Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26653902-20160320001918

In the interest of improving article quality, it has been decided that a Manual of Style page standardizing formatting and writing style should be made and implemented. Old McDonald and I had spent some time hammering out a draft, but additional input and consensus on what should be on it wouldd much desired.

The following is our current draft. Please tell us your thoughts in your comments. Thanks!

New article titles
If the information merits a new article, following existing convention is a good rule of thumb:

Singular vs plural
When an object or theme occurs once, leave the article in the singular form. Only if the plural is significant to the story, e.g. in case of groups, use the plural rather than singular form.

To link to Ghouls, for example, one can use ghoul or ghouls. If the article name was plural, one would have to use ghoul to change it to the proper sentence form a lot of the time.

Category names should always be plural.

Capitalization
Use lower-case, except for titles and proper names, for which a capital letter should be used. Like singular names, this reflects the most common way one would use the term in a sentence; for example - Kaneki saw a ghoul eating a corpse. There are exceptions to this; mainly acronyms. CCG is an acronym, for example.

A/An/The in page titles
Avoid using A/An in page titles, except for proper names when you should use a "The".

Almost every simple noun related to the series could be described with a "a/an". For consistency, and for making it easier to link to these subjects in a sentence, avoid using "a/an"; use "The" if that is part of the proper name of the item.

Proper names (people)
If part of the name is discovered at a later date or corrected, the article may be nominated for renaming (see below).
 * Whenever possible, use the full name of the character.
 * Use non-canon nicknames only as a last resort, when canon names are not known.

Symbols
Wikitext does not read symbols well — whenever possible, spell these titles out.

For example: Instead of "&" (an ampersand), use "and".

Simplify
Generally, the simpler the title, the better. If the specific purpose or significance of an article needs further explanation, go into detail in the body of the article. Use "Tokyo Ghoul" in page titles only when absolutely necessary; This is the Tokyo Ghoul Wiki — everyone knows what series you're referring to.

Headings

 * All headings should use the same capitalization rules used for article titles.
 * Italics, bold, and links should be avoided in headings. Links in particular may be difficult for some users to see within headings.

Use bold or italics for emphasis

 * Create bold text by wrapping the title in three single quotes; i.e. Kaneki results in Kaneki.
 * Create italicized text by wrapping the title in two single quotes; i.e. Touka will result in Touka.

Links

 * Wikify text where appropriate; i.e Uta will result in Uta.
 * Not every word in an article needs to be wikified; it is fine just to wikify the first mention of a word in that section of the article.

Categorize
Please place the article in any of our categories with the following line of code: at the very end of the article. For the complete list of categories, see Special:Categories. Be as specific as you can with the categories. Remember that sometimes articles will fit into more than one category. Do not categorize user blog posts or theory tab articles.
 * If you are unsure what category your article fits in, you can leave it uncategorized. Sysops and others can use a special page for uncategorized pages to see a list of pages that have no category. The goal is to keep this list empty.

Never sign your contributions to articles
The wiki concept is not single authorship, but rather a collaborative effort. You might be extra proud of your article, but it will be mercilessly ripped apart by the rest of us. Signatures found in the articles are to be deleted, with the singular exception of long transcript articles (see below). (For any questions of authorship, refer to the Creative Commons license.)

Present versus past tense

 * Except for within episode and chapter articles, descriptions of events in the Tokyo Ghoul storyline should be written in the past tense.
 * Article biographies of living characters should begin in the present tense; biographies of deceased ones should begin in the past tense.
 * Picture captions should be written in the present tense, and should end with periods if they constitute complete sentences.

No personal pronouns
The second person pronoun "you", and the first person pronouns "I" and "we" as well as "one" should not be used in articles. The implicit second person pronoun "you" should not be used in imperative sentences. Examples:
 * Incorrect: When we saw Kaneki eat "Rize", we knew that he accepted his ghoul side.
 * Correct: Kaneki ate "Rize", signfying his acceptance of his ghoul side.


 * Incorrect: See this video for yourself!
 * Correct: This is a video about ____.

Avoid using contractions
Except when quoting someone, avoid using contractions like "he's", "can't", or "don't". When using formal writing as in encyclopedias, use "he is", "can not", and "do not" instead.

Spelling and grammar
Before submitting, use the Show preview button and read again what you wrote. You might find that you did not convey your idea as you wanted. Hit the preview button until you are happy and proud with your submission. A picture is worth a thousand words. If you can, put an image in your article. An image helps clarify the subject at hand. Presentation goes a long way. Wikisyntax makes it very easy to edit and categorise information. One extremely useful tool is multiple, nested layers of headings (see example)
 * If you don't feel confident with your writing style, spelling and grammar, include the message "Proofread Me" in the edit summary, encouraging another active user to read and edit your contributions.
 * When referring to a specific title of a book, film, or other such major work, it is good practice to use italics. For example, Tokyo Ghoul: Hibi (double apostrophes, not quotation marks) becomes Tokyo Ghoul: Hibi.

Add citations and references
Always try to support your edits by giving citations and references. It will make it easier for other editors to check your edits for accuracy.

For references to chapters and episodes, the and  templates provide standard formatting.
 * Example: and  will create a reference to chapter 43 of Tokyo Ghoul and :re, respectively.

Paragraphs

 * You should usually focus on the characters. Avoid making the story the center of your writing.
 * Example: Avoid expressions like "is seen", "is shown", "is revealed", "In a flashback". Usually, these expressions can be easily omitted. For flashbacks, you can use introductions like "X reminisces about" or "In the past".


 * Often, direct quoting breaks the flow of an article. Avoid it, and give a summarized indirect account of a character's speech. Important direct quotes can be put in a character's "Quotes" section.
 * Don't write meaningless, empty phrases that do not provide the reader with any new insights.
 * Example: Putting "professional relationship" for relationships between professional colleagues does not give the reader any more insights into their relationship.


 * Keep it terse.
 * Example: When summarizing events in the manga, there is no need to reproduce every detail of a scene.
 * »Shiono is sitting alone on a chair in interrogation room 15. There's also a table and another chair in the room. The light is on. In thoughts, he is asking himself why he has to be in this room, and is wondering how they're making progress with the proofreading. He is startled out of his reverie by footsteps he hears outside. Sasaki enters the room and asks Shiono if they can start; Shiono agrees, his face frightened. After having sat down on the chair on the side of the table opposite to Shiono's, Sasaki reads out Shiono's data: Shiono is 36 years old, an editor of Shoeisha's Literature Department, and the editor in charge of Sen Takatsuki.[...]«
 * All of the information in this example is usually unnecessary when summarizing events in the series. The personal information of Shiono belongs into his infobox or the introductory paragraph of his article.


 * Avoid rarely-used abbreviations.
 * Example: Do not write "KIA"; instead, rephrase it in normal words, e.g., "was killed in the line of duty".

Speculation
Speculation is any unconfirmed information in the series.

If some speculation is assumed by a character/characters in the series but unconfirmed otherwise, it can be mentioned in corresponding articles, but must be marked as speculation by these characters. A reference for verification should be provided.
 * Example: Tsuneyoshi Washuu referred to the One-Eyed Owl as the One-Eyed King.

Any other speculation, especially fanbase theories or fanon, must be left off article pages.

If it is not possible to verify some piece of information, it can be unconditionally assumed to be speculation.

Do not write "it is assumed that", "it is presumed that" or "it is speculated that". If you feel like writing any of these phrases, then it is speculation and should be either removed or marked as in-story speculation by some character(s).

Again, any input would be much appreciated. 