View source for Help:Style guide

{{Note|'''Note:''' Most guidelines in this style guide are established three years after the creation of the wiki, many pages might not conform to this style guide. Please make corrections on the pages if that's the case. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to post on the [[{{TALKPAGENAME}}|discussion page]].}}
{{Shortcut|SC:SG|SC:STYLE|SC:MOS}}

This '''style guide''' is made to make the Star Citizen Wiki easy to read by having the same standard across pages. The following guide is intended as a reference for general situations. It may not cover every situation that may come up. 

For a more complete manual of style, the Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style Manual of Style] may be useful.  

== Article titles ==
{{Note|'''TL;DR''': Use in-game name and sentence case for the title.}}
{{Shortcut|SC:TITLE}}
A title should always be exactly the same as the in-game name of the subject, except when multiple subjects have the same name (and thus disambiguation parentheses are required). In cases where other CIG sources are inconsistent with in-game names, in-game names and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_case sentence case] should be used, with redirects utilized for other names.
* Use the same [[Star Citizen:Style guide#Capital letters|capitalization]] as the content text by [[CIG]]. Capitalize the initial letter (except in rare cases, such as [[microTech]]), but otherwise follow sentence case ([[Quantum drive]]), not title case (Quantum Drive).
* Do not use titles (in-game and out of the game) as reference for capitalization. They are often written in [https://en.wikipedia.org/Title_case title case]. Refer to the in-game description, [[Galactapedia]], and other content text instead.
* Block capitals should not be used in titles (Article titles, not ARTICLE TITLES).
* Use italics if needed, conforming to [[Star Citizen:Style guide#Italics]].
* Do not use articles (a, an, or the) as the first word ([[United Empire of Earth]], not The United Empire of Earth), unless it is an integral part of a name ([[The Coil]]).
* Use full name instead of [[Star Citizen:Style guide#Abbreviations|abbreviations]] if possible ([[Roberts Space Industries]], not RSI). Use a redirect if the abbreviation is common.
* Families should be titled "<surname> family" ([[Hurston family]]). This does not apply to in-game families with alternative titles ([[House Chii]]).
* Use straight quotation marks or apostrophes, create a redirect for curly ones if needed ([[Xi'an]], not [[Xi’an]]).

Sometimes [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Page_title technical restrictions of MediaWiki] prevent editors naming pages after their in-game names:
* The subject name does not begin with a capital letter.
* The subject name includes a <code>/</code>.
* The subject name includes a character that cannot be used in page names, including <code># < > [ ] | { } _</code>.
* The subject begins with a string that would put the page in the wrong namespace. Such strings might include: <code>Project:</code>, <code>File:</code>, or <code>User:</code>, etc.

In such cases, problem characters should be replaced substitutes of left out altogether. Generally, replace <code>|</code> with <code>-</code>, and <code>:</code> in namespaces with <code>-</code>; leave out "#"". False subpages should be at the same name. In all cases [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Magic_words#DISPLAYTITLE DISPLAYTITLE] (<code><nowiki>{{DISPLAYTITLE:microTech}}</nowiki></code> for MicroTech) should be used to mark the page as such.

== Layout ==
{{Shortcut|SC:LAYOUT}}
A simple article should have at least a lead section, references, [[Star Citizen:Short description|short description]]. The rest can be added when needed. For more details on template placement, see [[Star Citizen:Templates]].

# Before the lead section
## Related articles templates
## Maintenance templates
## Infoboxes
## Images (if no infoboxes)
# Body
## Lead section (also called the introduction)
## Content
## Trivia
## Gallery
## See also
## Notes
## References
# Bottom matter
## Navplates
## Short description
## Categories
## Stub templates

== Sections and headings ==
{{Note|'''TL;DR''': Keep headings short, concise, in plain text, and in sentence case.}}
{{Shortcut|SC:HEAD|SC:SECTIONS}}
Separating articles into sections makes them easy to read and navigate. Headings are used to splitting articles into sections.

'''Markup'''
* Use equals signs around a section heading: <code>==Title==</code> for a primary section, <code>===Title===</code> for a subsection, and so on to <code>======Title======</code>, with no level skipped. 
* <code>=Title=</code> is never used. 
* Spaces around the title are optional and ignored, e.g. <code>== Title ==</code>.

