Birdopolis:Style Guide

This Style Guide has the simple purpose of making Birdopolis Wiki easy to read by establishing a certain format. One way is often as good as another, but if everyone does things the same way, the articles will be easier to read and use, along with being easier to write and edit. Reading the style guide is important to ensure that each user's edits will be consistent with those of other users.

Article Titles[]

Pages must have appropriate titles. All page titles should use title case: The first letter of the first word is always capitalized, and the first letter of every significant word (such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives) is capitalized. Less significant words (such as short prepositions and articles) do not have the first letter capitalized. Examples: Style Guide, A Bird with a Dream, Clarice with Carver. Block capitals should not be used in titles (e.g., 'Style Guide' instead of 'STYLE GUIDE').

One potential exception is that titles that contain terms from Birdopolis should use Birdopolis's capitalization of those terms. For example, Birdopolis uses "Red-tailed Hawk", so a page on this bird should be "Red-tailed Hawk" and not "Red-Tailed Hawk".

However, this rule should not be followed blindly and applied for every single subject encountered in the game. For example, technical restrictions for titling wiki pages may prevent some Birdopolis terms from being used exactly as titles. For example, a Birdopolis goal called "2 for 1" cannot be used exactly, as wiki page titles cannot start with numbers. In such cases, paraphrasing should be used, such as "Two for 1" or "Two for One."

In cases where the Birdopolis name is ambiguous, disambiguation is necessary, such as "Bald Eagle" for the bird of that name and "Bald Eagle (statue)" for an in-game statue called "Bald Eagle."

Try to make the article's topic the subject of the first sentence in the article. For example, write "This Style Guide has the simple purpose..." instead of "These guidelines have the simple purpose..." Use boldface for the first (and only the first) appearance of the title in the article's text.

Other guidelines for page titles:

Avoid putting links in page titles. Place links in the body of the text, not titles.
Make sure that the page title has an appropriate and accurate title, as this is important to help readers navigate the article.
Keep headings short.

Sections and Headings[]

Separating articles into sections makes them easy to read and navigate. Headings are used to split articles into sections.

Markup[]

Use two equal signs (==) style markup for headings. Start with ==, add the heading title, then end with ==.

This section's heading was created with the markup:

==Sections and Headings==

This subsection's heading was created with the markup:

===Markup===

Introduction Section to an Article[]

An introduction summarizes the most important points of an article, creating interest in the topic. Thus, it should be limited to a few paragraphs. Certain information, such as strategies and trivia, should be in a separate section instead of in the introduction. This applies only to articles that are of sufficient length to incorporate a introduction.

Do not give an introduction section a section title and insure that appears before any other section.

Text Elements[]

Font colors[]

Colored font can be used sparingly, though not in very bright colors. For example, you can use a dark co lour for a warning. Note that light colors will not show up well against the article's white background.

Invisible Comments[]

Invisible comments are used to communicate with other editors in the article body. To do so, enclose the text which you intend to be read only by editors within . For example, using  will be hidden in the article.

Bulleted Lists[]

Bulleted lists can be used in goal walkthroughs and lists. For example, you can use bullets if you're listing what levels to train a certain skill or locations of an item. Do not forget proper punctuation; in most case end each list item with a period. To add bullets, put an asterisk (*) before the name. For example:

* List name 1.
* List name 2.
** Sub-list.

would come out as:

List name 1.
List name 2.
- Sub-list.

Numbered Lists[]

All the rules for bulleted lists apply also to numbered lists. Numbered lists can be used for listing steps in a process. To add a numbered list, put a number sign (#) before the list name. For example:

# List name 1.
# List name 2.
# List name 3.

would come out as:

List name 1.
List name 2.
List name 3.

Bold and Italics[]

Place two apostrophes (''italic text'', or Italic text in the edit tool bar) on either side of a selection of text to italicize the selection. Italics are mainly used to emphasize certain words, though they should be used sparingly. Also note that the word Birdopolis should always be italicized when it is used to refers to the game. ("Birdopolis Wiki" is an exception, as in this case the "Birdopolis" refers to the wiki, not the game.) Italics may make longer phrases or sentences difficult to read.

