Guide Writing for Dummies

By SquireKel Updated: 2025/01/13

Somebody call 9-1-1: The Guide System's Vitals are Falling!

Spelling and Grammar. If you don't spell properly, it decreases readability quickly. Copy and paste your guide into a Word document to run a spell-check before you submit. The first time any of the code pops up in the check, click "Ignore All" and you won't have to deal with repeatedly ignoring the same thing. Ask a friend to read through your guide to make sure the sentences flow well.

Clarity. Make sure your guide title and description clearly state what's in the guide. If you're going to use acronyms, jargon, or slang you don't think everyone will know, make sure you define them the first time they show up in your guide.

The Database. Wowhead isn't just a guide. Utilize links for spells, skills, NPCs, etc. to make sure your guide is as complete as possible.

Formatting. Hopefully this guide can help folks avoid the walls of text that make many guides imposing. Use the WHML - it makes a decent guide great, and makes the difference in the guide's rating.

Information. A guide doesn't have to be all-inclusive, but it should be researched. Be an authority figure - saying "I'm not really sure how you do this" means you didn't look at the pages on Wowhead. Speculation = poor guide.

Imagination! A single type of coding can do wonders, but generally speaking, you're not limited. Putting tables into tabs or togglers can clean up a guide and organize the material better than just one or the other would. If you're thinking of playing around with formatting, make a separate draft guide for coding purposes. The risk to doing real harm to your actual guides decreases, and you can pull pieces in and out of a guide to work on things separately. Once you've got things how you like them, just paste it back into the real guide!

The Beginning of a Guide

Tooltip

Use

Code

Example

Table of Contents

Creates a Table of Contents wherever the code is placed.

To see examples of any of these,
refer to this guide's Table of Contents.

The major bullets are \

tags,
while indented bullets are \

tags.

Unlinked tags are visually the same,
though they do not appear in the Table of Contents.

Heading

Creates a section heading that is linked to the Table of Contents,
if one is present.

\Heading\

Subsection

Creates a subsection that is linked to the Table of Contents,
if one is present.

\Subsection\

Un-linked Heading

Creates a section heading that is NOT linked
to the Table of Contents.

Heading\

Un-linked Subsection

Creates a subsection that is NOT linked
to the Table of Contents.

Subsection\

Heading\Subsection\Un-linked Heading\Un-linked Subsection\Return to TopThe Heart of a GuideTips on Contenteverythingabsolutely must

that it's incomplete,

what is missing and will be included when it's done,

that you'll be finishing it soon.

Return to TopThe Guide-Writing Page

Tooltip

Use

Code

Example

Title

Creates a section heading that appears in the Table of Contents,
if one is present.

Title\

Title

Bold

Emboldens selected text.

\Look at my bold text!\

Look at my bold text!

Italic

Italicizes selected text.

\Emphasis here.\

Emphasis here.

Underline

Underlines selected text.

\This could be important.\

This could be important.

Strikethrough

Puts a line ("strike") through selected text.

\~~Put an X through it!\~~

~~Put an X through it!~~

Small

Shrinks selected text's size.

\This is how goblins and gnomes talk.\

This is how goblins and gnomes talk.

URL

Inserts a link but shows text.
(The system assumes wowhead.com if you start after .com)

\Link back to this guide\

Link back to this guide

Quote

Inserts a quote box.

*Note: Use align= with left or center to shift the text.

Wowhead is mine!\

-Perculia

Wowhead is mine!

-Perculia

Code

Inserts a box that displays code, rather than processing it.

\\It won't shrink!\\

It won't shrink!

Unordered List

Creates a bulleted (unordered) list.

Things I like:
\

Wowhead\
Achievements\
Skinning\

Things I like:

Wowhead
Achievements
Skinning

Ordered List

Creates a numbered (ordered) list.

Killing order:
\

Trash\
Boss\

Killing order:

Trash
Boss

List Item

Inserts another item to a list. Ensure this is placed before \ or \,
or before the next opening \

Killing order:
\

Trash\
Boss\
Remaining Adds\

Killing order:

Trash
Boss
Remaining Adds

Image

Due to the complexity of manipulations available to them, images are addressed here.

Padding

Think of this as a soft break.
Press enter once between paragraphs, no space.
Use padding, slight space.

Press enter twice, bigger space.

Use a break, even bigger space.

Like a little pillow\between paragraphs.

Like a little pillowbetween paragraphs.

Convert HTML

Do not press this button. Ever.
It removes any non-character spaces, leaving only
alphanumeric characters and spaces.

This not only severely decreases readability of the guide for the writer while editing, but it also ruins any pretty formatting you may have done with the "Return" button.

Listen Up!
This is how I want this to look.

See the spaces? I want them to show up.

Listen Up!This is how I want this to look.See the spaces? I want them to show up.

Colors

Colors the selected text with the chosen color.

\Text\

Use the drop-down menu
to see available color options. Use the
6-character HEX code for an yother color

Icons

Due to the complexity of options available to them, icons are addressed here.

Links

Due to the complexity of options available to code related to links, linking is addressed here.

Return to TopUsing Basic Code

Tooltip

Use

Code

Example

Horizontal Rule

Inserts a line across the full width of the space.

This text is unrelated to \this text.

This text is unrelated to this text.

Break

Inserts a hard break that is roughly
equal to hitting the "Return" button twice.

Commonly used between paragraphs of unrelated topics.
\
He took an arrow to the knee.

Commonly used between paragraphs of unrelated topics.

He took an arrow to the knee.

Divider

Groups content to perform alignment modifications.
hidden hides content
float= has options: left, right
align= has options: left, right, center
width= can be given in percentage (#%) or pixel count (#px)

\
Works with text and/or images.
\

Works with text and/or images.

Anchor

Used to mark a certain place within a page.
Especially useful for long guides or forum threads.

Place: \ where you want
the "jump to point" to be located,
and \Return to Top\ where you want the link.

Return to Top

Time

Used to keep a running tally of how long
it will be (until=) or has been (since=) an event occurred.