'''Wording'''
* Keep heading short
* Use sentence case (capitalize only the first letter of the first word and the first letter of any proper nouns).
* Not redundantly refer back to the subject of the article (e.g., Early life, not Smith's early life or His early life).
* Not refer to a higher-level heading, unless doing so is shorter or clearer.
* Not be numbered or lettered as an outline.
* Not be phrased as a question.
* Avoid the use of color or unusual fonts that might cause accessibility problems.
* Not wrap headings in markup, which may break their display and also cause additional accessibility issues.

To avoid technical complications:
* Be unique within a page, so that section links lead to the right place.
* Avoid links, especially where only part of a heading is linked.
* Avoid images or icons.
* Avoid templates.
* Avoid citations or footnotes.

=== Lead sections ===
{{Shortcut|SC:LEAD}}
A lead (introduction) summarizes the most essential points of an article, creating interest in the topic.
* Subject should be defined within the first 250 characters.
* Should be limited to a few paragraphs.
* Subject should be mentioned as early as possible in the first sentence and should be bolded.
* Certain information, such as strategies and trivia, should be in a separate section instead of in the lead.

== Text elements ==
=== Internal links ===
{{Shortcut|SC:WIKILINK}}
* Don't link the same article more than once, except if the article is too long or the link is in a [[Star Citizen:Templates|template]]. For example, [[Aegis Dynamics]] may be mentioned five times. You only have to link to Aegis Dynamics once.
* Piped link formats for simple plurals (<code>s</code>, <code>es</code>) are generally unnecessary. For example, use <code><nowiki>[[quantum drive]]</nowiki>s</code> instead of <code><nowiki>[[quantum drive|quantum drives]]</nowiki></code>.
* On the other hand, use pipe symbols for complex plurals. For example, <code><nowiki>[[wolf|wolves]]</nowiki></code> instead of <code><nowiki>[[wolf]]</nowiki>s</code>.
* Do not place the last letters of a plural outside of a link that already has alternate text. For example, <code><nowiki>[[F7A Hornet Mk II|Hornets]]</nowiki></code> should be used instead of <code><nowiki>[[F7A Hornet Mk II|Hornet]]</nowiki>s</code>.
* On article with translations, use <code><nowiki>[[Special:MyLanguage/PAGE|PAGE NAME]]</nowiki></code> to link visitor to the appropriate language automatically. That should be avoided in pages not in translation as it disables the article preview feature.

=== External links ===
Avoid linking to external sites in the main article with the rare exception of the RSI site, though it should be linked through the {{tl|Link RSI}} template. External links can be added to other sections such as trivia, notes, see also, references if it adds value to the article.

=== Font colors ===
Colored font should be avoided except for templates. If you need to use a colored font, you might want to create a template instead.

=== Bold ===
{{Note|'''TL;DR''': Bold the first mention of the subject and its alias.}}
{{Shortcut|SC:BOLD}}
Boldface is commonly used on the wiki, but restricted to several usages:
* First mention of the subject of the page. For example, the term Gladius is bolded on the [[Gladius]] page.
* First mention of the alias of the subject of the page. For example, the term RSI is bolded on the [[Roberts Space Industries]] page.
* Pseudo-heading, when a heading does not form a section and use as a stylistic heading.
* Avoid using bold for emphasis in the article text, instead use {{tl|em}}.

Boldface is sometimes applied automatically, either by MediaWiki software or by the browser:
* Section headings
* Description lists
* Table headers and captions (but {{em|not}} image captions)
* A link to the page on which that link appears called a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Self_link self link]

=== Italics ===
{{Note|'''TL;DR''': Use <nowiki>{{em}}</nowiki> to emphasize text. Some names and titles should be italicized.}} 
{{Shortcut|SC:ITALICS}}
Italics should be used in the following conditions:
* Emphasize text, but {{em|only}} through the {{tl|em}} template or the <code><nowiki><em>...</em></nowiki></code> HTML tag.
* Certain names and titles both in real world and in-lore. Common examples on the wiki are mentioned below. For an exhaustive list, see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Titles#Italics Wikipedia:Manual of Style for titles].
** Named ships (''[[Belligerent Duck]]'', [[UEES Chimera|UEES ''Chimera'' (CVE-35)]])
** Ship class named after a named ship (the ''Bengal''-class carrier)
** Video games (''[[Star Citizen]]'', ''[[Arena Commander]]'').
*** Note that the term Squadron 42 could refer to both the game ''[[Squadron 42]]'' and the in-lore squadron [[42nd Squadron|Squadron 42]].
** Books (''[[A Gift for Baba]]'', ''[[Cassandra's Tears]]'')
** Magazines (''[[Jump Point (magazine)|Jump Point]]'')
** Shows (''[[Inside Star Citizen]]'', ''[[Whitley's Guide]]'')

