WikiPaintball:Sources and references

WikiPaintball sources and references explains how contributors should research, verify and cite information published on WikiPaintball.

WikiPaintball aims to document paintball history accurately, including subjects that may have received limited coverage in mainstream publications. Reliable sources are essential to this work.

All factual claims should be supported by credible evidence wherever possible. Contributors must not invent information, present assumptions as established facts or cite sources that do not support the statements being made.

General principles

WikiPaintball follows several basic principles when evaluating sources:

Accuracy comes first. Information should be supported by evidence rather than assumption.
Use the best available sources. Contemporary records are generally preferable to recollections recorded many years later.
Verify individual claims. A source mentioning a team does not necessarily establish its founding date, complete roster or tournament history.
Distinguish fact from recollection. Personal memories can provide valuable historical information but should not automatically be treated as independently verified facts.
Avoid unsupported conclusions. Do not infer that a team dissolved, a business closed or an event was cancelled simply because later records cannot be found.
Preserve historical context. Consider when a source was published and whether it describes events contemporary to its publication.
Cite the actual source. References should lead as directly as possible to the material supporting the relevant claim.

A short article containing a few verified facts is preferable to a longer article containing speculation.

Types of sources

Official tournament records

Official tournament records are particularly valuable for documenting competitive paintball.

Examples include:

Published tournament results and standings.
Official event programmes.
League schedules and rankings.
Published team registration lists.
Official player or team statistics.
Tournament announcements and event reports.

These sources may establish participation, placements, dates, divisions and other recorded details.

However, an appearance in a tournament does not establish when a team was founded, and a published roster does not necessarily represent every player associated with that team.

Contributors should distinguish between a team's first documented appearance and its confirmed founding date.

Paintball publications

Contemporary paintball magazines, newspapers and specialist publications are important historical sources.

These may include:

Tournament reports.
Interviews with players and industry figures.
Equipment reviews.
Manufacturer announcements.
Team profiles.
Industry news.
Historical features.

Contemporary publications are especially useful for documenting periods before widespread online record-keeping.

When citing printed material, contributors should provide the publication title, issue or date, page number where known, and enough identifying information for readers to locate the original material.

Digitised copies or archived versions should be linked where legally available.

Official websites and announcements

Official websites operated by teams, manufacturers, leagues, fields and organisations can provide useful primary evidence.

These sources may establish:

Official names and branding.
Announced rosters.
Product releases.
Published event schedules.
Organisational announcements.
Sponsorship announcements.
Changes of name or ownership.

However, claims made by an organisation about its own importance, achievements or historical influence should be evaluated carefully.

Promotional statements should not automatically be repeated as objective fact.

Archived websites

Many historically important paintball websites are no longer available at their original addresses.

Archived copies can preserve information that would otherwise be lost.

The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine is a useful resource:

https://web.archive.org/

Contributors should record the original website address where available and link to an archived version containing the relevant information.

An archived page establishes that particular content was available in the captured version. It does not necessarily prove that every statement on the page was accurate.

Where dates are important, distinguish the publication date from the archive's capture date.

Forums and online communities

Historical paintball forums can contain valuable firsthand accounts, event discussions, technical information and contemporary announcements.

Forum material should be assessed according to its origin and content.

For example:

A contemporary event announcement may help establish that an event was advertised.
A participant's account may provide evidence of personal involvement.
A discussion of equipment may help establish how a product was used or received.
An anonymous recollection may require additional verification.

A forum post should not be treated as authoritative simply because it appears on a longstanding paintball website.

Claims about other people, team histories, business relationships or disputed events should be corroborated wherever possible.

Social media

Official social media accounts may be used as sources for announcements, event participation, team activities and other directly documented information.

Contributors should consider:

Whether the account genuinely represents the subject.
Whether the statement was published at the relevant time.
Whether the post supports the specific claim.
Whether the information can be independently verified.

Social media engagement, popularity or promotional language should not be treated as evidence of historical significance.

Interviews and personal recollections

Paintball history is often preserved through the memories of players, referees, field operators, manufacturers and tournament organisers.

These accounts are valuable, especially when written records are incomplete.

However, memories may contain inaccuracies concerning dates, names, results and sequences of events.