*Time is in Unix: use this for conversion help.*

Wowhead has been with ZAM for \!

Wowhead has been with ZAM for !

Preserved Format

Inserts a box with content that preserves
any spaces or other formatting that would
not normally appear.

\Is it here? Or here?\

Is it here? Or here?

Subscript

Allows for subscripted text between the tags.

PbCl\2\

PbCl2

Superscript

Allows for superscripted text between the tags.

y=mx\2\+b

y=mx2+b

Inserted Text

Used to show that text has been inserted
since the original post.

Guides are fun \but difficult \to write.

Guides are fun but difficult to write.

Deleted Text

Used to show that text has been deleted
since the original post.

I have written \7\ 8 guides.

I have written 7 8 guides.

Hidden Text

Used for spoilers.

\Mists of Pandaria is live!\

Mists of Pandaria is live!

Mini-Box

Insert a small box with text.

*Use float= to align with left, right, or center*

\Ungrounded!\

Ungrounded!

Acronym

To help clean up content by not forcing repetition,
but allowing quick reminders to what an acronym
stands for in the guide.

\TL;DR\

TL;DR

Tooltip

Due to the complexity of options available to code related to links, linking is addressed here.

Unprocessed Code

Used to show the WHML text,
rather than the resultant output.

\ \Place a \ before any tags.\ \

\Place a \ before any tags.\

Return to TopLinking Content

Tooltip

Use

Code

Example

Basic Link

To link content from a website.

*Note: Without http://www. in the code,
the system assumes a Wowhead site.*

\Take me to Google!\

Take me to Google!

Wowhead Link

Link from the Wowhead site in a less complex manner.

*Note: Only insert the address after .com*

\The Guides Page\

The Guides Page

Using the "More"
Drop-Down Menu

Link an Item, Item Set, NPC, Object, Quest, Spell, Zone,
Faction, Pet, Achievement, Event, Class, Race, Skill,
or Statistic quickly by only using the number
in the page address.

*Note: Although the actual name of what was linked
won't show up on the editing page, it will convert
properly in the view mode,and even include the
icon inline with the text (don't want the icon?
use icon=false to remove it).*

I'm excited for \Double Jump
as a player spell.

I'm excited for Double Jump
as a player spell.

Seeing the Link
while Editing

So you don't trust that things will convert
when the guide is viewed normally? It's ok, neither do I.
Just revert back to the Wowhead Link option.

*Note: The downside to this method is that icons must
be entered manually, BUT the writer gets to choose
what text is visible to the viewer
(by typing text between the tags).*

Do you have \the greatest
achievement\ yet?

Do you have the greatest achievement yet?

Mini-map tooltip

Want to show where to find something without having
to take up a lot of room with a full map? Give the link a
mouseover minimap by adding #map class=mouseover to the
link code.

*Note: This must be in conjunction with the manual
entry of links, NOT the shorthand version, and be to
a page that has a map!*

\Fearsome Jang\

Fearsome Jang

Tooltip

Use

Code

Example

Non-English Tooltip

While the text is still whatever is put inside
the tags, the tooltip that shows up when
the mouse cursor moves over it will appear
in the chosen language.

*Note: Change the language by adding
&domain=## and ptr or beta; or fr, de,
or ru for versions from the PTR or Beta;
or French, German, or Russian
language options.*

\French version of Vishanka\

French version of Vishanka

Level

Used on heirlooms and spells, where the stats
change as a character levels, this allows
for specific stats to be shown.

*Note: Change the level by adding &bonus=##
and inserting the desired level number.*

\Level 45 Underlight Angler\

Level 45 Underlight Angler

Enchant

To show an item with a specific enchant on it.

*Note: Add an enchant by adding &ench=####
and inserting the desired enchant code number.*

\Berserking Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker\

Berserking Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker

Random Enchant

To show an item with an enchant that is
randomly chosen in-game
(either by drops or by crafting).

*Note: Add a random enchant by adding
&bonus=## and inserting the desired
random enchant number found on the item page.*

\Ulduar Greaves of the Impatient\

Ulduar Greaves of the Impatient

Socket

To show an item with empty sockets.

*Note: Add sockets by adding &sock
to the end of the code.*

Think the socket space on
\Acceleration Belt\ is for the propeller?

Think the socket space on
Acceleration Belt is for the propeller?

Gem

To show an item with gems.

*Note: Add gems by adding &gems=####:####
and inserting the desired gem codes.*

\Strength-Gemmed Shadowmourne\

Strength-Gemmed Shadowmourne

Buff

To show a spell buff, rather than the spell itself.

*Note: Change the tooltip to the buff by
adding &buff to the end of the code.*

\Mind Flay buff\

Mind Flay buff

Return to TopVisual AspectsIcons

Tooltip

Use

Code

Example

Icon

Inserts a small, noninvasive icon in-line with text.

Size

Alter the size of an icon to make it more or less prominent.

*Note: Use size= and large, medium, small, or tiny to change icon size.*

\\
\\
\\
\\

Difficulty

Insert an icon for Normal or Heroic instance difficulties.

*Note: Use preset= with boss or heroic to change the icon type.*

\Regular Difficulty\
\Heroic Mode\

Regular Difficulty
Heroic Mode

Using the Drop-Down Options to Pick Icons

Common Icons

The drop-down list (located above the text box) provides the icons for the playable Classes, Races, and Factions, as well as the learnable Professions and Secondary Skills, item sockets, and a few common miscellaneous icons for easy access. These are the most commonly used, so their presence on the guide-writing page is highly beneficial.

Uncommon Icons

For icons not found in the drop-down list, the Other option (top of the list)
allows players to type or paste the icon code into a pop-up.

Finding the code for an icon is simple: find a page with the desired icon,
click on it, and then copy the text in the resultant pop-up.
Pressing "OK" will enter the icon.

Quest Icons

Difficult to find, but highly useful, the quest icons
provide the well known visuals to say "hey! this is a quest!"

