Help:Manual of style

The manual of style is meant to help users write their articles in a consistent, well-written way. Please do not take this as a really picky and stingy strategy developed by moderators, but rather as a way to create your article in a way so we stay consistent with formatting and grammar.

Writing your article

Here are some steps to consider when writing your article:

Ensure that the page you want to write has not already been written

This just causes headaches for everyone. Use the search feature to look for all different cases (capitalized, spaces, an 's' at the end) of your page. For example, if you want a link to a page regarding "mods", do not create a new pages entitled "mods". Instead, link it to the already existing page "modification". To do this, enter the link like so: [[(Name of page)|(text to display)]] . However, if you cannot find a page with the subject you want to write, go ahead and create it using the search feature.

Overview

Always begin each article with a short description of what it is about. This avoids confusion when there are similarly named articles, and immediately gives the reader an idea of the subject of the article.

Point of view

One common problem with some wikis is that the articles are very biased. This can come into play when you are writing about something you feel strongly about, like a mod you have made. Instead of saying "this is a great and awesome mod", say "this is a mod widely anticipated by the community". Write it in a true, yet neutral way. Avoid using first person, like 'I' or 'mine'. Use a mix of second and third person.

Linking

It is very important that we are linking to other articles as often as possible. If a user does not understand a term you use, they can simply click on the link to learn more. Accepting that complete newcomers to modding may be visiting the wiki, and may not have your knowledge is a very crucial action.

External linking

Be sure to provide your readers with external links that elaborate further on your topic, if applicable. We want to avoid simply copying and pasting from other websites, and if you do, please quote them. You can quote them by using the quote template. If you use a source or it could be useful to the readers, include it as an external link. To externally link, use [(URL) (text to display)] .

Formatting

Here are some tips that you can use to spruce up your article:

• Please bold the subject's name if you mention it in the first introductory paragraph. For example, on a page called "NPC", you may write "Non playable characters, or NPC, is a character that the player cannot control."
• Bold and italicize mod names in the opening paragraph. For example: "Jedi Betrayal".
• Use headings. These allow the readers to easily navigate through your article. To do so, type your first broad heading, like so: "== (Heading text) ==". Then, add a little overview blurb, if needed. Underneath, add your sub-categories using "===(Sub-heading text)===".
• Avoid duplicate headings, like a broad heading with the name "Trivia" then a sub heading underneath it using the name "Trivia".
• Do not start your page with a heading. Always begin with an overview of your subject, then proceed to categorize your information with headings.
• Do not format the text inside a heading. Please don't bold or add any links to the headings. Italicizing is allowed for naming and such. Also, avoid symbols like ":" in your headings.
• Always use a broad heading before a sub-heading.
• Add pictures to your article. Pictures spruce up your article in ways you could never do with words.
• When referencing text a user could type into the console, use the code template.

Categorizing

Please categorize your articles so a user can find pages that relate to each other easily. Use: [[Category:(Category name)]]. Feel free to create any need categories. Also, remember there is a "Needs Expansion" category you can use if you feel more content could be contributed to the page.

Critiquing

If you see something that you think looks bad formatting wise, or you find a typo, by all means correct it. However, please create a discussion topic if you think a large part of text should be removed or the page should be removed outright. This is common courtesy.