Reason #11 why you aren't allowed to touch my stuff while I'm gone - some of it is extremely dangerous!
 This page is considered an official policy on the Talking Tom & Friends Wiki. It has wide acceptance among editors and is considered a standard that everyone should follow. Please make use of the discussion page to propose changes to this policy or its wording. |
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| Manual of Style |
The manual of style serves as a reference to help maintain uniformity of all articles in the Talking Tom & Friends Wiki. Please keep in mind that these serve as guidelines and not rules. Though these guidelines are enforced across the wiki, certain exceptions to these can apply when necessary. The manual of style is ultimately dictated by the community, and as such, this manual is subject to change at any time.
Before editing, please make sure to read the wiki's rules!
General
Regional spelling
For the purpose of maintaining consistency, words on this wiki should conform to the spelling and grammar used in European English. Therefore, "color" should be spelled as "colour," dates should be written in day/month/year, and punctuation should go inside quotations. This applies only to main namespace pages, not talk or user pages. If you come across an article written in another regional spelling, please change it to the European spelling.
Tone and form
Please avoid making articles with incomprehensible English. Because users must be at least 13 years of age to edit here, it is expected that pages are written in a middle-school-level proficiency in terms of spelling, grammar, and punctuation. There should be very few errors in these writing conventions if any at all. There are many spelling and grammar checkers that are readily available to help you with that.
The articles on this wiki use formal writing, and thus, there are a few things that should be avoided for the sake of formality:
- Numerals below 11 (eg. "eight, nine, ten, 11, 12")
- Personal pronouns ("I" or "we")
- Referring to the reader as "you" (with the exception of tutorials such as this manual)
- Exclamations ("!")
- ALL CAPS
- Imperative mood (telling the reader what to do)
- Contractions except o'clock ("do not," "cannot," and "it is" instead of "don't," "can't," or "it's")
- Abbreviations unless it is almost always used (eg. "Dr." is acceptable, but "TV" should be replaced with "television")
- Slang and colloquialisms (eg. "guy," or "ok")
- Opinions (eg. "This is considered the best video game in the franchise")
- Unconfirmed information and speculation (eg. references that could be coincidence)
- Use euphemisms ("polite words") whenever possible (eg. "urinate" instead of "pee," "defecate" instead of "poop," and "belch" instead of "burp")
This does not apply to quotes or transcripts, however. In those cases, you should write whatever the exact words of the speaker word-for-word, still maintaining proper spelling and grammar rules whenever possible.
Text, especially episode plots, should be only as specific and detailed as needed. There only needs to be about 15-30 lines for an 11-minute episode, showing the most significant events that occur in the episode, not every single line said by each character. Also remember to break your text into paragraphs rather than having a long "wall of text." The best trick to avoid this is not to write as you watch the video. Watch the whole video then write from memory only.
Article titles
Avoid making articles with conjectural titles or alternate names. Please make sure the article name for a subject is its official name if it is given. For characters, the official name can be found in the credits. For example, the chocolate museum owner from Chocolate Battle is only named in the credits.
Article names must also be written in the singular form rather than the plural. (e.g. "Dog" instead of "Dogs.") Certain exceptions may apply, such as if an article is a list. (e.g. "List of dogs.") Additionally, the definite article (the) and indefinite articles (a/an) should be avoided in article titles except when they are part of an official title. (for example, "Mother Cob" instead of "The Mother Cob," but "A Garage Affair" instead of "Garage Affair.")
Episode pages cannot be created without an official title. Otherwise, they will be deleted by a moderator.
Point of view
Situations must be discussed in a disinterested, encyclopedic tone, giving no bias or preferences and avoiding giving unimportant issues undue weight. Character pages should be written in third person limited (only focused on that person only), whilst episode plots should be written in third person omniscient (shows the actions of all characters).
Formatting
Capitalisation of article titles and section headers should include the first letter of the first word being a capital letter, but it should otherwise follow the normal English rules of capitalisation. For example, a section title should be "External links" instead of "External Links." An exception is for proper nouns and official titles. (eg. "Rickety Brothers Carnival" instead of "Rickety brothers carnival")
Italics
When they are mentioned in articles, the names of visual arts (paintings, sculptures), digital media (music, video games, television shows), or literature (books, poems) inside or outside the franchise should be italicised, even if they are fictional. Here is an example: Talking Ben the Dog, Space Conflicts, Rock the Catsbah. Italics can also be used for general emphasis (for example, "This is not the case."), but should be used sparingly.
