Help:Materials

Welcome to the Dead by Daylight Wiki! On this community-created help page you can find useful information for newcomers to the wiki.

First steps

The first thing you need to know is that anyone can edit this wiki, provided they are willing to do it. So if you feel like there is something that needs work on the wiki, do not be afraid to step in! Note that in order to edit some articles, you might have to create an account or log into your account, this process is easy and does not take long.

If you have already edited wikis before, you will notice that the Dead by Daylight Wiki works no differently when it comes to its semantics and inner workings. It is not an issue at all if you have not, you will likely learn the basics in no time.

Your first step should be to look around and familiarise yourself with the way articles are written and formatted. In case you are not very experienced with Dead by Daylight, this is a great way of getting acquainted with the game's mechanics.

Secondly, find an article that you feel can be improved. Said improvement does not have to be game-changing, you can start out by fixing grammar mistakes (Please bear in mind that this wiki uses British English. Please do not mistake BE spellings for typos.) or rephrasing confusing sentences.

• After you have found a way to contribute, do not hesitate to proceed. Remember to check out the Style guide and Wiki rules before you do.

Click the "Edit" or "Edit Source" buttons () on the top right of your screen, parallel to the article's title. This will take you to the source editor, which will display the HTML/CSS text relating to the article. This sounds way more complicated than it is. For most intents and purposes, editing the text will suffice, and this works just how you think it does, you just need to replace the old text with the new one. Once you are done, click "Save" on the bottom right (Tip: You can click the "Preview" button on the bottom left of your screen while editing to visualise your changes before you save them.) .

• If you are not yet comfortable with the syntax, feel free to experiment with it on your user page, which is essentially your own personal sandbox on the wiki. It is also worth taking a look at this editing help page provided by Fandom.

• There is no need to worry if you make a mistake, edits can be tracked through the "Recent changes" page and easily undone by yourself and others. It is also not a problem if you need multiple edits to make your change, just make sure the right thing comes out at the end.

• You might come across some pages you cannot edit. These are protected for various reasons and can only be edited by some users. But most of these you can still edit if you are logged in, their protection only prevents non-logged-in users from editing them. That said, high-traffic and frequently vandalised pages have a higher level of protection and can only be modified by administrators.

• A great way to discuss the wiki with other editors and get in touch with our Wiki Admins is by joining our Discord server, so we highly encourage our active editors to do so.
  • You can use our dedicated
    #suggestions
    channel on there to propose possible changes and additions to the wiki.

Module Editing

WARNING: User discretion is advised when editing modules; if you are not sure what you are doing, please contact an Administrator and request that they implement your change. Damaging a module's integrity can starkly interfere with the wiki's functionality and be deemed as heavy vandalism, which could result in a permanent ban. If you encounter a bug with the module system or wish to suggest a new functionality, please refer to this page.

• Eventually, you will notice that many pages use constructors like this:
  {{#Invoke:Module|Function|Parameter}}
  . These are Modules and are responsible for the automation of the wiki. Modules are Lua scripts (Modules use Scribunto, which emulates the Lua programming language. Note that the Scribunto emulator does not contain all of Lua's features.) that can store data and retrieve information to represent it in a graphical manner, like a table. For instance,
  {{#Invoke:Killers|resolveKillerCharTable}}
  summons the Killer description table for the Killer whose article they are summoned on. There are two types of modules:
  • Data Modules: Store data and act as datatables. These are the main modules you will be able to edit seeing as they store information such as perk descriptions, character attributes, and much more. Module:Datatable, Module:Datatable/Loadout, Module:Datatable/Cosmetics, and Module:Datatable/Icons are examples of Data Modules.
  • Functional Modules: Can create graphic elements (like tables), return values, and - as the name suggests - are responsible for some functionality on the wiki. This type of module is highly complex, hence why it is advised that you do not edit these modules yourself, referring to this page instead in case you have any questions about them, come across bugs or wish to make a suggestion.
• Editing modules is essentially normal coding in the Lua language, so if you have experience in programming, you will find it to be intuitive. In case you do not, it is not difficult to come to terms with the basics, which, for most intents and purposes, should suffice.
• Once you hit the "Edit" button on a module, you will be met with an interface that resembles an IDE (An environment software for coding.) . On the left, line numbers will be displayed, which will come in handy if an error happens to arise. In that case, a line number will be printed out in order to make it easier for you to find its source.
• As for the syntax, there are some things you might want to know:
  • Text that is not to be interpreted as a coding expression needs to go in
    ""
    or
    ''
    , or else an error will pop up. For example,
    The Trapper
    needs to be "The Trapper" or 'The Trapper'.
  • All Modules should start with the constructor local p = {}, and return p at the very end.
  • If you wish to use a function from another module, use require("Module:Module_Name").
  • In case you need to utilise data from a data module, use mw.loadData("Module:Module_Name").
• Make sure to read the comments when editing a Data Module as they often reveal what the variables and abbreviations stand for.
• In case an error occurs, you will be able to see it on the left side of the editing window before you save your changes, so it is imperative that you refrain from doing so before fixing the error in question. Remember to use the line provided to find it more easily and quickly. Should you not be able to sort out the error by yourself, do not be afraid to contact an Administrator.
• Summoning modules on regular articles is very straight-forward as well; use:
  {{#Invoke:Module Name|Function|Parameter 1|...}}
  . Note that while the Module Name and Function are mandatory, the parameters are not always required. For detailed instructions on how to use the simplest modules available, click here.