Contributors should:

Identify the person providing the account.
Establish their connection to the subject.
Record when the information was provided.
Distinguish direct personal experience from information heard from others.
Seek documentary confirmation where possible.
Avoid presenting disputed recollections as established historical fact.

Unpublished interviews and private communications should not normally serve as the sole basis for substantial or controversial claims, particularly when readers cannot independently examine the evidence.

Where appropriate, oral-history information may be attributed explicitly rather than presented as independently verified fact.

Evaluating conflicting sources

Historical sources sometimes disagree.

Examples include different tournament placements, conflicting dates or inconsistent accounts of team membership.

When sources conflict:

Identify what each source actually states.
Check publication dates and the proximity of each source to the event.
Prefer original records for matters such as published results.
Look for additional independent evidence.
Avoid selecting a version simply because it is more detailed or familiar.
Explain a meaningful unresolved discrepancy when it is directly relevant and supported by published evidence.

Do not combine fragments from different sources to construct an unsupported historical narrative.

When reliable evidence cannot resolve a question, omit the disputed detail or clearly identify the uncertainty where necessary.

Information that should not be assumed

Contributors must not infer:

A team's founding date from its earliest known tournament appearance.
A team's dissolution from the absence of recent results.
A player's membership from a photograph or casual association alone.
A sponsorship relationship from the appearance of branded equipment.
Organisational continuity from shared players or management.
A business closure from an inactive website.
A tournament result from incomplete standings.
A product's release date from the earliest surviving advertisement.
A person's nationality from their team's country of registration.

Such claims require appropriate supporting evidence.

WikiPaintball citation format

WikiPaintball uses a simple manually numbered reference system.

Citations appear in article text as:

[1], [2], [3]

Each number corresponds to a source listed under the article's References heading.

Numbers should be assigned in the order sources first appear.

The same source should retain the same reference number when cited again.

Example article structure

The following is an illustrative formatting example. The source address must be replaced with a real source that supports the statement.

'''Example Team''' was a paintball team
documented as competing in a tournament
during 2003.[1]

== References ==

# [SOURCE_URL Official tournament results]

The source URL is a placeholder, not a published reference.

Reference formatting

Online references should generally follow this format:

== References ==

# [URL Source title]
# [URL Source title]

Where known, include the publication name, author, publication date or other relevant identifying details.

For historical websites, include an archived URL where useful.

References should point to the relevant article, document or archived page rather than a general homepage whenever possible.

Reusing citations

If several statements are supported by the same source, reuse its assigned citation number.

For example:

The team competed in the 2003 event.[1]

It finished in fifth place.[1]

== References ==

# [SOURCE_URL Official event results]

Do not create duplicate reference entries for every use of the same source.

Unsupported references

Do not:

Invent reference titles or URLs.
Cite a source that has not been checked.
Use a homepage as evidence for information it does not contain.
Cite an unrelated source merely to make an article appear referenced.
Present a search result snippet as equivalent to examining the underlying source.
Copy reference lists from another website without checking their contents.

If a claim cannot be supported, omit it or identify the need for verification.

Broken links and historical preservation

Sources may disappear as websites close or change their structure.

When a reference stops working:

Check whether the page has moved.
Look for an archived copy.
Check whether another reliable source preserves the same information.
Replace or supplement the reference where appropriate.
Do not automatically remove an otherwise established fact solely because its original website is temporarily unavailable.

A broken link does not necessarily make a historical claim false. However, information that cannot be verified should not be presented with unjustified certainty.

Appropriate level of detail

Articles should reflect the amount and quality of available evidence.

A subject with limited surviving documentation may justify only a short article.

Do not fill gaps with generic descriptions of paintball history, unrelated team information or unsupported claims about influence and importance.

Where substantial information exists about another subject, place it in that subject's own article rather than expanding an unrelated article.

Contributor responsibility

Contributors are responsible for ensuring that the information they add is accurate, relevant and appropriately supported.

The use of artificial intelligence, search engines or other research tools does not replace the need to check original sources.

AI-generated citations, dates, tournament results and historical claims must never be accepted without verification.

When in doubt, publish what can be demonstrated rather than what merely seems likely.