*Note: start shows the exclamation point, while end
shows the question mark. Add daily to change
from yellow to blue.*

\Start\
\End\
\Daily Start\
\Daily End\

Start
End
Daily Start
Daily End

Other

These icons are harder to find the code for, and so
are listed here for ease of use.
if anyone knows other icons that should
appear here, please let me know!

\Neutral\
\\
\\
\
\
\
\
\
\
\
\
\
\
\

Neutral Faction

below are alternate options
for Horde & Alliance than
listed in the dropdown menu

Tooltip

Use

Code

Example

Money

To insert monetary amounts.

The digits are: GSSCC

I vendored it for \.

I vendored it for .

Achievement Points

To insert achievement point quantities.

Every ten levels, a player gains \

Every ten levels, a player gains

Other Types of Currency

To insert other types of currency,
with or without quantities.

*Note the use of the comma in the last example.
The first number indicates the item,
While the second gives the quantity.*

\Justice Points
\7 Valor Points
\Darkmoon Prize Ticket
\

Justice Points
7 Valor Points
Darkmoon Prize Ticket

Return to TopImages

Tooltip

Use

Code

Example

Screenshot

Insert a screenshot from the Wowhead database.

*Note: The id number will show up in the address bar after
clicking on a screenshot. Use float= (with left, center, or
right) to alter the screenshot alignment.*

Insert an picture from a web resource.

*Note: To use an image from your computer, click on
"Upload an image" above the text box and select the
desired image to upload. Select the text in the resultant
box and paste it into the guide where desired.

*image taken from www.gadgethacks.com*

Model

Insert a model from the Wowhead database.

*Note: Unlike all other images, locating the id for a model
is less easily found, as it is the id for the 3D model
(displayID) and not the screenshot, npc, or item id
themselves (itemID). Right click on the page and
choose "Inspect element" or "View Source" to view the
page's code, then locate the displayID information.

Use npc= or object= to display an image for the desired
NPC or object. Use item= slot= to display items, where
the slot number gives the item slot id number (see
"Tell Me More about Images" for the codes).
Use itemset= to insert a link to a particular item set,
which will appear as an in-page pop-up of the model
viewer. For itemsets, each item and its respective slot
must be listed (ie. itemset=slot,item,slot,item where the
item number is the displayID - confusing, I know!*

\

or

\

Manipulating Images

Border

Remove the border around the image.

*Note: Use border=0 to remove the border around the image.*

Size

Change the size of the image.

*Note: Use width= and height= to manipulate the size
(where the number is the pixel count) of the image. To
resize screenshots from the database, click on the
screenshot image, then on "Original" to be redirected
to the url for the image.*

Alignment

Change how the image is aligned in the space.

*Note: Use float= (with left, center, or right)
to alter the alignment of the image. The text will
automatically wrap around the image (left or right) or
align below it (center).*

\

or

\

Return to TopMaps

Tooltip

Use

Code

Example

Map

Insert a map by finding the zone number
and using the "More" drop-down menu.

*Note: Maps cannot change size or be aligned in rows
(with the exception of placing them into separate cells in a table.*

Floors

Change the floor of a zone.

*Note: add -# to the end of the zone code
to add a floor variation.*

\\
\

ICC Lower Spire Floor

ICC Upper Reaches Floor

Insert a pin onto the map in a specific location.

*Note: Pins should be placed between the map tags,
and can have text tooltips, and even links. Change
the color of a pin by adding type=# inside the tag.*

1 = green (used on Festergut & Rotface)
2 = red (used on Prof. Putricide)
3 = blue (used on Blood Princes)
4 = purple (used on Dreamwalker)

FestergutRotfaceProfessor PutricideBlood Prince CouncilValithria Dreamwalkerportalto Lich King

Return to TopOrganizing InformationTogglers

Use

Code

Example

To hide content from view temporarily,
but allow users to access it quickly via a drop-down system.

\Name of Toggler\
\
Toggler content
\

Name of Toggler

Toggler content

Return to TopTabs

Use

Code

Example

To organize related content with headings
to allow for switching between bulk content.

\
\
Tab 1 content
\
\
Tab 2 content
\
\

Tab 1 content

Tab 2 content

Return to TopTables

Use

Code

Example

To organize material into a tabular
format as a grid or a beveled table.

\
\
\\Column 1 Title\\

\Column 2 Title\\

\Column 3 Title\\

Column 1, row 1 content\

Column 2, row 1 content\

Column 3, row 1 content\

Column 1, row 2 content\

Column 2, row 2 content\

Column 3, row 2 content\

Column 1 Title

Column 2 Title

Column 3 Title

Column 1, row 1 content

Column 2, row 1 content

Column 3, row 1 content

Column 1, row 2 content

Column 2, row 2 content

Column 3, row 2 content

Name

Explanation / Code

Example

Table Manipulations

Table Width

Change the percentage given after width= to increase
or decrease a table's width across the space.

*Note: Use #px instead of #% to give the value in pixels.*

This is a 75% table.

It takes up 75% of the space allowed.

Allowed space is determined by whatever borders are closest, in this case, the walls of the cell for the table it's been placed into.

It appears flat, but see how a row highlights
when your cursor moves over it?

Gridded tables can be beneficial, but sometimes not very useful.
For instance, if you organize by columns rather than rows, highlighting by row can be useless.

Text Alignment

This text is in the middle
and centered.

This text is at the bottom
and to the right.

It stays in one column.

This cell spans three rows
and is automatically
aligned in the middle
of the cell (vertically).

But the next row is
absorbed into it.

This cell takes up two columns, and spreads across
the width of the table, but not across it entirely since
the table is three columns wide.

This cell takes up three columns, and spreads across the width of the table.

Return to TopEnding a GuideReturn to TopAdvanced MaterialSpecialized Formatswow.guide.writer@gmail.com

Tooltip

Use

Code

Example

Bundling Text

Align text on the page more easily by
adding the \ tags. Especially useful
when paired with aligning images.

\
\

Types of Collectors\

Achievements\
Mounts\
Companions\
Hunter Pets\
Recipes\
Transmog Gear\
Rare / Odd Items\

Types of Collectors

Achievements
Mounts
Companions
Hunter Pets
Recipes
Transmog Gear
Rare / Odd Items

Icons in Headers

Headings and subsections that are
only text can be drab, so frame with
icons to make them pop. Two options:
resize an icon, or use an icon as an image.