Bold
The first instance of the article's subject, as well as any alternate names, should be bolded. Here is an example of this:
A bag (also known regionally as a sack) is a common tool in the form of a non-rigid container. The use of bags predates recorded history, with the earliest bags being no more than lengths of animal skin, cotton, or woven plant fibers, folded up at the edges and secured in that shape with strings of the same material.
Article formatting
Character articles should have the following components:
- Quote (optional, but should be significant)
- Introductory statement (name in bold, alternate names, minor/major character, first appearance)
- Infobox Character (template)
- Physical appearance (age (if given), clothing (tops, bottoms, shoes), body features (eye colour, hair colour/style, skin colour), etc.)
- Personality (career, accent, demeanor, beliefs, etc.)
- History (a quick summary of the character's appearances)
- Trivia (any cultural references, etc.)
Episode articles should have the following components:
- Quote (optional)
- Introductory statement (name in bold, season, episode number, series)
- Infobox episode (template)
- Synopsis (copy and paste official synopsis from YouTube and IMDb)
- Plot (about 10 to 25 lines summarizing the episode)
- Characters (list characters)
- Cast (use the episode's credits)
- Trivia (cultural references, continuity notes, etc.)
- Errors (list errors within the episode)
- Video (Include a gallery with the video file taken from YouTube)
And any articles for objects, locations or anything else should have the following components:
- Introductory statement (name in bold, what it is, first appearance)
- Infobox (template)
- Description (main features, functionality, significance, etc.)
- History (quick summary of appearances)
- Trivia (cultural references, continuity notes, etc.)
There may be a need for additional sections depending on what the article is about.
Transcripts
Transcripts should have the following information:
- The speaker name in bold, followed by an unbolded colon (:).
- The exact words of the speaker word-for-word (do not solely rely on subtitles)
The following should also be italicised:
- Minor actions written in present tense (eg. "sighs" instead of "sigh" or "sighing") wrapped in parentheses
- Major actions, scene changes and events on a separate line written in full sentences
- A marker indicating the title sequence and credits (eg. "(Theme song plays)" and "(Credits roll)")
The following is optional for transcripts, but can help enhance the quality:
- The person that the speaker is talking to. (eg. "Tom: (to Ben) Why did you start driving again?")
- Tone and accent. (eg. Flo: (condescendingly) Ben, can you say "EMF?")
- A short description of a new scene when it is introduced.
- Diacritics (accents). (eg. protégé, jalapeño, façade.)
- Translations for phrases not in English. You can do this using a tooltip. For example, the code "<abbr title="Goodbye!">Ciao!</abbr>" becomes "Ciao!".
- Emphasis on certain words using italics.
Here is an example of a correctly-formatted transcript:
(Scene cuts to Jeremy observing the Squiggly Man Painting.)
Jeremy: Hey, I think I was in a Petri dish with that guy once.
Tom: (hits Jeremy with broom) Get your slime away from the art! No offense.
Linking
Linking is usually limited to the first occurrence of the word or phrase in each article, not counting links inside infoboxes. This is because spamming too many wiki links makes articles difficult to read. Adding multiple links for the same term might be acceptable in very long articles, where linked instances of the term are very far apart. Another exception to this is if multiple links lead to different sections on the same page.
Other things to remember
- Do not add any references that are not confirmed or dead obvious. It is best to use your best judgement when making references, making sure that there is a very little chance that it is coincidence.
- Also make sure that upcoming content can be confirmed by a valid source. Use a citation that links to the source, and add a references section at the bottom with a reference list.
- Due to copyright laws, whether or not they come from the series, please follow fair use guidelines for files, even if credit is given. This means that with the exception of galleries, pages should be limited to one image for its infobox, and video files should only be taken from YouTube links. (Obviously, this does not apply to content uploaded by the creator.)
Templates
Delete
Use this template if:
- The page is unconfirmed or a hoax.
- The subject of the page is unrelated to the franchise.
- The page was solely made for vandalism, or the title is inappropriate.
- The page is fanfiction.
- The page covers a subject that already has a page.
Place this template at the top of an article without removing any content from the page so staff can remove it. Please state the reason in parameter {{1}}.
Stub
Use this template when no information is found on an article or section.
Missing Info
Use this template when an article or section contains some content, but is missing some important parts. State what is missing in parameter {{1}}.
Cleanup
Use this template if an article does not follow the wiki's standards. (eg. informal writing, incorrectly formatted transcript)
Upcoming
Use this template for a page about unreleased content so a moderator will later lock the page.