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An index is a list of terms in a work, prose or otherwise, related to the Pathfinder campaign setting. Some examples:

characters, like Eando Kline and Varian Jeggare
locations, like Sandpoint, the Irespan, and the Shadow Plane
organizations, like the Hellknights and the Pathfinder Society
creatures, like bunyips, linnorms, and granule construct swarms
natural animals and fauna, like moles, bats, or wolfsbane
spells, often inferred from their prose description
races and classes, like halflings and assassins
concepts and events, like arcane magic, Chelish opera, and the Rain of Stars
items, weapons, and armor, like ioun stones, crossbows, or the Armor of Skulls
and anything else from the setting, like black lotus extract, knucklebones, and copper pieces

In short: An obsessive indexer should always err on the side of inclusion, even if the term doesn't currently exist in the wiki. Moles weren't officially considered familiars until 2015, but they might have been mentioned in passing many times since then. Just because the term feels "throwaway" in the source doesn't mean it won't become something more important later on. An indexer should never let insignificance get in the way of a good index.

Index layout

PathfinderWiki indices use the {{navbox}} template. A starting index is shown below:

Let's discuss each section in turn.

Characters

Characters are divided into two subcategories: "Significant characters" and "Other characters".
If the tale is told through the viewpoint of a character, use {{viewpoint}} after the character's name.

Creatures

"Humanoids" is a standard subcategory as nearly every Character is a member of one.
Ethnicity can be specified like [[human]] ''(Ethnicities: [[Shoanti]], [[Ulfen]])''.
"Other" is a standard subcategory to collect any other term that is not otherwise categorized.
Further subcategories should match terms from Category:Creatures by type whenever possible.
Any type of creature may become a a separate subcategory if it contains many entries.
Alphabetize subcategories, with the exception of "Other", which should always be last.

Items

"Magical" and "Weapons & Armour" are standard subcategories as they are very likely to appear.
"Other" is a standard subcategory to collect any other term that is not otherwise categorized.
Further subcategories should match major concepts (Technological, Alchemical, etc.).
Any type of item may become a a separate subcategory if it contains many entries.
Alphabetize subcategories, with the exception of "Other", which should always be last.

Locations

Locations should be organized smallest to largest.
1. If a minor settlement has locations within it, start there.
2. Then, expand outward to major cities (Egorian, Kaer Maga, etc.).
3. Then, expand outward to nations (Absalom, Andoran, Varisia, etc.)
4. Then, expand outward to continents (Avistan, Garund, Tian Xia, etc.).
5. Then, if there are locations that aren't specific to continents, use Golarion.
6. If you need to refer to other parts of the Material Plane, use Material Plane.
7. Finally, if there are planes besides the Material Plane, use Great Beyond.
If there are multiple subcategories at the same level (multiple cities, etc.), alphabetize them.
When using a settlement or city as a subcategory, also specify its nation.
The locations in the example code are just examples: if none apply, remove them.
For locations smaller than a nation, use background color SpringGreen.
For locations larger than a city, use default background color PaleGreen.
For locations larger than Golarion, use background color Gainsboro.

Other

"Classes", "Magic", "Organizations", "Religion & Philosophy" are likely-to-appear as regular subcategories.
"Miscellaneous" is a standard subcategory to collect any other term that is not otherwise categorized.
"Unknown" is for unlinked explanatory text that couldn't be clearly identified in the source:
1. "a plant that only grows reliably in one particular place in Numeria" (Chapter 4)
2. Zernebeth's pair of clairaudience earrings
3. Char's "transporter device"
Other subcategories are possible and are best informed by the source material:
1. A pirate-themed book might benefit from a subcategory called "Ships".
2. A technology-themed book might benefit from a subcategory called "Science".
Alphabetize subcategories, with the exception of "Miscellaneous" and "Unknown", which should always be last.

