the rules, it's important to know how to craft a nicely written, and easy to read wiki article. Let's use a few examples to show what we're looking for. Let's say you are trying to create an article for a series of sirens, where there is more than one siren in the series. We'll use the ASC Tempest article as an example.

As you can see, every article on this wiki involving a series uses the same basic format, which makes it easy to read. The article always begins with a short introduction, explaining what the sirens are (such as the name of the siren, the company that makes/made them, their role in the market and their purpose) as well as other information. This should be kept short and concise, preferably. Next to the introduction is the infobox, which is explained in Rule 5 how to use them. Every article should have an infobox included, preferably with a relevant, high-quality image which will serve as the main image.

After the introduction, the history of the siren series should be mentioned in another paragraph. There are several things that should be mentioned:

• When was it introduced?
• What was it produced for?
• What was it designed to compete with at the time?
• Is it still produced or not?

Now that the basic information is out of the way, it's time to talk about the specific siren models themselves. It is important to separate the models using heading, which is the best way to separate the paragraphs for each model. Each model should be written about in roughly 1-2 paragraphs ideally, and should include the following information for each siren:

• The siren's motor horsepower (if electromechanical), and whether it is AC or DC powered
• Rotor/stator port count (and whether or not it is single or dual rotor, single or dual tone)
• Decibel rating (@ 100ft, if no information is available on this, mention it is unknown)
• Rotator type (if the siren is rotational, mention whether it is chain-driven, belt-driven, direct-drive, and whether or not it is driven by the chopper motor, or a separate motor)
• Driver count and wattage (if the siren is electronic)
• Other information that's important to include is the design of the siren itself, such as what it is made of, whether it uses horns, skirts, or neither, whether or not it is rotational, directional, or omnidirectional, etc. Be as informative as possible!

After all of the sirens in the series have been mentioned, another paragraph with a short conclusion should be made. The conclusion should mention how well the siren sold/is selling, whether or not the siren is (objectively, try to keep it unbiased) good or not, where the sirens can be found, and how well it does to compete with other, related competing sirens at the time of its production. If a siren has any flaws, mention them here. If a siren is discontinued, you should mention why the siren was discontinued, and if a siren is rare with few units remaining, make sure to mention how many are left, why they are rare, and whether or not any active units remain.

What about sirens that aren't part of a series, and are a one-off model or a model with a few variants?

That's easy! They're even simpler to write and follow the same overall guidelines. For an example, let's look at the Sterling Little Giant article. As you can see, all of the building blocks are in place. There is an introduction, the history, the specifications and design of the siren, and the conclusion. If the siren has any variants, be sure to include them, as can be seen in the Federal Signal Model 2 article. These articles tend to be shorter than other articles, which is completely okay. Don't stretch them out unnecessarily.

What about siren companies? Can I make articles about them?

You absolutely can! Some siren companies only ever produced a single siren, or a few sirens that are not noteworthy enough to warrant having their own individual articles. This can also apply if the company has produced so many sirens that aren't noteworthy enough to have their own article, that it would be easier to have them all on one page. A great example of this is the W.S. Darley & Co. article. They have produced a ton of sirens over many decades, but these sirens are largely rebrands of other company's sirens with custom housings (if even that) and produced few of their own. Thus, they should not have articles of their own and are instead lumped into a single company article.

Company articles are written the same way you would write about a siren series. The same basic building blocks are in place, such as the introduction, the history of the company itself, how long it has been in the siren business, whether or not they are still making sirens (or making rebrands) and whether or not it is still in business today. Some companies are only known for making one siren (or siren series), and in this case, the article should be written about the sirens as well as the company. One thing to note is the infobox on company articles are simplified, with only the company name, how long it's been producing sirens (NOT how long the company itself has been in business!) and what types of sirens it produces/produced.

Is there anything else I can do to improve my articles?

You bet! There are things I haven't mentioned yet:

• Good writing! As mentioned in Rule 5, it is extremely important to make sure that your article is well written. Try to avoid using first person in your articles, as well as contractions such as "don't" or "aren't". It's not the end of the world if you do, but it makes the articles seem more casual. Yes, I'm doing exactly that right now, but this is an exception as this is not an actual article. The reader themselves should not be mentioned either, so don't use first person words such as "I" or "me". As you are writing, make sure to look for spelling mistakes, grammar issues, or other things that make the article difficult to read or look unprofessional. Especially be sure to proofread when you're done writing, and before publishing! It's also important to use complete sentences. Located below is an example of how NOT to write an article, and this is something someone legitimately tried to publish:

Please, please, PLEASE don't write like this.

As you can see, that was awful to read. No punctuation, many run-on sentences, an irrelevant FNAF reference, questionable grammar, etc. This sort of stuff will get your article removed. We're trying to get our readers to learn, not lose brain cells.

• Images! To help aid the users reading the article, at least one image should be included next to each paragraph for a siren. The image must be high quality, show the siren at a good angle right in the center of the image, with adequate lighting. Nobody wants to see a washed out, blurry, or poorly shot image. Images like that should only ever be used if no better images are available. Take screenshots of YouTube videos if necessary, and credit whoever made them. Images should ideally be 4:3 or 1:1 aspect ratio, in order to reduce the amount of space the image will take up. Images can be uploaded using the "images and media" button, located next to the "INSERT" button. To make sure the image goes next to the relevant paragraph, drag the image onto the paragraph it should be next to and it should automatically format itself.
• Infoboxes! Infoboxes are a key part of wiki articles, and essentially sum of the article's information in one tiny box! Isn't that neat? When editing/creating and article, infoboxes can be found by clicking "INSERT" on the top of your screen and selecting "Template". Do NOT click "Infobox". After you have clicked template, a box should pop up on your screen with a "Template search" bar. In this search bar, you need to type "Infobox siren" or "Infobox manufacturer", if you're writing a company page. After clicking one of these, the infobox should load on to the page. After it does, click on it, and a box with the name of the infobox and a button that says "Edit" will appear in front of it. Click on it and from there you can fill out the necessary information.
• Links! Always use links when you are writing an article. Links are fundamental to any wiki, and here is no exception. Links allow readers to better navigate the site and provide even more information to learn. Links should be used when any other siren is mentioned in an article, such as a competing siren, or a siren that is similar in appearance or function. Links should be used sparingly; a siren only needs to be linked to once if it is mentioned multiple times in an article. An article that lacks any links looks bare, is difficult to find on the wiki itself, and makes it harder to navigate to other relevant articles. Links can be added by highlighting the mentioned siren and clicking the link button (located near "INSERT" or pressing CTRL+K) and the wiki should automatically show a menu of existing articles that can be linked to. If one doesn't exist, search for it manually, or perhaps it's time to make a new article for it!

• Categories! Categories are a slightly more obscure feature, but important nonetheless as using categories makes it MUCH easier to navigate the site. Categories can be added by clicking the gear icon (Page options), clicking "Categories", and then adding the relevant categories to the article. Things that should be added include the siren company (which is "Misc siren companies" if it is not a major manufacturer), whether it is rotational, directional, or omnidirectional, and whether it is electromechanical, electronic, supercharged, pneumatic, or engine-driven. Another thing to do is to navigate to "Advanced Settings" and click "Yes" on the "Let this page be indexed by search engines" setting, as this allows the wiki article to be found on search engines like Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, etc.

That's all!

Now that you've read this, you should be ready to get writing! I hope that this guide has helped you, and I wish you all good luck on your articles!

- Written by Snowpix7911 and Kruppundkrause, Wiki Administrators