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This page documents a Dragon Age Wiki guideline. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should follow, though it should be treated with common sense, and occasional exceptions may apply. When editing this page, please ensure that your revision reflects consensus. When in doubt, discuss your idea on the talk page. |
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- This MoS was based off WoWWiki's Manual of Style.
This Manual of Style outlines a standard of clean, consistent formatting for articles on this wiki. The formatting described here is a guideline and can be overridden where circumstances warrant it. These guidelines will never be unerringly perfect for every situation. However, please try your best to keep to the advice outlined in this article so others may use your edits as an example when creating and editing their own articles.
These guidelines are a summary of the most important guidelines for this wiki, but a more expansive set of style guidelines can be found on Wikipedia at Wikipedia Manual of Style.
Article layout examples
The wiki has guidelines for how to lay out different types of articles.
General
One of the most important parts of wiki editing is how to structure an article. The structure is a powerful thing: it dictates what information the reader reads and when he or she reads it. It can influence what people contribute, where it goes, and how it might be written. Structure has the power to inform or confuse the same way good or bad writing does. Keep a well structured article, and you're more likely to have a high quality one.
Organize sections in an article in a hierarchical structure like you would an outline. Keep it logical, but feel free to forsake strict logic for readability. Wherever possible, try to have an introduction for each section. Just like the article as a whole, the section should start with an introduction and then have its subsections below it. Try using a shallow structure rather than a deep one. Too many nested sections usually leads to a confusing or unreadable article.
Above all, keep your layout consistent. Don't throw your reader a curve ball too often. The following sections will offer some good advice on keeping your articles clean, consistent, and clear.
Disambiguation
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When two different articles have the same title, disambiguation should be used. Disambiguation can be added by adding a simple descriptive word in brackets at the end of the article title and/or by creating a disambiguation page using the {{Disambig}} template.
If there are two or more unrelated articles with the same name, the wiki's general practice is to use the original title on the more popular article and then add a disambiguation to the other article or articles. For example Leliana's Song DLC retained its original title, while Leliana's Song (soundtrack) has had a descriptive word added.
If there are two or more articles with similar names or search terms and a disambiguation page can be created. See Cousland for an example.
Whenever there are two or more articles with the same name, but from different games, articles should be disambiguated by their game titles. The article about companions in Dragon Age: Origins would be titled "Companions (Origins)", while the article about companions in Dragon Age II is would be titled "Companions: (Dragon Age II)".
There are different templates to redirect the user on other pages:
Protagonist
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In encyclopaedic articles , the protagonist of Dragon Age: Origins should be referred to as "The Warden", or simply "Warden". The protagonist For Dragon Age II is referred to as Hawke.
As the player characters can be male or female, remember to write in a gender-neutral way. Where a pronoun must be used, the wiki uses "they" or "their", rather than "his/hers".
However, in walkthrough articles and guides, second person (you) should be used.
The term "The player" should only be used to refer to the individual playing the game, not a character.
Lead section
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Unless an article is very short, it should start with an introductory lead section, before the first subheading. The lead should not be explicitly entitled == Introduction == or any equivalent header. The table of contents, if displayed, appears after the lead section and before the first subheading.
The lead should be capable of standing alone as a concise overview of the article, establishing context, and explaining why the subject is interesting or notable. It should be between one or two paragraphs long, and should be written in a clear and accessible style so that the reader is encouraged to read the rest of the article.
If possible, make the title the subject of the first sentence of the article. For example, write "Andraste was the prophetess whose teachings later served as the foundation for the formation of the Chantry."
The first time the article mentions the title, put it in bold using three apostrophes — '''article title''' produces article title. Avoid other uses of bold in the first sentence, except for alternative titles of an article; for example:
The mother of Maric Theirin Moira, known as the Rebel Queen, was the one responsible for first inspiring the rebellion against the Orlesian occupation of Ferelden and personally led the rebel forces against them.
