The Last Starwiki:Style guidelines
Revision as of 10:19, 21 July 2022 by Totengeist (talk | contribs) (Totengeist moved page Style guidelines to The Last Starwiki:Style guidelines without leaving a redirect: Meta article)
This article provides guidance on how to make quality contributions to this wiki. Don't let these guidelines scare you away from contributing!
Article organization
- Naming articles:
- Titles should be written in proper gramatical sentence case, except for proper nouns and acronyms.
- Correct: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
- Incorrect: The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog
- Use full names for any articles you create. Create a redirect page for abbreviations and alternate spellings.
- Titles name should be singular so they can be linked while appearing either singular (
[[article]]
) or plural ([[article]]s
), without the need for redirects.
- Titles should be written in proper gramatical sentence case, except for proper nouns and acronyms.
- Header names: The same rules that apply to naming articles apply to headers
- Article size: Articles should be big enough to comprehensively cover a single subject.
- Templates: Templates help to organize content. See Category:Templates full list of available templates.
- Categories: Always group articles into categories. If you are unsure which category fits best, start a discussion on the article's talk page.
Writing style
- Write objectively, not in the first person.
- Correct: Players can focus on mining to make money.
- Incorrect: I always build a lot of drone bays and mining lasers.
- Use a third-person narrative when possible.
- Correct: The player can build a waste treatment system to convert sewage to water.
- Incorrect: You can build a waste treatment system to convert sewage to water.
- Use a semi-formal register.
- Correct: It's recommended to focus on converting CO2 in the air to oxygen early on.
- Incorrect: You should obviously convert the CO2 on your ship to oxygen first.
- Emphasize limitless possibilities.
- Correct: There are multiple ways to deal with meteor showers. One strategy is to…
- Incorrect: The best way to deal with meteor showers is to…
- Write in general, abstract terms.
- Correct: The gatling gun is excellent at destroying asteroids
- Incorrect: Build exactly 4 gatling guns on your ship to protect against asteroids
- Capitalization should only be used for the first letter in a sentence, and proper nouns. The name of game mechanics do not count as proper nouns.
- Please use gender-neutral language such as they instead of he or her
- The wiki views both US and UK English as acceptable, and there is no need to correct between them. However, consistency throughout a page is appreciated.
- If you need to refer to a date, use only an unambiguous format.
- Correct: 11 July 2022; July 11, 2022; 2022-07-11
- Incorrect: 07-11-2022; 11-07-2022
Wiki formatting
- Wikis work through the use of internal links to other pages. The first instance of any other page should be linked with square brackets [[like this]]. Subsequent instances should not be linked.
- Do not emphasize text with underline or CAPITALS, use italics instead. Bold text is discouraged.
- Do not personalize articles by signing them or naming game concepts after yourself.
- Avoid using links in Section names. Please use Template:Main instead.
- Do not use HTML code where wiki code exists to perform the same function. This includes plain lists, paragraphs, and line breaks.
- Avoid using the tier 1 title wherever possible.
- Indent bullet points using multiple asterisks (**) instead of the colon followed by an asterisk (:*).
Duplication of information
Duplication of information is frowned upon and should be avoided where possible. Duplication leads to increased maintenance and conflicting/outdated information.
If a piece of info seems relevant to another article, there are several ways to include it without outright copying it:
- Creation of a sub-header using the Template:Main template immediately under it. Follow it with a concise summary of the target link.
- Create transclusion sections on the target page and then transclude it to the desired article. For example:
Add this to the transclusion target:
<section begin=NAME/> ... CONTENT ... <section end=NAME/>
Add this to the article which will include the transclusion:
{{#lst:Target|NAME}}