*Note: Use size= and large,
medium, small, or tiny to make the
icons stand out as much or as little as you want!*

\\
\

Heal Me\

or

\\

Feed Me\

Heal Me

Feed Me

Annotated Tooltips

Provide commentary on an ability
(real or fake) within the tooltip,
or use for alongside comparisons.

\
\
\
\
\Tooltip Name\
Range
\Requirements\
\

\Level\
\

Rainbow Goodness

Level 1

Tab 1, row 2 content, column 1
\

Tab 1, row 2 content, column 2
\

Tab 1, row 3 content
\

Tab 1, row 4 content
\

Tab 1, row 5 content, column 1
\

Tab 1, row 5 content, column 2
\

Tab 2, row 1 content
\

Tab 2, row 2 content, column 1
\

Tab 2, row 2 content, column 2
\

Tab 2, row 3 content
\

Tab 2, row 4 content
\

Tab 2, row 5 content, column 1
\

Tab 2, row 5 content, column 2
\

Tab 1, row 2 content, column 1

Tab 1, row 2 content, column 2

Tab 1, row 3 content

Tab 1, row 4 content

Tab 1, row 5 content, column 1

Tab 1, row 5 content, column 2

Tab 2, row 1 content

Tab 2, row 2 content, column 1

Tab 2, row 2 content, column 2

Tab 2, row 3 content

Tab 2, row 4 content

Tab 2, row 5 content, column 1

Tab 2, row 5 content, column 2

\
\~~normal text\~~\mouseover text\
\
\\\
\

~~Funding for Gigantique Bag~~840g / 1200g

Return to TopPre-Made Guide Componentswow.guide.writer@gmail.com

Column 1 Title

Column 2 Title

Column 1 content, row 1

Column 2 content, row 1

Column 1 content, row 2

Column 2 content, row 2

Full table width content, row 3

Column 1 content, row 4

Column 2 content, row 4

\
\
\\Column 1 Title\\

\Column 2 Title\
\

Column 1 content, row 1
\

Column 2 content, row 1
\

Column 1 content, row 2
\

Column 2 content, row 2
\

Full table width content, row 3
\

Column 1 content, row 4
\

Column 2 content, row 4
\

Column 1 Title

Column 2 Title

Column 3 Title

Column 1 content, row 1

Column 2 content, row 1

Column 3 content, row 1

Full table width content

Column 1 content, row 2

Column 2 content, row 2

Column 3 content, row 2

Column 1 content, row 3

Column 2 content, row 3

Column 3 content, row 3

\
\
\\Column 1 Title\\

\Column 2 Title\\

\Column 3 Title\\

Column 1 content, row 1
\

Column 2 content, row 1
\

Column 3 content, row 1
\

Full table width content, row 2
\

Column 1 content, row 3
\

Column 2 content, row 3
\

Column 3 content, row 3
\

Column 1 content, row 4
\

Column 2 content, row 4
\

Column 3 content, row 4
\

\
\
Tab 1 content
\
\
Tab 2 content
\
\
Tab 3 content
\
\
Tab 4 content
\
\

*Remember: If you want more tabs, make sure you copy:

\Extra tab content\

and paste it before the \*

Tab 1, row 1 content

Tab 1, row 2 content, column 1

Tab 1, row 2 content, column 2

Tab 1, row 3 content

Tab 1, row 4 content

Tab 1, row 5 content, column 1

Tab 1, row 5 content, column 2

Tab 1, row 6 content, column 1

Tab 1, row 6 content, column 2

Tab 1, row 7 content

Tab 2, row 1 content

Tab 2, row 2 content, column 1

Tab 2, row 2 content, column 2

Tab 2, row 3 content

Tab 2, row 4 content

Tab 2, row 5 content, column 1

Tab 2, row 5 content, column 2

Tab 2, row 6 content, column 1

Tab 2, row 6 content, column 2

Tab 2, row 7 content

\
\
\
\
\
Tab 1, row 1 content
\

Tab 1, row 2 content, column 1
\

Tab 1, row 2 content, column 2
\

Tab 1, row 3 content
\

Tab 1, row 4 content
\

Tab 1, row 5 content, column 1
\

Tab 1, row 5 content, column 2
\

Tab 1, row 6 content, column 1
\

Tab 1, row 6 content, column 2
\

Tab 1, row 7 content
\

Tab 2, row 1 content
\

Tab 2, row 2 content, column 1
\

Tab 2, row 2 content, column 2
\

Tab 2, row 3 content
\

Tab 2, row 4 content
\

Tab 2, row 5 content, column 1
\

Tab 2, row 5 content, column 2
\

Tab 2, row 6 content, column 1
\

Tab 2, row 6 content, column 2
\

Tab 2, row 7 content
\

Return to TopFinal Thoughts

Spelling and Grammar. Bad spelling decreases a guide's value quickly. Run a spell-check before you submit, and ask a friend to read through your guide to make sure things make sense.

Clarity. Define acronyms or slang/jargon as soon as you use them - no matter how familiar you are with them, you can't guarantee your readers are too. If people don't understand what you're referring to, they'll stop reading. Make sure your guide title and the description match with what's actually in the guide.

The Database. Utilize links to spells, skills, NPCs, etc. in Wowhead to make sure your guide is as complete and comprehensive as possible.

Formatting. Avoid a wall of text! Use the WHML, that's what it's here for.

Information. Research the content for your guide, either by playing a class to learn it in & out, repeatedly running instances, or by looking things up on Wowhead or other sites. Know what you're presenting.

Imagination! Mix and match codes. If you're thinking of playing around with formatting, make a separate draft guide for coding purposes. The risk to your actual guides decreases, and you can pull pieces in and out of a guide to work on things separately. Once you've got things how you like them, just paste it back into the real guide!

