UniWiki:Manual of Style: Difference between revisions

{{UMoS guideline}}

The UniWiki Manual of Style presents the UniWiki's house style. The goal is to make using the UniWiki easier and more intuitive by promoting clarity and cohesion, while helping editors write articles with consistent and precise language, layout, and formatting. [[Wikipedia:Plain English|Plain English]] works best. Avoid ambiguity and vague or unnecessarily complex wording. Any new content added to the body of this page should directly address a style issue that has occurred in a significant number of instances.

When choosing an article's title, refer to the [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Article titles|article titles]] policy. A title should be a recognizable name or description of the topic that is natural, sufficiently precise, concise, and consistent with the titles of related articles. If these criteria are in conflict, they should be balanced against one another.

* Do not use {{notthis|A}}, {{notthis|An}}, or {{notthis|The}} as the first word ({{dothis|Economy of the Caldari State}}, not {{notthis|The economy of the Caldari State}}), unless it is an inseparable part of a name ({{dothis|The Kalevala Expanse}}) or it is part of the title of a work (''{{dothis|The Seven Events of the Apocalypse}}'', ''{{dothis|The Scope}}'').

* Titles should normally be [[Wikipedia:Noun|nouns]] or [[Wikipedia:Noun phrase|noun phrases]]: {{dothis|Early life}}, not {{notthis|In early life}}.<ref>Using phrases like {{dothis|In early life}} is acceptable for section headings.</ref>

The guidance contained elsewhere in the UMoS, particularly {{section link||Punctuation}} (below) applies to all parts of an article, including the title.

{{main|UniWiki:Manual of Style/Layout}}

An article should begin with an introductory ''lead section'', which should not contain section headings ''(see [[UniWiki:Manual of Style/Lead section]])''. The remainder of the article may be divided into sections, each with a section heading (see below) that can be nested in a hierarchy.  

* [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Categorization|Categories]].

{{see also|UniWiki:Manual of Style/Accessibility#Headings|UniWiki:Manual of Style/Layout#Order of article elements}}, ''[[Wikipedia:Help:Section]]''

The provisions in {{section link||Article titles}} generally apply to section headings as well (for example, headings are in sentence case, not title case). The following points apply specifically to section headings:

Several of the above provisions are also applicable to table headers, including sentence case and redundancy. Table headers are often useful places for citations (e.g., the source of all the data in a column), and many do begin with or are numbers. Table headers do not automatically generate link anchors. ''(For more information see {{Section link|UniWiki:Manual of Style/Tables|Captions and headers}}.)''

For some elements of style, there is more than one format that is acceptable.  In general, editors should not change articles between acceptable formats unless there is some substantial reason for the change (unrelated to the choice of style or the preference of the editor), and edit-warring between optional styles is unacceptable.

* [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Citing sources#WP:CITEVAR|Variations of citation style]] (where applicable)

The UniWiki prefers no major national variety of the language over any other. These varieties (e.g., [[Wikipedia:American English|American English]], [[Wikipedia:British English|British English]], etc.) differ in many ways, including vocabulary (''elevator'' vs. ''lift''), spelling (''center'' vs. ''centre''), date formatting ("April 13" vs. "13 April"), and occasionally grammar (see {{section link||Plurals}}, below). The following subsections describe how to determine the appropriate variety for an article. (The accepted style of punctuation is covered in {{section link||Punctuation}}, below.)

{{hatnote|See also [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Consistency|Wikipedia:Consistency]] for additional policies and guidelines on consistency.}}

* '''URLs:''' Changing the spelling of part of an external link's URL will almost always break the link.

{{main|UniWiki:Manual of Style/Capital letters}}

* '''In generic use''', apply lower case to words such as ''president'', ''king'', and ''emperor'' ({{dothis|Souro Foiritan was a Gallentean president}}; {{dothis|Jamyl Sarum was an Amarrian empress}}; {{dothis|Three directors attended the conference}}).

