Main page and navigation

Setting up your local navigation (also known as the “sidebar menu”) and main page are critical parts of helping new readers use your wiki. They directly impact your search engine ranking (SEO). While there is no ‘one size fits all’ way to set up your local nav and main page these guidelines will help you set up the best reader experience possible.

Your main page
Your main page should contain a short, clear paragraph describing the wiki’s topic right at the top of the page. This description should include:
 * The wiki’s name
 * The game (franchise)’s name and any potential nicknames
 * The developer
 * The genre
 * Where applicable, when the next game is coming out
 * That this is a fan-created resource and anyone is welcome to contribute

This is the first thing that Google reads on your page and it informs it on what the page is for. This will help your content be more easily found by those looking for it.

For your overall main page styling make sure all the text is easy to read. Try not to use overly playful fonts, badly-contrasting colors, or images instead of letters.

Link to the top categories and articles of the wiki on your main page where possible. This helps new readers dive right into what they’re looking for.

Avoid hiding information behind collapsed sections or hidden behind tabs. Try to always keep in mind the reader’s needs.

Your sidebar menu
Your local sidebar menu is another opportunity to help readers get directly to the content they are looking for.

Try to include your wiki’s top categories and articles there. Some examples of this are: Weapons, Armor, Items, Maps, Characters, Quest Walkthroughs, Levels, Bosses, etc.

Sort your content by relevance, and put the most used categories at the top. Try to avoid generic labels like “content” or “top articles”, and apply this to your category names as well.

Google sees these links and recognizes them as important. This will help drive traffic directly to your wiki and the content users are looking for.

As always put the reader first. Admin and editor tools and links are important, but since they are targeted to experienced users, they can be placed below or behind the links which help the most users find the wiki’s content.

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