Style guides, tips, and considerations

Use {{s}} to indicate significant terms. In any single book, there are bound to be dozens (or hundreds) of name drops or things that appear and disappear in the span of a page or paragraph. Even though they're insignificant, they should be indexed. But, if a term makes a significant appearance or impact, or just "feels" major or worthwhile, you should indicate so by including {{s}} after the term, as in [[Eando Kline]]{{s}} or [[bunyip]]{{s}}. There's no hard or fast rule on what significance really means; it's a matter of indexer opinion, and that's OK.

Use lowercase for terms that aren't proper nouns. Instead of Bunyip, use bunyip. Instead of Spaceship, use spaceship, or alchemy, or pirate, or necromancy. Capitalize only proper nouns (like White Witches, Numerian steel, or Lantern King).

Place synonyms after the primary term. If a single term is expressed in multiple forms, link to the primary term in the wiki and place the other forms (the synonyms) after it unlinked, italicized, and in parentheses. Some examples: [[Kyonin]] ''(Elfland)'', [[halfling]] ''(slip)'', or [[Erastil]] ''(Old Deadeye)''.

You can leave notes or comments after a term. If a term requires further public or private annotation (hints for future red-link definers, private notes on what a term is or isn't, etc.), go ahead! Public notes should be left in single brackets, like [[Onionskin]] [owner Succulent Eel; chef] and private notes, viewable only doing an edit, should be left in comments: [[shiver]] drug den .

It is OK to infer a term from a description. If the description of a magical effect clearly screams magic missile or detect magic, go ahead and infer the spell name into the index. The same holds true for classes, races, locations, creatures, and any other indexable term: if you're pretty sure you know what it is, index it. If you're not entirely sure, index it anyway and include a comment or note supporting your case. When inferring, use the following format: ''"text from source"'' → [[inferred term]] {{unnamed}}. For example: ''"hex crafters"'' → [[witch]] {{unnamed} or ''"portal to a pocket dimension"'' → [[portable hole]] {{unnamed}}. Alphabetize the entry by the source usage, not the inferred term ("h" for hex crafters, not "w" for witch).

The example group numbers do not mean anything. You might be wondering why the group numbers in the above example code are not sequential. This is simply to ease the addition of other alphabetical subcategories before and after the default provided categories. Group numbers less than 10 do not "mean" anything and can be changed freely. Group numbers after 10 also do not "mean" anything special, but are deliberately high to indicate that those subcategories should always be last, regardless of their alphabetization. They can be changed freely too, as long as they're always last.

Twenty rows is the limit for each section. Notwithstanding the point made above, there is currently a limit of twenty to the number of rows you may create in each section. Any group created above group20 / list 20 will not be displayed.

Prune empty sections. Once the index is complete, remove any empty sections that might remain from the starting index.

Sample index usage

The following code creates the sample index rendered above.

{{Navbox
| bodyclass  = hlist navbox-index
| navbar     = plain
| state      = plain
| title      = Index for ''NAME OF BOOK''
| titlestyle = background: Black; color: White;
| above      = ''Terms with a superscript 'S' are considered significant. Quoted text ("...") is taken directly from the book.''

| list1 = {{Navbox | child
  | title      = Characters 
  | state      = plain
  | groupstyle = background: PowderBlue; width: 20%;
  | titlestyle = background: Black; color: White;

  | group1 = Significant characters
  | list1  = 
* 

  | group2 = Other characters
  | list2  = 
* 

  }}

| list2  = {{Navbox | child
  | title      = Creatures
  | state      = plain
  | groupstyle = background: MistyRose; width: 20%;
  | titlestyle = background: Black; color: White;

  | group1 = [[Aberration]]
  | list1  = 
* 

  | group2 = [[Animal]]s & [[Vermin]]
  | list2  = 
* 

  | group3 = [[Artificial intelligence|AI]] & [[Construct]]s
  | list3  = 
* 

  | group4 = [[Dragon]]s
  | list4  = 
* 

  | group5 = [[Fey]]s
  | list5  = 
* 

  | group6 = [[Humanoid]]s
  | list6  = 
* [[human]] ''(Ethnicities: )''

