Help:Guidelines

Table of Contents Table of Contents

Before we get into editing articles, we need to talk about some basic editing guidelines concerning things like style, structure, layout, and etiquette. Mistakes are okay, but let's do our best to keep the quality high by following these guidelines.

Style

General Style

Information, not opinion

The Reed and Rite is an encyclopedia and it should read as such. Contributions should be informative and fact-based with citations; not personal opinions. Please do not insert personal commentary. Opinion should only be expressed in appropriate spaces. (e.g., article discussion tabs.)

Theories and speculation

Speculation is discouraged in most cases. It should only be included when the article would not be considered content-complete without this speculative information. For more on this, see Help:Speculation.

Paraphrase sources

Do not quote sources extensively. Direct quotations of the text may occasionally be appropriate, but you should generally strive to paraphrase things in your own words when adding to an article.

Limit links

You are encouraged to provide links to other articles as related terms appear in the text. In general, this can be limited to the first appearance of a term in a given article. (e.g. Don't link to a character's article every time their name appears in an article.) Note: Links contained in infoboxes should not count towards the one link limit.

Word processors

Avoid preparing your contributions in rich word processors. (e.g., Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, Google Docs, etc.). Punctuation marks, such as Quotation marks, apostrophes, and dashes, do not work properly across these platforms.

Writing Conventions

Grammar

Strive to use grammatically correct language. Avoid speaking in first person and never address the reader directly.

Tense

In general, articles should be written in present tense. There are exceptions; most notably, history sections should be written in past tense.

Capitalization

For capitalization of special terms, follow the rules here: Coppermind:Style#Capitalization.

Other

Though the some books are written using UK English, unless in direct quotation, please use American English spelling.

In general, spell out the numbers 1-100 rather than using numerals. (e.g. use "four" not "4")

Use a single space to separate sentences, and not two.

References at the end of sentences should be placed directly after the period.

Titles

Article Titles

Titles of articles should generally be singular.

For characters, do not include titles, honorifics, etc., unless the character's full name is not known. For other scenarios, see Coppermind:Style#Article Titles

Don't capitalize subsequent words in a title unless warranted by the capitalization rules.

Section Titles

Section titles should be in title case

Do not apply formatting (e.g. bold, italics, etc.) to section titles.

Do not use links in section titles, whether internal or external.

Article Structure

If you're starting a new article, don't worry about getting the structure right the first time—getting information onto the page is more important than proper structure and formatting. Administrators will scan through new edits and tweak structure where necessary/needed.

Initial Templates

An infobox should be the first thing in most articles. This is directly followed by any relevant spoiler or update tags.

Summary

Article content should typically begin with a brief summary.

Article Body

Some recommendations of typical headings to use may be found here: Help:Article structure. For more guidance, find a similar article to the one you are working on and use it as a guide.

Notes Section

The article content should end with a "Notes" section. This section should contain a <references /> tag, to provide a home for references and citations. For more information, see References.

Finish Up

Articles should conclude with any appropriate category tag(s). For more information, see Categories.

Layout

Structure

Good structure, as discussed above, is very important. But also note that deviations from standard structures may be desirable in some cases. If there's little information available under a given section, for example, it may be better to find another place for this information than to have an awkwardly short section. You are also encouraged to create additional sections and subsections as needed, to visually break down the article into more digestible pieces.

Flow

Always consider the overall flow of the article. Reading the article from start to finish should tell a story. Make sure an article doesn't seem to jump around between unrelated topics if possible. Ensure images and quotes relate to the surrounding article text and do not look out of place.

Images

Images are a fantastic way to liven up an article. As always, make sure you have each individual artist's permission first. Take into consideration size and spacing; the image should be clearly visible, but not obtrusive to the article text. Try mixing up the alignment of images so that they appear at different locations along the page rather than cascading down one side. Use captions to explain what the image consists of. And realize that too many images can also be a problem. If you believe a large number of images are important to an article, consider using a gallery. We'll talk about how to do all of this on the Help:Images page.

Quotations

Quotes are another great way to provide a visually appealing layout to articles. As discussed above, we don't want to quote large portions of text in the body of articles. But use of relevant quotes is a great way to let the books speak directly into the article. Just like with images, try mixing up the location of any quotes that you use. Creating quotes is covered on the Help:Templates page.

Etiquette

The 17th Shard Code of Conduct applies in full to the Coppermind.

Always treat other editors with respect and politeness. Assume that everyone has good intentions.

Be professional. Use proper English and avoid personal criticism.

Don't be combative or passive aggressive. If you have problems with an article then express them openly and respectfully. Collaborate.

Talk through major changes with other editors to make sure others agree with the changes. If you're making significant changes to an article that someone else has put a lot of work into, involve them in the process.

AI Policy

The use of AI to generate, modify, or otherwise contribute to the Coppermind is not permitted. This includes, but is not limited to: artwork, text, templates, and any other content used on or by the Coppermind.

The use of Coppermind content for training machine learning models, and the scraping of data from the Coppermind are prohibited without express permission from the 17th Shard and all licensees.

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