* '''Directly juxtaposed with the person's name''', such words begin with a capital letter ({{dothis|Empress Catiz}}, not {{notthis|empress Catiz}}). Standard or commonly used names of an office are treated as proper names ({{dothis|Maleatu Shakor is Matari Sanmatar}}; {{dothis|Jamyl Sarum was Empress of the Amarrian Empire}}; {{dothis|Jacus Roden is President of the Gallente Federation}}). Royal styles are capitalized ({{dothis|Her Majesty}}; {{dothis|His Grace}}); exceptions may apply for particular offices.

=== Religions, deities, philosophies, doctrines ===

* The words '''<nowiki />''sun'', ''earth'', and ''moon''<nowiki />''' do not take capitals in general use ({{dothis|The sun was peeking over the mountain top}}; {{dothis|The tribal people of Matar thought of the whole earth as their home}}). They are capitalized when the entity is personified ({{xt|Sol Invictus ("Unconquered Sun") was the Roman sun god}}) or when used as the name of a specific body in a scientific or astronomical context ({{dothis|The Moon orbits the Earth}}; but {{xt|Kileakum is a moon of Eclipticum}}).

* Words such as '''<nowiki />''comet'' and ''galaxy''<nowiki />''' should be capitalized where they form part of an object's proper name ({{dothis|New Eden Cluster}}).

The word ''the'' at the start of a title is usually uncapitalized, but follow the institution's own usage ({{dothis|a degree from the University of Caille}}; but {{dothis|researchers at The Leisure Group}}).

{{main|UniWiki:Manual of Style/Abbreviations}}

=== Write out both the full version and the abbreviation at first occurrence ===

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| ''Incorrect'': || {{notthis|He used a MicroWarpDrive (MWD)}}

=== Ampersand ===

:''Further information: [[UniWiki:Manual of Style/Text formatting]]''

Italicize only the elements of the sentence affected by the emphasis. Do not italicize surrounding punctuation.

=== Italicized links ===

:''Correct'': {{dothis|<code><nowiki>The [[USS Adder (SS-3)|USS ''Adder'' (SS-3)]] was a submarine.</nowiki></code>}}

{{see also|Wikipedia:Line-break handling}}

Always insert hard/thin spaces symbolically (<code>&amp;nbsp;</code>, <code>&amp;thinsp;</code>), never by entering them as literal Unicode characters entered directly from the keyboard.

* Consistent use of the ''straight'' [[Wikipedia:Apostrophe|apostrophe]] ({{xt|&nbsp;<big>'</big>&nbsp;}}) is recommended, as opposed to the ''curly'' apostrophe ({{!xt|&nbsp;<big>‘ ’</big>&nbsp;}}). For details and reasons, see {{section link||Quotation marks}}, below.

:* Quotation marks ''not'' part of the article title should not be bolded (from [[Wikipedia:Jabberwocky|Jabberwocky]]: {{xt|"'''Jabberwocky'''" is a nonsense poem&nbsp;...}}; from [[Wikipedia:Bill Clinton|Bill Clinton]]: {{xt|'''William Jefferson''' "'''Bill'''" '''Clinton''' is an American politician&nbsp;...}}).

; Block quotations

; Punctuation before quotations

: The use of a comma before a quotation embedded within a sentence is optional, if a non-quoted but otherwise identical construction would work grammatically without the comma:

: Do not use [[Wikipedia:grave accent|grave]] and [[Wikipedia:Acute accent|acute accents]] or backticks ({{!xt|<big>'''`'''</big>text<big>'''´'''</big>}}) as quotation marks (or as apostrophes). Likewise, avoid using the low-high ({{!xt|„&nbsp;“}}) or [[Wikipedia:Guillemet|guillemet]] ({{!xt|«&nbsp;»}}) quotation marks that are common in [[Wikipedia:Non-English usage of quotation marks|several foreign languages]]. Editors may see {{!xt|′}} and {{!xt|″}} under the edit window as characters available for insertion; however, these are [[Wikipedia:prime (symbol)|prime]] and double-prime symbols, used to indicate subdivisions of the [[Wikipedia:degree (angle)|degree]], and should not be used to mark quotations.

