View source for Help:Manual of Style

This '''Manual of Style''' ('''MoS''') is a brief style manual for all articles on this Wiki. When a MoS guideline offers a choice of style, use only one alternative consistently throughout an article, and do not unreasonably alter a choice that has already been made. If there are any changes or suggestions you think should be made to the MoS, visit the talk page to discuss them. These are by no means firm rules, but these suggestions help create consistent articles.

== Layout ==
A [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Stub#Creating and improving a stub article|simple article]] should have, at least, (a) a lead section and (b) references. The following list includes additional standardized sections in an article. A complete article need not have all, or even most, of these elements. For standardized sections in articles on certain subjects, see {{section link|Help:Editing guide|Articles}}.
# Before the article content
## {{tl|DISPLAYTITLE}}, {{tl|Lowercase title}}, {{tl|Italic title}} (some of these may also be placed before the infobox or after the infobox)
## [[:Category:Article stubs|Stub template]]
## [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Hatnote|Hatnotes]]
## {{tl|Featured list}}, {{tl|Featured article}} and {{tl|Good article}} (where appropriate for article status)
## Deletion&nbsp;/ protection tags ([[:Category:Candidates for deletion|deletion]] notices)
## [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Infoboxes|Infoboxes]] {{efn|It is important that hatnotes and maintenance/dispute tags appear on the first page of the article. On the mobile site, the first paragraph of the lead section is moved above the infobox for the sake of readability. Since the infobox is generally more than one page long, putting hatnotes, etc., after it will result in them being placed after the first page, making them less effective.}}
## Images
# Article content
## [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Lead section|Lead section]] (also called the introduction) {{efn|'''Boldface''' is often applied to the first occurrence of the article's title word or phrase in the lead. This is also done at the first occurrence of a term, commonly a synonym in the lead, that redirects to the article or one of its subsections, whether the term appears in the lead or not.}}
## [[MediaWikiWiki:Manual:Table_of_contents|Table of contents]]
## Body
# Appendices
## [[#"See also" section|See also]]{{efn|name=Syntax|1=Syntax:
<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" style="color: #000000; background: #FFFFFF; padding: 1em; border: 1px solid #8FBC8F; font-size:111%;">
== See also ==
* [[Help:Editing_guide]]{{snd}}an overview page that will answer all your editing-related questions
* [[Wikipedia:Help:Cheatsheet]]{{snd}}a page that provides the most commonly used wiki markup
</syntaxhighlight>

Which produces:
<blockquote style="background: #FFFFFF; padding: 1em; border: 1px solid #999999; font-size:111%;">
{{fake heading|See also}}
* [[Help:Editing_guide]]{{snd}}an overview page that will answer all your editing-related questions
* [[Wikipedia:Help:Cheatsheet]]{{snd}}a page that provides the most commonly used wiki markup
</blockquote>}}
## Notes and references (this can be two sections in some citation systems)
## External links{{efn|name=Syntax}}
# {{anchor|End matter}}End matter
## [[MediaWikiWiki:Help:Categories|Categories]]

== Capital letters ==
Use [[Wikipedia:Sentence case|sentence case]] for article titles and section headings{{spaced ndash}}{{xt|Tips and pointers}}, not {{!xt|Tips and Pointers}}. 

Capitalize names of scriptures like {{xt|Bible}} and {{xt|Qur'an}}, but not {{xt|biblical}}. Always capitalize {{xt|God}} when it refers to a primary or only deity, but not pronouns that refer to deities: {{xt|he}} not {{!xt|He}}. 

Avoid capitalizing the names of plants and animals. Among the exceptions are scientific names ({{xt|''Felis catus''}}) and [[Wikipedia:Proper noun|proper noun]]s occurring as part of a name ({{xt|Norway rat}}). 

The seasons ({{xt|summer}}, {{xt|winter}}, {{xt|spring}}, and {{xt|fall}}/{{xt|autumn}}) are not capitalized. Similarly, the compass points ({{xt|north}}, {{xt|southwest}}) are not capitalized. 

