GhostBlade Wiki:Manual of Style

The Manual of Style is a style guide for all GhostBlade Wiki articles. It establishes the house style, helping editors produce articles with consistent, clear, and precise language, layout, and formatting. The goal is to create an encyclopedia that is easier and more intuitive to use. Consistency in style, wording and formatting promotes clarity and cohesion; this is especially important within an article and across related media. For all this, edits that ignore this manual can be undone without further reason.

Article Names
Every article in the GhostBlade Wiki must have a name, chosen according to the GhostBlade Wiki:Naming Policy of the wiki.

The following points are critical to formatting article titles:


 * "Title Case": The first letter of every word in a title must be capitalized, except for articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, prepositions and the "to" in an infinitive.
 * Singular form: Article names should be singular as a general rule, however, some exceptions are accepted, such as members of a particular race ("Humans"), groups ("GhostBlade Squad"), or lists ("List of Waterlight City Citizens").
 * Avoid definite or indefinite articles: The definite article (the) and indefinite articles (a/an) should be avoided in article titles except if they are used as the official title.

Article Sections
As a general guide, all in-universe articles should be structured as follows:


 * 1) Infobox
 * 2) Quote
 * 3) Description
 * 4) Main Sections
 * 5) Appearances
 * 6) Trivia
 * 7) References
 * 8) Categories

Heading Format
In order to create Sections for an article, the  (heading) markup must be used headings, not the   (bold) markup.

Example:



which produces:


 * This is a heading

Using this codes, a table of contents is automatically generated from the headings in an article. Sections can be automatically numbered for users with that preference set and words within properly marked headings are given greater weight in searches. Headings also help readers by breaking up the text and outlining the article.

Heading Rules

 * Unlike Wikipedia and many other wikis, the GhostBlade Wiki uses the Title Capitalization rules
 * Capitalize from the first to the last word.
 * Capitalize nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions.
 * Lowercase articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions.
 * Lowercase the "to" in an infinitive.


 * Links within headings should only be applied to the full title of the heading, never to a part of it.
 * Headings must not contain images.

Links

 * Internal Links: Any internal article should be linked in every mention in another article's infobox, once upon its first mention in another article's intro, and once upon its first mention in each of other articles' sub-sections.
 * Unnecessary Punctuation: Linking unnecesary punctuation should be avoided in the articles. Letters or words touching the link will be included in the link and should avoided as well (e.g. use Princess Aeolian 's instead of Princess Aeolian's ).
 * Do not add external links to other sites without permission.
 * Do not use external links in the body of an article: External Links must be reserved for the trivia, external links, and references sections.

Images

 * Images appearing in articles should avoid having external logos of the series/networks where it has aired.
 * Avoid having text between two or more images (sandwich effect). or between an image and an infobox.
 * Thumbnails shown in the article should generally be 200px/250px. Images containing important detail (e.g. a map, diagram, or chart) may need larger sizes than usual to make them readable.

Templates
Templates should be added where it is necessary and removed when it is unnecessary. This specially includes the Maintenance templates.


 * Do not add categories to an article that are automatically added by a templates.
 * The prefix "Template:" does not need to be added, as long as you are using these form of brackets.
 * Infobox templates (such as Template:Character) should always be at the top of the article.

Trivia
Trivia helps readers learn more facts about the subject that is not originally in the main body of the article.


 * Avoid redundancy. Always check to see if the article has the fact before adding.
 * Decide whether the fact is more relevant in the body or trivia. If the fact is important, or there is a specific section to note it, it should belong in the body of the article. If it is only worth noting, it should belong in the trivia. (e.g. A character displaying a superpower or using a specific weapon belongs to either the "Powers" or "Equipment" section, respectively, not the Trivia section)
 * Only post relevant information to the subject of the article. If it belongs on a more specific article or another topic, post it on the other article.
 * If a trivia is related to another trivia, add an indented list below the parent trivia. If that should be the case, however, decide whether the facts are enough to generate their own main body paragraph.

