Deltora Quest Wiki:Manual of Style

{| style="float:right;" The Manual of Style (often abbreviated as Mos or MOS) is a style guide for all Deltora Quest Wiki articles, images and other wiki-related subjects. It helps editors produce consistent articles and keeps Deltora Quest Wiki consistent in layout and style. Consistency in style and formatting promotes clarity and cohesion; this is especially important within an article.

Article titles
An article title is a convenient label for the article, which distinguishes it from other articles. It need not be the name of the subject; many article titles are descriptions of the subject.

The following points are critical to formatting article titles:


 * Use "sentence case" or "sentence-style": The initial letter of a title is capitalised; otherwise, capital letters are used only where they would be used in a normal sentence e.g. Lief's sword, not Lief's Sword.
 * Use the singular form: Article titles should be singular e.g. Kobb, not Kobbs.
 * Use full names without ranks for characters: Articles about characters should avoid the title or rank, unless the character is known only by the title e.g. Endon, not King Endon.
 * Use parentheses to distinguish similar articles: e.g. Opal (girl), The Golden Door (book), or Del (city).

Article headings
{|
 * Headings should not normally contain links, especially where only part of a heading is linked.
 * Citations should not be placed within or on the same line as section and subsection headings.
 * Headings should not contain images.
 * Headings for similar types of articles should be consistent and follow the set layout as shown.
 * Headings should be used in order if needed.
 * Headings in brackets refer to sub-headings in those those headings. Only the first word in each sub-heading needs to be capitalised.
 * style="vertical-align:top; padding-right:15px;" |

Characters

 * History
 * Physical appearance
 * Personality
 * Abilities
 * Relationships
 * Relatives
 * Appearances
 * Trivia
 * References
 * See also
 * style="vertical-align:top;" |

Books

 * Book description (as found on back of book)
 * Plot
 * Characters (if any are present in the book. This section must be a bulleted list)
 * Trivia
 * References
 * See also
 * style="vertical-align:top; padding-right:15px;" |
 * style="vertical-align:top; padding-right:15px;" |

Tribes

 * History
 * Politics (Government, Law enforcement)
 * Culture (Society, Architecture, Appearance)
 * Notable members
 * Trivia
 * References
 * See also
 * style="vertical-align:top;" |

Fauna/Creatures

 * History
 * Habitat
 * Anatomy
 * Behaviour
 * Diet
 * Trivia
 * References
 * See also
 * style="vertical-align:top; padding-right:15px;" |
 * style="vertical-align:top; padding-right:15px;" |

Locations

 * History
 * Trivia
 * References
 * See also
 * style="vertical-align:top;" |

Flora

 * History
 * Trivia
 * References
 * See also
 * style="vertical-align:top; padding-right:15px;" |
 * style="vertical-align:top; padding-right:15px;" |

Battles

 * History (Battle, Aftermath)
 * Trivia
 * References
 * See also
 * style="vertical-align:top;" |

Relationships

 * Relatives
 * Love interests
 * Allies
 * Neutral
 * Enemies
 * Notes
 * References
 * style="vertical-align:top; padding-right:15px;" |
 * style="vertical-align:top; padding-right:15px;" |

Episodes

 * Synopsis
 * Plot
 * Trivia
 * }

Spelling
Australian/British spelling should be used on all canon encyclopedia articles on, on any template transcribed on articles, on transcripts and on all official projects and blog posts. This is to reflect the Australian origin of Deltora Quest and The Three Doors. There are the following exceptions:
 * Regional variations in spelling may be used in all other contexts on, such as comments, talk pages, user pages and blog posts.
 * If quoting a source, never alter any part of the quotation, even if it does not use Australian spelling.

Capital letters
Unnecessary capitalisation should be avoided. For example, use magic rather than Magic. This is sometimes referred to as the "down style". Capitalisation should be reserved for proper names only.