When in doubt about whether to capitalize something, default to lowercase. 

== Abbreviations ==
To indicate ''approximately'', the non-italicized abbreviation {{xt|c.}} (followed by a space) is preferred over {{!xt|circa}}, {{!xt|ca.}}, or {{!xt|approx.}} 

Write {{xt|US}} or {{xt|U.S.}}, but not {{!xt|USA}}. Use {{xt|US}}, not {{!xt|U.S.}}, in an article using {{xt|UK}}, {{xt|PRC}}, etc. 

Use "{{xt|and}}" instead of the "{{!xt|&}}" sign, except in tables, infoboxes, and official names like {{xt|AT&T}}. 

== Punctuation ==
=== Apostrophes and quotation marks ===
Use straight quote marks {{key press|"}} and apostrophes {{key press|'}} as available from the keyboard, and not alternatives such as {{!xt|“&nbsp;”}} and {{!xt|‘&nbsp;’}}. 

Italicize names of books, films, TV series, music albums, paintings, and ships—but not short works like songs or poems, which should be in quotation marks. 

Write {{xt|James's house}}, not {{!xt|James' house}}. 

=== Periods and commas ===
Place a [[Wikipedia:Full stop|full stop]] (a period) or a comma ''before'' a closing quotation mark if it belongs as part of the quoted material; otherwise put it after: {{xt|The word ''carefree'' means "happy"<span style{{=}}"background:#bfb">.</span>}} But {{xt|She said, "I'm feeling carefree<span style{{=}}"background:#bfb">.</span>"}} (Please do so irrespective of any rules associated with the variety of English in use.) 

An [[Wikipedia:Ellipsis|ellipsis]] should be written as three separate dots ({{xt|...}}): not spaced ({{!xt|.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.}}), and not using the single-character option ({{!xt|…}}). 

The [[Wikipedia:Serial comma|serial comma]] (for example the comma before ''and'' in "ham, chips, and eggs") is optional; be sensitive to possible ambiguity from thoughtless use or thoughtless avoidance.

Avoid [[Wikipedia:Comma splice|comma splice]]s.

Picture captions should not end in a full stop (a period) unless they are complete sentences.

=== Dashes and hyphens ===
Avoid using a hyphen after a standard -ly adverb ({{xt|a newly available home}}).

A hyphen is not a [[Wikipedia:Dash|dash]]. Hyphens are used within words or to join words, but not in punctuating the parts of a sentence. Use an en dash (–) with <code>&amp;nbsp;</code> before and a space after; or use an em dash (—) without spaces. See Wikipedia's [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:How_to_make_dashes|How to make dashes]]. Avoid using two hyphens {{nowrap|(--)}} to make a dash; and avoid using a hyphen for a minus sign.

Use an en dash, not a hyphen, between numbers: {{xt|pp.&nbsp;14–21}}; {{xt|1953–2008}}. An en dash is also to connect parallel terms: {{xt|red–green colorblind}}; {{xt|a New York–London flight}}. Use spaces around the en dash only if the connected terms are multi-unit dates: {{xt|January 1999{{spaced ndash}}December 2000}}.

== Dates and numbers ==
Write {{xt|number&nbsp;1}} or {{xt|No.&nbsp;1}}, but not {{!xt|#1}}. Comic books are an exception. Do not use the symbol {{!xt|№}}.

Write {{xt|12,000}} for twelve thousand, not {{!xt|12.000}}.

Both {{xt|10&nbsp;June 1921}} and {{xt|June&nbsp;10, 1921,}} are correct, but should be consistent within an article. A comma is not used if only the month is given, such as {{xt|June 1921}}.

{{xt|400&nbsp;AD}} (or {{xt|AD&nbsp;400}}) and {{xt|400&nbsp;BC}} are correct; but so are {{xt|400&nbsp;CE}} and {{xt|400&nbsp;BCE}}. As always, use one style consistently in an article.