Typographical, or curly, quotation marks and apostrophes might be read more efficiently, and many think they look better. However, for practical reasons the straight versions are used on the UniWiki.

=== Brackets and parentheses ===

If a sentence contains a bracketed phrase, place the sentence punctuation outside the brackets {{xt|(as shown here).}} However, where one or more sentences are wholly inside brackets, place their punctuation inside the brackets. (For examples, see {{section link||Sentences and brackets}}, below.) There should be no space next to the inner side of a bracket. An opening bracket should usually be preceded by a space, for example. This may not be the case if it is preceded by an opening quotation mark, another opening bracket, or a portion of a word:

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==== Sentences and brackets ====

:: {{xt|She refused all requests (except for basics such as food, medicine, etc.).}}

* However, if the entire sentence is within brackets, the closing punctuation falls within the brackets. (This sentence is an example.) This does not apply to matter that is added (or modified editorially) at the beginning of a sentence for clarity, which is usually in square brackets:

{| class="wikitable"

| style="width:70%;" | <pre style="margin:0px; white-space:normal;">He said, "[[John Doe|John &amp;#91;Doe&amp;#93;]] answered."</pre> ||  

|-

| <pre style="margin:0px; white-space:normal;">[<nowiki>http://</nowiki>example.site On the first day &amp;#91;etc.&amp;#93;]</pre> ||  

[http://example.site On the first day &#91;etc.&#93;]

|}

=== Ellipses ===

: Ellipsis points, or ellipses, have traditionally been implemented in three ways:

:* Put a space on each side of an ellipsis ({{xt|"France, Germany,&nbsp;... and Belgium"}}), except that there should be no space between an ellipsis and

:** a quotation mark directly following the ellipsis ({{xt|"France, Germany, and Belgium&nbsp;..."}}).

:** to keep the ellipsis from wrapping to the next line ({{xt|"France, Germany,<code>&amp;nbsp;</code>... and Belgium"}}, not {{!xt|"France, Germany,<code>&amp;nbsp;</code>...<code>&amp;nbsp;</code>and Belgium"}}).

=== Commas ===

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==== Serial commas ====

*Sometimes omitting the comma can lead to ambiguity:

* Use paragraph breaks, bullet lists, or numbered paragraphs to clarify.

*Recast the sentence (first example above):

**: Clearer (but wordier): {{xt|The author thanked her father and her mother, who are President Obama and Sinéad O'Connor respectively.}}

*Recast the sentence (second example above):

=== Colons ===

: {{xt|We visited several tourist attractions: the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which I thought could fall at any moment; the Bridge of Sighs; the supposed birthplace of Petrarch, or at least the first known house in which he lived; and so many more.}}

In most cases a colon works best with a complete grammatical sentence before it. There are exceptional cases, such as those where the colon introduces items set off in new lines like the very next colon here. Examples:

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=== Semicolons ===

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==== Semicolon before "however" ====

The meaning of a sentence containing a trailing clause that starts with the word "however" depends on the punctuation preceding that word. A common error is to use the wrong punctuation, thereby changing the meaning to one not intended.

| || {{xt|It was obvious they could not convert these people; however, they tried.}}

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| || {{xt|It was obvious they could not convert these people, however they tried.}}

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| || {{xt|However they tried, it was obvious they could not convert these people.}}

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| || {{xt|He did not know, however, that the venue had been changed at the last minute.}}

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=== Hyphens ===

# In hyphenated personal names: {{xt|John Lennard-Jones}}.

#* Hyphens can help with ease of reading ({{xt|face-to-face discussion}}, {{xt|hard-boiled egg}}); where non-experts are part of the readership, a hyphen is particularly useful in long noun phrases, such as those in Wikipedia's scientific articles: {{xt|gas-phase reaction dynamics}}. However, hyphens are never inserted into proper names in compounds ({{xt|Middle Eastern cuisine}}, not {{!xt|Middle-Eastern cuisine}}).