Place three apostrophes ('''bold text''') on either side of a selection of text to make it bold face. Bold is used as a stronger emphasis than italics, although it should be used sparingly as well. The first appearance of an article's title in the article should always be in bold.

Place five apostrophes ('''''Bold and italic text''''') on either side of a selection to use bold and italics in combination on the selection. Bold and italics combined emphasis selections well, but should be used extremely rarely. There are no common cases in which bold and italics are used together.

As you can see, bold works well to emphasis sentences as well as short phrases and single words, while italics are a much weaker emphasis for sentences, but work well on short phrases or single words. Bold and italics are used in combination very rarely. Excessive use of any of these text elements will make the entire article difficult to read, so please use them in appropriate situations.

Grammar and Spelling[]

Abbreviations[]

Try not to use abbreviations. For example, use "Red-tailed Hawk" instead of "Red Hawk" or "Red-tail Hawk" or "Red-tld Hawk." Some players may not know what these abbreviations mean.

Gamer abbreviations (Birdopolis is a MMOVWG) and dialects like "Leet Speak," also known as "1337 5P34K," are not appropriate. This wiki's preferred language is American English, not numbers.

Punctuation[]

If you are listing multiple things, like different birds, each of them should have a serial comma at the end. For example, "chickadees, nuthatches, and warblers" would be proper while "chickadees, nuthatches and warblers" would not be. Use of the serial comma improves clarity and helps to avoid ambiguity. For example, the meaning of "I would like to thank my parents, Albert Einstein, and Ayn Rand..." is clear while the meaning of "I would like to thank my parents, Albert Einstein and Ayn Rand..." is less clear. Are you thanking your parents, who are Albert Einstein and Ayn Rand?

Usage and Spelling[]

American spelling should be used at all times. Common examples include:
- Behavior instead of behaviour.
- Humor instead of humour.
- Color instead of colour.
- Capitalize instead of capitalise.
- Analyze instead of analyse.
- Dialog instead of Dialogue.
- Jewelry instead of jewellery.
- Center instead of centre.
- Gray instead of grey.
- Defense instead of defense.
- Leveled instead of levelled.
- Rumor instead of rumour.
For directions, hyphens should not be included. For example:
- Southwest instead of south-west.
- Northeast instead of north-east.

Tense[]

A rule of thumb is to use present tense in all cases. For example, articles for goals, skills, activities, characters, etc., should be written in present tense. An exception to this rule would be events that have occurred in the past, or for in-game content that has been removed. For example, holiday events that have already occurred should be written in past tense. For future updates and upcoming content that have been confirmed by Nuukster, use the future tense.

Past tense: Past events and in-game content that has been removed.
Future tense: Future updates and upcoming content that have been confirmed.
Present tense: All other cases.

Common Grammatical Errors[]

Then and Than

Despite their pronunciations being very similar, they are different in meaning.

Then is used in one of the three following cases:

1. at that time; at the time in question.

"I was living in Cairo then."

2. after that; next; afterward

"She won the first and then the second game."

3. in that case; therefore

"If you do what I tell you, then there's nothing to worry about."

"Well, that's okay, then."

Than is used in comparing two elements in a sentence

"He was much smaller than his son."

or in expressions introducing exceptions or contrasts

"He claims not to own anything other than his home."

Its and It's

Its is the possessive adjective and possessive pronoun form of the personal pronoun it.

"He chose this area for its birds."

On the other hand, it's is a contraction (shortcut) for it is OR it has.

it is - "It's my fault."

it has - "It's been a hot day."

Their, There, and They're

Their is possessive, referring to an object, or objects, belonging to a certain number of people.

"The ball is their property."

There is an adverb, referring to a certain position or area.

"We went on to Paris and stayed there eleven days."

They're is a contraction for they are and they were, depending on how the sentence is constructed.

"The reason that they're going to the store is to buy more bird food."

Should Of mistake

The reason people write "should of" when they mean should have is because the contraction of should have (should've) is pronounced like "should of." Avoid "should of." Instead, write "should have."

Affect and Effect

One thing may affect (or change) another. The result of an action is its effect or effects. Also, to effect is to produce.

Your and You're

The word your is the possessive form of the word you.

Your yard looks nice.

The word you're is a contraction of the words you are.

