UniWiki:Manual of Style: Difference between revisions

: Use quotation marks or block quotes (not both) to distinguish long quotations from other text. Multiparagraph quotations are always block-quoted. The quotations must be precise and exactly as in the source (except for certain {{em|allowable typographical changes}}. The source should be cited clearly and precisely to enable readers to locate the text in question, and to quote it accurately themselves from Wikipedia.

| {{em|Incorrect}}:    || {{!xt|Nikifor Grigoriev (c. 1885–1919) (also known as Matviy Hryhoriyiv) was a Ukrainian insurgent leader.}}

| {{em|Correct}}: || {{xt|Nikifor Grigoriev (c. 1885–1919, also known as Matviy Hryhoriyiv) was a Ukrainian insurgent leader.}}

| {{em|Correct}}: || {{xt|Nikifor Grigoriev (c. 1885–1919) was a Ukrainian insurgent leader. He was also known as Matviy Hryhoriyiv.}}

* If any sentence includes material that is enclosed in square or round brackets, it still must end—with a period, a question mark, or an exclamation mark—{{em|after}} those brackets. This principle applies no matter what punctuation is used within the brackets:

:* '''Three unspaced periods''' ({{xt|...}}). This is the easiest way and gives a predictable appearance in HTML. {{em|Recommended.}}

:* '''Pre-composed ellipsis character''' ({{!xt|…}}) generated with the <code>&amp;hellip;</code> character entity or as a literal "<code>…</code>". This is harder to input and edit and too small in some fonts. {{em|Not recommended.}}

:* '''Three periods separated by spaces''' ({{!xt|.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.}}). This is an older style that is unnecessarily wide and requires non-breaking spaces to keep it from breaking at the end of a line. {{em|Not recommended.}}

: An ellipsis does not normally need square brackets around it, because its function is usually obvious—especially if the guidelines above are followed. Square brackets, however, may optionally be used for precision, to make it clear that the ellipsis is not itself quoted; this is usually only necessary if the quoted passage also uses three periods in it to indicate a pause or suspension. The ellipsis should follow exactly the principles given above but with square brackets inserted immediately before and after it ({{xt|Her long rant continued: "How do I feel? How do you {{em|think}} I&nbsp;... look, this has gone far enough!&nbsp;[...] I want to go home!"}}).

| {{em|Incorrect}}: || {{!xt|John Smith, Janet Cooper's son is a well-known playwright.}}

| {{em|Correct}}:&nbsp; &nbsp; || {{xt|John Smith, Janet Cooper's son, is a well-known playwright.}}

| {{em|Correct}}:&nbsp; &nbsp; || {{xt|Janet Cooper's son John Smith is a well-known playwright.}} (when Janet has multiple sons)

| {{em|Correct}}:&nbsp; &nbsp; || {{xt|Janet Cooper's son, John Smith, is a well-known playwright.}} (when Janet has only one son)

| {{em|Incorrect}}: || {{!xt|Burke and Wills, fed by locals (on beans, fish, and ''ngardu'') survived for a few months.}}

| {{em|Correct}}:&nbsp; &nbsp; || {{xt|Burke and Wills, fed by locals (on beans, fish, and ''ngardu''), survived for a few months.}}

| {{em|Awkward}}: || {{!xt|Mozart was, along with the Haydns, both Joseph and Michael, and also Beethoven, one of Schubert's heroes.}}

| {{em|Much better}}:&nbsp; &nbsp; || {{xt|Schubert's heroes included Mozart, Beethoven, and Joseph and Michael Haydn.}}

| {{em|Incorrect}}: || {{!xt|He set October 1, 2011 as the deadline for Chattanooga, Oklahoma to meet his demands.}}

| {{em|Correct}}:&nbsp; &nbsp; || {{xt|He set October 1, 2011, as the deadline for Chattanooga, Oklahoma, to meet his demands.}}

| {{em|Incorrect}}: || {{!xt|She said, "Punctuation styles on Wikipedia change too often," and made other complaints.}}

| {{em|Correct}}:&nbsp; &nbsp; || {{xt|She said, "Punctuation styles on Wikipedia change too often", and made other complaints.}}

| {{em|Correct}}: || {{xt|He attempted it in two years: 1941 and 1943.}}

| {{em|Incorrect}}:&nbsp; &nbsp; || {{!xt|The years he attempted it included: 1941 and 1943.}}

| {{em|Correct (special case)}}:&nbsp; &nbsp; || {{xt|Spanish, Portuguese, French: these, with a few others, are the West Romance languages.}}

| {{em|Correct}}: || {{xt|Though he had been here before, I did not recognize him.}}

| {{em|Incorrect}}:&nbsp; &nbsp; || {{!xt|Though he had been here before; I did not recognize him.}}

| {{em|Correct}}: || {{xt|Oranges are an acid fruit; bananas are classified as alkaline.}}

| {{em|Incorrect}}:&nbsp; &nbsp; || {{!xt|Oranges are an acid fruit, bananas are classified as alkaline.}}

