SloArchWiki:Manual of Style

From SloArchWiki

We here at SloArchWiki like things to be uniform and everything, so this Manual of Style is here to set things straight.

For information on the most basic writing techniques and styles, which are used here, see Wikipedia's Manual of Style.

Below are some basic formatting do's and don't's.

Contents 1 Layout guide 1.1 Podcasts 1.2 People (faculty/student) 2 Naming articles 3 Headings 4 Linking 5 Maintenance Templates 5.1 Spelling and Grammar 5.2 Formatting Issues 5.3 Short Articles

Layout guide

Most articles should be structured as follows:

Podcasts

1. Infobox
2. Detailed Introduction
3. History (if needed)
4. Trivia
5. External Links

People (faculty/student)

1. Infobox
2. Detailed Introduction
3. History
   1. Certain sections (classes, publications, etc.)
4. Trivia
5. External Links

If it's awkward or impossible to use this layout on your article try to find a similar article and model it after that. If there is no similar article, just lay it out in a way that seems logical to you.

Naming articles

There are some rules regarding how articles on The sloArch Wiki should be named.

• Article names should be in singular form, not plural.
• Words differentiating it from something else, like Green. Should be in parenthesis like so... "(green)"
• Articles titles must be spelled the way it should exactly be spelled
  • Misspellings or alternate titles can be used as redirects.

Headings

Use the == (heading) markup for headings, not the ''' (bold) markup. Example:

===This is a heading===

which produces:

If you mark headings this way, a table of contents is automatically generated from the headings in an article. Sections can be automatically numbered for users with that preference set and words within properly marked headings are given greater weight in searches. Headings also help readers by breaking up the text and outlining the article.

• Capitalize the first letter only of the first word and of any proper nouns in a heading, and leave all of the other letters in lower case.
• Avoid links within headings.
• Avoid overuse of sub-headings.

Linking

Before an article can be found by users you have to make sure it can be reached by normal browsing on the wiki. This means that at least one other page on the wiki has to link to the article in order for it to be considered complete, otherwise it's referred to as an 'orphaned page'. Usually this isn't an issue because most articles are created because they're already referenced from other pages. If this isn't the case you will have to find a related page and work a link to the orphaned article into it.

An article must also link to at least one other sloArch Wiki article. If an article has no links or only external links it is referred to as a 'dead end. If an article is a dead end you should reword it so it references another related article.

Maintenance Templates

If you come across an article that you believe does not meet the standards of The sloArch Wiki you are free to edit the article so it conforms with this style guide. If you don't have the information or time necessary to fix the article yourself, however, there is an easy way to show other maintainers that you believe the article is in need of their attention. This section does not apply to organizational templates. More information about them can be found at The sloArch Wiki:Deletion policy.

Important: If a problem is not immediately obvious then you should add a comment to the articles talk page stating why you added the maintenance template.

Spelling and Grammar

If an article has multiple spelling and grammar mistakes you can add it to Category:Articles needing to be fixed. If the spelling and grammar mistakes are throughout the entire article, add "{{fix}}" to the very top of the page. If it's limited to a single section, add "{{fix}}" to the top of that section. Once added, you should see the Template:Fix template where you entered the tag:

This article is in need of attention! This article has multiple spelling and grammar issues and does not meet the standard expected on The sloArch Wiki. You are welcome to help improve this article. For more information see the terms of style.

Formatting Issues

If an article doesn't meet the standard described in this style guide then it should be added to Category:Articles needing to be improved. You should add this to the top of a page with formatting issues using the "{{improve}}" tag. Once added, you should see the Template:Improve template where you entered the tag:

This article is in need of attention! This article currently does not meet the standard expected on The sloArch Wiki. You are welcome to help improve this article. For more information see the terms of style.

Short Articles

If an article is only contains only a single paragraph and can be drastically expanded then it is considered to be a stub and should be added to Category:Articles needing to be expanded. If you believe that a short article should be expanded you can use "{{stub}}. Once added, you should see the Template:Stub template where you entered the tag:

This article is a stub! This article needs to be expanded. You are welcome to help improve this article. For more information, see the Manual of Style.