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Bulbapedia:Manual of style: Difference between revisions
Updating Article titles guidance, expanding it to include terminology guidance and splitting out Linking; other relevant changes and updates
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This section deals with the general writing style across Bulbapedia. For guidance using wikicode, see [[Bulbapedia:Wikicode|Bulbapedia's Wikicode page.]] | This section deals with the general writing style across Bulbapedia. For guidance using wikicode, see [[Bulbapedia:Wikicode|Bulbapedia's Wikicode page.]] | ||
===Article titles=== | ===Article titles and terminology=== | ||
There are often several different viable ways to title the page for a specific topic. Terminology used within articles can also vary. In order to provide a consistent experience and expectation with its readers and contributors, Bulbapedia has the following guidelines in place to determine which title or term is preferred in a given circumstance. | |||
Note that while these standards aim to provide comprehensive guidance, there may be unique cases where exceptions will apply. However, it is crucial to adhere to these guidelines whenever possible. | |||
* '''Language terms:''' English terms are preferred over equivalents in another language. For example, the English term "Pokémon animation" should be used to refer to official animated Pokémon media instead of the Japanese-based term "Pokémon anime", which may refer to Japanese animated Pokémon works only. Similarly, avoid specific industry terms that are not commonly understood by most English speakers. For example, use the term "voice actor" instead of the Japanese term "seiyū". | |||
* '''Official names:''' Use the most recent official name used in English-speaking territories, provided it has been used consistently. For example, use "{{m|Thunder Shock}}" instead of "ThunderShock", "[[Never-Melt Ice]]" instead of "NeverMeltIce", and "[[first partner Pokémon]]" instead of "starter Pokémon". | |||
** This mainly applies to franchise terms and products, and does not apply universally to out-of-franchise or real-world terms, which may use their common name in descriptive titles. For example, the article "[[Pokémon in Brazil]]" uses the common name {{wp|Brazil}} instead of the country’s official name, the Federative Republic of Brazil. | |||
* '''Names of characters:''' The name of a character should be written as typically formatted in Pokémon media e.g. "[[Gary Oak]]", "[[Bill]]", and "[[Professor Oak]]". Other known names or abbreviations (such as "[[Prof. Oak]]" and "[[Samuel Oak]]") may be created as redirects, where applicable. (''See the [[#Names of people|Names of people]] section for specifics on the names of real people.'') | |||
* '''Capitalization:''' Page titles are written in {{wp|sentence case}}, not {{wp|title case}}. Proper nouns that appear in page titles (such as the names of most locations) should be capitalized in line with official media. (''See the [[#Capitalization|Capitalization]] section for specifics on franchise terms, which use their game capitalization.'') | |||
* '''Singular vs. plural:''' In most cases, titles should be kept singular, such as "[[item]]" rather than "items". For comprehensive lists, consider a "List of" format e.g. "[[List of moves]]". | |||
** Exceptions include: | |||
*** Subjects that are always in the plural form, such as "[[Gold Teeth]]" or "[[Picnic-Knacks]]". | |||
*** A group name that is plural, such as "[[Eevee brothers]]" rather than "Eevee brother". | |||
*** Classes or groups of related items, such as "[[Cloning glitches]]" or "[[Pokémon dental products]]". | |||
* '''Consistent formatting:''' Where possible, maintain consistency in the format of titles between similar types of articles. For example, avoid inconsistencies like "[[List of items in Pokémon Conquest]]" and "List of items (Shuffle)". The second article is instead titled "[[List of items in Pokémon Shuffle]]" to match the first article and other such list pages. | |||
* '''Definite and indefinite articles:''' Do not use definite or indefinite articles such as ''the'', ''a'', or ''an'' at the beginning of titles unless they are part of the subject's proper name e.g. "[[The Teal Mask]]". | |||
* '''Disambiguation:''' Disambiguation tags (dabtags) should only be used for subjects with the same or similar official names. Otherwise, prioritize using sentence-style descriptors over dabtags. For example, use "[[Pokémon in the United States]]" instead of "Pokémon (United States)". Exceptions apply for certain types of pages that are formatted in a consistent manner, such as the pages for [[type]]s and [[move]]s. (''See the [[#Disambiguation|Disambiguation]] section for more details.'') | |||