I strongly advise a guide writer keep an up-to-date .txt copy of each guide or draftReturn to TopAbout the Authormy profile pageWoW.Guide.Writer@gmail.com Acknowledgmentsasakawaoriginal WHML forum thread

Comments

Comment by karatechop

Great guide! 5 stars ^-^

Edit: Thanks very much for "Linking Content" "Using the "More Drop-Down Menu"

it has made my "in progress" guide much cleaner ^-^

Comment by TheReal

Just wow. What an excellent write-up! I can't find anything right away that I would ~~insist on~~suggest changing, and your content and examples are top-notch. 6 out of 5.

Edit: Yeah, I guess word choice kind of sucked there. :)

Comment by lankybrit

What an outstanding guide. 5 stars all the way.

Just one minor issue.

On a quote:

Wowhead is mine! -Ashelia

It shouldn't be '\quote' at the start. Just 'quote'.

Cheers.

Comment by Sas148

I'm too tired to read this entire guide; however, looks great! Nice job! :)

Comment by 804492

Haha, a guide on guides. Just brilliant! 5/5 Stars

Comment by 445261

This guide is just great. I can't express how helpful it's been to me.

I was wondering about inserting wowhead screenshots in a guide. For example, I'm trying to insert a wowhead screenshot of Perdition's Blade.

When I use the code in your example, it gives me the small version of the screenshot, the one that's on the front page for the item. What do I do if I want the big, full version of the image?

I did find, by clicking on your sample image, that the URL for the screenshots seems to be "http://wow.zamimg.com/uploads/screenshots/normal/#####.jpg". Is my best option to just insert the image at the URL, (this one, in my case) rather than using the screenshot code?

Once again, thanks so so SO much. This is just amazing work.

Comment by 203733

I want to compliment you on an extremely detailed and well presented guide. It has more information than the average person could want, but everyone needs. I personally bookmarked it to read/use at my leisure.

You sir, win the internet with this one.

Comment by Zoeteklem

SquireKel,
I forgot to give you props for this guide. The layout to the guide is well developed, expansive and easy to understand. I used this for my guide while writing it but never gave you any acknowledgement.

No doubt this will be handy in the future for writing guides and I strongly endorse it before starting for the first time for anyone.

Thank you again so much!

Comment by ChacKan

Awesome guide! Used it for my own!

5/5
-
I have one question, though. When you're writing your table of contents, I see there are subsections within it? Like, some are pushed more to the right to indicate that it is included in the section above it. I can't figure out how to do that, so if you understand what I mean, could you please clear it up for me? Thanks.

Comment by Oathark

OH MY GAWSH WUT THE FRIK I CANT FIGUIRE OUT THIS THING AND ITS WEEEEELY HOLDING BACK MY GUIDE OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! WHYYYY! I HAVVE SPENT WEEKS TRYING TO GET IT TO WERK!1111

/reads guide....

/tries it out

Thank you sooooooo much!

P.S i rated your guide 5 stars :D

Comment by woodman231

Excellent Guide.

Quick question on Icon. Do you know if there is an icon for the roles you can select in the Dungeon / Raid Finder. I have been looking for a quick "Tank / Shield", "Healer (Cross with a Circle)", "Damage / Sword" type of an icon and I'm not sure what to use or if there even is one. Please let me know.

Comment by dragonsaber12

Wow......wonderful guide. I'm speechless, I can't think of anything that comes to mind to change. I am thinking of working on a detailed guide to address Being a Druid Tank and Questing DPS. I think i'll definately be referancing this guide for my own. Definately top notch, 5 of 5 stars!

~ dragonsaber
Druid Tank

Comment by Finalkiss

Thank you for your comment on my guide referring me to this one, and thank you for making this guide. The changes I've made are immense and I've only touched the tip of the iceberg with what you have here.

Comment by Twizelbang

Somebody call 9-1-1: The Guide System's Vitals are Falling!

This made me "Giggle" :)

------

Amazing guide, this will come in rather handy i think :)

I really like the "Return to Top", feature.

Makes navigation loads faster. I didn't notice it at first, i was thinking "damn, my scroll button is working over-time" ...Silly me..haha

I might even copy paste it to my Profile page, so i don't have to look for this guide. Mmm.. or does wow.head have a "Tab" for saving guides ?

Comment by 803615

I just wanted to say thank you so much for writing this up. I've been wanting to make a pacifist guide to commemorate hitting 85 on mine as well as to cap off my WoW "career", and couldn't for the life of me figure out most of the formatting stuff since it's not a simple toggle in the guide editor.

This guide is simply fabulous!

Comment by 1060543

This guide is really quite fantastic! The BBCode is pretty similar to HTML, unless I have learnt HTML wrong LOL :P Although I have no ideas for a guide I would 1) actually write and 2) like enough to post, this guide will certainly be a point of constant reference if/when I do! Thanks again!

Comment by 1005638

Hey, thanks! can i get a more deep explanaition of tabs? (ranked your guide 5)

Comment by GamerSmoosh

I just wrote my first guide and found the information in here simply invaluable. There's no way I could have added the pictures, tables, mouse over maps, icons, grids, etc to the guide that I wrote without the organized & understandable information in this guide. Thank you! You saved many a head-bashing and probably several walls. :)

Comment by 1005638

So how would i make the tables without border? Answers would be greatly appreciated!
EDIT: found it! add "class=grid"

Comment by Emmaleah

Question about maps.

I have found that -1 is the map number for all of azoroth, is there a way to put pins on that map? I experimented a bit, but the pins didnt show up, How would you get the coords other than x,y,z (zone)?

This would be useful for laying out routes for world events, etc.
(my personal use is to figure out the best way to go to all the pet battles with out backtracking so much.)

Comment by slaymordor

awsome guide
it really helps people out alot

i cannot imagine what time it took to make it but lemme tell ya it was all worth it.

/cheer /thank

Comment by Drahken

I'm not sure why I never left a comment here last year when I was writing my own guide, But I meant to. Your guide was a tremendous help in writing mine. I kept this open in a tab for about a month so I could keep referencing it. Getting my tabs and tables the way I wanted them was a real &*!@#, and it's pretty much completely thanks to you that I got it.

