Style Guide

From CruisersWiki

Revision as of 07:42, 12 June 2011

The Cruisers Wiki Style Guide - a primer for new editors.

Firstly, let me say "thanks" for being here and adding new material to the wiki, without you this resource would be worth very little.

The purpose of this guide is to (hopefully) avoid some of the styling mistakes of the past. This keeps editing time to a minimum, which means more actual content can be added, making it a better resource all round. Since you'll want to get on with it, I'll make these simple-to-digest bullet points.

• There is no need to attempt a scholarly treatise on any place. That means that you should simply write what you know about it, in clear English. If English isn't your first language that's all right, we can clean it up later. The main thing is to get across your passion for the place you're writing about. That means NO CUT-AND-PASTE from Wikipedia. None at all. This is a separate entity and the style should reflect those matters relevant to a yachtsman planning to visit the area today, not some boring diatribe about ancient history.

• If Wikipedia links are added (e.g. for a town's history) they should go in the External Links section, not in the Overview section at the top.

• Do not use "funny characters" in page names. Example: Use Sao Tome and Principe, not São Tomé and Príncipe. You can use the correct characters in descriptions but not in the actual page names. There are two reasons for this - (1) Sometimes the database can't handle it, and (2) Most editors won't know how to use such characters. So keep it simple.

• When adding new places, use the name they are known by in English-speaking countries. e.g. Use Athens, not Athina or (heaven forbid!) Αθήνα.

• The Table of Contents needs to be at the TOP of the page. This can be by itself, or with text wrapped around and photos opposite, it doesn't matter. So long as we don't have to scroll down to find it.

• Use the templates provided for new pages. They can be found on the Templates Page, along with heaps of excellent code snippets for all occasions.

• When adding "Offshore Islands", keep it sensible. Those adjacent to the land mass or port being written about are the only ones relevant here. If editing the main page for a country, islands belonging to that nation but physically remote should be listed as "External Territories".

• When adding islands, don't immediately create links to new pages for each one. Often an island in a lake or bay, for instance, is uninhabited and of little interest, and so won't warrant having its own page. In fact it's best not to create links to new pages at all until you're ready to fill them with new contents.

• Always check the name of a port or island to ensure that it is unique, and use a name that specifies exactly which one you mean. You'd be surprised how many places called Long Island we have in the world. This is especially true for religious names like St. Something.

• When trying to make text appear in red, don't make the text into a link. Yes, this works but then we have loads of "pages" listed that don't really exist. The correct way is to use this code: <font color=red>Your Text</font>. A red link should only tell us that there's a missing page in the wiki.

• Try to use the correct terms for the region of country you're editing. Some places use the word State, while others use Prefecture, County, Province or even Oblast. If you don't know, maybe it should be left to someone who knows the place better.

• If you don't know how to do something, first run a Google search on it. If you're still stuck, ask an Admin. There's a list of them here

OK, that's my little rant for now, feel free to add new data or comments. --Haiqu 07:07, 12 June 2011 (BST)

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