* '''Non-Latin characters:''' Do not use non-Latin characters such as Japanese, Chinese, or Korean characters. Instead, words in languages with a non-Latin alphabet should be romanized. (See the [[#Opening line|Opening line]] section and [[Bulbapedia:Manual of style/Romanization]] for more details.) | |||
** Exceptions may apply for the names of certain [[glitch Pokémon]]. | |||
* '''Abbreviated titles:''' Certain articles may use abbreviated or shortened titles. | |||
** Articles about a group of individually named subjects that do not have a group name may omit shared words, provided it does not impact identifiability. For example, use "[[Pokémon Red and Blue Versions]]" instead of "Pokémon Red Version and Pokémon Blue Version", or "[[Chrom and Phossa Molybdenum]]" instead of "Chrom Molybdenum and Phossa Molybdenum". | |||
** Multiple articles whose names share a naming convention that cause searchability or understandability issues may use their own naming scheme. For example, the majority of TCG products are prefaced with "Pokémon TCG:", from expansions to card sleeves. This is abbreviated to a (TCG) at the end of the title. | |||
** For some serialized media, Bulbapedia may forgo having titles be subject names in lieu of a standardized {{bp|epicode}} format (e.g. [[EP001]]) for ease of use. | |||
* '''Character limitations:''' Due to the MediaWiki software that Bulbapedia operates on, some characters cannot be used in article titles, such as '''{''', '''[''', and '''>'''. These must be omitted from titles, in which case the {{Template|Wrongtitle}} template should be used at the top of the page. Additionally, while unicode characters that are not part of standard keyboard layouts such as the curly apostrophe '''’''' or double-barred dollar sign may be used in a subject's official name, article titles should use the similar characters found on keyboards for ease of use ('''<nowiki>'</nowiki>''' and '''$'''). | |||
** Other technical limitations include mandatory capitalization of the first letter of titles and the identical treatment of spaces and underscores '''_''' as spaces. Use {{Template|Lowercase}} for titles that should begin with a lowercase letter. Also, note that formerly '''&''' was not an acceptable character, but now it is acceptable to use ''up to two'' ampersands in a title, though more than two ampersands in a row will cause problems. The plus sign '''+''' can also now be used. Special care must be taken with '''?''', though usually things will work as expected. | |||
** With regards to romanized Japanese titles, omit macrons '''<nowiki>¯</nowiki>''' and apostrophes '''<nowiki>'</nowiki>''' in the title (but create redirects from the accurate romanization if appropriate). | |||
===Linking=== | |||
Only link to an article once within a given portion of text. If you mention "{{Ash}}" more than once in a paragraph, only link it the first time. Instances further apart may be linked to more than once; it is up to you how far apart to place repeated links. For consistency, if most elements of a list are links, then link to an article as many times as needed in that list. | |||
Also, | Also, use link templates for linking to articles that are commonly disambiguated, such as using <code><nowiki>{{p}}</nowiki></code> by typing <code><nowiki>{{p|Pikachu}}</nowiki></code> to link to the article "[[Pikachu (Pokémon)]]". Some common examples can be found in the [[#Disambiguation|Disambiguation]] section, or see the complete {{bp|list of link templates}}. | ||
===Opening line=== | ===Opening line=== | ||
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==Pokémon franchise terminology== | ==Pokémon franchise terminology== | ||
Franchise topics should be described based on the specific piece of media they appear in, rather than merely the medium they appear in. For example, instead of simply saying that a character appears in the games or in the anime, they should be described as appearing in a particular game, such as {{game|Red and Blue|s}}, or in a particular series, such as ''[[Pokémon the Series: XY]]''. Additionally, instead of linking to "animation", "games", or "manga" directly, the {{Template|pkmn}} {{bp|Link templates|link template}} should be used. | |||
The e-acute ('''é''') is always used where appropriate; always use "Pokémon", not "Pokemon". | |||
