Help:Style guidelines

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Best practices and tips for writing articles on the Ashes of Creation Wiki.

  • Nobody owns the information in this wiki. It's everyone's responsibility to ensure the information contained herein is accurate and presented in a neutral and concise manner.
  • Please ensure that all substantial information is backed up with a citation from an official source.
  • Nothing is set in stone, not even the wiki structure or these help pages. If you dispute anything on the wiki, make a comment on the appropriate discussion page, and/or, edit the article in question to correct the information.

These policies and guidelines apply to the main content pages of this wiki. Articles in the Help, Definition, Community and Guide namespaces do not generally need to conform to the same content standards. All pages do, however, need to comply with our legal and copyright policies.

This guide is based on Wikipedia's simplified manual of style.

Capital letters

SMOS:CAP

  • Use sentence case for article titles and section headings – Tips and pointers, not Tips and Pointers.
  • Capitalize the significant words of proper nouns, such as Intrepid Studios and Ashes of Creation.

Citations (References)

metawikimedia:Help:Footnotes

Every major piece of information should reference the primary source where that information was obtained. This is almost always a livestream or a "Steven quote" on the official discord.

  • Don't source info from other community wikis or websites, including the forums. Again, these info sources are often "second hand". The information may be based on interpretation or opinion rather than evidence from a livestream or Steven quote.
  • Please don't transcribe directly what was said on livestream or in a Steven quote. The language used in the wiki should be neutral and in accordance with the style guidelines.
  • It is fine to cite reputable news sources from within articles, so long as the articles themselves aren't news pieces. A wiki should be an encyclopedia rather than a newspaper.
  • A citation should immediately follow the text to which it applies, including any punctuation.
  • When using citations, place the template {{References}} at the end of the article in question. Citations used in the article will appear in this section.

Citing livestreams, videos and podcasts

The {{livestream}}, {{video}} and {{podcast}} templates are provided for ease of citing sources from livestreams, videos and podcasts.

  • {{livestream|22 January 2018|1h22m33|YOUTUBID}} is short for 
    <ref name="livestream-22-January-2018-1:22:33">[https://youtu.be/YOUTUBID?t=1h22m33s Livestream, 22 January 2018 (1:22:33).]</ref>
  • {{video|22 January 2018|1h22m33|YOUTUBID}} is short for 
    <ref name="video-22-January-2018-1:22:33">[https://youtu.be/YOUTUBID?t=1h22m33s Video, 22 January 2018 (1:22:33).]</ref>
  • {{podcast|22 January 2018|1h22m33|YOUTUBID|Title (default=Podcast)}} is short for 
    <ref name="podcast-22-January-2018-1:22:33">[https://youtu.be/YOUTUBID?t=1h22m33s Podcast, 22 January 2018 (1:22:33).]</ref>
  • {{interview|22 January 2018|1h22m33|YOUTUBID|Title (default=Interview)}} is short for 
    <ref name="interview-22-January-2018-1:22:33">[https://youtu.be/YOUTUBID?t=1h22m33s Interview, 22 January 2018 (1:22:33).]</ref>

Example:

Leaders of [[Guilds|guilds]] that occupy [[Guild castles|guild castles]] are referred to as [[Kings and Queens]].{{livestream|26 May 2017|37m17|JtG9mB2bREI}}

Citing quotes from images

Use the {{quote}} template to capture screenshot quotes, such as "Steven quotes" from the official discord.

  1. Upload the screenshot. For example: yourfilename.png
  2. Place the following in the article.
    {{quote|yourfilename.png}}
  3. Add an optional parameter, for example a hyperlink: link=URL

Example:

[[Leveling]] won't follow a traditional linear path, although classic mechanics for leveling exist.{{quote|leveling.png|link=https://discordapp.com/channels/256164085366915072/256164085366915072/281088406002597889}}

Citing quotes from web pages

Use the {{web}} template to capture external website references, such as links to Ashes staff being interviewed on other sites. 

{{web|URL|Description}}

Example:

Encompassing each [[Servers|server]] are carefully placed points of development called [[Nodes]].{{web|https://www.ashesofcreation.com/a-reactive-world-nodes/|A reactive world - Nodes.}}

General citations

Use <ref> (ref tags) to create footnote citations.

