Xenopedia:Manual of Style

Note to Xenopedians! This page is a rough draft based on Wookieepedia's Manual of Style and needs further discussion and AVP specific examples. To suggest any changes to be made for Xenopedia, please use the Talk page.

We here at Xenopedia like things to be uniform and everything, so this Manual of Style is here to set things straight.

For information on the most basic writing techniques and styles, which are used here, see Wikipedia's Manual of Style.

Below are some basic Aliens versus Predator formatting do's and don't's.

Layout guide

In-universe

All in-universe articles should be structured as follows:

1. Title/Eras/Infobox
2. Main article
3. Stub
4. Behind the scenes (notice the capitalization)
5. Appearances
6. Sources
7. Succession box
8. Notes and references
9. See also
10. External links
11. Category
12. Interwiki links

For more details as to what each section of an article should contain, see the Layout Guide. Please note that not all articles use every section.

OOU articles on reference works

All out-of-universe articles on books, comics, etc. should generally be structured as follows. This list is typically more flexible than main articles.

1. Title/Eras/Infobox
2. Introduction
3. Stub
4. Editions
5. Publisher's summary
6. Plot summary
7. Excerpts
8. Appearances
9. Behind the scenes
10. Cover gallery
11. Succession box
12. Notes and references
13. See also
14. External links
15. Category
16. Interwiki links

List for "Appearances"

Use {{App}} for the list of characters, creatures, etc. under the "Appearances" heading. If an official "Dramatis Personae" is provided, substitute |dramatis personae= and |other characters= for the current |characters= parameter. For additional subsections such as "Languages", use '''bold-formatted headers''' under |miscellanea=. See the usage notes on Template:App for more information.

==Appearances==
{{App
|characters=
|creatures=
|events=
|locations=
|organizations=
|species=
|vehicles=
|technology=
|miscellanea=
}}

Naming articles

There are some rules regarding how articles on Xenopedia should be named. For more details, see the naming policy.

The name of the article should be bolded in its first usage in an intro, as should any alternate names mentioned in the intro. These bolded titles should not have links within them.

Using the #

Do not use the # in a link unless you intend to direct to a section of that article with the title after the # as a section. When linking to articles, particular books and guides with numbers denoting their order, omit the # and simply put the number. Otherwise the software will look for that number as a section title on the page.

e.g. Dark Horse Presents 36, not Dark Horse Presents #36

You can use piped links to account for this. For example, [[Dark Horse Presents 36| ''Dark Horse Presents #36'']] would give you Dark Horse Presents #36.

Perspective

In-universe

If something is in-universe, or is described as such, it belongs to the Alien vs. Predator universe exclusively and not to the real world. Characters, for example, are in-universe, but the actors who play them are out-of-universe. Pseudohistory is an integral part of in-universe treatment of canon material.

The only section where out-of-universe information is appropriate is the "Behind the scenes" section and its subsections of an in-universe article. See below for more details.

Out-of-universe

Out-of-Universe refers to the perspective in which an article is written; it is the opposite of in-universe. Something written from an out-of-universe (OOU) perspective is written from a real life point of view. It will refer, for example, to real life publications, actors, authors, events, and so on, acknowledging that its subject is fictional. In contrast, an in-universe perspective will strive for verisimilitude; that is, it will be written as though the author existed within the AVP universe. Articles about any in-universe things, such as characters, vehicles, terminology, or species, should always be written from an in universe perspective. If a section in the article is not, such as the listing of a character's published appearances or behind the scenes details, it should be tagged as such. In contrast, articles about books, movies, games, or other real-life AVP material should obviously be written from an out-of-universe perspective, but should still be noted as such. Basically, in-universe articles should never refer to AVP by name, or any other real life things such as publications, actors, or the like.

This is similar to Dewikification.

Headings

Use the == (heading) markup for headings, not the ''' (bold) markup. Example:

===This is a heading===

which produces:

This is a heading

If you mark headings this way, 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.

• Capitalize the first letter only of the first word and of any proper nouns in a heading, and leave all of the other letters in lower case.
• Avoid links within headings.
• Avoid overuse of sub-headings.

Usage and spelling

Though the readers and editors of Xenopedia speak many varieties of English, we mandate standard American English spelling, grammar, punctuation, and word usage. This is the variety of English used in the first printings of most primary sources.

If a word has two acceptable variants in American English, the one that is considered "more American" is to be used. Such example is the spelling of judgement as judgment. The only exception of this rule is the spelling of words ending in -ogue: while dialog is an acceptable version of dialogue, the latter is preferred.

If the title of an article differs in different varieties of English, the American title should be the article title, with alternate names being used as redirects (for example, Organisations redirects to Category:Organziations).

If a source's title is in British English, it must not be converted into American English. Also, if a direct quotation from a British source has a word which is spelled differently in American English, the original British spelling must be preserved. However, a [sic] sign may be put after the word.

Tense

All in-universe articles should be in past tense.

The articles on Xenopedia are presented as historical recordings that have been pieced together from scraps of information left over from the Aliens versus Predator era. As such, all details pertaining to this history have not yet been uncovered, and more information may be added at a later date. Keeping articles written in past tense provides consistency and flavor.