| {{em|Accepted}}: || {{xt|"Life is short, art is long."}} (citing a brief [[Wikipedia:Aphorism|aphorism]]; see ''[[Wikipedia:Ars longa, vita brevis|Ars longa, vita brevis]]'')

| {{em|Accepted}}: || {{xt|"I have studied it, you have not."}} (reporting brisk conversation, like this reply of [[Wikipedia:Isaac Newton|Newton]]'s)

| {{em|Unwieldy}}: || {{!xt|Oranges are an acid fruit; bananas are classified as alkaline; pears are close to neutral; these distinctions are rarely discussed.}}

| {{em|One better way}}:&nbsp; &nbsp; || {{xt|Oranges are an acid fruit, bananas are alkaline, and pears are close to neutral; these distinctions are rarely discussed.}}

| {{em|Confusing}}:&nbsp;&nbsp; || {{!xt|Sales offices are located in Boston, Massachusetts, San Francisco, California, Singapore, and Millbank, London, England.}}

| {{em|Clear}}: || {{xt|Sales offices are located in Boston, Massachusetts; San Francisco, California; Singapore; and Millbank, London, England.}}

| {{em|Meaning}}: || {{xt|It was obvious they could not convert these people. Nevertheless, they tried.}}

| {{em|Meaning}}: || {{xt|It was obvious they could not convert these people, regardless of how they tried.}}

| {{em|Meaning}}: || {{xt|Regardless of how hard they tried, it was obvious they could not convert these people.}}

| {{em|Meaning}}: || {{xt|However, he did not know that the venue had been changed at the last minute.}}

#* Many compounds that are hyphenated when used {{em|[[Wikipedia:Attributive adjective|attributively]]}} (adjectives before the nouns they qualify: {{xt|a light-blue handbag}}, {{xt|a 34-year-old woman}}) or {{em|[[Wikipedia:Substantive|substantively]]}} (as a noun: {{xt|she is a 34-year-old}}), are usually {{em|not}} hyphenated when used {{em|[[Wikipedia:Predicative expression|predicatively]]}} (descriptive phrase separated from the noun: {{xt|the handbag was light blue}}, {{xt|the woman is 34 years old}}). Where there would otherwise be a loss of clarity, a hyphen may optionally be used in the predicative form as well ({{xt|hand-fed turkeys}}, {{xt|the turkeys were hand-fed}}). Awkward attributive hyphenation can sometimes be avoided with a simple rewording: {{xt|Hawaiian-native culture}} &rarr; {{xt|native Hawaiian culture}}.

| {{em|Incorrect}}: || {{!xt|9-mm gap}}

| {{em|Correct}}: || {{xt|9&nbsp;mm gap}} (''Markup:'' <code>9&amp;nbsp;mm gap</code>)

| {{em|Incorrect}}:&nbsp; &nbsp; || {{!xt|9&nbsp;millimetre gap}}

| {{em|Correct}}: || {{xt|9-millimetre gap}}

| {{em|Correct}}: || {{xt|12-hour shift}}

| {{em|Correct}}: || {{xt|12&nbsp;h shift}}

'''Non-breaking:''' A non-breaking hyphen (<code>&amp;#8209;</code>) will {{em|not}} be used as a point of line-wrap.

'''Soft hyphens:''' Use a [[Wikipedia:Soft hyphen|soft hyphen]] to indicate {{em|optional}} locations where a word may be broken and hyphenated at the end of a line of text. Use of soft hyphens should be limited to special cases, usually involving [[Wikipedia:Longest English words|very long words]] or narrow spaces (such as captions in tight page layouts, or column labels in narrow tables). Widespread use of soft hyphens is strongly discouraged, because it makes the wikitext very difficult to read and to edit (for example, <code>This Wi&amp;shy;ki&amp;shy;source ex&amp;shy;am&amp;shy;ple is dif&amp;shy;fi&amp;shy;cult to un&amp;shy;der&amp;shy;stand</code>). An alternative syntax improves readability:  

The [[Wikipedia:En dash|en dash]] (–) has other roles, beyond its use as a sentence-punctuating dash (see immediately above). It is often analogous to the hyphen (see {{section link||Hyphens}}, above), which {{em|joins components}} more strongly than the en dash; or to the slash (see the section [[#Slashes|below]]), which {{em|separates alternatives}} more definitely. Consider the exact meaning when choosing which to use.

Here the relationship is thought of as parallel, symmetric, equal, oppositional, or at least involving {{em|separate or independent elements}}. The components may be nouns, adjectives, verbs, or any other independent part of speech. Often if the components are reversed there would be little change of meaning.