  • The markup <ref> Citation text </ref> produces a footnote with the citation text.

Example:

Receive an invitation to tour [[Intrepid Studios]].<ref name="1star">Travel and lodging not included.</ref>

Abbreviations

SMOS:ABB

  • In general, try to avoid using abbreviations unless they are commonplace.
  • To indicate approximately, the non-italicized abbreviation c. (followed by a space) is preferred over circa, ca., or approx.
  • Write US or U.S., but not USA.
  • Use "and" instead of the "&" sign, except in tables, infoboxes, and official names like AT&T.

Punctuation

Apostrophes and quotation marks

SMOS:A&Q

  • Use straight quote marks " and apostrophes ' as available from the keyboard, and not alternatives such as “ ” and ‘ ’.
  • Italicize names of books, films, TV series, music albums, paintings, ships, and video games—but not short works like songs or poems, which should be in quotation marks.
  • Both James' house and James's house are correct.

Periods and commas

SMOS:P&C

  • Place a full stop (a period) or a comma before a closing quotation mark if it belongs as part of the quoted material; otherwise put it after.
  • An ellipsis should be written as three separate dots (...): not spaced (. . .), and not using the single-character option (…).
  • The serial comma (for example the comma before and in "ham, chips, and eggs") is optional; be sensitive to possible ambiguity from thoughtless use or thoughtless avoidance.
  • Avoid comma splices.
  • Picture captions should not end in a full stop (a period) unless they are complete sentences.

Dashes and hyphens

SMOS:D&H

  • Avoid using a hyphen after a standard -ly adverb (a newly available home).
  • A hyphen is not a dash. Hyphens are used within words or to join words, but not in punctuating the parts of a sentence. Use an en dash (–) with &nbsp; before and a space after; or use an em dash (—) without spaces. See How to make dashes. Avoid using two hyphens -- to make a dash; and avoid using a hyphen for a minus sign.
  • Use an en dash, not a hyphen, between numbers: pp. 14–21; 1953–2008. An en dash is also to connect parallel terms: red–green colorblind; a New York–London flight. Use spaces around the en dash only if the connected terms are multi-unit dates: January 1999 – December 2000.
  • For quotations use {{ndash|Author's Name}}.

Dates and numbers

SMOS:D&N

  • Write number 1 or No. 1, but not #1. Comic books are an exception.
  • Write 12,000 for twelve thousand, not 12.000.
  • Both 10 June 1921 and June 10, 1921, are correct, but be consistent within an article. A comma is not used if only the month is given, such as June 1921.
  • 400 AD and 400 BC are correct; but so are 400 CE and 400 BCE. As always, use one style consistently in an article.
  • Use one, two, three, ..., eight, nine in normal article text, not 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (although there are many exceptional circumstances; and some other numbers may be written as words also).

Markup

SMOS:MKP

  • Instead of an ordinary space, use &nbsp; (a hard space or non-breaking space) to prevent a line from ending in the middle of expressions.
  • It does not matter how many spaces come after a period, because extra spaces will not show, although blank lines will create one extra line.
  • Use wikilinks, but only for words and phrases that are most likely to be helpful if clicked. Make sure each link goes to an article on the intended subject, and not to a disambiguation page or incorrect destination.

Usage

SMOS:USG

  • Ashes of Creation Wiki prefers no major national variety of the language over any other. These varieties (e.g. U.S. English, British English) differ in vocabulary (soccer vs. football), spelling (center vs. centre), and occasionally grammar.
  • Avoid words like I, we, and you, except in quotations and names of works.
  • Avoid phrases like note that and remember that (which assume "you" for the reader); and avoid such expressions as of course and obviously.

Internationalization and localization

  • All pages on Ashes of Creation Wiki are candidates for translation into multiple languages.
  • If a page has been translated, then click 'Edit source' to edit the entire page. The translation tag markers around section headings confuse section editing.
  • You can copy and paste existing idioms, but if in doubt leave out all translation machinery and just write English.

See also

External links

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