Halopedia talk:Manual of Style

Comming from Wookiepedia myself, I have a huge problem with the way the pages on this site are formatted. I know this is only the voice of one person, but i find all of these in-article references to real world sources appalling. I beleive we should format a Manual of Style that holds all references towards the end of the article, with the in-universe information staying as such. For example, compare the Master Chief to Anakin Skywalker (sorry for such a long page to link to). Notice how the article is well written, the pictures are scattered and alternate from left to right as the article continues. There is no reference to sources or the real world until the "Behind the Scenes" section. From here, look at the Chief article. There is great disorder, the pictures are all on the right side and out of chronological order. There is even a book cover in the middle of the article. If you refer to Johnson's page, there are references to sources in inappropriate ways:

"Johnson mowing down Grunts in Halo: Combat Evolved."

— Picture quote from the Sergeant Major Avery Johnson article

We should save all references to the real world for the end of the articles.

Also, we need a new naming system here. While Anakin and Darth Vader are different names for the same character, Wookieepedia takes this into account and puts all biographical information under the one true name: Anakin Skywalker. Here we have Covenant names mislabeled, with the true name Unggoy being redirected to the human slang term: Grunt. Instead of Avery J. Johnson, we have Sergeant Major Avery Johnson, rank and all. Personally, i believe that ranks should follow and be bolded in the introduction paragraph (e.g. Sergeant Major Avery Johnson was a dear ally to Master Chief).

While i may just be one person griping, I'm a devoted Halo fan and have come to this site often. That being said, i am dissapointed at the formatting of the articles here and wish for a revolution for the better. I say this only to improve the site, not to bash it or flame it in any way. I hope the administrators take this into consideraton. I have a busy school schedule, and i won't be able to help out that much, but nevertheless i would be glad to contibute to any reformatting if it does indeed take place. Thank you for reading. Dude984 18:03, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

You know what, while I had never thought about this before, I completely agree. To start reformatting and making everything better, we should start with rewriting all the articles that are written poorly, re-captioning images, general stuff like that, and I'll put a poll on the main page talk, since more people look at that than this, I think, about renaming articles. If we get enough votes, I'll start changing all the articles like Master Chief and Sergeant Major Avery Johnson to either redirects or disambiguation pages, and all that. Thanks for coming by and pointing all this out, and contratulations on writing what I think is quite possibly the longest talk page comment I have ever seen. ;D g^ue_st^y-p_er^so_ny-^th_in^gy^{I too have an AI... his name is Supreme Honcho.} 21:22, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. Hopefully we can get enough backing to upgrade this site to its true potential. While i may have my times of absence, I'm with you 'till the end. Dude984 02:01, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

It sounds like a good way to make the articles smoother, but just be careful not to make fanfiction. Wanting to stay in the tone of the universe can lead to stuff like "ONI operatives have uncovered information suggesting (insert Bungie's latest teaser here)" when the info came from a source not in universe. --Dragonclaws^(talk) 02:45, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

Links

Okay, this one should be pretty obvious, but I just want to make sure we're at a consensus: Should we link to an article every time it's stated, or only the first time? It can be rather hard to determine which is the first time, and it can be annoying if someone wants to find information about something and it's not linked to further down, but the page gets really blue if it's linked to every time, so I'm kind of neutral... or does it really matter? g^ue_st^y-p_er^so_ny-^th_in^gy 07:27, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

Generally we just link to things the first time they are stated. -ED 21:39, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Okay, so it's not really that big a deal, but it's best if we just link to the first one? Got it. Thanks! Guesty-Persony-Thingy Early 90's to March 31, 2007. RIP. 20:33, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, maybe if a page is really long you could link again like halfway down the page or soemthing, I guess, but in general, one link to an article per page. --ED_(talk)^(shockfront) 17:06, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Way to many [[]].

I'm trying to disambig Halopedia(daunting task) but I've notice due to the point system people are linking everything. For example:

Tartarus: "Hurry, Arbiter! Get the icon!"

(If you stall for a moment)

Spec Ops Elite: "We shall protect this vessel. It may be our only means of escape.

Spec Ops Elite 2: "Retrieve the Icon, Arbiter, for the Covenant, and the Journey!"

(When you pass through the hallway,you will also see so Flood Infection Forms and enter the center of the Library)

File:H2 Index.jpg

(Dolly-shot of the center of the Library, where the Index is floating in a container similar to the one on Alpha Halo. Commander Miranda Keyes is approaching what appears to be a Flood tentacle, most likely Gravemind's (it may be a power cord from the enforcer on top of it), hanging off of some Enforcer wreckage. She holds onto it, while reaching for the Index. The container whirs, clicks, then releases the Index. She grabs it)

Commander Keyes: "Gotcha." (The tentacle loses its hold-or Gravemind purposely releases it-and starts to loosen. Keyes is about to fall to her death until the tentacle suddenly stops. She looks up and finds it is Sergeant Major Avery J. Johnson holding onto the tentacle)

Johnson: (Grunts) "You know, your father never asked me for help either."

Miranda: (Places Index in her belt) "The Index is secure."

(Miranda climbs back onto the floor)

Johnson: "McKenzie, Perez, how's our exit?"

(No response)

Johnson: "You hear me, Marines?!"

(Still no response)

Johnson: (To Keyes) "We got trouble."

(Miranda readies two M7 Sub Machine Guns. Johnson walks slowly, watching for any enemy in sight. He turns to his right)

This makes trying to disambig very very hard. What is in the MoS about linking every other word? Can I take them out or should I just leave them and forget about disambiging anything? Whispering 04:41, 13 October 2008 (UTC)