Datacron Database:Style Guide

Article Titles

The title for an article should use the most widely used complete form of the name of the article's subject, except when multiple subjects have the same name (and thus disambiguation parentheses are required). If the article subject is known by another less commonly used names please create a redirect to the full name.

• Block capitals should not be used within titles, unless. (Example(s): ARTICLE TITLE)
• Use italics when needed, conforming to Datacron Database:Style Guide.
• Do not use articles (a, an, or the) as the first word, unless it is an integral part of the name. (Example(s): Galactic Empire, not The Galactic Empire; The Wheel, however is acceptable)
• Do not use titles as reference for capitalization. They are often written in title case.
• Some article titles should include disambiguation parentheses defined in <small></small> in the case of named Starships, Titles, Events, etc. (Example(s): Devastator (Imperial-class), Red Five (Rebel Alliance))
  • Disambiguation parentheses should be defined as (Example(s): ARTICLE TITLE<small>(DISAMBIGUATION)</small>) as part of the article title.
  • For Starships use the parent class for the ship, not the specific class. (Example(s): Avenger (Imperial-class), not Avenger (Imperial II-class); unless you have two ships with similar titles under the same parent class.)
  • For Titles try to use the parent organization for the title, it is also acceptable to use sub-organizations in order to differentiate titles such as ranks between two branches within a military. (Example(s): Vigo (Black Sun), Captain (Grand Army of the Republic) and Captain (Republic Navy)).
  • For Events try to use the conflict name for the event, if an event does not fall within an area of conflict please use the galactic era, and for personal conflicts list the combatants. (Example(s): Battle of Endor (Galactic Civil War), Dissolution of the Imperial Senate (Rebellion era), Duel on Naboo (Qui-Gon Jinn & Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Darth Maul))
• Use full name instead of Abbreviations if possible, instead create a redirect to the full name for the abbreviation. (Example(s): Imperial Security Bureau, not ISB)

Technical restrictions of MediaWiki prevent editors naming pages after their specific names:

• The subject name does not begin with a capital letter.
• The subject name includes a /.
• The subject name includes a character that cannot be used in page names, including # < > [ ] | { } _.
• The subject begins with a string that would put the page in the wrong namespace. Such strings might include: Project:, File:, or User:, etc.

In cases of using disambiguation parenthesis' please use DISPLAYTITLE and mark the disambiguation parenthesis' as <small></small>.

Layout

A simple article should contain at least an introduction, references, and short description. The rest can be added when required.

1. Before the introduction
   1. Related article templates
   2. Maintenance Templates
   3. Infoboxes
   4. Images (if no infoboxes).
2. Body
   1. Introduction
   2. Content
   3. Behind the Scenes (In-Universe Articles Only)
   4. Trivia
   5. Sources
   6. Appearances & Mentions (In-Universe Articles Only)
   7. See also
   8. Notes
   9. References
   10. External Links
3. After External Links
   1. Navboxes
   2. Short description
   3. Categories
   4. Stub templates

Sections & Headings

Separating articles into sections makes them easy to read and navigate. Headings are used to splitting articles into sections.

Markup

• Use equals signs around a section heading: ==Title== for a primary section, ===Title=== for a subsection, and so on to ======Title======, with no level skipped.
• =Title= is never used.

Wording

• Keep headings short.
• Use sentence case (capitalize only the first letter of the first word and the first letter of any proper nouns).
• Not redundantly refer back to the subject of the article (e.g., Early life, not Smith's early life or His early life).
• Not refer to a higher-level heading, unless doing so is shorter or clearer.
• Not be numbered or lettered as an outline.
• Not be phrased as a question.
• Avoid the use of color or unusual fonts that might cause accessibility problems.

To avoid technical complications:

• Be unique within a page, so that section links lead to the right place.
• Avoid links, especially where only part of a heading is linked.
• Avoid images or icons.
• Avoid templates.
• Avoid citations or footnotes.

Introduction

An introduction summarizes the most essential points of an article, creating interest in the topic.

• The Subject should be concise and defined within the first 250-300 characters.
• Should be limited to a few paragraphs.
• Subject should be mentioned as early as possible in the first sentence and should be bolded.
• The introduction should include how to pronounce the articles title, see Datacron Database: Pronounciation.
• Certain information such as trivia should be contained within it's own dedicated section not the introduction.

Text elements

Internal links

• Don't link the same article more then once per sub-section.
• Please use piped link formats for all plurals. (Example: [[Lightsaber|Lightsabers]] ,not [[Lightsaber]]s)
• When linking articles which have disambiguation parenthesis exclude them within the article body.

External links

Please Avoid linking to external sites in the main article. External links can be added to other sections such as trivia, notes, see also, references if it adds value to the article.

Font colors

• Colored font should be avoided except for templates. If you need to use a colored font, you might want to create a template instead.

Bold

Boldface is commonly used on the wiki, but restricted to several usages:

• First mention of the subject of the page.
• First mention of the alias of the subject of the page.
• Avoid using bold for emphasis in the article text.

Boldface is sometimes applied automatically, either by MediaWiki software or by the browser:

• Section Headings
• Description lists
• Table headers and captions (not image captions).
• A self link.

Italics

Italics is commonly used and should be applied to the following:

• Certain names and titles both in-universe and real life. Common examples include
  • Named ships (Millennium Falcon, Devastator)
  • Occasional Ship class names (Imperial I-class Star Destroyer)
  • Titles in-universe and real life (Films, Shows, Novels, Comics, Magazines, Video Games etc.)

Quotes

• Use straight quotation marks ' " instead of curly quotation marks.
• Quoted sources should leave date formats in whatever the quoted source used. (So don't edit a quote to change the date format.)