#* A hyphen can help to disambiguate ({{xt|little-celebrated paintings}} is not a reference to little paintings; {{xt|a government-monitoring program}} is a program that monitors the government, whereas {{xt|a government monitoring program}} is a government program that monitors something else).

#* A hyphen is normally used when the adverb ''well'' precedes a participle used attributively ({{xt|a well-meaning gesture}}; but normally {{xt|a very well managed firm}}, because ''well'' itself is modified) and even predicatively, if ''well'' is necessary to, or alters, the sense of the adjective rather than simply intensifying it ({{xt|the gesture was well-meaning}}, {{xt|the child was well-behaved}}, but {{xt|the floor was well polished}}).

#* In some cases, like {{xt|diode–transistor logic}}, the independent status of the linked elements requires an en dash instead of a hyphen. See [[#En dashes|En dashes]] below.

:::{| style="background:transparent"

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'''Spacing:''' A hyphen is never followed or preceded by a space, except when hanging (see above) or when used to display parts of words independently, such as the prefix {{xt|sub-}} and the suffix {{xt|‑less}}.

:<code><nowiki>{{shy|This al|ter|na|tive syn|tax im|proves read|a|bil|ity}}</nowiki></code>

Hyphenation involves many subtleties that cannot be covered here; the rules and examples presented above illustrate the broad principles.

==== Punctuating a sentence (em or en dashes) ====

:: {{xt|Another "planet" was detected—but it was later found to be a moon of Saturn.}}

*An en dash is ''spaced'' (that is, with a space on either side) when used as sentence punctuation:

Dashes can clarify the sentence structure when there are already commas or parentheses, or both.

* Avoid: {{!xt|First—and most spectacularly—came the bishops—then the other clergy.}} Better: {{xt|First—and most spectacularly—came the bishops, who were followed by the other clergy.}}

===== In ranges that might otherwise be expressed with ''to'' or ''through'' =====

{{hatnote|Here the ranges are ranges of numbers, dates, or times. For other ranges, such as ranges of physical locations, see {{section link||In compounds when the connection might otherwise be expressed with to, versus, and, or between}}.}}

* {{xt|pp.&nbsp;7–19}};&nbsp;&nbsp; {{xt|64–75%}};&nbsp;&nbsp; {{xt|Henry&nbsp;VIII reigned 1509–1547}}

Do not mix en dashes with prepositions like ''between'' and ''from''.

The en dash in a range is always unspaced, except when either or both elements of the range include at least one space.

===== In compounds when the connection might otherwise be expressed with ''to'', ''versus'', ''and'', or ''between'' =====

* {{xt|boyfriend–girlfriend problems}};&nbsp;&nbsp; {{xt|the Paris–Montpellier route}};&nbsp;&nbsp; {{xt|a New York–Los Angeles flight}}

* {{xt|red–green colorblind}}; red and green are separate independent colors, not mixed

* Wrong: {{!xt|blue–green algae}}; a blended, intermediate color, so use a hyphen: {{xt|blue-green algae}}

* {{xt|a 50–50 joint venture}};&nbsp;&nbsp; {{xt|a 60–40 split}};&nbsp;&nbsp; avoid using a slash here, which indicates division

* {{xt|the Uganda–Tanzania War}};&nbsp;&nbsp; {{xt|the Roman–Syrian War}};&nbsp;&nbsp; {{xt|the east–west runway}};&nbsp;&nbsp; {{xt|the Lincoln–Douglas debates}};&nbsp;&nbsp; {{xt|a carbon–carbon bond}}

* {{xt|the ballerina's rapid walk–dance transitions}};&nbsp;&nbsp; {{xt|a male–female height ratio of 1.14}}

* {{xt|Japanese–American trade}};&nbsp;&nbsp; but {{xt|a family of Japanese-American traders}} or {{xt|a family of Japanese Americans}}

* {{xt|an Italian–Swiss border crossing}};&nbsp;&nbsp; but {{xt|an Italian-Swiss newspaper}} for {{xt|Italian-speaking Swiss}}

* {{xt|France–Britain rivalry}};&nbsp;&nbsp; {{xt|French–British rivalry}}

* {{xt|the protein–fat ratio}};&nbsp;&nbsp; {{xt|the protein/fat ratio}};&nbsp;&nbsp; {{xt|the protein-to-fat ratio}}

Use an en dash for the names of two or more entities in an attributive compound.