Follow the normal rules for italics in choosing whether to put part or all of the title in italics. This will mainly apply to the titles of books and games:
Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne is a novel set in the Dragon Age universe.
Do not put links in the bold reiteration of the title in the article's lead sentence. For example, " A [[dwarf]] is one of the three playable races in Dragon Age: Origins." Versus " A dwarf is one of the three playable races in Dragon Age: Origins"
Table of contents
A table of contents will automatically appear in articles with a minimum of four headings (unless forced by the below options). By default this will be left-aligned above the first section heading.
- To the force a TOC position (left-aligned):
__TOC__ - To completely remove the TOC from a page:
__NOTOC__
The table of contents can be right-aligned - but only if it is very long (over 15 entries) and an information box is not occupying the top-right corner of the article (rare exceptions exist).
- Right-aligned TOC that floats next to text: {{tocright}}
Section headings
Use the == (two equal signs) and === (three equal signs) markups, as in ===Section headings===, to enclose major and minor section headings respectively. These are convenient synonyms of the <h2> and <h3> heading markups.
Be careful not to use single equal signs by mistake. That is a synonym of the <h1> heading markup, which is used automatically by the wiki's page header mechanism. Reusing it is bad style and risky coding.
Section headings are signposts to your article's structure. Make them short and simple to avoid confusion. Concision without obscurity in headings is good: for instance, you may usually drop a, an and the; omit unneeded pronouns; and so on.
Do not reuse the article title in section headings. Searching an article is made easier if section headings are distinct from the title and from each other.
Write section headings in lower-case letters, except for the first letter of the first word and the first letter of any proper nouns. Thus, write "Founding and history" rather than "Founding and History". This convention may differ from section heading rules that you have met elsewhere.
Images
Caption
Images make an article memorable and pretty. They can speak where words fail. At the same time, misplaced or untidy images can detract from an article. When choosing images, keep in mind placement, size, and the appropriateness of the image to the section. Let images flow with the text instead of break it up.
Large images such as screenshots should use the "thumb" (example:[[Image:CoolImage.png|thumb]]) option which displays large images as thumbnails. Images should generally be right aligned to enhance readability by allowing a smooth flow of text down the left margin - the "thumb" option does this by default. If an infobox is not being used in an article, a right aligned picture in the lead section is encouraged.
For more information, see Help:Images.
Galleries
When an article has many images, or can be improved by having more, and having inline images be detract from the readability of an articles, the use of a <gallery> section is encouraged.
Tables
Tables should use a "class" design when possible, and should include as little 'fancy' formatting as possible. Tables can also be made sortable by adding a "sortable" class.
For long tables, it is recommended to create an "alt" class to alternate row colours to enhance readability. The below examples use "toccolours" as a class, but this is only for the purposes of demonstration, and isn't generally recommended.
With row headings, table caption, sortable
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Without row headings, with alt rows
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Navigation boxes can use or be based off {{NavBox}}. Generally they should be placed at the end of an article, above the categories.
Expand with more details and examples.
Article message boxes
Add me! You may want to look at Wikipedia:Article message boxes.
The last sections, if they exist, should always be "See also", followed by "References", followed by "External links". In the case of "See also", use bullets to list the internal links. Under the references section should be placed <references/>. Finally, in the external links should be all external links.
Categories
Categories should be added to the end of an article - a full list can be found on Special:Categories. They take the form [[Category:Categoryname]].
All articles should be accessible starting from Category:Browse, via subcategories.
Quotations
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Within an article quotations can be used in two places and they are:
- As a head quote (in the top of the article).
- As a standard quote or exchange within the Quotes section.
If it is a head quote, then it is allowed only within "main quest pages" and "character pages".
If it is a standard quote or exchange the following guidelines are applied for them:
- Only "character pages" should have standard quotes or exchanges and they should be available within a Quotes section.