=== Quotes ===
* Use straight quotation marks <code>' "</code> instead of curly quotation marks.
* Use {{tl|Quote}} for quotes more than 40 words or more than one paragraph.
* Quoted sources should leave date formats in whatever the quoted source used. (So don't edit a quote to change the date format.)

=== Numbers ===
* Use comma as the thousands separator. Separators should be used for numbers greater than 1,000.
** Do not use separators for template input, the template will format the number.
* Ranges should be indicated with an endash (<code>–</code>; <code><nowiki>&ndash;</nowiki></code>) rather than a hyphen ("1–5" not "1-5").

=== Date and time ===
* Use YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:DD format, aka [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601 ISO 8601]. Drop any unneeded precision on the right.
* In-lore dates are usually done in [[Standard Earth Time]] (SET), "today" tracking with real life date + 930 years.
* When approximating dates, use the same YYYY(+ whatever precision available) format and add (before), (after) or (circa) as a suffix to the date.(2946 (before); 2923-12-01 (after); 2700 (circa))
* Date ranges indicating a status is current should include "Present", or leave blank. Ex Start:2942 End: Present
* {{tl|Start date and age}} can be used to indicate the passage of time both in real world and in lore ({{Start date and age|2018|02|12}}; {{Start date and age|2912|sctime=yes}}).

== Grammar and spelling ==

=== Capital letters ===
{{Note|'''TL;DR''': Use common sense and lower case for everything unless it is a proper noun confirmed by CIG.}}
{{Shortcut|SC:CAPS}}
Avoid unnecessary capitalization. It is primarily needed for proper names, acronyms, and for the first letter of a sentence. Refer to CIG sources on what words should be capitalized, and use common sense to determine if it is a proper noun. Note that title text should always be ignored as they are often written in title case. The capitalization in [[Galactapedia]] should be used if there are any conflicts.

Below are a list of common nouns that should always be capitalized:
* People names ([[Chris Roberts]])
* Vehicle ([[Avenger Stalker]])
* Vehicle names ([[UEES Retribution|UEES ''Retribution'']])
* Company and faction names ([[Crusader Industries]])
* System names ([[Leir]])
** Note that the word "system" should be in lower case ([[Stanton|Stanton system]])
* Planet names ([[Earth]])
* Named military groups ([[87th Battle Group]])
** Note that capitalization only applies when it is a specified group (battle group not Battle Group)

Note that rare exception does occur with cases like the planet and company ([[microTech (planet)|microTech]]), and its product ([[mobiGlas]]).

=== Spelling ===
While British English is generally acceptable, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English American English] is strongly preferred. Everything in ''Star Citizen'' uses the American spelling, so does the wiki. If there is a spelling conflict between CIG and American English, use CIG spelling.

We have [[Star Citizen:AutoWikiBrowser/Typos|typo fixing]] bots that runs semi-automatically. If you find a spelling mistake related to American spelling, please drop a note [[Star Citizen talk:AutoWikiBrowser/Typos|here]].

=== Abbreviations ===
{{Note|'''TL;DR''': Try not to use abbreviations.}} 
{{Shortcut|SC:ABBR}}

Abbreviations should only be used if it is defined in the article, and it does not affect the readability. Additional rules apply for article title as stated below:
* Do not use abbreviations for article title unless there is no known full name.
* [[Star Citizen:Redirect|Redirect]] acronyms and abbreviations to the article. The redirect page itself should be placed into [[:Category:Abbreviations]].
* Create [[Star Citizen:Style guide#Disambiguation|Disambiguation]] page if two or more different meanings for the abbreviations exist, instead of a redirect page.