Comment by Mystiey

THANK YOU!

This guide makes.. well.. MY guide creation go that much smoother.

That's what I call a professional guide :P

10 out of 5 stars!

Comment by 333762

WoW! Thanks for giving me the information that I needed to write my first guide. I used the pre-set tables a LOT.

I would not have known where to start without your guide. Your guide has been open in a browser tab for the last few days while I tried to write my first guide. My computer will not know what to do now when I close that browser tab.

Comment by Kemaria

Wow, this is amazing. I slaved over my own guide through trial and error until I'd figured out stuff like TOC, maps with pinmarks on them, tabs, etc.... sure wish I'd seen this handy dandy guide first! Would have saved me a ton of trouble. :)

I think this guide should be linked on the guide writing page so people new to writing guides don't miss it like I did. The link provided now to the compendium of useful tags is very handy, too, but as a forum thread, it just can't go into as much detail as a full-blown guide like this can.

Comment by Lynkeus

Very, very concrete and complete guide. Thanks.

Comment by pikagod

Hey just wanted to say I'm working on a guide of my own (just started yesterday, its quite a large one so it might be a while) and noticed something I wanted to mention while reading your guide. You say in one part:"There's no "undo" button on the Guide Writing page..." But there is. If you right click in the text box in a white space, not where the text is, in the menu that shows up the very first option listed is "undo". I have checked in the comodo, firefox, and internet explorer browsers so I don't think its unique to just one. There is even a "redo" button right after! It has saved me many a headache so far!

And also, amazing guide. This has been beyond helpful in getting my own guide off the ground. Thank you, so much :)

Also this works on comments as well, just fyi :)

Comment by Lyste

5/5, will help many in the present and the future Wowhead.

Comment by Runawaynow

How many guides did you create to get guide=911 for the url? Or did you decide to create this guide because you had guide=911?

Either way, well done! I found this by thinking "wonder if anyone has made a guide on all the existing BBC code available to guide-makers" and here I am :)

Comment by Nirnaeth101

Just wondering, anywhere we can get the code to enable us to do sexy map pins like : http://www.wowhead.com/zone=33#show:alliance:quest ?

Can't seem to find how to make pins as Quest icons either, or how the lovely roll overs happen without a lot of hard work....

Comment by refactor

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this guide! It was very very helpful, and was a great reference for me as I just completed my first guide.

One quick question (hope you still check these comments): how does one add a banner image to the guide? By this, I mean the image that shows up when you are in the guide gallery. Some have an image behind the title. I can't seem to find the answer, unless I'm looking in the wrong places or for the wrong keywords. Thanks again!

Comment by 1231243

Amazing guide!
5/5 stars.

Comment by 1021255

This is an EXCELLENT guide. Thank you for posting this. I do have one question. I am still a little bit puzzled how to change the color of my text. I read the line about color but it references a "drop down menu" and I can't seem to locate that? Any help from anyone?

Comment by darbobo

great guide, thank you

Comment by Deihjan

Is it possible to get expansion icons addressed? Also making tables and toggles etc. looking neat and not dishevelled, as I'm having issues getting everything to not look like a hurricane just went through the finished text.

This would be incredibly helpful as I already have trouble focusing on the raw guide I'm currently writing, so seeing the finished product being neat and tidy would help calm my urge to just flip a table and leave :D

Comment by moosandra

Are tabs not meant work on profiles? I tried it (and even copied tab examples directly) to test and they don't seem to work.

Comment by Savil

Fantastic guide SquireKel! I've been using it a lot for my guide in-progress.

I have a question for you about image re-sizing and alignment.

At the very beginning of your guide, you have an image that coexists really well with your toc, and I'm having trouble mimicking it! I've tried playing around with some things, but I can't get them to play nice and stay align with each other! Any help! :D

Comment by Doloria

I'd like to create a tooltip for a weapon with an enchant and weapon chain. However the enchants (scroll format) are "items" and the weapon chain is an "item".

Guide
To show an item with a specific enchant on it

*Note: Add an enchant by adding &ench=####
and inserting the desired enchant code number.*

Berserking Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker

Berserking Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker

For my own example of the Honed Voidaxe, none of these worked:

Honed Void Axe enchanted with Greater Savagery

Honed Void Axe enchanted with Greater Savagery

Honed Void Axe enchanted with Greater Savagery & Admantite Weapon Chain

The Honed Void Axe is a 2H weapon and the enchant is: Enchant 2H Weapon: Greater Savagery (a scroll).

Honed Voidaxe Enchant 2H Weapon - Greater Savagery Adamantite Weapon Chain

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

An icon I'd like to see is the WoWWiki neutral symbol because it's simpler, brighter and has better recognition. (If you right click on the symbol and "Save Link As" it can be saved as a *.png -- but you have to remove the background.)

Comment by Stompa

I came here to learn how to submit a guide; turns out that's one tiny bit of information I can't find here. What makes a guide different from a detailed comment, and how/where do I submit my writing to be approved as a "Guide"? Where is this "Guide Writing Page" you refer to?

To those with the same question, I eventually found it by clicking on the "Guides" menu in the site navbar, and going to the category I was interested in. There's a small red box beside the category title that says "Write New Guide" which brings you to the "Create New Guide" page. I hope the OP updates this with the link though, the rest of the guide is amazing!

Comment by 1390625

this helps....but--how do you put equipment sets on there? would it be the same if you print the screen with the set, crop it, and paste it on there? because my guide is very good, it just needs pictures, which i don't know why, it doesn't put the pictures on the guide...and their wow screenshots!

Comment by 1453431

AMAZING guide! If I could rate it 6 stars I would! Thank you so much!

Comment by 1453431

How do you do a spell icon next to the link of the item? is it ?

Comment by 1453431

I want to have then text next to the box. It works except that the isn't in clear white thick writing and the little squares that are usually next to the link in the are about an inch apart from the words. How do i get this to work?