Categories
Every article must be categorized, adding one of the existing categories that can be applied to it. Consult the GhostBlade Wiki:Layout Guide and its derived sub-pages in order to consult the categories that should be applied to each article. A list of categories can be found here.

Due to misunderstandings of the whole purpose of categorizing, we ask that you do not create new categories and add them to articles. Most of the time, if a category does not exist, it is not intended to exist, or there is already an existing category that covers its purpose. Please be sure to ask the GhostBlade Wiki:Administrators before creating a category.

Perspective

 * If an article is in-universe or described as such, it belongs to the GhostBlade Wiki exclusively and not to the real world. Characters, for example, are in-universe, but the actors who play them are out-of-universe.
 * Articles about any in-universe subject, such as characters, locations, items, vehicles, organizations or races, should always be written from an in-universe perspective, which means that must be written as if the writer was inside the GhostBlade Wiki.
 * However, some sections in an in-universe article are out-of-universe per se, such as the Appearances.
 * Phrases like "It is unknown", "At some point", "Some time later", "Somehow"... are greatly discouraged, and ultimately not allowed to be used in articles, as from an in-universe point of view, for example, the event marked as "It is unknown" is surely known by the people involved in said event, or the point marked as "At some point in his life" can surely be exactly pointed to by someone related to the event.

Bold
When a text is in bold, it appears like this. It can be accomplished by typing three single quotes (') on both ends of a word or phrase.


 * The name of the subject of the article must be bolded in its first mention.
 * Alternate names for the subject of the article must be bolded in their first mention. This includes names of titles that redirect to said article.

Italics
When a text is in italics, it appears like this. It can be accomplished by typing two single quotes (') on both ends of a word or phrase. Using double quotes will not make the word or phrase italicized.


 * The proper names for a vehicle must be written in italics.

Grammar
Grammar is a writer's toolbox. You can't build good sentences without knowing how to use your tools. Since a wiki article must be as clear as possible for all the people reading it, editors must keep close to correct grammar standards to ensure clear communication.

Three C's
To best achieve a Good Article, writers here generally apply this rule of thumb: language should be clear, consistent, and concise.


 * Clarity mandates that the language relay its message sharply, unambiguous, and be wholly self-evident. It is important to be as clear and neutral as possible so as to communicate the idea of a sentence effectively to the reader.
 * Consistency ensures article flow, an important aspect in being clear. The article should be easy to read and predictable, while assuming a reasonable comprehension level.
 * Concision, or brevity, is the art of using no more words than necessary to convey an idea, though it should not be misunderstood with "leaving out information". It is an important practice when writing so that you do not lose your audience — try to think "get to the point" as much as possible.

Capitalization
Despite unnecessary capitalization should be avoided, it should not be reserved for proper names only.

Links
According to the GhostBlade Wiki:Naming Policy of the GhostBlade Wiki, every word in an article's name, with few exceptions, must be capitalized. As such, all links must be capitalized even though they describe common names either in the first mention and every other subsequent mention. On the other hand, words included in a title must not be capitalized in subsequent mentions.

Capitalization of "The"
In general, do not capitalize the definite article in the middle of a sentence. However, some idiomatic exceptions, including most titles of artistic works, should be quoted exactly according to common usage.

Human and Sentient Species
In all sections of in-universe articles, the word "Humans" or "Human" should be capitalized, just as the name of any other sentient species (Angels s). Derived words such as "humanoid", however, should not be capitalized.

Locations
Political or geographical units, such as cities, towns and countries, follow the same rules: as proper nouns they require capitals (Kingdom of Haiqin); but as generic words they do not.

Spelling and Punctuation
This Manual of Style is not intended to be detailed English guide. Knowledge of basic spelling and punctuation is automatically assumed. However, some cases have brought themselves up and are thusly considered noteworthy; and therefore suitable of being listed here.

Run-on Sentences
Aside from obvious, common rules for using full stops (.) and commas there are some instances where you should review a sentence you wrote in "preview mode" to determine whether or not your sentence is a run-on sentence. Run-on sentences aren't good for several reasons, particularly when two separate thoughts (clauses) are not differentiated from each other thus causing a considerable amount of confusion. Similarly, some sentences are a single thought but are really long. Full stops, or periods, can be used to give the reader a resting spot.

