Policy:Manual of Style
From Gineipaedia, the Legend of Galactic Heroes wiki
Gineipaedia's Manual of Style is a collection of guidelines for creating well-written articles. It consists mainly of rules and suggestions related to the formatting and structure of wiki pages, including grammar and spelling, and is intended to encourage the creation of consistent and easy to read articles.
Since this wiki is still relatively new and has few contributors, many of these guidelines are not yet set in stone. If you find you disagree with anything, please bring it up on this article's Talk page.
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Article structure/formatting
Sections under this heading refer to guidelines related to the 'major' aspects of constructing articles to fit into the wiki format.
Creating new articles
New articles should adhere to the following guidelines:
General article guidelines
- If at all possible, do not create separate articles for 'common' topics that aren't explicitly related to the story. For example, it is unnecessary to create an article about chairs or brandy, even though they appear in the anime, because they're common things that aren't relevant to the events of the story. There may be exceptions to this guideline occasionally, however, especially with 'classes' of things (like planets).
- Heavy use of redirects and (if necessary) disambiguation pages is encouraged, in order to make articles easy to find. For example, redirects should be created from unique short names to their full names — e.g., Annerose to Annerose von Grünewald. However, if the short name is not unique (like 'Wilhelm', which applies to several different characters), a disambiguation page should be created instead.
Article titles
- For accessibility reasons, always use the Roman alphabet. Japanese names can be included within the article body. (Japanese can also be used in redirect titles.)
- Accents and diacritics should be used where-ever applicable (e.g., Annerose von Grünewald). Redirects from common alternative spellings (e.g., Annerose von Grunewald and Annerose von Gruenewald) can and should be created, however, to aid visitors with basic English keyboards.
- Always use normal sentence case — capitalise only the first word (Seffle particle), proper names (Siegfried Kircheis), abbreviations (Legend of Galactic Heroes (OVA)), and art/media titles (Into the Eternal Night (episode)).
- Do not use a, an, or the at the beginning of titles unless the word is an inseparable part of the name (for instance, an art/media title like 'The Inviting to History').
- All titles should be nouns or noun phrases.
- All titles should be singular — not plural — per encyclopaedic convention. For example, use Cannon and Seffle particle, not 'Cannons' and 'Seffle particles'. (A redirect may be created from the plural title to the singular.)
'Real-life' individuals
The conventions below apply to articles about 'real-life' people, including voice actors and production staff:
- Follow Japanese naming conventions. Japanese names should be written with the surname first, followed by a space and then the given name (e.g., Tanaka Yoshiki). As mentioned above, all article titles should use the Roman alphabet — however, redirects may be created from pages with the native spelling. Redirects may also be created from the Western name ordering.
- Do not create articles related to real-life people (or places) that were not involved or mentioned in the series in some way. If a character is named after a real-life historical figure, for example, a page should not be created for that figure. Instead, a note can be added in the character's 'Background information', with a link to an external source like Wikipedia.
Character naming conventions
The conventions below apply to articles about 'in-universe' people:
- Use the fullest and most common form of a character's most current name. For example, 'Reinhard von Lohengramm', rather than 'Reinhard von Musel' or 'Reinhard'. Unlike real-life individuals, names should not necessarily use English conventions. For instance, use 'Yang Wen-li', not the English-styled 'Wen-li Yang'. Other forms of the name should redirect to the full/common one, if applicable.
- Do not include ranks and titles (Marquis, Admiral, Commodore, &c.) in article names.
Introductions
Each article should begin with a short introduction (one or possibly two paragraphs), with the topic of the article in bold at or near the beginning of the first sentence. If the article is about a person, place, vehicle, or weapon that appears in the series, or if it is the name of an episode/film/novel, the name in bold should be followed by the original Japanese name (also in bold), as below:
- Staden (Japanese: シュターデン) was an admiral of the Galactic Empire. During the Imperial Civil War, he fought for the Lippstadt Alliance.
Japanese names can be obtained from labels or subtitles within the media itself, from credits, or, if necessary, from secondary material (production notes, interviews, Japanese Wikipedia, &c.).
The paragraph itself should be a brief summary of the major aspects of the article's topic. For example, an article about a person should include common identifying information like their allegiance (Alliance or Empire), occupation (soldier, politician, &c.), rank, and important events the person was involved in (military engagements, crimes, political events, &c.). More detailed information about the topic should be split off into separate sections.
There is one exception to the introduction guideline: A separate introductory paragraph is not necessary when there is very little information about the topic. For example, the character Wagner appears for only a few minutes in one episode of the anime; as such, there is not enough information about him to fill up more than a few paragraphs. In this case, there is nothing to introduce, so what would have been the introductory paragraph can simply be merged into the main article.
Sections and headings
To create a new section in an article, surround the text with two or more equal signs (=). The wiki engine will automatically format the section heading with the appropriate amount of space above and below it, and will create a table of contents immediately before the first section if there are more than two or three in the article.
Headings should follow the same rules as those listed for article titles above. Specifically, always use sentence case, do not include a, an, or the at the beginning, and always use nouns or noun phrases. Section headings additionally should be concise, accurate, and free of hyperlinks or citations (for readability reasons).