Use this punctuation when there are compelling grounds for retaining the construction. For example, from a speech that is simply transcribed and cannot be re-worded; or in a heading where it has been judged most natural as a common name. Otherwise recasting is better.

* Best to recast the examples shown above: {{xt|former prime minister Thatcher}}; {{xt|aircraft [from] before World War II}}

===== To separate parts of an item in a list =====

Spaced en dashes are sometimes used between parts of list items. Below are two examples.

==== Other dashes ====

=== Slashes ===

An example: {{!xt|The parent/instructor must be present at all times.}} Must both be present? (Then write {{xt|the parent and the instructor}}.) Must at least one be present? (Then write {{xt|the parent or the instructor}}.) Are they the same person? (Use a hyphen: {{xt|the parent-instructor}}.)

An unspaced slash may be used:

* to express a ratio, in a form in which a slash is conventionally used (e.g., {{xt|the price-to-earnings ratio, or P/E ratio for short}})

A spaced slash may be used:

* to separate items that include at least one internal space ({{xt|the NY&nbsp;31 east&nbsp;/ NY&nbsp;370 exit}}), where for some reason use of a slash is unavoidable

==== And/or ====

Avoid writing {{!xt|and/or}}: Instead of {{!xt|Most suffered trauma and/or smoke inhalation}}, write simply {{xt|trauma or smoke inhalation}} (which would normally be interpreted to imply ''or both''); or, for emphasis or precision, write {{xt|trauma or smoke inhalation or both}}. Where more than two possibilities are present, instead of {{!xt|x, y, and/or z}} write {{xt|one or more of x, y, and z}} or {{xt|some or all of x, y, and z}}.

:{| style="background:transparent"

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* For the use of three periods in succession, see {{section link||Ellipses}}, above.

* Question marks and exclamation marks may sometimes be used in the middle of a sentence:

** {{xt|Why me? she wondered.}}

=== Spacing ===

==== Spaces following terminal punctuation ====

=== Consecutive punctuation marks ===

Where a word or phrase that includes terminal punctuation ends a sentence, do not add a second terminal punctuation mark. If a quoted phrase or title ends in a question mark or exclamation mark, it may confuse readers as to the nature of the article sentence containing it, and so is usually better reworded to be mid-sentence. Where such a word or phrase occurs mid-sentence, new terminal punctuation (usually a period) must be added at the end.

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=== Punctuation and footnotes ===

=== Punctuation after formulae ===

{{main|UniWiki:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers#Chronological items}}

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{{main|UniWiki:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers#Numbers}}

* Write out "million" and "billion" on the first use. After that, unspaced "M" can be used for millions and "B" for billions: {{xt|70M}} and {{xt|25B}}. See {{section link|UniWiki:Manual of Style|Numbers as figures or words}} for similar words.

* Write {{xt|3%}}, {{xt|three percent}}, or {{xt|three per cent}}, but not {{!xt|3 %}} (with a space) or {{!xt|three %}}. "Percent" is American usage, and "per cent" is British usage (see {{section link||National varieties of English}}, above). In ranges of percentages written with an en dash, write only one percent sign: {{xt|3–14%}}.

{{main|UniWiki:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers#Currencies and monetary values}}

* Use only one symbol with ranges, as in {{xt|$250–300}}.