Pay attention to the error bar; if the number beside the red "x" button is not 0, an error occurred. Click on it for the line of the error and its cause to be displayed. The line numbers are highlighted in green, the editable data about Dead by Daylight's currencies in yellow.

And then?

• Once you get going with the editing process, you might find topics that are not yet covered on this wiki. If so, feel free to create articles about them! If you want to create a new page, open the search bar by clicking the magnifying glass icon on the top right, type in the title of your article and click the yellow magnifying glass icon – if an article with that name does not yet exist, you will be given the option to edit it as new. Make sure its topic is in accordance with our notability policies.
• You can use talk pages to discuss changes to existing articles and the creation of new ones with other Community members and administrators.
• Take a glance at the recent changes in order to view edits by other contributors.
• Have fun editing the wiki! And, if you are new to Dead by Daylight, welcome to the Fog!

The Don'ts

• Do NOT be afraid to ask for help. Our community of editors and admins will be happy to assist you.
• Do NOT hesitate to use talk pages when in doubt.
• Do NOT forget to formulate summary comments for your edits, which can be done by typing them into the box labeled "Describe what you changed" at the bottom of your screen.
• Do NOT edit in text without consulting the formatting being used on the respective article. Consistency is key in making the information on the wiki as clear and concise as possible. Therefore, non-conforming edits just pose as extra work for other users to tackle.
  • This also applies to new articles you create. Make sure you take a look at similar articles and adjust your formatting accordingly. More details on the general formatting used on this wiki can be found here.
• Do NOT rush to edit in any information you find out there. If the information in question does not stem from official sources, we urge you to verify it using official sources only before including it on the wiki. Not every bit of information featured in YouTube videos or tweets is truthful. Additionally, keep in mind that leaks are NOT to be included anywhere on the wiki as per our rules. Ignoring this severely undermines the quality of our information.
• Do NOT forget to describe what you changed when you edit an article, which can be done by writing in the text box at the bottom of your screen. This makes it way easier for other users to categorise your edit and know what you changed.
• Do NOT edit modules or templates if you do not quite know what you are doing. Our Wiki Admins will gladly help you in that case.
• Do NOT jump to hasty conclusions before getting to see the whole picture. One might, for instance, be frustrated that they cannot edit a protected page, and demand that it be unprotected. However, it is crucial to consider that there was a reason that the article got locked in the first place. Consult with our Wiki Admins before jumping to any conclusions.
• Do NOT resort to anger if you get frustrated. It does not get you very far on here, if you think angrily putting forth a suggestion makes it more likely for it to get adopted, you are wrong. Always engage in civil dialogue with our admins and your proposal's likelihood of getting accepted skyrockets.
• Do NOT just introduce any piece of information to the trivia section of an article. The trivia section is reserved for noteworthy facts about the article's titular. For instance, "Empathy was the 7th Survivor Perk introduced to Dead by Daylight" is NOT notable enough to be included in Empathy's trivia section since every Perk in the game could use an abridged version of that fact. It is not a unique characteristic to Empathy.

How not to edit

The edited part is marked in red

Above you can see an example of a bad edit to the style guide article. While the information the editor is trying to relay is valid, there are numerous problems with the manner in which they are attempting to do so:

• The rest of the article is not making use of numbered lists, so the
  2.
  should be left out completely for the sake of consistency.
• The use of proper capitalisation and punctuation is imperative, so the first word should be capitalised and the sentence should end with a ".".
• As per convention, names of game elements are generally capitalised, so
  Killer names, Perks, Add-ons, Offerings
  would be the correct variant.
• and other stuff too
  is far too imprecise. In this case, this clause should be left out completely. In case you absolutely need to use it, please utilise "etc." instead.
• Whenever the names of existing articles are mentioned for the first time, it is the norm to use links to them so that the reader can navigate the wiki more efficiently. Consequently, Killer, Perks, Add-ons, and Offerings should be linked to using the IconLink function.
• You should generally refrain from using "you" outside of help articles, it is advised to use the passive here.
• gotta
  is way too informal. Use "should" instead.
• Try to connect the first sentence to the second one in order for the text to have a continuous flow. You could employ the word "Furthermore" here, for instance.
• This wiki uses British English spellings, hence why
  capitalize
  is not the correct variant (capitalise) .
• You should describe what you have changed using the text box. That makes it easier for other users to categorise your edits.
• Since this edit did not add too much information to the article, ticking the "This is a minor edit" box would be appropriate. This also helps other editors categorise your edit.

Here is an improved version of that same edit:

The edited part is marked in red