elanthipedia:Manual of Style: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 11:04, 18 April 2022

Manual of Style Article

This page is part of the Elanthipedia's Manual of Style section. This page lists information for the standardization of articles and templates, as set down by community consensus.

If you disagree with or have suggestions for improvement of the standards, please post on the accompanying talk page and give ample time for debate before making any edits. Failure to follow this proceedure will result in removal of your edits.

Manual of Style Index

PCs

This Manual of Style lists the accepted styles for the naming, presentation, and standardization of various types of pages. Please consult it if you are unsure as to how to do your page.

General style

Naming

Capitalization of articles should follow the rules that would apply as if you were typing the article into a sentence. This is to facilitate easier linking between articles. E.g. "Zoluren shops" not "Zoluren Shops" and "Warrior Mage spells" not "Warrior Mage Spells." The only capitalized things should be names, titles, place names, and guilds, with some exceptions.

The default naming style for all pages is singular. A page about maces would be "Mace;" a page about the creature Dragon Priest would be "Dragon Priest." This is because in general we're not describing all maces, just the concept of what a mace is. However, there are several exceptions.

All categories or category-like pages should be plural. If a page's primary purpose is to be a list, then it most likely should be plural.
Organizations that are plural in their name should remain plural.
Planes of existence are considered places and should be capitalized. Exception: a grouping of planes is a descriptor and remains uncapitalized. E.g. One of the elemental planes is the Plane of Fire.
Items that are inseparable and plural should remain so. "A set of rings" should remain plural. This does not apply to separable items, such as "bolts" or "arrows."
Articles should not be named after the author, even if there is only one at the time. If you are writing a guide, check to see if there is already a page for it. If there is, add to that. If not, make a new page (but leave your name out of the page title).

Headings

Capitalization of headings within articles should follow the same rules that apply to article names. I.e. as if you were typing the heading as a sentence. This is to facilitate easier linking between articles.

Forms

Forms have been created to help ease the addition of information for those who are not familiar with editing Wikis.

Elanthipedia:Forms

Discord

If referencing a Discord post during a page edit, a short reference to the link can be used with the <ref>DISCORD URL</ref> tag or copy and insert the following template code to include an immediate link to the post, updating the "DISCORD URL" text with the post URL:

{{DiscordLink|discordlink=DISCORD URL}}

Redirects

The general rule for redirects is that if you need to consider it, do it. If you create a page name "Blahblah flower" and think someone might instead look for it under "Blahblah blossom," then a redirect can be useful.

References and credit

While we greatly appreciate the work of other websites in cataloging data, this is not the same thing as saying that it should be referenced in the text. Unless the information is directly or paraphrased from another site (which should be avoided whenever possible), no credit is necessary.

Any information that is a direct output from the game or information that can be derived by anyone, is by its nature not the work of the writer.

If for some reason it is necessary to credit another site for their work, then the best method is via the <ref></ref> reference tags.

Images

Animations

Unless a subject is significantly easier to display using an animated image, they should be avoided. Animations used for decoration or style are explicitly disallowed.

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+{{mos|Elanthipedia_talk:Manual_of_Style}}
-{{Help Contents}}
+{{moslink}}
-This will eventually be information about the color palette and other such information used here at [[Elanthipedia:About|Elanthipedia]] to keep things looking nice and universal.
+This '''Manual of Style''' lists the accepted styles for the naming, presentation, and standardization of various types of pages. Please consult it if you are unsure as to how to do your page.
+==General style==
+===Naming===
+Capitalization of articles should follow the rules that would apply as if you were typing the article into a sentence. This is to facilitate easier linking between articles. E.g. "Zoluren shops" not "Zoluren Shops" and "Warrior Mage spells" not "Warrior Mage Spells." The only capitalized things should be names, titles, place names, and guilds, with some exceptions.
+The default naming style for all pages is singular. A page about maces would be "Mace;" a page about the creature Dragon Priest would be "Dragon Priest." This is because in general we're not describing all maces, just the concept of what a mace is. However, there are several exceptions.
-==Article titles for NPCs==
+* All categories or category-like pages should be plural. If a page's primary purpose is to be a list, then it most likely should be plural.
-Generally, the title for an article about an [[:Category:NPCs|NPC]] uses just the first name.  For example, Prince Sirolarn Tirof-Sorvendig's page is titled [[Sirolarn]].  For most NPCs, this is straightforward and no problem.
+* Organizations that are plural in their name should remain plural.
+* Planes of existence are considered places and should be capitalized. Exception: a grouping of planes is a descriptor and remains uncapitalized. E.g. One of the elemental planes is the Plane of Fire.
+* Items that are inseparable and plural should remain so. "A set of rings" should remain plural. This does not apply to separable items, such as "bolts" or "arrows."
+* Articles should not be named after the author, even if there is only one at the time. If you are writing a guide, [[:Category:Player Guides|check]] to see if there is already a page for it. If there is, add to that. If not, make a new page (but leave your name out of the page title).
+===Headings===
-For some NPCs, however, this scheme does not work:
+Capitalization of headings within articles should follow the same rules that apply to article names. I.e. as if you were typing the heading as a sentence. This is to facilitate easier linking between articles.
+===Forms===
-:In the case of Emperors and other nobility, where a number is typically appended to the end of the name to denote which individual is meant, the solution is straightforward.  Just include the roman numeral to the end of the name, as is done for [[Ponthilas I]], [[Ponthilas II]], [[Ponthilas III]], and [[Ponthilas IV]].
+Forms have been created to help ease the addition of information for those who are not familiar with editing Wikis.
+*[[Elanthipedia:Forms]]
+====Discord====
+If referencing a Discord post during a page edit, a short reference to the link can be used with the <nowiki><ref>DISCORD URL</ref></nowiki> tag or copy and insert the following template code to include an immediate link to the post, updating the "DISCORD URL" text with the post URL: <br>
+* <nowiki>{{DiscordLink|discordlink=DISCORD URL}}</nowiki>
+===Redirects===
-:For a rare few NPCs, a name gets reused (overall, the GMs appear to avoid this).  For example, there have been at least three characters named [[Penelope]] in DR.  In this case, use the original name as a disambiguation page with links to the individual characters with those names.  In the case of Penelope, this was solved by adding a last name to one of the Penelopes, [[Penelope Fraie]] and using a common alternate name for another [[Lady P]].  For more complicated cases, a style similar to that used for [[Reaver]] can be employed.
+The general rule for redirects is that if you need to consider it, do it. If you create a page name "Blahblah flower" and think someone might instead look for it under "Blahblah blossom," then a redirect can be useful.
+===References and credit===
-If you are ever not sure how to chose an appropriate article name, be bold and just use your best judgment while adding a note in the discussion section of the article soliciting advice from other editors.
+While we greatly appreciate the work of other websites in cataloging data, this is not the same thing as saying that it should be referenced in the text. Unless the information is directly or paraphrased from another site (which should be avoided whenever possible), no credit is necessary.
+Any information that is a direct output from the game or information that can be derived by anyone, is by its nature not the work of the writer.
+If for some reason it is necessary to credit another site for their work, then the best method is via the <nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki> reference tags.
+=== Images ===
+==== Animations ====
+Unless a subject is significantly easier to display using an animated image, they should be avoided. Animations used for decoration or style are explicitly disallowed.