=== Identity / Point of view ===
{{Shortcut|SC:POV}}

* Third-person wherever possible
* Use neutral, factual information
* Avoid personal ideas and opinions
* Use the word "character" to describe in-game entities such as individuals, players, or NPCs. 
* Use gender-neutral language

For example: "The [[Avenger Stalker]]'s primary function is bounty hunting with its loadout of EMP Suckerpunch cannons." not "I think The [[Avenger Stalker]] is the best ship in the game". Writing in this neutral tone will take practice, but it provides the readers with the most information and the least confusion. 

== Editorial notes ==
Please use the {{tl|Note}} when it's necessary to make editorial comments. Like when adding Errata update to [[Comm-Link]]s for example. 

Example (from [[Comm-Link:Galactic_Guide_-_Davien|Galactic Guide: Davien]]):
{{Note|'''Wiki Staff Editorial Note:''' As of 2016-10-11 there is no known jump point between Davien and Croshaw in the {{Link RSI|url=starmap?location=DAVIEN|text=Ark Starmap}}}}

== Citations & references ==
First of all: please do cite references.

References should link back to official [[Cloud Imperium Games]] sources. Preferably using the {{tl|Cite RSI}} and {{tl|Cite Jump Point}}. Please don't link directly to the PDF of [[Jump Point (magazine)|Jump Point magazine]], as they are subscriber-only content, cite them using the template instead.

For official [[:Category:Comm-Link|Comm-Links]], we should also be using the "int=" parameter for internal links, which will allow the citations to link to both the internal and external versions of the comm-links.

ATV and RTV should be named like this:
* ''Around The Verse'' 1.30
* ''Reverse The Verse'' 2.30

For the most part, this is for references only. We don't have permission to reproduce the contents, so paraphrase or use explicit (short) quotes, following normal fair use of copyrighted material.

== File Names ==
File names (typically, the names of images uploaded to the wiki) should be descriptive and should contain the subject of the file to allow them to be easily found in searches. For example, file names like "C2 Hercules Cerberus Paint - Landed" should be used instead of "CI 1002305122021 slideshow small". Make sure that all words in the file name are spelled correctly to avoid the need to rename a file in the future.

For screenshots taken in-game, consider adding the game version the screenshot was taken in, which is particularly useful when ships or locations change with successive updates. Screenshots of in-game locations can be named following the scheme "Planet/Moon - City - Zone" or "Planet/Moon - Outpost" to make it easier to identify where they are located in the universe.

== Non-article styles ==
=== Disambiguation ===
Wikis must resolve ambiguous references when a link is to a term that has more than one distinct meaning. This process is called [[Wikipedia:Disambiguation|disambiguation]].

When one term is clearly the more expected result, it can remain the primary link, and a {{tl|for}} or {{tl|about}} entry should head off the article. (See [[Star Citizen:Templates]] for examples.)

When it is not so clear, the term becomes a disambiguation page, linking to the possible meanings.

Alternate meanings take the form of <code>Term (other meaning)</code>. (Note lower case for disambiguation meaning.) Alternative meanings should also have a for statement at the head of the article.

Example: [[Orion]] (ship), [[Orion (system)]]

=== Comm-Link ===
Lore on the Star Citizen Wiki is largely written by [[CIG]] with the intention of "filling-out" the universe with characters, stories, and locations. These lore posts are documented as part of the [[Star_Citizen:Comm-Link_Archive| Comm-Link Archive Project]].

The writing style of these posts is vastly different from that of the other neutral posts you may find on the wiki. They include first-person accounts, human interest stories, and news bulletins. As a result, many lore posts use slang, unfriendly language, and strong opinions. These should not be taken as guidelines for the writing style on other Star Citizen Wiki content.

The lore posts are taken "as-is" from CIG's website and other CIG-official sources. As such, they should not be modified to suit the Star Citizen Wiki's tone and style. Any such pages will be documented and logged on the SCW for reference with minor edits for formatting. 

=== Talk and user pages===
The writing style on community pages, such as talk pages and user pages, are more informal than content pages. This allows for easier, more friendly communication and a more familiar tone.

As with any personal-related content, respect is paramount when dealing with other editors and users. Insults, releasing personal information, or personal attacks will not be tolerated, even on your own user page. Please treat other editors with respect. They're people too!

== See also ==
* [[Star Citizen:Templates]]
* [[Star Citizen:Short description]]
* [[Star Citizen:Redirect]]


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