Capitalisation of "The"
In general, do not capitalise the definite article in the middle of a sentence. However, some idiomatic exceptions, including most titles of artistic works, should be quoted exactly according to common usage.




 * Incorrect
 * (generic):
 * an article about The Topaz Tribe
 * Correct
 * (generic):
 * an article about the Topaz Tribe
 * Incorrect
 * (title):
 * He wrote the Adventure Begins.
 * Correct
 * (title):
 * He wrote The Adventure Begins.
 * }
 * Correct
 * (title):
 * He wrote The Adventure Begins.
 * }

Titles

 * In generic use, apply lower case for words such as king and chief e.g. Endon was a king of Deltora.
 * In parts of a person's title, begin such words with a capital letter e.g. King Endon, not king Endon.




 * Incorrect || (generic):  || she met a Dragon in the city of Del.
 * Correct  || (generic):   || she met the dragon in the city of Del.
 * Incorrect || (title):    || Rye met the warden.
 * Correct  || (title):     || Rye met the Warden.
 * }
 * Incorrect || (title):    || Rye met the warden.
 * Correct  || (title):     || Rye met the Warden.
 * }
 * }

Calendar items
Seasons should be in lower case e.g. her last summer; the winter had been cold.

Flora and fauna
Flora and fauna should be in lower case e.g. topaz dragon. An exception to this is if a character is known by the name of their species.




 * Incorrect || (generic):  || Lief spoke to a Topaz Dragon.
 * Correct  || (generic):   || Lief spoke to a Topaz dragon.
 * Incorrect || (character):    || Lief spoke to the topaz dragon.
 * Correct  || (character):     || Lief spoke to the Topaz dragon.
 * }
 * Incorrect || (character):    || Lief spoke to the topaz dragon.
 * Correct  || (character):     || Lief spoke to the Topaz dragon.
 * }
 * }

Celestial bodies

 * When used generally, the words sun, earth, and moon do not take capitals e.g. The sun was peeking over the mountain top; The people of the Del tribe never spoke to anyone outside their tribe. The exception is when the term refers to a proper name.
 * Names of celestial bodies are proper nouns, and therefore capitalised. The first letter of every word in such a name is capitalised.

Locations

 * Names of institutions (The Keep) are proper nouns and require capitals.
 * Political or geographical units such as cities, towns, and countries follow the same rules: as proper nouns they require capitals; but as generic words (sometimes best omitted for simplicity) they do not.




 * Incorrect || (generic): || The City has a population of 55,000.
 * Correct  || (generic): || The city has a population of 55,000.
 * Correct  || (title): || The city of Del has a population of 55,000.
 * Correct  || ("city" omitted): || Del has a population of 55,000.
 * }
 * Correct  || (title): || The city of Del has a population of 55,000.
 * Correct  || ("city" omitted): || Del has a population of 55,000.
 * }
 * }

"Internet" and "web"
Like with other cases involving generic terms, "web" should not be capitalised unless it is used as part of the official name of a system or an organization. "Internet" is always capitalised.

Italics

 * Use italics for the titles of works of literature and art, such as books and episodes e.g. The Forests of Silence. The titles of articles, chapters, songs, episodes, and other short works are not italicized; they are enclosed in double quotation marks e.g. "The Adventure Begins".
 * Italicize only the elements of the sentence affected by the emphasis. Do not italicize surrounding punctuation e.g. What are we to make of that?, not What are we to make of that?.

Quotation marks

 * Use double quotation marks: Enclose quotations with double quotation marks e.g. Endon said, "It is forbidden." Enclose quotations within quotations with single quotation marks e.g. Lief said, "Did he say 'My beautiful little girl'?"
 * When the title of an article appearing in the lead paragraph requires quotation marks (for example, the title of a song or poem), the quotation marks should not be in boldface, as they are not part of the title e.g. "The Forests of Silence".

