The Manual of Style is the set of guidelines for producing exemplary articles with consistency, professionalism, and organization on Skylines Wikia. The Manual of Style does not have to be followed, but it is recommended for success. All articles are subjected to the Manual of Style; articles not up to the standards will be revised to meet such standards.
To understand the Manual of Style, some guidelines will show correct or incorrect.
- Correct will be colored green.
- Incorrect will be colored red.
Language[]
The typical language of Skylines Wikia is modern American English. It is important to note that English is different among each English-speaking countries, where spelling and grammar usage, such as "color" in American English and "colour" in other versions of English, may mean the same but have different spelling. To remain consistent, we will be using the American English language, therefore "color" is the correct form.
Usage of non-American English requires the use of italics.
Formality[]
As a professional database, formality is a necessity. Grammar must be proficient level, yet understandable. Words and acronym need to be spelled out completely, unless otherwise noted. Slang and non-official abbreviation must be avoided.
Contractions must be written formally.
- Incorrect: don't, won't, it's
- Correct: do not, will not, it is
Furthermore, rarely shall the word "it" be used in an article as "it" is vague unless a subject is noted beforehand. The word "it" is not completely banned from the wiki, but we suggest using a more-appropriate, descriptive term in replacement.
- Incorrect: It is colored red. (What is "it"?)
- Correct: The stop sign is colored red.
Capitalization[]
Capitalization is when all articles are subjected to sentence-case, where capitalization is written in a way it would be written in a sentence. Non-proper nouns need to be lowercased. Proper nouns or the first letter of a sentence need to be capitalized. Avoid unnecessary capitalization.
- Incorrect: the house was Abandoned.
- Correct: The house was abandoned.
Definite articles are the words "the", "a", and "an". Definite articles should not be capitalized, unless it is the first word of a sentence or title.
Conjunctions and prepositions should not be capitalized either, unless it is the first word of a sentence or title.
Numbers[]
In most cases, numbers need to be written out as words or as numerals depending on the situation.
Numbers from one to nine (1-9) need to be written out completely. Some exceptions apply:
- Dates (ex: September 4, 2015)
- Currency (ex: $9)
- Or as noted by the editor, if appropriate
WHole numbers that can be said in two words or less can be written as words or numerals. Numbers that take more than two words to say should be written as numerals to get to the point.
- Two words or less: 1/2 or one-half, 47 or forty-seven
- More than two words: 487 (not four hundred eighty seven), 7.89
Numbers that contain five digits or more should be delimited for clarity by placing a comma after every third number starting from the right. Four digits with a comma is under the editor's discretion.
- Example: 574,000 or 1,000,000
Articles titles and headers[]
Article titles[]
Article titles follow the same rules as if it were a sentence - titles need to be written in sentence case. Exceptions apply if necessary.
- All titles need to be capitalized properly. The first letter of each title and proper nouns should be capitalized.
- Titles should be in singular form at best. If completely necessary to be pluralized, then exceptions may be placed.
- Use parenthesis to distinguish articles with the same name but different purposes.
Article headers[]
Article headers, such as sections, should never contain links, images, nor citation. Headers follow the sentence-case rule. Headers may be singular or plural form, whichever makes sense.
Article bodies[]
The article body is the main content space of an article, including descriptive information, usage of various tools, and more.
Bold[]
Bold is the process of making a text appear like this. To bold, the text or texts should contain three single quote marks (') at each end. Do not use double quote marks (").
- Example:
'''Bold'''
Bolding is commonly used for the first appearance of the subject's name.
- Example:
'''Zoning''' is the process of adding building designations...
Bolding should not be used for emphasis or attention-grabbing.
Italics[]
Italics allows texts to appear like this. To italicize, the text or texts should contain two single quote marks (') at each end. Do not use double quote marks (").
- Example:
''Italic''
Italicizing is commonly used for emphasis, quotes, or for long works. Do not italicize surrounding punctuation marks or words that do not require it.
- Incorrect: Cities: Skylines
- Correct: Cities: Skylines
Links[]
Links should be added to the first appearance of a word, if applicable. Do not link multiple times.
- To add a link, add double brackets on each end. For example:
[[Road]] - Avoid linking unnecessary words or punctuation.
- Words next to the brackets will be included in the link. For example:
[[Road]]swill appear as Roads.
- Words next to the brackets will be included in the link. For example:
- Captions and images should contain links if possible.
- Different names for links can be added for clarity if needed. For example:
[[Road|different name]]will appear as "different name". - Be clear when adding links. Do not use a different name that puts the subject out of context.
- Incorrect: This and this are important aspects of a city.
- Correct: Roads and zoning are important aspects of a city.
Files[]
Files are images, videos, or audio that help readers visualize the subject better. They should be high quality and pertain to the article. Avoid redundancy, irrelevancy, clutter, or otherwise unnecessary or obtrusive.
Articles do not need to have multiple images of a city. If necessary, galleries can be used to place all relevant images together without cluttering the article body.
Additionally, follow these principles pertaining to files:
- Avoid "sandwiching", or the act of placing text between two or more images.
- Avoid "stacking", or the act of placing images on top of each other. If an image is right-aligned, the next image should be left-aligned, unless there is a clear amount of distance between each image.
- Captions should be clear and to-the-point.
- File names should be clear and named properly. If you can't find an image through the search, then the file name is not appropriate. Name the file in a way it is relevant, clear, and can be easily searched in the wiki.
Templates[]
Templates should be added when necessary and avoided where it would detract from the actual content. All infoboxes need to use the infobox tags.
- The prefix
Template:inside curly brackets{{ }}are not necessary. - Infoboxes should be placed at the top.
- Maintenance templates, such as Template:Stub, should be placed at the bottom.
Trivia[]
Trivia are miscellaneous facts that are relevant to the article but do not meet the standards of being placed in the main body of the article.
- Opinions are not allowed to be added. Opinions include but not limited to: "I think", "most players think", etc.
- Do not be redundant. If the fact is already in the article, do not add it again.
- All pertaining facts should be grouped together.
- Do not add speculation.
Categories[]
Categories allow readers to navigate to different, related articles on the wiki. Add only related, relevant categories. Do not add redundant categories.
Category pages[]
Category pages are the navigator pages of a wiki. They list all articles containing the category, allowing readers to read other related articles.
Like articles, category pages should be categorized under specific categories and should never be categorized under themselves.
Miscellaneous[]
Numbered list[]
To add a numbered list, use a hashtag (#) at the beginning of a line. Do not separate each line with a space as it will break the numbering system.
| Correct | Incorrect |
|---|---|
#Line 1 #Line 2 #Line 3 |
#Line 1 #Line 2 #Line 3 |
Bullet points[]
To create bullet points, use an asterisk (*) at the beginning of the line. Do not separate each line with a space.
| Correct | Incorrect |
|---|---|
*Line 1 **Indented line 1 *Line 2 **Indented line 2 ***Further indented line 2 of indented line 2 *Line 3 |
*Line 1 *Line 2 *Line 3 |