* In articles that are not specific to a country, express amounts of money in [[Wikipedia:United States dollars|United States dollars]], [[Wikipedia:Euros|euros]], or [[Wikipedia:Pounds sterling|pounds sterling]]. Do not link the names or symbols of currencies that are commonly known to English-speakers ({{xt|$}}, {{xt|£}}, {{xt|€}}), unless there is a particular reason to do so; do not use potentially ambiguous currency symbols, unless the meaning is clear in the context.

* In the context of the UniWiki, ISK is understood to mean "InterStellar Kredits", the in-game currency of EVE, as opposed to the Icelandic krona.

{{main|UniWiki:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers#Units of measurement}}

* In a direct quotation, always keep the source units. If a conversion is required, it should appear within square brackets in the quote, or else an obscure use of units can be explained in a [[Wikipedia:Footnotes|footnote]].

* Where space is limited (such as tables, infoboxes, parenthetical notes, and mathematical formulas) use unit symbols. In main text it is usually better to spell out unit names, but symbols may also be used when a unit (especially one with a long name) is used repeatedly. However, spell out the first instance of each unit in an article (for example, {{xt|the typical batch is 250 kilograms&nbsp;... and then 15&nbsp;kg of emulsifier is added}}), except for unit names that are hardly ever spelled out (e.g., the degree Celsius). Most unit names are not capitalized. Use "per" when writing out a unit, rather than a slash: {{xt|meter per second}}, not {{!xt|meter/second}}. (For spelling differences, follow {{section link||National varieties of English}}, above.)

* When dimensions are given, each number should be followed by a unit name or symbol (e.g., write {{xt|1&nbsp;m × 3&nbsp;m × 6&nbsp;m}}, not {{!xt|1 × 3 × 6&nbsp;m}}).

* When they form a compound adjective, values and spelled-out unit names should be separated by a hyphen: for example, {{xt|a five-day holiday}}. An exception is when the hyphenated construction has another meaning in the context.

* No ''s'' is appended, e.g., {{xt|km}}, not {{!xt|kms}}.

* Write powers of unit symbols with HTML, e.g., {{xt|<nowiki>5&nbsp;km²</nowiki>}} not [[Wikipedia:Unicode subscripts and superscripts|Unicode superscripts and subscripts]].

** When discussing computer equipment and other real life hardware concepts, units should be specified as stated above.

** When discussing in-game concepts (particularly drones), megabits (Mbits) should be used.

* For a negative sign or subtraction operator, use a minus sign ({{xt|−}}, Unicode character U+2212 <small>MINUS SIGN</small>). Input by clicking on it in the insert box beneath the edit window or by typing <code>&amp;minus;</code>.

* [[Wikipedia:Exponentiation|Exponentiation]] is indicated by a superscript, {{xt|''a''^''n''}} (typed as <code><nowiki>''a''^''n''</nowiki></code>. [[Wikipedia:Exponential notation|Exponential notation]] can be spaced or unspaced, depending on circumstances.

* Do not use programming language notation outside computer program listings. In most programming languages, subtraction, multiplication, and exponentiation are respectively represented by the [[Wikipedia:Hyphen-minus|hyphen-minus]] <code>-</code>, the [[Wikipedia:Asterisk|asterisk]] <code>*</code>, and either the [[Wikipedia:Caret|caret]] <code>^</code> or the double asterisk <code>**</code>, and [[Wikipedia:Scientific notation|scientific notation]] is replaced by [[Wikipedia:E notation|E notation]].

* Variables are italicized, but digits and punctuation are not; only ''x'' and ''y'' are italicized in {{xt|2(5''x''&nbsp;+&nbsp;''y'')²}}. The [[Wikipedia:Semantic HTML|semantic HTML]] element {{tag|var}} can be used to distinguish variables from other uses of italics, as illustrated in the code example above.

{{hatnote|For thorough treatment of the English possessive, see [[Wikipedia:Apostrophe|Apostrophe]].}}

* For the possessive of most singular nouns, including proper names and words ending with a double-s, add ''<nowiki />'s'' ({{xt|my daughter's achievement}}, {{xt|my niece's wedding}}, {{xt|Cortez's men}}, {{xt|the boss's office}}, {{xt|Glass's books}}, {{xt|Illinois's largest employer}}, {{xt|Descartes's philosophy}}, {{xt|Verreaux's eagle}}).

