The Reference Library

The Reference Library gathers together the definitive "how-to" guides from around NationStates. If you find the linked dispatches useful, please give them an upvote. That helps other players find them more easily. The dispatches are written by other people, and so may also promote their, or their region's, agenda.

Index

Other Reference Libraries
New Players
Issues
Dispatches and Factbooks
Cards
World Assembly
Raiding and Defending
Roleplay
Region Building
Technical and Tools
History
Arguments
Other

Other Reference Libraries

Reference Library
by August
A great resource, linking to more of August's well written, comprehensive dispatches.

List of Stuff I’ve Made.
by Dumpsterz
Dumpsterz has been putting together some great "How to" guides about customising your nation - flags, banners etc.

A Collection of Interesting Dispatches
by Chava Cal

New Players

NationStates FAQ
Official NationStates resource

Beginner's Guide to NationStates!
by West zamunda
This is the first new beginners guide I've seen after the launch of Frontiers. I've only glanced through it, but it seems well written and constructed.

How to NationStates: The Comprehensive Guide (for noobs)
by His Excellency

New to NS? Read this!
by United russoasia

The Survival Guide to NationStates
by Yy4u

NationStates Guide
by Amerion

NationStates Encyclopedia
by August
A glossary of NS jargon

Issues (spoiler alert)

How to start a nation with any WA classification
by Vivolkha
Not strictly to do with Issues, but will affect your nation stats!

Got Issues?
The forum for issues. Sneak a peak at the options for existing issues. Report unusual effects. Help fix issues with issues. Or help write a new one.

NationStates issue results
by Trotterdam
Want to know what an option will do before you choose it? Well, now you can.

NationStates Banners
by Mediobogdum

ACTUAL List of Banner Locations
by The Sakhalinsk Empire

NationStates Policies
by Llorens

NationStates Policies
by Trotterdam
Which issue answers add or remove policies?

Dispatches and Factbooks

The Complete List of NSCodes
by Testlandia

How to Write a Dispatch
by Testlandia

Formating code
by New fakeland

The Friendly Wormfodder Deliverer's Guide to Tables and Flipping them (ノ ゜Д゜)ノ ︵ ┻━┻
by Wormfodder delivery

Macros in factbooks! All the codes!
by Noahs Second Country

NSC's guide to coloring dispatches!
by Noahs Second Country

A Guide on How to Put Pictures In The Factbooks
by The democratic nation of unovia

How to Copy a Disptach
by Freedom planita 2

Cards

The Comprehensive Guide to NationStates Cards
by The Northern Light
(There are additional links in the header of the page which are worth exploring too)

NS Trading Card Discord

The Collection Collection

Wrong way to play?
The original post in this thread is a specific question, but the thread goes on to give various views on what is acceptable behaviour.

The North Pacific Card Market Watch (out of date)
by The Northern Light

Card queries page
by Kractero
Allows searches on the official XML card list

SherpDaWerp's Puppet Checker - Easily Manage Card Farms!
by SherpDaWerp
See how many issues, card packs, bank, and deck value your puppets have

Card Management Queue Tool
by Anozia

The Auction That Lasted Forever
by Noahs Second Country

World Assembly

Why and How to Join the World Assembly (and other Frequently Asked Questions)
by Europeian WA Headquarters

So You Want To Write A Resolution?
by Damanucus

So, ‘You say you want a Resolution’ : A beginners’ guide to writing GA proposals
by Bears Armed Mission

Probably not useful, but I think interesting:
Against Security Council Statement
by Mikeswill

The Commended and Condemned
by Whole india

Raiding and Defending
(See also Technical and Tools)

Detagging a Region
by We Are Not the NSA

So you've been invaded…
by Consular

Basics of Military Gameplay
by August

About Influence
by August

Hobbes' Handy Guide to Military (R/D) Gameplay.
by Hobbesistan

Complete Guide to Military Gameplay
by King Nephmir II

Detailed Raiding Guide
by Snezzy

The Predator Scandal
by The predator scandal

What Is Defending?
by Imperial rivercorps armada 2nd fleet

Thou Shalt Not Retag: 10 Commandments of Detagging
by Union of kiwi socialists

Roleplay

Roleplay 101
by Damanucus

Roleplay for Dummies (and other useful things)
by Diogott

How Roleplays Die: A Detailed Explanation on the Nature of Thread Death in Portal to the Multiverse
by Finland ssr

How To Write an RP News Post
by Imperialist sweden

Worldbuilding resources for fun and profit
by Vrnallia

Region Building

How To Build A Region
Forum thread by Consular

Region Tags
by All Wild Things

Branding, Advertising, and Recruitment
by All Wild Things

Region Building (radio show discussion)
by Ambrella and King HEM

Regional founder Discord server
Read the forum post before joining the server.