Lastly, new sections for 'in-universe' topics should only be created when readability demands it. As mentioned above, for example, there is no reason to create multiple sections for the character Wagner, because his appearance in the anime is so brief that it can be fully described in only two or three paragraphs.
However, 'real-life' and 'meta' topics should always be given separate sections, no matter how brief the main body of the article is. Examples of 'real-life' or 'meta' topics include the following:
- Apocrypha
- Appearances
- Background information
- External links
- References
- See also
Section and heading order
See Sections.
Infoboxes
Character pages should use the {{infobox character}} template, at the very top of the article, to display basic data (including affiliation, rank, relations, and voice actors) about each character.
An example of {{infobox character}} template usage can be found below:
{{infobox character
| image-top = Staaden.jpg
| caption-top = Admiral '''Staden''' ({{d|797|uc}})
| gender = Male
| affiliation = [[Galactic Empire]] ([[Lippstadt Alliance]])
| rank = {{rank|ge|admiral}}
| status = Unknown ({{d|797|uc}})
| actor = [[Murakoshi Ichirō]]
}}
You can see the end result of this element on the page for Staden.
Additional infobox templates (for planets, vessels, &c.) will likely be created as the site grows.
Images
See Images.
Citations
Although Gineipaedia's citation guidelines are not as stringent as, for example, Wikipedia's, it is expected (if not required) that all 'in-universe' statements added to an article be sourced. This means that a reference to the episode/film/novel you obtained the information from should follow each 'block' of information from that source.
As an example, see the passage below:
Previously an instructor of strategic theory at the Imperial Officer Academy on Odin, Staden's knowledge was considered impressive, but he relied on theory rather than practice; as a result, his students (one of whom was Wolfgang Mittermeyer) referred to him as 'Succumbed to Theory Staden'. (LOGH: 'Bloodshed in Space')
By the Battle of Astarte in 796 UC (487 IC / 3596 CE), Staden had attained the rank of vice admiral in the Imperial Navy. Just prior to the engagement with Alliance forces during this campaign, he was placed (along with four other admirals) under the command of Count Reinhard von Lohengramm. Fearing defeat at the hands of an enemy fleet twice as large as their own, Staden protested Lohengramm's plan; however, it succeeded, leading ultimately to an Imperial victory at Astarte. (LOGH: 'In the Eternal Night')
Notice that each individual piece of information does not need to be sourced — only when the source of information changes do we need to add a citation. In the case above, the first paragraph contains information entirely from one episode, and the second paragraph contains information entirely from another episode — therefore, each paragraph gets one citation.
Not all paragraphs require a citation, however. If two (or more) consecutive paragraphs contain information solely from one source, it is only necessary to add the citation at the end of the last paragraph containing information from that source. For instance, see the abbreviated passage below:
Admiral Staden was uncomfortable with the weight of such an immense task on his shoulders. ... Just then, a communication was intercepted by his men which purported to indicate that the enemy was awaiting the arrival of Lohengramm's main fleet, after which they would attack in overwhelming numbers.
Although Staden correctly deduced that this was a false communication, intended to lure them into a trap, his men were restless and pressed him to attack. ... The remaining 30% of the fleet withdrew to Rentenberg Fortress, where Staden himself was hospitalized — not for combat wounds, but for stress-related illness. (LOGH: 'Bloodshed in Space')
The exception to the above rule is when one of the paragraphs contains an additional citation that does not apply to the other one(s). For instance:
As a result of these reductions, security in the palace during this time was quite lax. ... Lansburg's own ancestors had built a hidden corridor leading from the western end of the North Garden to the foot of the statue of Sigismund I in the South Garden; the knowledge of this corridor had been passed down to Lansburg and its entrance was relatively easily accessible thanks to the lack of security. (LOGH: 'The Abduction of the Young Emperor')
Late on the night of 6 July 798 UC (489 IC / 3598 CE), the Imperial military police were alerted to the existence of a republican arms factory. Unbeknownst to them — but known to Lohengramm — this was a decoy set up by Phezzan. Whilst Ulrich Kessler and his MPs were dispatched to seize the factory, ... They later set up a government-in-exile on Heinessen. (LOGH: 'The Abduction of the Young Emperor', 'The Arrow Is Released')
The second paragraph contains information from the same source as the first, but it also contains information from an additional source. In order to prevent confusion, we therefore source each paragraph separately.
The code for producing citations is relatively straight-forward; in the case of single-episode OVAs / films, a short template like {{mciss}} or {{gw}} is used, whilst episodes are cited according to the series or story arc, as below:
- {{logh}} — Example:
{{logh|001}}produces LOGH: 'In the Eternal Night' - {{swv}} — Example:
{{swv|1|2|3}}produces SWV: 'Chapter I', 'Chapter II', 'Chapter III'
See Citation templates for more documentation on using each of these templates.
In general, the following citation guide lines should be followed:
- Don't use the same citation for two paragraphs in a row, unless one of them contains an additional citation that the other does not. (See above.)
- Combine citations when possible.
- Never place citations in the middle of sentences or paragraphs.