Except on pages that are inherently time-sensitive and updated regularly<!-- Here's a good idea: we should make one of these. (e.g. [[Wikipedia:How the Current events page works|the "Current events" portal]]) -->, terms such as {{!xt|now}}, {{!xt|today}}, {{!xt|currently}}, {{!xt|present}}, {{!xt|to date}}, {{!xt|so far}}, {{!xt|soon}}, {{!xt|upcoming}}, {{!xt|ongoing}}, and {{!xt|recently}} should usually be avoided in favor of phrases such as {{xt|during the 2010s}}, {{xt|since 2010}}, and {{xt|in August 2020}}. Wording can usually be modified to remove the "now" perspective: not {{!xt|she is the current director}} but {{xt|she became director on 1 January {{CURRENTYEAR}}}}; not {{!xt|2010{{ndash}}present}} but {{xt|beginning in 2010}} or {{xt|since 2010}}. Terms likely to go out of date include {{!xt|best known for}}, {{!xt|holds the record for}}, etc. For current and future events, use phrases such as {{xt|as of {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}}} or {{xt|since the beginning of {{CURRENTYEAR}}}} to signal the time-dependence of the information; use the template {{tl|as of}} (or {{tl|updated}}) in conjunction.

Use {{xt|one, two, three,&nbsp;..., eight, nine}} in most cases, not {{!xt|1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}} (exceptions include times and dates, equations, sport scores, most measurements, and data in tables). Use digits for {{xt|10}} and higher (though some such numbers also may be written as words, when it helps clarity).

== Markup ==
Instead of an ordinary space, use <code>&amp;nbsp;</code> (a ''non-breaking space'') to prevent a line from ending in the middle of expressions like {{xt|17&nbsp;kg}}, {{xt|565&nbsp;BCE}}, {{xt|2:50&nbsp;pm}}, {{xt|£11&nbsp;billion}}, {{xt|129&nbsp;million}}, {{xt|{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}}&nbsp;{{CURRENTYEAR}}}}, {{xt|5°&nbsp;24′&nbsp;21.12″&nbsp;N}}, or {{xt|Boeing&nbsp;747}}; also after the number in {{xt|123&nbsp;Fake Street}}, and before [[Wikipedia:Roman_numerals|Roman numerals]] in {{xt|World War&nbsp;II}} and {{xt|Pope Benedict&nbsp;XVI}}. Use <code>&amp;nbsp;</code> in the same way inside a wikilink. (An alternative: enclose the whole expression using the template {{tl|nowrap}}.)

It does not matter how many spaces come after a period because extra spaces will not show, although blank lines will create one extra line.

Use [[Wikipedia:Hyperlink#Wikis|wikilinks]], but only for words and phrases that are most likely to be helpful if clicked. Make sure each link goes to an article on the intended subject, and not to a disambiguation page or incorrect destination.

== References ==
There are multiple [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Citing sources|citation]] styles. The most common uses {{tag|ref}} (''ref tags'') to create footnotes (sometimes called endnotes or notes), which will appear in the reference or endnote section. This citation should immediately follow the text to which it applies, including any punctuation (with some exceptions).

== Usage ==
Due to OWOT having an international user base, this Wiki prefers no major national variety of the language over any other. These varieties (e.g. [[Wikipedia:American English|U.S. English], [[Wikipedia:British English|British English]]) differ in vocabulary (''soccer'' vs. ''football''), spelling (''center'' vs. ''centre''), and occasionally grammar.

Avoid words like ''I'', ''we'', and ''you'', except in quotations and names of works.

Avoid phrases like {{!xt|note that}} and {{!xt|remember that}} (which assume "you" for the reader); and avoid such expressions as {{!xt|of course}} and {{!xt|obviously}}.

== See also ==
* [[Help:Editing_guide]]{{snd}}an overview page that will answer all your editing-related questions
* [[Wikipedia:Help:Cheatsheet]]{{snd}}a page that provides the most commonly used wiki markup

== Notes ==

{{Notelist}}

[[Category:OWOT Wiki basic information]]