  | group7 = [[Magical beast]]s
  | list7  = 
*

  | group8 = [[Ooze]]s
  | list8  = 
*

  | group9 = [[Outsider]]s
  | list9  = 
*

  | group10 = [[Plant]]s
  | list10  = 
*

  | group11 = [[Undead]]
  | list11  = 
*

  | group20 = Other
  | list20  = 
* 

  }}

| list3  = {{Navbox | child
  | title      = Items
  | state      = plain
  | groupstyle = background: Thistle; width: 20%;
  | titlestyle = background: Black; color: White;

  | group1 = [[Alchemical item|Alchemical]]
  | list1  = 
* 

  | group4 = [[Magic item|Magical]]
  | list4  = 
* 

  | group8 = [[Technology|Technological]]
  | list8  = 
* 

  | group12 = [[Weapon]]s & [[Armour]]
  | list12  = 
* 

  | group20 = Other
  | list20  = 
* 

  }}

| list4  = {{Navbox | child
  | title      = Locations
  | state      = plain
  | groupstyle = background: PaleGreen; width: 20%;
  | titlestyle = background: Black; color: White;

<!-- MINOR SETTLEMENTS -->

  | group1 = [[Almas]], [[Andoran]]
  | group1style = background: SpringGreen;
  | list1  = 
* 

<!-- MAJOR CITIES -->

  | group4 = [[Kaer Maga]], [[Varisia]]
  | group4style = background: SpringGreen;
  | list4  = 
* 

<!-- NATIONS -->

  | group8 = [[Andoran]]
  | list8  = 
* 

<!-- CONTINENTS -->

  | group12 = [[Avistan]] ''(Avistani)''
  | list12  = 
* [[Absalom]]
* [[Andoran]]
* [[Hold of Belkzen]]
* [[Brevoy]]
* [[Cheliax]]
* [[Druma]]
* [[Five Kings Mountains]]
* [[Galt]]
* [[Hermea]]
* [[Irrisen]]
* [[Isger]]
* [[Kyonin]] 
* [[Lands of the Linnorm Kings]]
* [[Lastwall]]
* [[Mendev]] 
* [[Molthune]]
* [[Nidal]]
* [[Nirmathas]]
* [[Numeria]]
* [[Qadira]]
* [[Razmiran]]
* [[Realm of the Mammoth Lords]]
* [[River Kingdoms]]
* [[Taldor]]
* [[Ustalav]]
* [[Varisia]]
* [[Worldwound|The Worldwound]]

  | group13 = [[Garund]] ''(Garundi)''
  | list13  = 
* [[Eye of Abendego]]
* [[Geb]]
* [[Jalmeray]]
* [[Katapesh]]
* [[Mana Wastes]]
* [[Mediogalti Island]]
* [[Mwangi Expanse]]
* [[Nex]]
* [[Osirion]]
* [[Rahadoum]]
* [[Sargava]]
* [[Shackles|The Shackles]]
* [[Sodden Lands]]
* [[Thuvia]]

<!-- PLANETS -->

  | group16 = [[Golarion]]
  | list16  = 
* [[Arcadian Ocean]]
* [[Inner Sea]]
* [[Inner Sea region]]
* [[Obari Ocean]]
* [[Steaming Sea]]

<!-- MATERIAL PLANE -->

  | group17 = [[Material Plane]]
  | group17style = background: Gainsboro;
  | list17  = 
*

<!-- OTHER PLANES -->

  | group18 = [[Great Beyond]]
  | group18style = background: Gainsboro;
  | list18  = 
* 

  }}

| list10 = {{Navbox | child
  | title      = Other
  | state      = plain
  | groupstyle = background: White; width: 20%;
  | titlestyle = background: Black; color: White;

  | group2 = [[Class]]es
  | list2  = 
* 

  | group4 = [[Magic]]
  | list4  = 
* 

  | group6 = [[:Category:Organizations|Organizations]]
  | list6  = 
* 

  | group8 = [[Portal:Religion|Religion & Philosophy]]
  | list8  = 
* 

  | group19 = Miscellaneous
  | list19  = 
* 

  | group20 = Unknown
  | list20  = 
* 

  }}
}}

[[Category:Indexes]]