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The tips in this section and the printable quick reference card to the right contain some of the critical parts of these guidelines, but please read through this Wiki page for full details.
The tips in this section and the printable quick reference card to the right contain some of the critical parts of these guidelines, but please read through this Wiki page for full details.
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* The [[Guidance for Scribes#Tone|tone]] should be informative and semi-professional. Use third person in the opening of an article. You can use second person in later paragraphs, but never write in the first person.
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* The [[Guidance for Scribes#Tone|tone]] should be informative and semi-professional. Use third person (e.g. one, he, she, it, they, those) in the opening of an article. You can use second person in later paragraphs or sentences (like this one), but never write in the first person.
* The [[Guidance for Scribes#Article Length|length of the page or section]] should be as long as needed but no longer; be informative and concise.
* The [[Guidance for Scribes#Article Length|length of the page or section]] should be as long as needed but no longer; be informative and concise.
* Use [[Guidance for Scribes#Formatting|text formatting]] (e.g., bold, italics) sparingly. Do not use colored text or text decorations (e.g., strikethrough, overline, underline).
* Use [[Guidance for Scribes#Formatting|text formatting]] (e.g., bold, italics) sparingly. Do not use colored text or text decorations (e.g., strikethrough, overline, underline).
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==Style==
==Style==
===Tone===
===Tone===
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Informative and semi-professional. Basically, this means opening all articles with clear-cut and concise definitions of the topic in question, followed by a well-organized and thorough rundown of the topic in detail. Stick with the third person only in the openings, using words like "player" and "user" rather than "you." Once you get into the meat of an article, it should be fine to use the second person, as most articles will have instructions for users of the site to follow. Never use the first person under any circumstances.
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The tone of the article should be informative and semi-professional. Basically, this means opening all articles with clear-cut and concise definitions of the topic in question, followed by a well-organized and thorough rundown of the topic in detail. Stick with the third person only in the openings, using words like "player" and "user" rather than "you." Once you get into the meat of an article, it should be fine to use the second person, as most articles will have instructions for users of the site to follow. Never use the first person under any circumstances. Writing in all caps is considered yelling, and as such it is an improper tone for this Wiki.
===Article Length===
===Article Length===
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Keeping the tone in mind, the article should be informative. The article should be straight to the point and should be as long as needed (especially for broader topics). However, do not go on a tangent and add fluff. Shorter articles are generally more accessible and usable than really long ones. Referencing '''related''' pages, however, is recommended and helpful for users in general. Always write the best that you can on all of your contributions.
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The article should be straight to the point and only as long as needed (especially for broader topics); remember, less is more. Shorter articles are generally more accessible and usable than really long ones. Referencing '''related''' pages, however, is recommended and helpful for users in general. Always write the best that you can on all of your contributions.
==Formatting==
==Formatting==
===Text===
===Text===
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Formatting of text can include '''bold''' or ''italic'' text. These should be used sparingly. Text with too much formatting is distracting and decreases readability. Do not use text-decoration (overline, underline, etc.). Usual formatting of text does not need <s>strikethrough</s>, and <u>underlined text</u> can easily be confused with hyperlinks.
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Formatting of text can include '''bold''' or ''italic'' text, but these should be used sparingly. Text with too much formatting distracts the reader and decreases readability. Do not use text-decoration (overline, underline, etc.). Usual text formatting does not need <s>strikethrough</s>, and one can confuse <u>underlined text</u> with hyperlinks.
===Margins and Padding===
===Margins and Padding===
Margins and Padding are names for space around an element, be it text, image, table, etc. As a wiki editor, you usually do not have to worry about this. When you get further into it, this can be handled via CSS and the style attribute. You can read up on the use here: [http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_margin.asp margins] and [http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_padding.asp padding].
Margins and Padding are names for space around an element, be it text, image, table, etc. As a wiki editor, you usually do not have to worry about this. When you get further into it, this can be handled via CSS and the style attribute. You can read up on the use here: [http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_margin.asp margins] and [http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_padding.asp padding].
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Use singular "they" when you need a gender-neutral third-person pronoun. This is more inclusive and less awkward than alternatives like "he/she", and is accepted in many English style guides.
Use singular "they" when you need a gender-neutral third-person pronoun. This is more inclusive and less awkward than alternatives like "he/she", and is accepted in many English style guides.
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American English is the standard for spelling rules on this wiki. This means that ''color'', ''personalize'', and ''center'' are the correct spelling, while ''colour'', ''personalise'', and ''centre'' are not. The one exception to this rule is the spelling of ''grey''. While American English generally uses ''gray'' as the standard spelling, this wiki, as well as Habitica, do not. In order to remain consistent with the rest of the wiki and between the wiki and Habitica, the standard spelling shall be ''grey'' ([http://habitica.wikia.com/wiki/Thread:16947 read more]). Don't make an edit solely to change British English to American English unless it interferes with the functioning of a link or it is the incorrect spelling of a name. It is acceptable to change it while other substantial edits are being done, though.
