UniWiki:Manual of Style/Self-references to avoid

This page is a part of the UniWiki's Manual of Style. It is a general guideline intended to harmonize article style across the UniWiki, though it is best treated with common sense, and exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should be approved by the Wiki Manager. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

This guideline is about self-references and specifies which types of self-references should be avoided and which kinds are acceptable. A self-reference in an article usually mentions the UniWiki directly or tells readers to take an action on the UniWiki, such as editing the article.

Typically, self-references within UniWiki articles to the UniWiki project should be avoided. Others, such as maintenance templates, may be necessary.

Types of self-reference

This UniWiki article discusses... — Edit this page...

Mentioning that the article is being read on the UniWiki, or referring to UniWiki policy or technicalities of using the UniWiki should be avoided where possible. This type of self-reference limits the use of the UniWiki as a free content encyclopedia suitable for forking, as permitted by our license. The goal of the UniWiki is to create an encyclopedia, not merely to perpetuate itself, so the articles produced should be useful, even outside the context of the project used to create them. This means that while articles may refer to themselves, they should not refer to "the UniWiki" or to the UniWiki project as a whole (e.g. "this website").

Mentioning the UniWiki community, or website features, can confuse readers of derivative works. Unless substantially part of the article topic, do not refer to the fact that the page can be edited or mention any UniWiki project page or process, specialized UniWiki jargon (e.g. "POV" in place of "biased") or any MediaWiki interface link in the sidebar or along the top of the screen.

References that exist in a way that assumes the reader is using an encyclopedia, without reference to the specific encyclopedia (the UniWiki) or the manner of access (online), are acceptable. For instance, in the Wikipedia article on the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case, before the alleged victim's identification, it said that "Due to concerns over privacy, the name of the alleged victim is not being included in this article or at this time." That is a reference that makes sense on mirrors and forks and in print, and makes sense in a copy of Wikipedia that contains only the article space. Similarly, many list articles explicitly state their inclusion criteria in the lead section. Other examples of permissible self-references of this sort include disambiguation links (the templates for which suppress their appearance in printed copies), and "See ..." cross-references (which may or may not be printworthy, depending upon whether they are inter-article.

The templates that render self-referencing messages for the maintenance needs of developing articles, such as {{stub}}, are unavoidable, but articles should normally avoid self-referencing templates.

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Although The UniWiki is not a paper encyclopedia, articles should be written in a manner that facilitates transmission in other forms such as print, spoken word, and via a screen reader. So terms such as "this article" are preferable to "this webpage", and terms like "click here" should be avoided, which make no sense when using a screen reader, for instance. A mouse is not used with mobile and text-based web browsers, and so "click" does not have a meaning in this context – the user might use any key to follow links. In determining what language is most suitable, it may be helpful to imagine writing the article for a print encyclopedia.

Free content projects, such as this website ...

See also: Wikipedia:About

Articles about online communities may well discuss wikis (such as Wikipedia or the UniWiki) as an example, in a neutral tone, without specifically implying that the article in question is being read on—or is a part of—the UniWiki. In this framework, if you link from an article to a specific UniWiki page, use external link style, so the link will make sense in any context.

Such pages may include:

• Articles where the UniWiki played a major role in the subject of the article
• Articles about prominent people involved in the UniWiki
• Articles about the UniWiki

This article was criticised by...

The UniWiki is an encyclopedia, so its articles are about their subjects; they are not about the articles themselves (even if an article itself becomes famous, it should not report this about itself).

If publicity regarding an article is significant enough to be included on the UniWiki, that information would not be included in the article, unless it is relevant to the topic of the article itself. For example, a discussion of Stephen Colbert's call for vandalism of the Elephant article might be appropriate for the article on The Colbert Report, but not for the article on elephants—the incident had nothing to do with the actual animal. Protests regarding depictions of Muhammad in Wikipedia's Muhammad article are not addressed at Muhammad (the article on the prophet), but at Depictions of Muhammad, under a "recent controversies" section.

A mention of the UniWiki by a notable person is unlikely to justify a mention in their UniWiki article. To avoid self reference, a mention needs to reflect its importance in their overall body of work. For example, a radio host mentioning that he read a UniWiki article is not a very important event in his overall career. On the other hand, the media attention surrounding John Seigenthaler's Wikipedia entry is now a notable event in his public life.

In templates and categories

Self-references are sometimes found in the templates and the categories. Some of these are necessary or intrinsic to the purpose of the page, as with disambiguation information at the top of category pages and in {{stub}} templates, which encourage readers to edit the page. Unnecessary self-references are not encouraged in templates or categories, due to the need of third-party users to either delete those templates or modify them to remove the Wikipedia references. For example, all {{navbox}} templates should provide a list of related articles, but none of them should label these pages as "Wikipedia articles" or as "Related articles on this website".

When forced to use templates like this, you should use them in a way such that the article still makes sense when the template is removed, in order to facilitate automated removal.

User pages may be categorized under Category:Pilots, but not in any subcategories under Category:People. If a player (whether they are known by their in-game name or not) becomes notable within the EVE community at large, an article separate from their User page should be written, even if they already possess a populated User page.

See also

• Wikipedia:Printability
• Wikipedia:Cross-namespace redirects