Place all punctuation marks inside the quotation marks if they are part of the quoted material and outside if they are not. This practice is sometimes referred to as logical punctuation. This is more in keeping with a principle of minimal change. This punctuation system does not require placing final periods and commas outside the quotation marks all the time, but rather maintaining their original positions in (or absence from) the quoted material.




 * rowspan="2" valign="top" | Correct: || Dirk said, "The enemy is weakening us, little by little."
 * (The period is known to be in the source.)
 * (The period is known to be in the source.)
 * (The period is known to be in the source.)


 * rowspan="2" valign="top" |Correct: || Sholto thought that the skimmers "come on their own".
 * (The period is known not to be in the source, its presence in the source is uncertain, or its coverage within the quotation is considered unnecessary.)
 * (The period is known not to be in the source, its presence in the source is uncertain, or its coverage within the quotation is considered unnecessary.)
 * (The period is known not to be in the source, its presence in the source is uncertain, or its coverage within the quotation is considered unnecessary.)
 * (The period is known not to be in the source, its presence in the source is uncertain, or its coverage within the quotation is considered unnecessary.)


 * rowspan="2" valign="top" |Correct: || Dirk asked, "What does it matter anyway?"
 * (The question mark belongs inside because the quoted text itself was a question.)
 * (The question mark belongs inside because the quoted text itself was a question.)
 * (The question mark belongs inside because the quoted text itself was a question.)
 * (The question mark belongs inside because the quoted text itself was a question.)


 * rowspan="2" valign="top" |Correct: || Did he say, "My beautiful little girl"?
 * (The very quote is being questioned, so the question mark belongs outside; any punctuation at the end of the original quote is omitted.)
 * (The very quote is being questioned, so the question mark belongs outside; any punctuation at the end of the original quote is omitted.)
 * (The very quote is being questioned, so the question mark belongs outside; any punctuation at the end of the original quote is omitted.)
 * (The very quote is being questioned, so the question mark belongs outside; any punctuation at the end of the original quote is omitted.)


 * }
 * When a quoted sentence fragment ends in a period, some judgment is required: if the fragment communicates a complete sentence, the period can be placed inside. The period should be omitted if the quotation is in the middle of a sentence.
 * {| style="background:transparent"


 * Correct: || He said, "Follow me", and they did.
 * }
 * If the sequence of juxtaposed punctuation marks seems distracting or untidy, try an acceptable alternative.
 * {| style="background:transparent"


 * Correct: || He said, "Follow me" (and they did).
 * }

Brackets and parentheses

 * If a sentence contains a bracketed phrase, place the sentence punctuation outside the brackets (as shown here).
 * If one or more sentences are wholly inside brackets, place their punctuation inside the brackets.

There should be no space next to the inner side of a bracket. An opening bracket should be preceded by a space, except in unusual cases; for example, when it is preceded by an opening quotation mark, another opening bracket, or a portion of a word.

Ellipses
An ellipsis is an omission, often used in a printed record of conversation. The ellipsis is represented by ellipsis points: a set of three dots.
 * Style
 * Ellipsis points, or ellipses, have traditionally been implemented in three ways:
 * Three unspaced periods (...). This is the easiest way in the context of web publishing, and gives a predictable appearance in HTML. Recommended.
 * Pre-composed ellipsis character (…); generated with the  character entity, or as a literal "…". This is harder to input and edit, and too small in some fonts. Not recommended.
 * Three spaced periods (. ..). 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 e.g. . It is now generally confined to some forms of print publishing. Not recommended.


 * Function and implementation
 * Use an ellipsis if material is omitted in the course of a quotation, unless square brackets are used to gloss the quotation (see above, and points below).
 * Put a space on each side of an ellipsis, except that there should be no space between an ellipsis and:
 * a quotation mark directly following the ellipsis
 * any (round, square, curly, etc.) bracket, where the ellipsis is on the inside
 * sentence-final punctuation, or a colon, semicolon, or comma (all rare), directly following the ellipsis
 * Only place terminal punctuation after an ellipsis if it is textually important (as is often the case with exclamation marks and question marks, and rarely with periods).
 * Use non-breaking spaces only as needed to prevent improper line breaks, for example:
 * To keep a quotation mark from being separated from the start of the quotation ("... we are still worried").
 * To keep the ellipsis from wrapping to the next line ("The Topaz Tribe, Ruby Tribe, ... and Amethyst Tribe but not the Diadmond Tribe").