How to Write a Basic Constitution: A Beginner's Guide
by Prybourne

Basic Security Checks
by All Wild Things

How to add your own map!
by Broken Edge

Technical and Tools

General

Useful NS Sites and Utilities
by Nullarni

RMB Search patterns
by Testlandia

Flags

So You Want to Make a Flag?
by The Xolbarian Opposition

Flag Makers/Requests II
Gameplay forum thread

Maps

Map Making Guide For Beginners
by Aeyariss

Coding

NationStates API (nationdata/regiondata)
The main forum thread about the API

NationStates API Documentation
The documentation on the API

NationStates API for Python
by The United Island Tribes

Bots

AugustinAndroid RMB bot
by August

AugustinAndroid NS-based Discord bot
by August

NationCogs - a module for the Red Discord bot
by Darcania
(Take note of this update before installing)

Puppet Management

nslogin-web (web app to log into/restore nations)
by Auralia
(web-based app, ready to go)

PuppetMaster Login Script
by Wolfram and Hart
(Copy & paste JavaScript to get set up)

Sleeping Beauty
by Wolfram and Hart
This script answers issues for your puppets. Copy & paste JavaScript to get set up.

Cards

SherpDaWerp's Puppet Checker - Easily Manage Card Farms!
by SherpDaWerp
See how many issues, card packs, bank, and deck value your puppets have

Card Management Queue Tool
by Anozia

Telegrams

*THE* Simple Guide to Sending Telegrams via API
by Ever-Wandering Souls

Gameplay

Spyglass - Open Source Region Timesheet Generator
by Spyglass development team
Spyglass generates Excel Spreadsheets that can be used to predict the update time of a NationStates region, usually to coordinate an invasion, liberation, or other military gameplay action.

puppet-manager
by Sweeze
"trynna make prepping a bit less burnout prone by making it braindead simple maybe some other things too idk"

Python RMB saver
by Merni

Delegate endorsement checking script
by Merni

History

See also this resource:
NS History Repository
by Libertia-Columbia

NS History: You've Got Questions, We've Got Answers!
Forum thread

The Compendium: The Nationstates History Book
by Lavenza

The Anatomy of the Coup: How Francos Spain Won (How did Francos Spain take over the Pacific?)
by Unibot III

Anatomy of the Coup II: Attack of the Puppets (The Invasion of the North Pacific)
by Unibot III

Anatomy of the Coup III: TEP, the Early Days
by Unibot III

Something Stirs: The History of Early Balder & Osiris
by Unibot III

The History of Abydos
by Qon
(The history is embedded in the linked dispatch. Scroll down and you'll find it.)

The Refound of Australia
by Mcmasterdonia representative

The History of The Black Hawks
by TBH Commander

A History of Boston
by All Wild Things

The Story of Christmas
by All Wild Things

Reflections on the Confederation of Corrupt Dictators
by ShrewLlamaLand

The History of the DEN
by General knot

History of Gay
by Lgbt equality

The History of Hell
by The Stalker

The Mountains to the East
by All Wild Things

A Warzone history, through Dispatches
by Domais

History of the Delegacy of The West Pacific
by All Good People

NS Gameplay History - Updated 24/1-2014
by Ananke II

NS History Resources
by All Wild Things

Arguments

This may be my favourite:
All You Need to Know About NationStates Arguments
by Ovybia

"Everyone I Don't Like is Hitler", A Child's Guide to Online Political Discussion
by Schultzhafen

Other Resources

Links to resources for those who feel depressed/suicidal

Keeping NationStates Safe: A Campaign Against Harassment
by New ex patria

The One Stop Rules Shop

Getting Help

Eligible Polls

The NewsStand
by All Wild Things

Obscure NS Links

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=801528

Food
https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1121619

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1040388

Rps
https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=377647

Fractal
https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1080933