- If a character appears in more than one game, there should be separate subheadings for each game under the Quote section. The name of the game can be used as the subheading.
- Within a Quotes section, the maximum number of quotes that are allowed is 10 (this number includes quotes and exchanges). But if a particular character appears in more than one game, the maximum number of allowed quotes is 15.
- If a particular character appears in more than one game, the number of quotes that are dedicated to each game should be based on the role that character plays in each game. If the role in one game is more important than another, more quotes should be dedicated to that game (within the limit, given above).
- If there are exchanges included within the Quote section, the maximum number of exchanges that are allowed is 3.
- If there are any additional number of quotes that exceed the above limits those quotes should be inserted to the "Character/Dialog" page of the corresponding character.
- The companion quotes that are based on the relationship with the protagonist (such as romance, friendship or rivalry) should not be included as quotes or exchanges within the main "character page". But they are allowed within the "Character/Dialog" page of the corresponding companion.
Additional guidelines -
- Format a long quote (over four lines) as an italicized block quotation, which will be indented from both margins. Do not enclose the block quote in quotation marks. To format a block quotation, do not use the wiki indentation mark "
:" — instead, use the HTML<blockquote>element.
Grammar
Grammar is a writer's toolbox. You can't build good sentences without knowing how to use your tools. Since a wiki article must be as clear as possible for all the people reading it, editors must keep close to correct grammar standards to ensure clear communication.
Capitalization
- See also: Dragon Age Wiki:Naming conventions
Titles such as arl, ban, teryn or king start with a capital letter when used as a title (followed by a name): "King Maric", not "king Maric". When used generically, they should be in lower case: "Eamon is a powerful arl." The correct formal name of an office is treated as a proper noun. Hence: "Cailan is the current King of Ferelden."
Classes should only be capitalized when used as a proper noun, i.e. as someone's name. ("Warrior, go be evil" versus "That warrior is quite evil.")
Races such as elf, kossith, human and dwarf should not be capitalized except when used as a proper noun or at the beginning of a sentence. It should be noted that Qunari is not a race and should start with a capital letter regardless of how it is written in Dragon Age: Origins.
Titles of works
Italics are used for the titles of works, such as books and games. The titles of articles, chapters, and other short works are not italicized but are enclosed in double quotation marks.
For example, italicize Dragon Age: The Calling, and use quotes if it is only a chapter that is mentioned.
Writing
- “I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs” -- Stephen King
We now come to the meat of an article: the words themselves. When you're editing wikis, you're both academic and artist. You have to be accurate, but you also have to be interesting. Neither one can dominate; you have to skillfully balance both.
Keep your writing concise. Don't use two words where one will do. Keeping your writing simple will make it easy to understand and easy to expand on. Use complete sentences whenever possible. When you write, use grammar as a toolbox: know the rules, but only break them on purpose.
Check your spelling and grammar. Do not use 'u' in place of 'you' or '2' in place of 'to'. Write the way you would for a class paper or a newspaper article.
Keep all of the topics you cover within the scope of the article. What that means is, you don't need to give a detailed history of humans on the page about Winston Churchill. Consider the article's title as your point of origin and write from that perspective. Make use of the wiki's ability to link to more detailed articles or external sources for more information.
Write from an impersonal perspective.' Do not use "I." For example, do not write, "Of all the threats from beyond the Veil, few demons are as insidious and deceptively deadly as the desire demon, as far as I know." Avoid drawing attention to the author (yourself) as much as possible.
Be bold. If you know something is wrong, correct it. If you think you could word something better, write it. If an article has a glaring deficiency, fill it. Even if your first attempt isn't golden, you can fix it later or someone else will come along and fix it for you. Don't be afraid to screw up.
Conclusion
Every article can be improved (even this one). Following these guidelines will not ensure a perfect article the first time, but it will give the article a stronger skeleton. It's ultimately your job as an editor to put meat on it.
See also
- Project:Manual of Style/Sample - a sample wiki article.