 * Pause or suspension of speech
 * Three periods (loosely also called ellipsis points) are occasionally used to represent a pause in or suspense of speech, in which case the punctuation is retained in its original form (Jasmine's startled reply was: "Could he ...? No, I cannot believe it!"). Avoid this usage, except in direct quotations.


 * With square brackets
 * 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 (Her long rant continued: "How do I feel? How do you think I ... look, this has gone far enough! [...] I want to go home!").

Commas

 * Pairs of commas are often used to delimit parenthetic material, forming a parenthetical remark. This interrupts the sentence less than a parenthetical remark in (round) brackets or dashes. Do not be fooled by other punctuation, which can mask the need for a comma, especially when it collides with a bracket or parenthesis, as in this example:


 * - valign="top"
 * Incorrect:          ||Lief, Barda and Jasmine, one the run (finding gems and destroying guardians)) eventually stopped The Shadow Lord.
 * - valign="top"
 * Correct:  ||Lief, Barda and Jasmine, on the run (finding gems and destroying guardians), eventually stopped The Shadow Lord.
 * }


 * Place quotation marks in accordance with logical punctuation:


 * - valign="top"
 * Incorrect:          ||She said, "punctuation styles on are way too complicated," as well as making other policy-related complaints.
 * - valign="top"
 * Correct:  ||She said, "punctuation styles on are way too complicated", as well as making other policy-related complaints.
 * }


 * Use serial commas. This is more consistent with the recommendations of authoritative style guides.


 * - valign="top"
 * Incorrect:          ||Lief travelled with Barda, Jasmine, Filli and Kree.
 * - valign="top"
 * Correct:  ||Lief travelled with Barda, Jasmine, Filli, and Kree.
 * }


 * Modern practice is against excessive use of commas; there are usually ways to simplify a sentence so that fewer are needed.

Colons
A colon informs the reader that what comes after it demonstrates, explains, or modifies what has come before, or is a list of items that has just been introduced. The items in such a list may be separated by commas; or, if they are more complex and perhaps themselves contain commas, the items should be separated by semicolons:


 * Del has several features: a dock and harbour, a market and the royal palace, to name a few.

In most cases a colon works best with a complete grammatical sentence before it. There are exceptions, such as when the colon introduces items set off in new lines like the very next colon here. Examples:
 * {| style="background:transparent"


 * - valign="top"
 * Correct:              ||He was stopped by two people: Lief and Adin.
 * - valign="top"
 * Incorrect:  ||The people he was stopped by included: Lief and Adin.
 * - valign="top"
 * Correct (special case):  ||English and symbols: these, with a few others, are the ways of communication most central to the series.
 * }

The word following a colon is capitalised, if that word effectively begins a new grammatical sentence, and especially if the colon serves to introduce more than one sentence:


 * The argument is easily stated: We have been given only three tickets. There are four of us here: you, the twins, and me. The twins are inseparable. Therefore, you or I will have to stay home.

No sentence should contain more than one colon. There should never be a hyphen or a dash immediately following a colon. Only a single space follows a colon.

Semicolons
A semicolon is sometimes an alternative to a period, enabling related material to be kept in the same sentence; it marks a more decisive division in a sentence than a comma. If the semicolon separates clauses, normally each clause must be independent (meaning that it could stand on its own as a sentence); often, only a comma or only a semicolon will be correct in a given sentence.




 * - valign="top"
 * Correct:              ||Though he had been here before, I did not recognise him.
 * - valign="top"
 * Incorrect:  ||Though he had been here before; I did not recognise him.
 * }

Above, "Though he had been here before" cannot stand on its own as a sentence, and therefore is not an independent clause.