: '''Exception:''' Abstract nouns ending with an /s/ sound, when followed by ''sake'' ({{xt|for goodness' sake}}, {{xt|for his conscience' sake}}).

*#* Add ''<nowiki />'s'' if the possessive has an additional 'z' sound at the end: {{xt|Jan Hus's life}}, {{xt|Morris's works}}.

*#* Some possessives have two possible pronunciations: {{xt|James's house}} or {{xt|James' house}}, {{xt|Brahms's music}} or {{xt|Brahms' music}}, {{xt|Vilnius's location}} or {{xt|Vilnius' location}}, {{xt|Dickens's novels}} or {{xt|Dickens' novels}}.

* For a normal plural noun, ending with a pronounced ''s'', form the possessive by adding just an apostrophe ({{xt|my sons' wives}}, {{xt|my nieces' weddings}}).

While certain topics and articles found on the UniWiki will be based on opinion, such as fittings or guides, UniWiki articles should be written in an impersonal voice and style, so never use ''I'', ''my'', or similar forms (except in quotations). This restriction does not apply to talk or user pages.

* In historical articles to mean the modern world as a whole: {{xt|The text of ''De re publica'' has come down to us with substantial sections missing.}}

In general, writers should avoid addressing the reader directly by using the second-person [[Wikipedia:Generic you|generic ''you'']] or ''your''; it is often ambiguous, and contrary to the tone of an encyclopedia (see also {{section link||Instructional and presumptuous language}}, below).

* The [[Wikipedia:English passive voice|passive voice]] may sometimes be used instead: {{xt|Impurities are removed before bottling}}.

:''See also: [[Wikipedia:English plurals#Collective noun|Collective nouns]]

Some [[Wikipedia:Collective noun|collective nouns]]—such as ''team'' (and proper names of them), ''army'', ''company'', ''crowd'', ''fleet'', ''government'', ''majority'', ''mess'', ''number'', ''pack'', and ''party''—may refer either to a single entity or to the members that compose it. In British English, such words are sometimes treated as singular, but more often treated as plural, according to context. Exceptionally, names of towns and countries usually take singular verbs (unless they are being used to refer to a team or company by that name, or when discussing actions of that entity's government). For example, in {{xt|[[Wikipedia:England national football team|England]] are playing [[Wikipedia:Germany national football team|Germany]] tonight}}, ''England'' refers to a [[Wikipedia:Association football|football]] team; but in {{xt|England is the most populous country of the United Kingdom}}, it refers to the country. In North American English, these words (and ''the United States'', for historical reasons) are almost invariably treated as singular; the major exception is when sports teams are referred to by nicknames that are plural nouns, when plural verbs are commonly used to match. See also {{section link||National varieties of English}}, above.

:''See also: [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Writing better articles#Tense|Tense]]

Tense can be used to distinguish between current and former status of a subject: {{xt|Dún Aonghasa '''is''' the ruin of a prehistoric Irish cliff fort. Its original shape '''was''' presumably oval or D-shaped, but parts of the cliff and fort have since collapsed into the sea.}} (Emphasis added for clarity.)

=== Contractions ===

Use [[Wikipedia:Gender-neutral language|gender-neutral language]] where this can be done with clarity and precision. For example, avoid the [[Wikipedia:Generic he|generic ''he'']]. This does not apply to direct quotations or the titles of works (''{{xt|The Ascent of Man}}''), which should not be altered, or to wording about one-gender contexts, such as an all-female school ({{xt|When any student breaks that rule, she loses privileges}}).

=== Contested vocabulary ===

This guideline is relaxed in the case of guides, syllabi, and articles describing PvE encounters. In these cases, such language can and should be used when necessary to draw the reader's attention to important pieces of information.