You're going to like Nuuk's yard.

Point of View[]

In general, articles of fact should be written in the third person or objective point of view. Using the word "you" in these articles is informal and should be avoided except if it is inside a quotation; try to use "players" or "the player" instead.

Articles that are player guides can use "you." ("First you build a bird feeder and then you fill it with bird food"). The command imperative is acceptable as well ("First build a bird feeder and then fill it with bird food").

Images[]

Some general guidelines which should be followed are listed below.

Right-alignment is often preferable to left- or center-alignment. However, center-alignment is appropriate when the image is large and critical to the sense of the accompanying text. Left-alignment is occasionally appropriate for small images at the start of a paragraph that is related to the image.

can be used for some images in the goal pages, such as the reward picture.

If there are too many images in a given article, consider making a gallery with a level two heading.
Use captions to note the relevance of the image to the article if it is not obvious.
Use thumbnails for large images.
Specifying the size of a thumbnail image is not recommended.

Uploading Images[]

The preferred format for images is PNG.
Images of items should have a transparent background if practical. However, it is better to have an image with the in-game background than no image at all. Another editor may later edit the image to remove the background.
Personal images which are only used on a user page should not be uploaded. Images should be able to be used on main space articles, else they will be deleted.
Name images descriptively to avoid confusion. For example if you are uploading a picture of a Red-tailed Hawk, name it Red-tailed Hawk.png and not just Hawk.png or RTH.png.
Don't upload images already on the wiki. It is not good to have multiple images of the same item! Before you upload an image, search the wiki if someone has already uploaded a version of it. If you have better image than the existing one, replace the old version with the new rather than adding a new version.

Image Captions[]

End complete sentences in captions with a period.
If the caption is not a complete sentence, it generally should not have a period at the end.
Captions should not be in italics.

Wiki Linking[]

In each section of an article, only link to another article on the first mention of that article in section. For example, Red-tailed Hawk may be mention three times in a section. Only link up the first mention.
Try to avoid using verbs as links. "this item can be obtained by [[Level|leveling up]]" is potentially less readable and clear than "this item can be obtained by rising in [[Level]]."
Piped link formats for simple plurals are generally unnecessary. For example, use [[bird]]s instead of [[bird|birds]].
On the other hand, use [[goose|geese]] instead of [[goose]]s when appropriate. Don't be afraid to use a piped link when practical.
It is usually prefer to use the capitalization of the article in the link to the article. "At [[Level]] 10..." instead of "At [[level]] 10..." When article name is used but is not a link, use standard capitalization. "At this level..." instead of "At this Level..."
Where practical, use the auto-complete feature when linking an article, as the auto-complete produces the correct capitalization or underscores.
Do not use place the last letters of a plural outside of a link that already has alternate text. For example, [[wikipedia:anti-aliasing|anti-aliasing artefacts]] should be used instead of [[wikipedia:anti-aliasing|anti-aliasing artefact]]s.

Writing articles[]

Everyone is encouraged to contribute meaningfully to the wiki.

Ownership and Bias[]

Keep personal bias out of articles. Even if "Bird spotting is for noobs" or "Chapters are awesome," we do not need to hear it in the articles.
Nobody owns articles. This is a wiki. Words like "I", "we," or "me" should not be included in articles.
Do not include specific user names of players in articles, unless they highlight specific historical events or achievements, such as naming the first player to get gold friendship with 50 birds. These should be kept relevant, and should be supported well, with an external link.
Do not try and claim "facts" such as "player x was the first to complete this task" without any verifiable proof.

Facts and Trivia[]

If you have a piece of information or trivia that you would like to add to an article, yet are unsure of its accuracy, leave a note on the talk page of the article so that all editors can discuss it. Do not engage in edit wars on the article page.

Numbers[]

For numbers, a comma should be used as a thousands separator: "1,000 scratch," not "1000 scratch".

Dates[]

Use the month before day format (mm/dd, yyyy - May 1, 2008) rather than the day before month format (dd/mm/yyyy - 1 May 2008).

External Links[]

Link as needed to other sites, such as Nuukster, Birdopolis's developer. However, you may want to avoid linking to other fan sites, unless it has exceptional content that cannot be reproduced here or because of copyrights.