Despite this, do not include phrases like "his ultimate fate is unknown" or "what happened to the ship after that is a mystery."

Capital letters

Please note that semi-sentient or nonsentient creature names must not be in capitals unless dictated otherwise by canon. Hence, writing "Rhynth" instead of "rhynth" is agrammatical. As much as we don't capitalize "Dog" or "Cat" in real-life, we shouldn't capitalize fictional creature names.

Ranks and titles

A rank's name is not to be capitalized if it refers to the rank, not a person.

However, if the word refers to a person, it should be in capitals.

There are some ranks the name of which should always be capitalized, no matter the semantics.

Italics and miscellaneous grammar

Class and ship names

Names of specific spaceships should be:

• Capitalized
• Italicized in appropriate instances Template:C
• Referred to by neutral pronouns (it, its)

e.g.

"The Sulaco was….r. Its executive officer was Bishop."

The use of the definite article should follow the most common use for that ship in canonical sources.

The italicization of a ship's name should follow the most common way the name is presented in canonical sources.

Class names are italicized only when a spaceship in the class bears the same name. The definite article may be used, but it is not required.

• When a ship's class is a modifier, use a hyphen:

"Conestoga-class bulk cruiser"

• When it is a noun, do not use a hyphen:

"Ships of the Conestoga class were often overlooked"

e.g.

A Conestoga-class battleship

Do not italicize a class name when:

• Using the class name and type, but without "-class"
• It is being used alone as a noun

Fighter, missile, and other craft types where a specific spaceship does not bear the class name should be

• Capitalized
• Un-italicized
• Preceded by the full technical designation in the first instance, and may be referred to solely by type name or common name in all succeeding instances.
• Referred to with neuter pronouns (it)

e.g.

Apostrophes and possessives ending in "s"

While plural nouns ending in "s" should be made possessive by adding only an apostrophe, singular nouns ending in "s" can be made possessive by adding either an apostrophe followed by another "s" or simply an apostrophe, providing each article is consistent throughout. Users are encouraged, but not required, to use only an s' for possessive nouns ending in a Z-sound. For example, (example)

Xenomorphs and gender

If a xenomorph is predominantly referred to as "he" or "she" in canon, refer to them as "he" or "she" rather than "it".

Quotations

Quotations should follow this general format:

• If the quote is less than a paragraph long, simply including it in the article's body with "quotation marks" will suffice.
• If the quote is at least a paragraph in length, or a dialogue, insert as a block quote:

"Block quotes are indented with a colon at the beginning of each new paragraph. Each paragraph needs only one colon, not a new colon for each line (word wrap will accomplish this automatically).

New paragraphs, however, do require their own colon."

Please be sure to provide as much information as possible (for instance: source, page if applicable, and characters speaking if applicable).

• Users should not correct the capitalization, spelling, grammar, or word usage within direct quotes taken from copyrighted sources as such modifications jeopardize our Fair use claim on that material. Article quotes ought to be verbatim and any changes, edits, or exclusions should be explicitly noted by using square brackets ("[ ]"). Any errors made by the author may be noted by using "[sic]." This includes words such as Human, which the community has decided to capitalize in all other contexts, and the word galaxy, which is to be de-capitalized in all other contexts.
• However, the community has decided that quotes taken from comics should not mimic emphasized boldfaced wording. Instead, only italics are to be used for emphasis.
• Redundant internal links should not be added to quotes because they serve little purpose beyond making the quotes appear cluttered and messy. Links should only be added to quotes if they contain a specific article's ONLY mention of a particular concept, but even then, it is better to integrate the internal link into the body of the article's text.
• Piped links should be avoided as much as possible because they appear unprofessional and are generally distracting. If the context of the quote is not readily apparent, it is best to add appropriate information to the quote attribution field of the quote template rather than adding piped links to ambiguous pronouns such as "you," "he," or "they."

→ See Forum:CT Archive/Quotes

Per standards of American English, double quotation marks (" ") should be used and the period (full stop), comma, question and exclamation marks should be within the quotation.

Single quotation marks (' ') should only be used when there is a quotation inside a quotation: "I never thought 'There are no monsters.'"

A quote used in a Xenopedia article should only include:

1. Text that is presented within actual quotation marks, or otherwise clearly marked as spoken dialogue.
2. Text that is clearly presented within the confines of someone's memoirs, journal, or diary. This includes in-universe written works, such as (example)

A quote is NOT:

1. Narrative prose that is not actual spoken dialogue or a character's personal memoirs, journal, or diary. This means that thoughts are not considered quotable material.

Examples

• Single speaker

"This planet is a game preserve. And we’re the game."

―Royce

• Two speakers (regardless of length)

"You don’t want to know me lady. I’m a rapist and murderer of women."
"Really? Well I guess...I must make you nervous"

―Leonard Dillon and Ellen Ripley

Linking

A subject should be linked once upon its first appearance in the article's infobox, once upon its first mention in the article's intro, and once upon its first mention in the article's main body.