Pro/Wiki:Style guide

From Pro/Wiki

For basic "getting started" help on making/editing pages visit Wikipedia:How to edit a page. For basic english guidelines and such, read Wikipedia:Manual of Style; it's pretty extensive so only pay attention to the most basic parts.

This page describes the manual of style for this particular wiki which every editor should follow. Never let these guidelines stop you from editing a page for fear of making a mistake as there will be other editors that can correct any problems. However, please also be aware that time spent correcting is best spent adding new information.

Contents 1 Writing Style 2 Standards 3 Usage styles 4 Categorization guidelines 5 When to use the minor edit checkbox 6 Talk page guidelines

Writing Style

Objectivity:

The idea is that when people read the wiki pages it will not be apparent that it is the work of many people collaborating, it should read as manuals or instructions usually do. You should refer to yourself as "we", for example. This is called an "Objective" writing approach, as opposed to the "Subjective" approach, where the author refers to himself as "I", etc, and often signing his name as well.

Standards

• A wiki is a wiki and not a Wiki.
• Use capital only in proper nouns and first character of sentence and never use allcaps (except for in abbreviations).
• When naming new pages, use the first part for the specific name, and if necessary, () for the category not the other way around. Never use colons to indicate category. The only times you would use ()'s when naming a page is when there is a risk that another page with different content could be given the same name.

Usage styles

• Please, please, please write an edit summary when you do something on an article page! To do this simply add some descriptive text to the little box called "Summary" beneath the big edit field.
  For User or Talk pages this is optional but for article pages you should always write one! The reason for this is not only to make it simpler on editors looking through the Special:Recentchanges page, but also so that people can check the particular page's edit history and see where some specific information was added/changed for example without having to do diff comparisons which can span dozens of page versions.
• Edit summary for NEW pages should be "new" or "new from (source)" if you copied it from somewhere.
• Add links only the first time something linkworthy appears in a page.
• Colons in a page name has special significance in the mediawiki software, do not use them unless you know what you are doing.
• Avoid giving your opinion. A wiki is a collection of facts, not an editorial piece on how one way is better than the other. If there is contention on an issue, you should state both sides of the argument and let the reader decide. Opinions can be discussed on the articles own Talk page (discussion tab on top).
• If there is an existing page, link to it instead of reproducing information already available. If you're unclear on whether a particular page already exists you can use Special:Allpages or the search engine.
• Please avoid linking pages on the wiki as external links, like if you want to link to Something, you don't do [http://wiki.procooling.com/index.php/Something], but simply [[Something]]. If you are unsure if you are seeing an internal or external page, look at the adress bar, if it starts with "http://wiki.procooling.com/index.php/", then it is internal.
• Don't use studlycaps in headers, use "Something and other stuff" instead of "Something and Other Stuff" or whatever style you might prefer.
• For "important" words you have already linked to (remember, only link the first appearance, let's keep things tidy), use bold italic text like this (wikicode: '''''like this''''').

Categorization guidelines

• Categories go at the bottom of a page and almost all pages should have at least one category. Apart from direct links the categories are the only way to navigate the wiki and as such, they are IMPORTANT!
• Read Pro/Wiki:Categories for the category tree. This page is not automatically updated so if you make a new category you MUST add it there or other editors will not be aware of it.
• New categories should be in gerund (eg. cooling) tense if they are a verb or plural (eg. heatsinks) if they are nouns.
• "Hub" or "list" pages should not be in the category of them items it lists, rather the one above it.

When to use the minor edit checkbox

When you change a page that tells people that they should read the page again unless you mark it as a minor edit, in which case it should only be of interest to those who are editing pages like you.

• Do NOT use minor edits when you're modifying actual content, however small the modification might be. Examples:
  • Added or changed *CONTENT* (however small) is *NOT* minor!
  • Add/Replace/Remove links to existing articles and/or external sites.
  • Rewording for clarification. If you're clarifying something that means modders used to have doubts about the original text and should read the new version.

• Use minor edits only when page's content doesn't change. Examples:
  • Correcting typos or grammar.
  • Standardization edits.

Talk page guidelines

• When adding to a talk page, please type something in the headline box (or your post will look like a part of the previous post, and always sign your post with the signature button (second one from the right on the edit toolbar, or just type --~~~~, this lets people know who wrote it and when.