However, randomly adding a period or comma in the middle of a sentence does not "fix" a run-on. A clause must still be an independent thought that above all, makes sense. Some users may request peer-review if they are unsure.

Formal Vocabulary
Formal use of language is mandatory on all encyclopedia articles.


 * Contractions: Uncontracted forms such as Did not or He would are the default in encyclopedic style; don't and he'd are too informal.
 * Contested vocabulary: In encyclopedia articles, avoid such phrases as remember that and note that, which address readers directly in a less-than-encyclopedic tone. Similarly, phrases such as of course, naturally, obviously, clearly, and actually make presumptions about readers' knowledge, and call into question the reason for including the information in the first place. Do not tell readers that something is ironic, surprising, unexpected, amusing, coincidental, unfortunate, etc. This supplies a point of view. Simply state the sourced facts and allow readers to draw their own conclusions.
 * Familiar names: Some characters are often referred to using familiar names or nicknames. However, their use in encyclopedic articles must be strictly avoided, and a character must always be referred to by its full name when first mentioned, and surname only in subsequent references. There are two general exceptions to this rule:
 * For characters that use a "codename", the full codename may be substituted for the full name or surname wherever they are mentioned.
 * When a paragraph or section refers to at least two members of the same family, characters can be referred to by their first name, in order to clarify which one of the characters is being discussed.

Language and Spelling
Though the readers and editors of the GhostBlade Wiki speak many languages, the GhostBlade Wiki uses standard American English spelling, grammar and punctuation, as it is the variety of English used in the original releases of most canonical materials.

However, direct quotes should never be altered, even if they do not use American spelling or the English language at all.

Paragraphs and Formatting
Inexperienced writers have a tendency towards "run on" paragraphs. Some of these may number dozens of lines and many column inches without a break. This makes the articles difficult to read as everything seems to flow together. It also makes it tough to quickly skim articles for data points.

A good paragraph (grammatically speaking) is two to five sentences in length on average. It covers one thought or idea or piece of information. Any time there is a change in the thought, idea, or piece of information, there should also be a paragraph change.

When formatting paragraphs, adding an empty line between paragraphs looks better in the articles than the traditional "paragraph indent" on the first line. It makes for a more definite "break point" visually, and allows the reader to more easily see that they are reading a new paragraph at that point.

Also, many writers tend to start paragraphs using the format "After (insert event here)", "When (insert character here)", "During (insert event here)" or similar choices of words. Those formats are greatly discouraged in the GhostBlade Wiki, as the initial context of the event must be referred in the title of the specific subsection in the main History / Story section. Simply put, do not start any paragraphs with a sentence beginning with "After", especially if it is the first paragraph of a section.

Terminology
Sometimes, the GhostBlade Wiki uses very specific words to refer to terms that could be described with different synonyms. In order to maintain consistency among every article, some words must be chosen instead of others that, apparently, had the same meaning:


 * Powers and Abilities: The word Powers is specifically used to refer to what is commonly known as "super-powers", such as super-strength, super-speed, flight and many others, while the word Abilities is used to refer to a list of skills that include Martial Arts, Acrobatics, Scientific Knowledge, Espionage, Multilingualism, among others. As such, while redacting an article and making reference to any of them, both words are not interchangeable, and cannot be used indiscriminately in case the word is repeated in a sentence.
 * Agents and Operatives: Clandestine organizations, such as the Kingdom of Haiqin, use many different words to refer to its members, such as "members", "agents" or "assets", among others. The usual word that would be used to refer to them would be agents, using the literal etymology of the word, derived from the same root as the verb "to act". However, in order to distinguish its members from members of other organizations referred to as "Soldiers", understanding the word agent as "official member of an Agency", members of such clandestine organizations should be referred to using the word Operatives.

Sourcing
As stated in the Sourcing Policy the GhostBlade Wiki does not accept original ideas or fanon, and all writing should be based on reliable sources, and therefore be referenced.