Halopedia:Manual of Style


 * This covers how we would like an article to look on this wiki at creation. While not an enforced policy, try to follow it the best you can.

An article is a content page about the knowledge – a character, place, enemy, game, etc. The goal of is to add as many articles as possible to fill up the knowledge base, but some basic guidelines will help you get a good start either creating an article or expanding one. We have some specific criteria that should go into every article from its creation, and some enhancements to make it even better. Though not mentioned, all articles should have relatively good grammar.

'Please do NOT create tiny articles just for the sake of filling in red links. Even if the article you are making is about a minor subject, try to put a decent amount of effort into it rather than a rush job.'

Critical Criteria

 * 1) Bold and repeat the title of the article in the first sentence.
 * 2) Details – don't state the obvious. Provide some information about the subject too, as much as you can.
 * 3)  You  – use another term like "the player" or the name of the playable character.
 * 4) Link to as many other articles as possible once and only once.
 * 5) Italicize all game titles as well as linking them.
 * 6) Navigation via templates.
 * 7) Categorize with many categories.

Enhancements

 * 1) Images to visualize the article.
 * 2) Knowledge/Notice Templates like, ,.
 * 3) Tables to lay out statistics neatly.

How to Create or Edit an Article

 * Create: – Clicking on a red link brings you right to the edit box. Searching and then clicking "create this page" does the same.
 * Edit: – While viewing any article, click the "edit" tab, third from the left.

Naming an Article
There are several steps to follow when naming an article:


 * Halopedia is an English language wiki, so the name of an article should correspond to the first official international English name of the subject.
 * If there is no official English name, then the first official name of the subject in any language is used.
 * If there is no official name in any language, then a conjectural title is developed if the subject is notable enough for an article.
 * When naming an article, do not use game abbreviations.

Bolding the Title
We start out an article by restating the title of the article, and also bolding it for emphasis. This is a simple rule to remember and easy to add.

When the article is a game, referring to Item 5, using 5 apostrophes ( ' ) for bold and italics.

Describing the Subject
You need to add details about your topic. Here's some good starter questions: if it's an object, what game did it appear in? What are the effects of the item? What specific level(s) did the item appear in? If it's a place, what game was it in? What events took place there? If it's a game, what features are there? How is it played? What are the game modes?

Your details depend on the type of article you're creating. Think of the basics - a person who never played the game(s) would need to get a fair idea what it is.

If you don't have any details to add, "don't state the obvious" by not creating the article at all – you don't know the topic well-enough. If you know a couple of details to make up 3-5 sentences, create the article but add as part of Item 6.

No You's
In this wiki, we opt against using the tempting word "you". This includes implied "you's" in a command (like just above: "(you) Think of the basics..."). Instead, we use phrases such as "the player", "Master Chief (a playable character) should", "the player could", "they must", etc. that still describe the person being talked to, indirectly or refers to the character they play in the game. This makes our articles more encyclopedic.

Linking, Linking, Linking!
Linking to as many articles as possible, created or not, adds greater navigation to the knowledge base. Created articles allow readers to move to a related topic, while red links (not created) give another user a chance to create the article (and go through these very same steps!), thus helping the wiki. However, no one link should appear twice in an article – leave other occurrences as plain text.

Italicizing Titles
The wiki has decided it proper to respect all games, series, movies, albums (music) and publications (print: comics, books and magazines) by italicizing all of their titles, as well as linking them when need be the case in every article. When linking and italicizing, the syntax is  Article Title . Song titles and episode names (i.e. of television series) are not italicized, but written in quotation marks.

Navigation Templates
Navigation templates list a bunch of related characters, enemies, items, games, etc. to the article. Sometimes an article is already on one of these templates in red, waiting to be added, sometimes you will have to edit the template to include it. Sometimes there is no navigation template yet for your type of article. If there is a related template, though, add it – has the same effect as linking, but even better.

Categories
There are a ton of categories and subcategories on this wiki. The most basic are Games, Characters, Places, Factions, Ordnance, and Publications. There are many subcategories to these categories as well. By simply typing  , the article is automatically added to the category; be sure to not include a space between "Category:" and the name. An article can be in as many categories as it fits, but as part of our criteria it must fit in one. Don't say an article cannot be categorized – very few pages, if any, are uncategorized besides the Main Page, an exception.

Note that categories and templates often overlap in subject matter. This is perfectly fine, however templates are expected to provide enhanced navigation assets for readers (i.e. subdividing a large group of related pages by more specific criteria, such as characters vs. items appearing in the same game). If a category or a group of categories adequately links a group of pages, a template may not be needed at all.

Any article lacking in one of the seven criteria can and should be edited to correct its faults. This works not just for creating articles, but expanding and improving them too! The following sections deal with specific aspects of writing and additional features that can be added to the articles.

History
History sections detail the various video game, novel, comic, etc. appearances of the article's subject. These sections are typically the first major section of an article, especially articles chronicling multiple appearances, after the article's introduction. Appearances in the History section are organized according to the international release date of defined series (as opposed to general franchises), sub-series, and independent titles, regardless of the "media" form the appearance takes. Series sub-sections are arranged by the release date of the first appearance of the subject in the series.

If there is not enough content to mention every appearance in a series, the information can simply be merged under the series section, and other sub-sections need not be created.

Completely independent titles not part of an established series or sub-franchise are placed as regular section headers, akin to a series header. All section and sub-section headers must state the name of the series and video game, novel, etc. If the subject has a "back story" (or "back stories" in the case of some subjects) referenced in its appearances, that content can be placed at the beginning of the History section before any series sub-sections, in a sub-section called "Background."

Trivia
Many articles have Trivia sections where miscellaneous points are placed, however, this is actually discouraged. Long Trivia sections reflect poorly on the article as a whole, so whenever possible, try to incorporate this information elsewhere on the page. Trivia points that merely state the obvious or reiterate facts already embedded in the text should not be created, and speculative information must be backed by hard facts or it will be removed.

Fiction
When writing an article describing characters, events, or places from fictional sources (e.g. games, comics, films, TV shows, literature, etc.), present tense should be used.

Non-fiction
When writing non-fiction, such as a biography or the history of a game series, past and present tense can be used as needed, depending on whether whatever is being described has already happened or is in the process of happening.

Images
Finding an image for an article can be difficult. Google doesn't always work. If you are lucky enough to find an image, upload it, see Help:Image and Help:Media for syntax, and then add it to an article. Generally, a small image would use the frame, right and caption commands, a large image would use the thumb, right and caption commands – though sometimes different alignment is necessary. The first image should go on the first line of the edit box, even before the first sentence, and then additional images can be added inbetween sections as size allows.

If an article needs an image to help illustrate a point but you can't find one, add to the top of the edit box, which leads into the second enhancement.

Other Templates
Category:Notice Templates, where the image template is categorized, contains a few templates for use in articles. needs to be put on all games not released but confirmed. goes on games released at most a month ago. These go on top of the page, always, as well.

In addition, there are some templates that form a table to fill in quick statistics – for example, provides basic information about a game.

We suggest searching through templates to get a feel of what templates are available besides navigational ones.

Tables
Tables are sometimes the best way to display information.