 * - valign="top"
 * Correct:              ||Oranges are an acid fruit; bananas are classified as alkaline.
 * - valign="top"
 * Incorrect:  ||Oranges are an acid fruit, bananas are classified as alkaline.
 * }

This incorrect use of a comma between two independent clauses is known as a comma splice; however, in very rare cases, a comma may be used where a semicolon would seem to be called for:


 * {| style="background:transparent"


 * - valign="top"
 * Accepted:              ||"Life is short, art is long." (citing a brief aphorism; see Ars longa)
 * - valign="top"
 * Accepted:              ||"I have studied it, you have not." (reporting brisk conversation)
 * }

A semicolon does not force a capital letter in the word that follows it.

A sentence may contain several semicolons, especially when the clauses are parallel; multiple unrelated semicolons are often signs that the sentence should be divided into shorter sentences, or otherwise refashioned.


 * {| style="background:transparent"


 * - valign="top"
 * Unwieldy:              ||Oranges are an acid fruit; bananas are classified as alkaline; pears are close to neutral; these distinctions are rarely discussed.
 * - valign="top"
 * One better way:  ||Oranges are an acid fruit, bananas are alkaline, and pears are close to neutral; these distinctions are rarely discussed.
 * }

Dashes
Two forms of dash are possible: en dash (–) and em dash (—). On, the former is preferred. A hyphen (-), or two hyphens (--) should never be used to substitute for a dash.




 * - valign="top"
 * Incorrect: ||Another "threat" was detected - but it was later found to be simply a group of misfits.
 * - valign="top"
 * Correct: ||Another "threat" was detected – but it was later found to be simply a group of misfits.
 * }

Do not use more than two dashes in a single sentence. More than two makes the structure unclear; it takes time for the reader to see which dashes, if any, form a pair.


 * The birds – at least the ones he saw – had red and blue feathers.
 * Avoid: First in the procession – and most spectacularly – came the king – then the nobles.

Slashes
Avoid joining two words by a slash, also known as a forward slash or solidus (/). Consider alternative wordings to avoid it.

Terminal punctuation

 * Clusters of question marks, exclamation marks, or a combination of them (such as the interrobang), are highly informal and inappropriate in articles.
 * Use the exclamation mark with restraint. It is an expression of surprise or emotion that is generally unsuitable for an encyclopedia.

Spacing

 * Never place a space before commas, semicolons, colons, or terminal punctuation.
 * Always place a space after the punctuation marks just mentioned, unless it is the end of a paragraph, dot point, list element or the article.
 * Use one space after terminal punctuation. The use of double spaces is pointless as MediaWiki automatically condenses any number of spaces to just one when rendering the page.

Punctuation and footnotes
Footnotes are used to add references. "Ref" tags should immediately follow the text to which they refer, with no space before the tag. When they coincide with punctuation, the tag is placed immediately after the punctuation. Multiple tags should have no space between them.


 * Example: Endon was previously the king of Deltora, but later became known as a blacksmith and the father of Lief.

Exceptions: "ref" tags are placed before, not after, dashes; and where a reference or other footnote applies only to material within a parenthetical phrase, placing the tag within the closing parenthesis may be appropriate.

(In the above examples, the footnote markers,  etc. would link to footnotes in the footnotes/reference list at the end of the article, created by use of the reflist template.)

Numbers

 * In general, write whole numbers one through nine as words, write other numbers that take two words or fewer to say as either numerals or words, and write all other numbers as numerals: 1/5 or one fifth, 84 or eighty-four, 200 or two hundred, but 3.75, 544, 21 million).
 * In general, use a comma to delimit numbers with five or more digits to the left of the decimal point. Numbers with four digits are at the editor's discretion: 12,345 and 1,000 or 1000.