- Always use at least one citation per section heading, even if the text preceding the section heading came from the same source.
- Always place citations after the last punctuation mark in the paragraph. (In other words, put the full stop / period before the citation rather than after.)
- Surround citations by round brackets / parentheses. Do not place spaces inside of the brackets.
- Separate citations from different media series with a semicolon. For instance, when citing both a film and an episode, you might do the following:
({{mciss}}; {{logh|001}})
- The format for 'Appearances' citations is somewhat different; please follow the guide lines seen at Sections: Appearances.
Writing style
Sections under this heading refer to guidelines related to more 'minor' aspects of article creation, including grammar, spelling, date formats, link style, &c.
General
Please try to maintain an 'encyclopaedic' tone at all times when writing articles (normal conversational tone is fine on Talk pages, User pages, &c.). This means avoiding slang, expressions of emotion, and personal opinion. Additionally, please keep a 'matter of fact' perspective when writing episode synopses and the like — these should not read like fan fiction or novellas.
Spelling, grammar, and punctuation
The 'house style' of Gineipaedia is an international form of British English. This means that the following general rules apply:
- Use British spellings ('colour', 'defence', 'kilometre', 'capitalise', &c.).
- Prefer international terminology when possible (in other words, although UK English is preferred, do not use words that an international audience would be unfamiliar with).
- Use British punctuation — single-quotes are preferred to double-quotes, and commas and full stops / periods should usually go outside of quotes.
- Use English number formatting — this means using commas as digit separators ('20,000' for twenty-thousand, not '20.000' as in German) and dots for decimal separators ('1.29' for one-point-two-nine, not '1,29').
- Do not include a comma in numbers less than 10,000, unless quoting — use '9000', not '9,000'.
The exception to the above rules is when the series itself uses non-British spelling or terminology in proper nouns or in English phrases.
With all of the above said, it is understood that many users may not be familiar with UK spelling and grammar rules. It isn't strictly necessary to familiarise oneself with these — if you aren't sure what to do, just write the way you normally do. It's always better to have slightly inconsistently styled content than no content at all, and someone else will fix it later anyway.
Dashes
Related to the punctuation rules above, the preferred method of using dashes (—) is similar to the British style: an 'open' em dash (with a space on each side). This applies both to running text (dashes that occur in the middle of a normal sentence) and to 'offset' text (dashes that are used to separate a definition from a qualifier, like the sort used on the policy page.
Please do not use en dashes or hyphens in either of the above cases, if it can be helped. An em dash can be inserted on the Mac by pressing Option+Shift+- (minus key), or on Windows by holding Alt and pressing 0151 on the key pad.
En dashes should only be used for ranges of numbers and dates. When used with numbers, do not include a space (e.g., '100–500'); you may include one with dates (e.g., '5 May – 10 May').
Dates and units of measurement
All dates in 'in-universe' contexts should be given in U.C. or Space Era format where available. Other formats may be provided in addition to the U.C. date, but this should be limited to situations where a historical reference is important (for example, the date of the establishment of the Free Planets Alliance). (The U.C. date format was chosen because, although it is slightly less common in the series than R.C., it is the most consistent and longest-running system.)
Most dates on Gineipaedia should be written with the {{d}} template. This automatically converts the given date into all of the other applicable date formats, which should greatly help readers in deciphering the dates on the site. As an example, entering {{d|798|uc}} produces the following: 798 UC (489 IC / 3598 CE). See the documentation page linked above for more information on using this template.
When writing out full forms of both 'in-universe' and 'real-life' dates, use the format '<day of month> <full month>[ <full year>]'. Below are some examples of correct and incorrect date formats:
Correct:
- 10 December
- 21 May 1992
- 1 January 797 UC (488 IC / 3597 CE)
Incorrect:
- December 10
- 10th of December
- 21 May, 1992
- 01 January, 797 UC (488 IC / 3597 CE)
All other measurements should be given in the same format they were provided in in the series (usually centigrade, metres, grams, and the like) — they should not be converted to other units.
Hyperlinks
Hyperlinks are created using the format [[article-name|link-text]] or [external-url link-text] and are fairly straightforward. There are only three guidelines to keep in mind:
- Use the appropriate link text where necessary. Sometimes the 'flow' of an article demands that the text of the link be different from the name of the article you are linking to. Do not casually throw about links with the full name within articles. This applies particularly to internal pages with name spaces (for example, always use
[[:Category:FPA ships|FPA ships]]instead of[[:Category:FPA ships]]), as well as to links to external sites like Wikipedia. Never include full URLs (http://...) in article bodies.
- When linking to a character who is being referred to by rank or title (for example, "Marquis Lohengramm"), use only the character's name as the link text. In other words, use
Marquis [[Reinhard von Lohengramm|Lohengramm]], not[[Reinhard von Lohengramm|Marquis Lohengramm]].
- When linking to a word that is being used with a possessive (apostrophe-s) (or a contraction, although this will be rare), do not include the suffix in the link text. In other words, use
[[Siegfried Kircheis|Kircheis]]'s, not[[Siegfried Kircheis|Kircheis's]].