Numbers

• Use comma as the thousands separator. Separators should be used for numbers greater than 1,000.
  • Do not use separators for template input, the template will format the number.
• Ranges should be indicated with an endash (–; –) rather than a hyphen ("1–5" not "1-5").

Grammar & Spelling

Capital letters

Avoid unnecessary capitalization. It is primarily needed for proper names, acronyms, and for the first letter of a sentence. Refer to CIG sources on what words should be capitalized, and use common sense to determine if it is a proper noun. Note that title text should always be ignored as they are often written in title case. The capitalization in Galactapedia should be used if there are any conflicts.

Below are a list of common nouns that should always be capitalized:

• People names (Example(s): George Lucas)
• Vehicle Names (Example(s): Executor)
• Organization names (Example(s): Galactic Republic, Jedi Order, Kuat Drive Yards)
• System names (Example(s): Tatoo)
  • Note that the word "system" should be in lower case (Example(s): Tatoo system)
• Planet names (Example(s): Tatooine)
• Named military groups (Example(s): 501st Legion)
  • Note that capitalization only applies when it is a specified group (legion not Legion).

Note that rare exception do occur, please use the exact spelling as first stated in the sources.

Spelling

The Datacron Database uses and strongly prefers the American English, as opposed to British English, such as (color, not colour). Note that an exception can occur if you are quoting or sourcing summaries, statements, articles, etc, that were originally written in British English.

Abbreviations

Abbreviations should only be used if it is defined in the article, and it does not affect the readability. Additional rules apply for article title as stated below:

• Do not use abbreviations for article title unless there is no known full name.
• Redirect acronyms and abbreviations to the article.
• Create a Disambiguation page if two or more different meanings for the abbreviations exist, instead of a redirect page.

Identity/Point of View

• Use Third-person wherever possible.
• Stay neutral, and use factual information, please avoid using personal ideas and opinions.

Citations & References

Please cite all of your references and sources. All in-universe references must always be cited by officially licensed Star Wars publications, products and merchandise and in certain cases West End Games third-party licensees, statements made by Lucas Licensing employees and George Lucas himself. Any real word references should come from a reputible source such as George Lucas, interviews with quotes and statements made by current and former employees of Lucasfilm Ltd. its subsidiaries and licensees, officially licensed reference material, official advertisements and product information of Lucasfilm Ltd. licensees, autobiographies, official Lucasfilm Ltd. websites and that of their subsidiaries and licensees, and reputable websites that contain their own cited references.

• Films should include a link to the title followed by in smallcase the movie chapter title and in parenthesis the edition of the film. (Example(s): Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Chapter 3: "Imperial Boarding Party" (Special Edition) )
  • The edition of the film should only be used if said referenced element or elements only appear in a later edition of the film.
  • For Special Features on VHS, DVD and Blu-Ray formats replace the movie chapter title with the title of the Special Feature or Deleted Scene and in perenthesis include which format it's in VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray.
• Television should include a link to the series title followed by a en dash – to separate the link to the episode title and in smallcase the episode chapter according to the DVD or Blu-Ray. (Example(s): Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Downfall of a Droid, Chapter 2 )
  • For older formats such as VHS without chapter selection look for a cuts in the episodes which would have originally had commercials slipped in.
• Novels should include a link to the title followed by in smallcase the chapter and in parenthesis the edition. (Example(s): Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Chapter 1 (First Edition))
• Comics should include a link to the title followed by in smallcase the page number. (Example(s): Star Wars 1: Star Wars, Page 3)
  • In order to account for those with collected editions of the comics please do not count advertisement pages if you own a single issue, unless you are referencing said advertisements, also for collected issues such as Star Wars Tales or Clone Wars Adventures please start your page counts with the beginning of those individual stories.
  • For newspaper strips and webstrips please use the stip number instead of page number please.
• Sourcebooks & Reference Books should include a link to the title followed by in smallcase the page number. (Example(s): The Essential Atlas, Page 167)
• Video Games should include a link to the title followed by in smallcase where it is located in the game such as a level, or databank entry followed by the platforms they are on in parenthesis. (Example(s): Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (Video Game), Level: The Hunt Begins (PS2, XB) or, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Databank: Kento Marek (PC,360,PS3))
• Magazine Articles & Short Stories should include the link to the article or short story title in double quotation marks followed by a en dash – to separate the title of the source it was published in followed by smallcase the page the article started on. (Example(s): "Unknown Soldier: The Story of General Grievous" – Star Wars Insider 86, Page 49 )
• Web Articles should include the external link to the article title in double quotation marks followed by a en dash – to separate the domain name of the website that should externally link to the homepage of the site, followed by in smallcase in paraenthesis an archive link to the article from the Internet Archive. (Example(s): "Marvel Special Edition Featuring Star Wars #1" – www.comics.org, (Archived))

If you are unsure of about the validity of a source please consult the Disscussion page.

File Names

File names should typically be descriptive and contain the subject of the file to allow them to be found easily by searches, avoid using any humorous names. Make sure that all words in the file name are spelled correctly to avoid the need to rename a file in the future. (Example(s): SkywalkervsKenobiMustafar.jpg, Battle_of_Yavin_GCW.png, LukeSkywalker_0BBY.png )

Non-Article Styles

Disambiguation

Wikis must resolve ambiguous references when a link is to a term that has more than one distinct meaning. This process is called disambiguation.

When one term is clearly the more expected result, it can remain the primary link, and a {{for}} or {{about}} entry should head off the article. (See Datacron Database:Templates for examples.)

When it is not so clear, the term becomes a disambiguation page, linking to the possible meanings.

Alternate meanings take the form of Term (other meaning). (Note lower case for disambiguation meaning.) Alternative meanings should also have a for statement at the head of the article.