Amityville Horror Wiki:Manual of Style

The Manual of Style is for information on the do's and don't of the wiki as far as editing. This is to avoid conflicting edits. Much of it works hand in hand with the Templates Collection, which makes starting articles easier.

''Note that for now "Manual of Style" is copied from Thundercats Wiki.

Important Precursor
Before even starting this list of do's and don'ts, there is one statement to be made clearly:

Repetitive-edits are the bane of a wiki's existence, and should be performed by admins. If you find you think an edit needs to be repeated and done to more than three articles then you need to seek out an admin to do the task or ask for permission on their talk page. In some cases, it was likely already decided the wiki would not want that edit performed.

General
Text should conform to English capitalization rules, meaning no odd all capitals words and such unless it was stylized titles. Please see the Naming Policy for terms and such that are exceptions to that rule.

It is never a good thing to take text off an article. If more than a sentence of text is being erased, it may be a better idea to go the the talk page of the article and ask to remove the text, and explain why then wait for an admin to reply with a decision.

No information should be directly copied from another website or source. That means even from other wiki projects.

Credits
While it is important to acknowledge who made comments on talk/discussion, it isn't as useful to do that on articles. Articles are meant to be a group effort, and the credit is to the Amityville Horror Wiki as a whole, therefore nothing here is owned by any of the editor/supporters of the wiki.

Neutral Point of View
Much of this section was copied from Wikipedia:Neutral point of view.

The Neutral Point of View, is a principle that states that all articles should be written from a neutral point of view, representing views fairly and without bias.


 * Avoid stating opinions as facts
 * Avoid stating seriously contested assertions as facts
 * Avoid presenting uncontested assertions as mere opinion
 * Prefer nonjudgmental language
 * Accurately indicate the relative prominence of opposing views

And some ways to avoid issues with this:


 * Good research: Good and unbiased research, based upon official or upon the actual content of the show.
 * References: The more the merrier. References can sell that the information as fact, or as a good conclusion.
 * No loaded words or phrases- Words in a article other than headlines should not appear to favor one position over another or suggest importance. Try to state the facts more simply without using loaded words. Many noted loaded words or phrases:
 * Always
 * Has to be
 * Forever
 * Never

Stubs/Short Articles
The Wiki doesn't support the term "Stubs" in general, however it is encouraged to make new articles as fully as possible and not assume the article will later see completion. The wiki values a low count of Short Pages. A byte count above 400 bytes is asked of new articles.

Formatting
Instead of guessing out what goes on a page, basic templates are find-able in the guidelines section of the Community Portal.

In the article it is not suggested to use wiki formatting of this sort:

As it might affect formatting in ways the Admins that plan out the articles.

Categories
Overall, a category is used like a back door to find content on the wiki. The starting point of the Wiki's Category Tree is here. However, all articles are in the subcategory "Content". Most categories adding is covered on Templates Collection when explaining article types. However, it must be noted up-front that the wiki doesn't use the following categories: Foes/Heroes, enemies/allies, male/female; or any similar category terms. If they are not seen in use, then they are not part of the category tree.

Images

 * No image should be copied from another website.
 * No fanart will be allowed at this wiki on any pages. Fan Art includes but is not limited to:
 * Drawn Art
 * Screen cap edits with text, filters, or other forms of add-ons
 * Custom Toys and sculptures

All violations are subject to being deleted and users being banned/blocked for the action.

All images that are taken from others can be kept here as long as the original site of the image has a link provided to it..... Example: New-thundercat-lion-O-2.jpg|Lion-o's concept art (Image from IGN)

We encourage editors to screen cap from the episode themselves.

Also, we are not a photo uploading service, uploading personal pictures unrelated to Amityville Horror may result in images being deleted. We are not responsible for loss of images. Keep backups if they matter. A wiki is about the project, not the editors.

Likewise, images should always have an intended use when uploaded. All images without a page/article/blog could possibly be deleted.

Sometimes the footage has a logo such as the channel its on or whatnot. Please try to avoid having the logo if you can. It is more pleasing to the eye to see only what is needed to be seen. However, if it must be there, it must be there.

Naming Images
As of 2020, the rules have been updated to requiring images have names such as this:
 * "Subject Matter From Show Episode Episode Name Sc(meaning Screen Cap)Number
 * Example: LionOFromThunderCatsRoarEpisodeExodusPartOneSc01.jpg

Note that there should not be and spaces or symbols/punctuation other that letters or numbers.

Uploading Images
The summary section is to make it easier to know what a image is and where it comes from. This wiki requires noting the series and episode it is from or the source of the image.
 * Example: "Screen cap from ThunderCats Roar episode "Exodus, Part 1 (ThunderCats Roar)"."