=== Subset terms ===

When the notions named by jargon are too complex to explain concisely in a few parenthetical words, [[Wikipedia:Make technical articles understandable#Write one level down|write one level down]]. For example, consider adding a brief background section with <code><nowiki>{{|main}}</nowiki></code> tags pointing to the full treatment article(s) of the prerequisite notions; this approach is practical only when the prerequisite concepts are central to the exposition of the article's main topic and when such prerequisites are not too numerous. Short articles like [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Stub|stubs]] generally do not have such sections.

:''See also: [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Creation and usage of media files|Wikipedia:Creation and usage of media files]]

* Use captions to clarify the relevance of the image to the article (see {{section link||Captions}}, below).

* Each image should be inside the major section to which it relates (within the section defined by the most recent level 1 level 2 heading or at the top of the lead section), not immediately above the section heading.

* It is often preferable to place images of faces so that the face or eyes look toward the text. However, it is not necessary to reverse an image simply to have the subject facing the text.

* Multiple images in the same article can be staggered right-and-left (for example, [[Wikipedia:Timpani|Timpani]]).

* Avoid referring to images as being on the left or right. Image placement is different for viewers of the mobile version of Wikipedia, and is meaningless to people having pages read to them by assistive software. Instead, use captions to identify images.

* [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Alternative text for images|Alt text]] takes the place of an image for text-only readers, including those using [[Wikipedia:Screen Reader|screen readers]]. Images should have an alt attribute added to the 'alt' parameter. See [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Alternative text of images|Wikipedia:Alternative text of images]] for more information.

=== Other media files ===

Other media files include video and audio files. Style recommendations for such files largely follow recommendations for image files (as far as applicable).

=== Captions ===

* Captions for technical charts and diagrams may need to be substantially longer than those for other images. Captions for technical images should fully describe all the elements of the image and indicate the image's significance.

{{main|UniWiki:Manual of Style/Lists|UniWiki:Manual of Style/Embedded lists}}

*** '''Other elements''', they are formatted consistently in either sentence case or lower case.

=== Wikilinks ===

{{main|UniWiki:Manual of Style/Linking}}

:''See also: [[Wikipedia:Help:Link|Wikipedia:Links]]''

'''Linking to sections''': A hash sign&nbsp;(<code>#</code>) followed by the appropriate heading will lead to a relevant part of a page. For example, <code><nowiki>[[EVE University Management#Director of Operations]]</nowiki></code> links to a particular section of the article [[EVE University Management]].

'''Initial capitalization''': The UniWiki's software does not require that wikilinks begin with an upper-case character. Only capitalize the first letter where this is naturally called for, or when specifically referring to the linked article by its name: {{xt|The [[Buzzard]] is used for [[exploration]], but other [[frigates]] can also be used (see [[Covert Ops]]).}}

=== External links ===

External links should not normally be used in the body of an article. Instead, articles can include an ''External links'' section at the end, pointing to further information outside the UniWiki as distinct from citing sources. The standard format is a primary heading, <code>==External links==</code>, followed by a bulleted list of links. Identify the link and briefly indicate its relevance to the article. For example:

: <code><nowiki>* [https://www.eveonline.com/ EVE Online homepage]</nowiki></code>

These will appear as:

:* [https://www.eveonline.com/ EVE Online homepage]

One major exception to this guideline is when referencing in-game items that do not have an entry on the UniWiki. As of this writing, the UniWiki does not have an internal item database, nor does it have pages for most in-game items. Thus, in the event that a particular item must be referenced explicitly, it is acceptable to link to an available public database of items for this purpose. This should be done sparingly&mdash;most item references do not need to be linked.

=== Keep markup simple ===

* cause disputes, since other editors may disagree aesthetically with the choice of style.

==== Color coding ====

{{main|UniWiki:Manual of Style/Accessibility#Color}}

=== Scrolling lists and collapsible content ===

This notation can be inserted with a single click in ''Wiki markup'', just under the edit pane in edit mode.

{{Reflist}}