===Naming conventions=== | ===Naming conventions=== | ||
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Some specific naming conventions include: | Some specific naming conventions include: | ||
* Evolutionary levels should be designated as "unevolved," "first evolution," and "second evolution" for Pokémon that have undergone zero, one, and two evolutions respectively during their development. The TCG terminology of "basic Pokémon," "stage 1 Pokémon" and "stage 2 Pokémon" are not used outside of the TCG pages. | * Evolutionary levels should be designated as "unevolved," "first evolution," and "second evolution" for Pokémon that have undergone zero, one, and two evolutions respectively during their development. The TCG terminology of "basic Pokémon," "stage 1 Pokémon", and "stage 2 Pokémon" are not used outside of the TCG pages. | ||
** For example, in the TCG {{p|Pikachu}} and several other Pokémon are considered Basic Pokémon, but have a pre-evolved form, making them first-evolution Pokémon. This discrepancy typically applies to evolutionary families that include a [[baby Pokémon]]. | ** For example, in the TCG, {{p|Pikachu}} and several other Pokémon are considered Basic Pokémon, but have a pre-evolved form, making them first-evolution Pokémon. This discrepancy typically applies to evolutionary families that include a [[baby Pokémon]]. | ||
* When writing episode or chapter names, write them as <code><nowiki>''[[Episode code|Episode name]]''</nowiki></code>; for example, the fifth episode of the [[original series]] is ''[[EP005|Showdown in Pewter City]]''. | * When writing episode or chapter names, write them as <code><nowiki>''[[Episode code|Episode name]]''</nowiki></code>; for example, the fifth episode of the [[original series]] is ''[[EP005|Showdown in Pewter City]]''. | ||
** Note only English titles are used in this way otherwise the episode or chapter code is used, such as in [[XYS06]]. | ** Note only English titles are used in this way, otherwise the episode or chapter code is used, such as in [[XYS06]]. | ||
** Due to special circumstances, certain episodes may lack an episode code ({{bp|epicode}}), such as ''[[Holiday Hi-Jynx]]''. | |||
* When multiple numbered [[route]]s are to be listed, they should be listed in numerical order, and only the first should have any prefix to it; for example, "{{p|Jigglypuff}} appears on [[Route]]s {{rtn|3|Kanto}}, {{rtn|4|Kanto}}, {{rtn|5|Kanto}}, {{rtn|6|Kanto}}, {{rtn|7|Kanto}}, {{rtn|8|Kanto}}, {{rtn|34|Johto}}, {{rtn|35|Johto}}, and {{rtn|115|Hoenn}}, depending on the [[Core series|version]] played" is preferred to "{{p|Jigglypuff}} appears on {{rt|3|Kanto}}, {{rt|4|Kanto}}, {{rt|5|Kanto}}, {{rt|6|Kanto}}, {{rt|7|Kanto}}, {{rt|8|Kanto}}, {{rt|34|Johto}}, {{rt|35|Johto}}, and {{rt|115|Hoenn}} depending on the [[Core series|version]] played". The {{cat|Link templates|link template}} {{template|rtn}} can be used for handily linking route numbers. | * When multiple numbered [[route]]s are to be listed, they should be listed in numerical order, and only the first should have any prefix to it; for example, "{{p|Jigglypuff}} appears on [[Route]]s {{rtn|3|Kanto}}, {{rtn|4|Kanto}}, {{rtn|5|Kanto}}, {{rtn|6|Kanto}}, {{rtn|7|Kanto}}, {{rtn|8|Kanto}}, {{rtn|34|Johto}}, {{rtn|35|Johto}}, and {{rtn|115|Hoenn}}, depending on the [[Core series|version]] played" is preferred to "{{p|Jigglypuff}} appears on {{rt|3|Kanto}}, {{rt|4|Kanto}}, {{rt|5|Kanto}}, {{rt|6|Kanto}}, {{rt|7|Kanto}}, {{rt|8|Kanto}}, {{rt|34|Johto}}, {{rt|35|Johto}}, and {{rt|115|Hoenn}} depending on the [[Core series|version]] played". The {{cat|Link templates|link template}} {{template|rtn}} can be used for handily linking route numbers. | ||
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*[[baby Pokémon]] | *[[baby Pokémon]] | ||
*[[rental Pokémon]]<!--while capitalized in Pokémon Stadium, it is uncapitalized in its most recent usages--> | *[[rental Pokémon]]<!--while capitalized in Pokémon Stadium, it is uncapitalized in its most recent usages--> | ||
*{{ | *{{OBP|substitute|doll}} (the doll created by the move {{m|Substitute}}) | ||
*[[physical move]] | *[[physical move]] | ||
*[[special move]] | *[[special move]] | ||
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*kingdom ([[Pokémon Conquest]]) | *kingdom ([[Pokémon Conquest]]) | ||
*move rank ([[Pokémon Conquest]]) | *move rank ([[Pokémon Conquest]]) | ||
*[[sync pair]] | |||
*[[sygna suit]] (when not part of a name) | |||
</div> | </div> | ||
</div> | </div> | ||