TalossaWiki:Manual of style

This is a set of guidelines for the style of articles here at TalossaWiki. They are intended as broad principles and loose guidance, and so you should feel free to ignore these guidelines wherever it would improve the results. You should also feel free to make suggestions for changes to these guidelines.

Articles

Articles should follow standard wiki conventions where possible:

• Article titles should be written with only the first word capitalized (e.g. Manual of style) unless the name is also a proper noun (e.g. Privy Council).
• The first use of the article's title in the actual text of the article should be in bold (e.g. The Seneschal is a groovy person in charge of things). It is also acceptable, although less desirable, to bold the first analogous term (e.g. This is a set of guidelines for the style of articles).
• The first use within a section of an important term or concept should be made a wikilink, either to our article or to English Wikipedia. Do not make every use of this term into a wikilink, but only the first instance within a section (e.g. A member of the Senäts can only be impeached by the rest of the Senäts). Links to Wikipedia can be done by prefacing a wikilink with "wikipedia:", but it is best to use a pipe symbol ("|") to alter the displayed text when doing so (e.g. "Earth" rather than "wikipedia:Earth").
• A new article should not be orphaned, nor should it be a dead-end - it should have at least one link coming in, and one link going out. Similarly, a new article should be in at least one category. Look at other articles of a similar type to figure out the relevant category.

Try to use the extant templates as you edit articles, but feel free to make changes to them or create others. For most templates, it is best to use the predefined stylesheets "navbox" and "indbox" (to make it easier to keep a consistent style throughout the wiki, and allow easy changes). Infoxbox templates are much simpler black-on-white affairs; again, see extant examples before proceeding.

TalossaWiki is not political! Do not campaign in the articles here, under any circumstances.

The language of TalosaWiki is Talossan English, which includes a rough blend of some glheþ words, following the conventions of typical use (e.g. it's "Seneschal," not "Prime Minister," and it's "Privy Council," not "Sabor." It is highly recommended that glheþ translations be provided within articles for all important terms and titles, however, even when not customarily used in ordinary discussion. An eventual goal is a parallel version of TalossaWiki that is written entirely in glheþ.

Because formatting for dates should be both compact and unambiguous, the preferred format is: 1 Feb 1980/I. To figure the Talossan date easily, use the year template (which will work unless the date is between December 26th and December 31st).

Articles about persons

Articles about individual persons should be respectful and fair. In cases where there is considerable controversy, it is acceptable to describe the controversy, as long as this is still done in a respectful manner. For example, if several individuals accuse Lord Hooligan of being the center of a web of corruption, it would be acceptable to say that

Lord Hooligan has been described as being the center of a web of corruption, although he disputes this claim.

On the other hand, it would not be acceptable to say that

Lord Hooligan has been correctly described as being the filthy center of a disgusting web of despicable corruption.

With regards to noble titles, military rank, or other abbreviations of merit such as "Most Honourable," it is typically best to use the full form at first instance, omitting it thereafter. Such paraphernalia should not be used in infoxbox templates, in the interests of space. The only exception to this is with the sovereign, who should always be referred to by the appropriate appellation of "King" or "Queen."

Articles should include indication of past offices held. Generally, this should include use of the relevant succession templates. See existing pages of prominent citizens for examples, or this page. When possible, these offices should be listed according to the preferred order of precedence. If you do not yet have an article or it is not yet complete, it is helpful to provide this information on the talk page or add it to your own article. Typically, you will have a better knowledge of your history in Talossa than anyone else.

The article that is about you is not your article - information must be true and fair. You could not, for example, describe yourself as "the best Talossan." Your opinion of its contents will be given due deference, of course, but the place for your "personal profile" will be in the as-yet-unimplemented Citizenspace.

Files

It is not just acceptable, but it's downright desirable to illustrate pages with relevant images. However, it is absolutely necessary to make sure that TalossaWiki has permission to use these images. Please be sure to select the appropriate license when you upload an image - any images that have no source or license may be deleted!