Comment by 1390625

ok so here's my guide so far:

as you see the warrior death knight and pally logo's are stacked on top of each other; my original code was:

their all inline with each other, but how do i make the logos themself horizontal with each other, not horizontal in a table?

**Note**
with the warlock tab it looks professional.. how do I do that to all the other tabs? Original code for warlock sets:

Warlock

Warlocks are well--the male terminology is correct; a warlock is a male wicken (witch) and the females are witches (Fun fact of the day your welcome). They seem to rock purple's, red's and black's!

Grim Reaper
Outfit Here

Succubus
Outfit Here

Dark Seductress
Outfit Here

Comment by 1385349

I can finally make a guide! Rate no less than 5.

Comment by ImKronos

This guide has helped me tons in writing my first guide. I don't know what I would have done without it!

Comment by Kaliopae

Amazing guide!

Just one issue I found: map phases don't seem to be working. Your Lost Isle maps aren't showing up, and in my guide I can't seem to get the Mount Hyjal map (which apparently has phases) to display. Help?

Comment by 1390625

question: How do you insert transmog sets you've made on wowhead?

Comment by Kittay

Is it somehow possible to format the bullets of the unordered lists? Such as the hearts in this guide?

Comment by jjanchan

I absolutely LOVE this guide! I use it tons to format my own guides, and even some comments - and it's really been a huge asset! Thanks for the attention to detail and hard work put into this.

I few things I had questions about (I will likely update this post with further questions that come up, if that's ok!)

~~Is there a way to use colours other than the preset ones that Wowhead gives us in the dropdown menu?~~
~~Is it possible to add more than 2 tooltips on mouseover (with regards to your example of annotated tooltips)~~
~~Is there any way to change the background colour of table cells?~~
I LOVE the minimap tooltip feature, which works in comments as well as guides. Is there a way to specify which map it will show, if there is an NPC that appears in more than one zone? For example:
Izzy Hollyfizzle - appears in both Alliance and Horde garrisons, but mousing over it only shows the Alliance map.
Is there a way to show a full frame 3D model in your guide, as it appears on a Wowhead NPC page for example? I used the tag with an NPC Display ID in my guide, but it appears as a stationary image, although clicking it brings up the 3D model.
~~Is there a way to change the size of an item in tags?~~
~~Any reason why icons I've put on my tabs are not showing up? Doesn't seem to matter what icon I try and use.~~
~~Any tag that will allow you to show a modified version of a spell (e.g. showing the Heroic or Challenge mode difficulty version of Stone Bolt)?~~

EDIT: As an addendum to my own post (and possible something you may consider adding to your guide at some point) you can use the "img=putyourimageurlhere.com/picture.jpg" within the tag to put a picture of your choice as a placeholder for a 3D model (it needs to be edited to the size and dimensions you want)

This would make the complete tag read:

Comment by Kittay

Hello again! I seem to have a new problem, but I'm not sure this is the right place to ask.

I would like to have a map over the entire Pandaria, such as this one but I can't seem to find a zone tag for Pandaria or any other world zone alone, only the sub-regions. Do you know if these kind of zone tags exist?

Since I forgot to write it in my last comment, I also want to thank you for this outstanding guide. It helps me a lot. :)

Comment by Illidana

I can't get the tabs to show :( I copied and pasted the premade code below but it just won't show as in the Tab Appearance.

Tab 1 content

Tab 2 content

Comment by Dayani

Dear SquireKel,

I love you dearly. This is the best guide in the universe.

A couple of questions now that I've beat my head against the guide code for a few hours and failed to discover the answers:

1. Is it still possible to get expansion placard images to show up? The links in the "Icons > Other" section aren't working for me, displaying broken images. I've looked at e.g. the list of Dungeon zones, where there are plenty of working expansion placards, but the source code for that page doesn't show me what the images' names are.

2. Is it possible to make a model appear when hovering over a link? Like for example, I'm discussing Portal Guardian and want players to be able to mouseover that link to see a model. Alternatively a screenshot would suffice, if you know of a way to do that.

Thanks for helping so many people create awesome guides! <3

Comment by 1453431

I want to have something like a small tooltip next to an item so when you mouse over the tooltip a picture of the model for the item comes up. How would I do this? It's kind of like in your barber shop guide where if you mouse over one of the pictures another one appears from a different angle. Please help, thanks.

Comment by Gnorma

The guide is terrific. However, I have one suggestion for all authors. DO NOT use acronyms or lingo/jargon that is not readily understood by non-gamers. For instance, "Proc" is widely used but many folks, myself included, have no clue what this means. I understand that there is a degree of assumed knowledge that is expected from users of these guides. My take is, do not assume everyone (especially foreign language speakers) will understand your techno-gamer reference-speak. This game is frustrating and complicated enough without sending readers to specialized dictionaries and/or the beyond embarrassing necessity of begging for help from fifth graders who do understand all things gaming!

Comment by 1116507

*Note: Although the actual name of what was linked won't
show up on the editing page, it will convert properly
in the view mode,and even include the icon
inline with the text (don't want the icon?
use icon=false to remove it).*

Exactly what I came to find.

Comment by magiccozmo

I love this guide and it is helping me a whole lot.

But I do have a question I have not seen answered. How do I let friend(s) preview my guide before I submitt it for publication?

I can preview it fine. But it is of course very easy to miss my own mitsakes. I t would be nice if I could have somebody else proof read it before going 'public'.

I dread the thought of my guide going up live on wowhead only to recieve tons of 'you spelt xxx wrong' or 'that is the wrong vendor/item/quest' in that link.

Hopefully this is something I have simply missed.

Thank You,
Cozmo

Comment by SoulsaltsMJK

I'm at a loss when trying to make my lists. I'm basically trying to make a list within a list, no tables or anything. Just a simple bullet with another bullet below and to the right, as if it were tabbed over. I've seen it in other comments across wowhead and cannot seem to figure it out. Any help would be amazing!

Also, thank you for the top-notch guide!

Comment by Keldesh

SquireKel,

Do you by chance know how to make it so that headers in tabs do not show up in the toc?