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American English is the standard for spelling rules on this wiki. This means that ''color'', ''personalize'', and ''center'' are the correct spelling, whereas ''colour'', ''personalise'', and ''centre'' are not. The one exception to this rule is the spelling of ''grey''. While American English generally uses ''gray'' as the standard spelling, this wiki, as well as Habitica, do not. In order to remain consistent with the rest of the wiki and between the wiki and Habitica, the standard spelling shall be ''grey'' ([http://habitica.wikia.com/wiki/Thread:16947 read more]). Don't make an edit solely to change British English to American English unless it interferes with the functioning of a link or it is the incorrect spelling of a name. It is acceptable to change it while other substantial edits are being done, though.
===Capitalization===
===Capitalization===
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If you need more information, please see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style#Capital_letters Wikipedia].
If you need more information, please see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style#Capital_letters Wikipedia].
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Writing in all caps is considered yelling, and as such it is an improper tone for this Wiki.
===Tables===
===Tables===
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Relevant internal links to articles help readers browse the wiki and help avoid [[Special:DeadendPages|dead-end pages]]. External links to [[GitHub]] issues and [[Feature Tracker|Trello]] cards can provide useful behind the scenes or historical information.
Relevant internal links to articles help readers browse the wiki and help avoid [[Special:DeadendPages|dead-end pages]]. External links to [[GitHub]] issues and [[Feature Tracker|Trello]] cards can provide useful behind the scenes or historical information.
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When creating links on a page, make sure that you link to the current page for the topic in question, and that the target link in the source code (or edit link box) is appropriately capitalized. Because the wiki is a work in progress, pages are occasionally consolidated, removed, or renamed. For example, the [[Gold Points]] page has previously been named [[Gold Points (GP)]] and [[Gold Coins]]. To prevent issues when other sites have linked to the pages on the wiki that no longer exist, the admins leave redirect links to deleted pages. This means that when new internal links are created, the auto-fill suggestion box includes these old link names. When wiki users click these old links, they are redirected to the new page. The new page alerts the user to the old link redirect with a message below the page title, "Redirected from [old page name]", as can be seen using the links in the above example. Link targets that are not capitalized in the source code also give this message. This issue does not affect functionality of the wiki, but using the correct link and preventing these messages improves the wiki's sense of professionalism.
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When creating links on a page, make sure that you link to the current page for the topic in question, and that the target link in the source code (or edit link box) is appropriately capitalized.
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If you don't know how to link to a page, then you can specify either the external website or section of an internal website (known as a target) by writing: <a href= " "> with the link inside the " ". You then write the text you want to use as the link. You then close the link with </a>. (For example, you can click <a href="http://www.yahoo.com">here</a> to go to yahoo, as "http://www.yahoo.com" is listed as a target in the quotations and the word here is listed as the linking word.)
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Because the wiki is a work in progress, pages are occasionally consolidated, removed, or renamed. For example, the [[Gold Points]] page has previously been named [[Gold Points (GP)]] and [[Gold Coins]]. To prevent issues when other sites have linked to the pages on the wiki that no longer exist, the admins leave redirect links to deleted pages. This means that when new internal links are created, the auto-fill suggestion box includes these old link names. When wiki users click these old links, they are redirected to the new page. The new page alerts the user to the old link redirect with a message below the page title, "Redirected from [old page name]", as can be seen using the links in the above example. Link targets that are not capitalized in the source code also give this message. This issue does not affect functionality of the wiki, but using the correct link and preventing these messages improves the wiki's sense of professionalism.
==== Informative Link Text ====
==== Informative Link Text ====
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===Headers===
===Headers===
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Liberal use of headers breaks up articles, enables easier reading, and allows the automatic generation of tables of contents. However, too many subheadings makes the text harder to read, especially if related content is being broken up unnecessarily. To keep text easy to follow, try to strike a balance in the number of headings used.
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Use of headers breaks up articles, enables easier reading, and allows the automatic generation of tables of contents. However, too many subheadings makes the text harder to read, especially if related content is being broken up unnecessarily. To keep text easy to follow, try to strike a balance in the number of headings used.
Headers and subheadings should not be changed unnecessarily. They can be linked to from other pages and from locations outside the wiki (e.g., Habitica itself, GitHub, and blog posts) so any change to a heading will make these links nonfunctional. If it is essential to change a header, correct all links leading there from elsewhere in the Habitica wiki. Also, search likely locations in the Habitica website (habitica.com) for links to the heading. If you find any, create a new issue in GitHub to ask that the link be changed.
Headers and subheadings should not be changed unnecessarily. They can be linked to from other pages and from locations outside the wiki (e.g., Habitica itself, GitHub, and blog posts) so any change to a heading will make these links nonfunctional. If it is essential to change a header, correct all links leading there from elsewhere in the Habitica wiki. Also, search likely locations in the Habitica website (habitica.com) for links to the heading. If you find any, create a new issue in GitHub to ask that the link be changed.