Uprooted Wiki:Manual of Style

This is a general style guide for.

See also: Policy.

General style guidelines

 * Page design: Follow the general page design templates in use on this wiki. These can be found in the /preload subpages of templates, such as:
 * Template:Character/preload
 * Template:Cast/preload
 * Template:Crew/preload
 * Template:Book/preload
 * Template:Location/preload
 * Exceptions, such as unique section headers, are allowed when it will benefit the topic of the page.
 * Tense: Use literary present tense when writing about any fictional work, such as for plot summaries or character information. If something is shown to happen/exist in the series, it always exists currently, in the present now; a character "is", in present tense, even if they die later in the series.
 * Spelling: Use proper spelling and grammar. Use the spelling style associated with the main franchise – in this case, American spelling.
 * Punctuation:
 * Use the serial comma, aka the Oxford comma. In a list of three or more items, it is the comma before the last item, e.g. "This, that, and the other." (Not "This, that and the other.")
 * Use the "logical quotation" style. Include terminal punctuation within the quotation marks only if it was present in the original material, and otherwise place it after the closing quotation mark.
 * Do not use tabs, scrollboxes (scrollable sections), or collapsed content on article pages.
 * Reference sections: Scrollboxes may be used only in the references section.
 * Navboxes: Collapsible sections (with show/hide options) may be used in navboxes.
 * Titles and headings should use sentence case Wikipedia.svg. For example: "Image gallery" not "Image Gallery"; since "gallery" is not a proper noun, it should not be capitalized.
 * Dates are written in "month day, year" format. Use cardinal numbers, e.g. write "May 10, 2017", not "May 10th, 2017".
 * Links:
 * Redirects:
 * Link directly to an article page rather than linking to a redirect. If the text of the link needs to be different, use a pipe (this thing: | ), i.e..
 * Redirects should be set up for common terms to help with searches and general findability.
 * Leave redirects when moving a page or a file, even if no pages link to it on the wiki. Remember that the wiki is a resource used around the web, and we want off-site links to forward to where they're intended after a page or file is moved.
 * Redlinks: Links to non-existent pages should be avoided. If a page doesn't exist, it probably doesn't need to be linked to yet.
 * External links: Do not embed external links within the body or infobox of an article page. External links should only be placed in an "External links" section near the bottom of the page, and in references.

Spoilers
Spoilers should not be in the lede of any page article if it can be reasonably avoided. While the wiki encourages fully documenting content, be mindful that newer fans may need to look up some basic information, and they should be able to reasonably do so without being exposed to major spoilers at the very top of pages.

All info for upcoming content must be properly sourced when added to an article. Good content and sources include:
 * Official promotional information released through official sources, such as press releases, promo photos, and promo videos.
 * Information released through official social media, e.g. a show's official Twitter or Instagram account.
 * Information from reliable news sources, such as Deadline, Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter. Futon Critic and Spoiler TV are also reliable sources for upcoming episode titles and blurbs.

Images

 * Image names: When uploading an image, try to give it a useful name. If not, an admin or content moderator may rename the image and update the file links on a page.
 * Animated gifs should be largely avoided. The occasional gif can be used to display something where motion is important to understand a scene or concept, such as the hand motion when a character uses a superpower if it's unique, or the motion of a dance move if it's relevant to a page topic.
 * Quality: Images should be decent quality, if available. Ideally they will be without artistic modifications or watermarks. Poor quality images can be replaced or deleted.
 * Distinction: Images should be distinct from each other; don't upload a screenshot that's nearly identical to another image, unless the small differences are important to a topic. An exception for this is official promotional material, such as official poster variants, and different covers of the same book that have slight variations between releases, which are allowed.
 * Relevance: Images should be relevant to the wiki topic. If you want to put an unrelated image on your profile page, upload it to Community Central and use a template to import. Unrelated images can be deleted without warning, and broken file links will be removed from anywhere on the wiki.

Quality and verifiable content

 * Content should be verifiable and reliable. Do not add unsubstantiated claims or speculation to the wiki.
 * Sources: It's always a good idea to provide a source.
 * To add a source/reference/citation to a page, put it in between the ref tags like this:
 * If you cannot provide a reliable source for something you add to a page, it may be removed. You can re-add the information if you include a reliable source.
 * Information that might be controversial must be sourced.
 * Be specific! Feel free to include some details or a quote in your reference tags to specify the important part of the referenced source. This can be especially helpful if the source is later deleted and is no longer available online. (This phenomenon known is known as "link rot" and it is a big issue for sources on wikis over years.)
 * Quality edits: Small edits are helpful. But do not make a number of useless edits just to boost your edit count. When useless or disruptive edits are done to earn achievements, this is known as "badge mining" and it will result in a permanent ban.
 * Stub pages, with only a sentence or so of content, should be generally avoided. New pages should be started with useful content, not as a stub and definitely not blank.
 * Short pages are allowed when the topic is fully-documented, but that should still be several sentences of content, and fully referenced.
 * Exceptions: Pages for notable upcoming content are allowed as exceptions, such as a page for an announced season even before any additional information is available. Announced guest-star characters are also allowed. These pages should still include all available information released on them, and the information must be fully sourced.
 * Deletion: It will be up to the discretion of admin to decide if a short/stub page should be deleted. Deleted stub pages can be recreated later when there is enough information for a page on the topic.

Major/mass changes

 * Discuss big changes with an admin prior to doing them. This includes notable changes to templates, page design, major page names, category names, and category structure.
 * Bots: Do not use an unauthorized bot. Discuss any bot use with an admin prior to use.

User pages

 * Do not edit another user's profile unless you have permission, or if necessary to remove inappropriate content.
 * Do not include the following on your user profile page. If you do, it may be removed:
 * Infoboxes intended for article pages
 * Any categories, including templates that add categories
 * Redlinks (links to non-existent pages)
 * Any personal information about yourself if you are under the age of 18
 * Any personal information about others
 * Broken code (listed here so that helpful users may go in and fix it for you)

More
When in doubt, ask an admin. Also refer to Help:Best Practices.