* Wrong: {{!xt|Franco–British rivalry}}; "Franco" is a {{em|combining form}}, not independent, so use a hyphen: {{xt|Franco-British rivalry}}

| {{em|Incorrect}}:&nbsp; &nbsp; || {{!xt|Her album reached #1 in the UK album charts.}}

| {{em|Correct}}: || {{xt|Her album reached number one in the UK album charts.}}

In normal text, never put a space {{em|before}} a comma, a semicolon, a colon, or a terminal punctuation mark (even in quoted material). Put a space {{em|after}} these, unless they end a paragraph or are followed by a closing parenthesis, quotation mark, or similar.

| {{em|Incorrect}}: || {{!xt|Slovak returned to the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1985 after growing tired of What Is This?.}}

| {{em|Acceptable}}: || {{xt|Slovak returned to the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1985 after growing tired of What Is This?}}

| {{em|Better}}: || {{xt|Slovak, after growing tired of What Is This?, returned to the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1985.}}

Exceptions: ref tags are placed {{em|before}} dashes, not after; and where a footnote applies only to material within parentheses, the ref tags belong just before the closing parenthesis.

| {{em|Incorrect}}: || {{!xt|He is the current ambassador to ...}}

| {{em|Correct}}: || {{xt|As of March 2011, he is the ambassador to ...}}

* Use the full abbreviation on first use ({{xt|US$}} for the US dollar and {{xt|A$}} for the Australian dollar), {{em|unless the currency is already clear from context}}. For example, the Government of the United States always spends money in American dollars, and never in Canadian or Australian dollars.

* Most currency signs are placed {{em|before}} the number; they are unspaced ({{xt|$123}}), except for alphabetic signs ({{xt|R&nbsp;75}}).

* Unit symbols are preceded by figures, not by spelled-out numbers. Values and unit symbols are separated by a [[Wikipedia:Non-breaking space|non-breaking space]]. For example, {{xt|5&nbsp;min}}. The percent sign and units of degrees, minutes, and seconds {{em|for angles and coordinates}} are unspaced.

: Apply just {{em|one}} of these two practices consistently within an article.

* For a plural noun {{em|not}} ending with a pronounced ''s'', add ''<nowiki />'s'' ({{xt|women's careers}}, {{xt|people's habits}}, {{xt|the mice's whiskers}}; {{xt|The two Dumas's careers were controversial}}, but where rewording is an option, this may be better: {{xt|The career of each Dumas was controversial}}).

* Official names (of companies, organizations, or places) should not be altered. ({{xt|[[St. Thomas' Hospital]]}} should therefore {{em|not}} be rendered as {{!xt|St. Thomas's Hospital}}, even for consistency.)

Similarly, phrases such as ''of course'', ''naturally'', ''obviously'', ''clearly'', and ''actually'' make presumptions about readers' knowledge, and call into question the reason for including the information in the first place. Do not {{em|tell}} readers that something is ironic, surprising, unexpected, amusing, coincidental, etc. Simply state the sourced facts and allow readers to draw their own conclusions. Such constructions can usually just be deleted (and [[Wikipedia:Letter case|letter case]] adjusted if necessary), leaving behind proper sentences, with a more academic and less pushy tone: {{!xt|Note that this was naturally subject to controversy in more conservative newspapers.}} becomes {{xt|This was subject to controversy in more conservative newspapers.}}

'''Make [[Wikipedia:Help:Link|links]] only where they are relevant and helpful in the context''': Excessive use of hyperlinks can be distracting and may slow the reader down. Redundant links (like the one in {{!xt|the tallest people on [[Wikipedia:Earth|Earth]]}}) clutter the page and make future maintenance harder. High-value links that {{em|are}} worth pursuing should stand out clearly.

Outside article text, different font sizes are routinely used in navigation templates and [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Infobox|infoboxes]], tables (especially in larger ones), and some other contexts where alternatives are not available (such as table captions). Specify font sizes {{em|relatively}} (for example in CSS with <code>font-size: 85%</code>) rather than {{em|absolutely}} (like <code>font-size: 8pt</code>).

Information should be accessible to all. Do not use color {{em|alone}} to mark differences in text: they may be invisible to people with [[Wikipedia:Color blindness|color blindness]]. Also, black-and-white printouts, older computer displays with fewer colors, and monochrome displays (older [[Wikipedia:Personal digital assistant|PDAs]] and cell phones) cannot show such distinctions.

Choose colors that can be distinguished by the readers with the commonest form of colorblindness ([[Wikipedia:Color blindness#Red-green color blindness|red–green]]), such as [[maroon (color)|<span style="background: white; color: maroon">maroon</span>]] and [[teal|<span style="background: white; color: teal">teal</span>]]; and {{em|additionally}} mark the differences with change of font or some other means ([[maroon (color)|<span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: maroon; font face: Times New Roman">maroon and alternative font face</span>]], [[teal|<span style="background: white; color: teal">teal</span>]]). Avoid low contrast between text and background colors. Viewing the page with [http://colorfilter.wickline.org/ Wickline] can help with the choice of colors. See also [[Wikipedia:Color coding|color coding]].

In addition to vision accessibility problems, usage of only color to encode attributes in tables (for example, Gold, Silver, or Bronze achievement levels) instead of a separate sortable column, disables the use of the powerful Wikitable sortability feature on that attribute for all readers. Even for readers with unimpaired color vision, excessive background shading of table entries impedes readability and recognition of Wikilinks. Background color should be used only as a {{em|supplementary}} visual cue, and should be subtle (consider using lighter, less-dominant [[Wikipedia:Pastel (color)|pastel]] hues) rather than a glaring spotlight.