A line below that add a Category tag for episode images.
 * Example: " "

(Note, the image category tree is very similar to the content (articles) category tree. The starting point of the images category tree can be found here.)

Next, you are expected to pick the "Fair Use" license on the licensing drop-down.

If warning "A photo with this name has already been uploaded to the wiki." shows up at the top of the page, that means you need to pick a another screen cap number. It is not permitted to upload a image to replace another.

Reference
Reference are added to make it easier to understand where information came from for any questions that arise. References are used to debunk accusations of speculation and fan theories. Speculation is the process of thinking about possibilities, or a particular conclusion arrived at from such thought. In short it is guessing out something. Sometimes this can not be avoided as some media materials by nature leave things open.

Speculation at this wiki is permitted with the following factors in place:
 * The subject matter was briefly brought up in media material therefore its important but left too open to properly be referenced.
 * The subject matter being a item or location was never named or explained during its time in the episode.

However, there should be a attempt to find references to the article, and the common belief of the subject matter on other websites should be taken into account.

What is not permitted is the speculation that is not based in any amount of fact and has no references whatsoever. Speculation at this wiki is Not permitted with the following factors in place:
 * "Shot in the Dark" and saying random things and adding random dates to them.
 * Assuming that since they didn't say something, that they meant something else.
 * Adding love interests and romances when the material didn't suggest it.

In cases of found content that is in question, you can add a at the end of the last sentence related to the information in question. That sends the signal that either the content is in doubt or that it is speculation.

How To Reference/Cite media
Note that all articles will need this at the bottom of the article, above the Gallery in order to display references.

Dialog/Events In Episodes
When dealing with referencing something, you need to know what series, episode, and time in the episode it was said/seen.

Example of this:

Note that the following part can be skipped if deemed not needed:

 Character Name says: "What character said" 

Websites
For a Website Reference it only needs the url, name of the page and place it is from.

Example of this:

Print/Comics
As for any form of print (paper), it is required the page number and book name. However, the more details the better.

Repeating the same Reference using Footnotes
When the same reference is used more than once on a article, it is better to consolidate using Footnotes. Pretty much you make one reference that includes a named reference (footnote), which then makes it so anywhere else in the article after that reference you can add the tag.

Example of this:

It is suggested to name the footnotes the website being linked to, and the section/article being referenced. Footnote names can not have spaces or symbols. The shorter the better. If different references to the same page occur you might also date them or number them off.

Wiki Links
The first and most commonly used type of linking. A wiki link can be performed with double brackets like this "Lion-O" ; which makes this link "Lion-O". Sometimes a wiki link requires additional or a altercation in terms, so perform something like this "Lion-O (1985 TV series)" ; which will in turn look like this "Lion-O (1985 TV series)".

Using Interwiki Links
It is encouraged to use interwiki linking for dealing with external links on wiki articles. A interwiki link will lack the external link symbol at the end, which overall removes distractions in text while reading. Many wikis and databases have the ability to be linked in this way.

Examples to work from:


 * Egon Spengler (Ghostbusters Wiki)
 * Egon Spengler (Ghostbusters Wiki)
 * Egon Spengler (Ghostbusters Wiki)
 * April O'Neil -1987 TV series- (Turtlepedia-History section)
 * April O'Neil -1987 TV series- (Turtlepedia-History section)
 * April O'Neil -1987 TV series- (Turtlepedia-History section)
 * Egon Spengler (Russian Ghostbusters Wiki)
 * Egon Spengler (Russian Ghostbusters Wiki)
 * Egon Spengler (Russian Ghostbusters Wiki)
 * Egon Spengler (Wikipedia Article)
 * Egon Spengler (Wikipedia Article)
 * Egon Spengler (Wikipedia Article)
 * Egon Spengler (Chinese Wikipedia Article)
 * Egon Spengler (Chinese Wikipedia Article)
 * Egon Spengler (Chinese Wikipedia Article)
 * Ghostbusters (IMDb Article)
 * Ghostbusters (IMDb Article)
 * Ghostbusters (IMDb Article)

Sound Files
Sound files can only be uploaded with permission from an admin at the wiki. The wiki can not upload whole songs or full audio broadcasts of the movies or shows. Sound files should only be used for dialog and other short length items.

Video Embedding
Full films uploads are not allowed. If there is a question about if a video should be added ask the administrator for this wiki.

Quotes
It is suggested for each article, three quotes at most.

Also See

 * Community Portal
 * Templates Collection