For example:

Header should not be seen on toc

Subheader should not be seen on toc

I have not been able to figure it out for the life of me. The toc=false works fine outside of the tab, but once in the tab it seems to be ignored.

~~Another issue I have is that youtube videos seems to break tables.~~ Fix: table needs to have width noted.

They also disappear if you have them in a div and attach float to the div.

For example:

Comment by Qoko

Amazing help so far, appreciated! Just for sake of adding it, I just finished, submitted and my guide got approved: Bloodsail & Steamwheedle Exalted.

1. I have one issue so far with tabs, however, and in a way it's closely related to the previous question. I actually use my headers in tabs considering for what I'm writing is a step by step list and I don't want all parts to show at once. However, whenever a tab is closed it doesn't seem to link correctly from the ToC. You'd expect it to open the tab and go to the header but it does not. No workaround.

2. Another question: are banner images still only an option for admins? I see that last time this question was asked is a few years ago and some recent guides seem to have banners that are not admins, but I could be mistaken. Thanks in advance.

Comment by BullDozzer

Anyone happen to know any "vendor" icon? Basically i want to be able to use the https://wow.gamepedia.com/File:Vendorgossipicon.png icon just like

Boss Name

To show that a NPC is a vendor, i was hoping for

Vendor Name

or maybe

Vendor Name

but i can't seem to find or guess it.

Anyone have an idea?

Comment by BullDozzer

For using the annotated tooltip syntax, you mention that you can comment on real spells or your own, is there any way to show a custom tooltip next to a default item or spell tooltip?

The closest i could come was

Pauldrons of Ambition

Which relies on a fake tooltip with fixed width.

Is there any way to either set the first tooltip to the real actual tooltip

Anchor

or add tooltip2 to a url/item?

Anchor

Comment by Durendillehunt

Hello. I want to talk about azerite powers, and I want to talk numbers. But it would require a sliding bar to set the item level or number of triggers.

Example 1: Impassive visages heals for Y, Y changes depending on X, X being the item level you choose (340 or 385 ilvl).
Example 2: Impassive visages heals for Y per minute, Y changes on X, X being the number of times it procs during said minute.

My plan is to be able to adjust at least the number of procs on azerite powers with proc conditions in order to compare them correctly.
In the best of cases, I could compare powers of different item levels.

Any ideas, or should I ask in the writer discord?
Thanks for all the help, this guide is awesome.

Comment by Vampyr78

Hey I think you should add information how to include custom images for

Comment by kovu401

Don't submit a guide for approval until you're done with the majority of work! If you're only partway done, one of two things can happen. At best, your guide will be put back into draft status by a moderator for you to be able to continue to work on quietly - no harm, no foul. At worst, it will get approved.

This is a problem. No guidance is given by WoWhead that you will not get an edit or even what to expect when you click "Submit," like time to approval, etc. WoWhead needs an editor. In addition to being a writer I'm also a very experienced editor. Someone with some developmental skills, game knowledge, and rewriting abilities needs to be able to help guide these guide writers. It would up the quality for the guides all around and make WoWhead even more accurate of a tool.

Comment by Keldesh

Just wanting to let you know that the following expansion icons are the follow links:

BFA: http://wow.zamimg.com/images/icons/expansions/bfa.png
Shadowlands: http://wow.zamimg.com/images/icons/expansions/shadowlands.png

Comment by Wilus

Today I wrote and submited my very first guide, and this guide helped me a lot. Thanks for making this!

Comment by Dab86

So I had a question in regards to making a guide. I noticed some have a simple table of contents and others have a guide navigation bar with numbers next to that guide content. Clicking each one has its own individual table of contents. An example of this the pet guide https://www.wowhead.com/guides/capturing-all-wild-battle-pets. How does one make that or do that? Are they 7 guides tied together in some way? Would I need to make guides 1-7 get them published and then do this?

Comment by Illidana

Do you know what is the icon code for the chat bubble icon NPCs show inside their dialogue window when and they offer a clickable text?

Comment by wowqueen

Excellent guide, thank you. 5 stars. I'm using it to write my first guide after using WoWhead guides for at least a decade.

I have a dumb question: I have been searching for hours and can't find an answer on Wowhead. I want to put map coordinates so people can click and get the interactive dropdown Coordinates, In-Game Map Pin, TomTom Command. People do this all the time, but I can't find a code sample of how to format them so they are interactive. I have TomTom, I can get the coordinates, I know how to format a TomTom command, but I don't know how to type them in BBCode so the coordinates are interactive.

Comment by Kittay

Edit: I really just realized now that the text is bold in the preview, but when I look at the saved guide it isn't. I was just fooling myself! Problem "solved". :)

Hello! When I use the text is automatically bold, just like major/minor headings. In your example isn't bold, and I have seen many guides with that text size where the text itsn't bold either.

I tried to play around and put different numbers in , resulting in different text sizes, but I'm unable to understand how to make a bigger text than bread text that is just normal and not bold, just like your Title example.

How do I achieve this?

Comment by suchtie

How do I embed a talent calculator inside a Wowhead guide? I'm currently writing a guide for WotLK Classic where I really need to embed multiple talent builds, but it isn't explained anywhere how to do that, not even google helped. All I can find is how to embed it on an external website, which is not what I need. I don't want to have to work with screenshots and a link, that would be ugly.

Comment by GrinningSerpent

Probably a shot in the dark here, but I'm at my wits' end and I can't find anything on google or wowhead search for it - how in the heck do you attach/import a talent build panel like all of the official guides by Wowhead staff have?

Is it one of those things that don't show up properly in the preview or something? I searched this guide and all of the comments and there's nothing specifically about talent builds or panels or anything of that sort - and when I tried using the standard URL links, it appears to be just a standard URL link rather than the robust, in-line calculator with glyph slots and all that fun stuff that you see in staff members' guides.

I'm writing a guide for Cataclysm Classic, if that helps. I can see tabs and things like that in some of the guides, but I don't need anything that fancy - I'm only talking about a single talent build with a few blurbs afterwards for potential alterations or substitutions.

Guide Writing for Dummies

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