Grammar

 * For the possessive of singular nouns ending with just one s, add just an apostrophe.
 * For a normal plural noun, ending with a pronounced s, form the possessive by adding just an apostrophe e.g. his sons' wives.

Tense
For in-universe articles:


 * Past tense must be used on any event articles, articles describing entities that are deceased or no longer exist, or sections of any in-universe article detailing past events e.g. Adin defeated The Shadow Lord's army, not Adin defeats The Shadow Lord's army.
 * Present tense must be used on any location, creature, and character article, where this does not conflict with the first guideline. It should also be used on episode synopsis' and book plots.

Current "in-universe time" on is generally considered to be fixed at the end of Two Moons, The Third Door and Rowan of the Bukshah or the book/series which is furthest down the timeline.

Vocabulary
Formal use of language is mandatory on all canon encyclopedia articles e.g. Lief's fighting skills are some of the most potent of any fighter in the world, not Lief's awesome bending skills.

Formality and neutrality

 * Uncontracted forms such as do not or it is are the default in encyclopedic style; don't and it's are too informal.
 * On encyclopedia articles, avoid such phrases as remember that and note that, which address readers directly in a less-than-encyclopedic tone. 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 tell readers that something is ironic, surprising, unexpected, amusing, coincidental, unfortunate, etc. This supplies a point of view. Simply state the sourced facts and allow readers to draw their own conclusions.

Perspective
Articles on are one of two types:
 * In-universe: Article should be written as if Deltora and Dorne were the real world. Episodes should not be referred to in a sentence, and characters should not be treated as fictional constructs. These articles include all character, location, flora and fauna, event etc.
 * Real world: Article should be written from "our" perspective. This includes all actor, merchandise, episode and anime articles.

Images

 * An image which appears inside and infobox, should be 250px wide.
 * Thumbnails shown in the article should generally be 200px wide. Images containing important detail (e.g. a map, diagram, or chart) may need larger sizes than usual to make them readable.
 * All images uploaded to Deltora Quest Wiki must have a copyright template attached and be categorized where possible and reasonable. Adding character categories for images only applies to characters where there are numerous images of that character.

Links

 * Make links only where they are relevant and helpful in the context: Articles should be linked to their respective page only in the first instance they appear.
 * Do not add external links to other Deltora Quest-related sites without permission. If you are the owner or member of another specifically Deltora Quest-related site and you believe that a link to your site from Deltora Quest Wiki would be beneficial, affiliate with us.

Adding references
Content that is posted on canon articles must be verifiable. In other words, all information treated as fact on this site must be able to be supported by a reliable, published source.

When you expand a page with information coming from a certain books, add  after the new bit of information.
 * E.g. To cite information coming from the first book of Deltora Quest 1, "The Forests of Silence", add.
 * E.g. To cite information coming from the first book of The Three Doors, "The Golden Door", add.

Now what is the use of those abbreviations? By providing a name for the reference, we are able to shorten the reference when it is used multiple times in the same article. The first time a reference is used in a text, it is written in full, and the second time, it can be shortened to simply
 * E.g.  is shortened on second usage to

When adding references to a page that previously did not contain any references, include the following title at the bottom of the page:

Source mode editing markup

 * Place spaces on either side of the text in a heading e.g..
 * Place a blank line before a line containing a heading, except when a sub-heading immediately follows a heading, where there should be no blank line between the heading and the sub-heading.
 * Do not place a blank line between a heading and the text or files below it.
 * If used,  should be added immediately under the heading. If it is followed by a file, the file link should be immediately under it before a blank line separating the file link and the beginning of the text.
 * File link parameters should appear in this order:
 * Place blank lines before and after a file, separating it from body text.
 * Place a space after the asterisk and hash symbols in unordered and ordered lists respectively, so that each new list item is easier to find e.g..
 * Reference lists should be enclosed within a scroll box.

To promote consistency and ease of editing, the following items, if appropriate, should appear in this order before the lead section of an article.


 * 1) Information about other uses, similar topics and links to disambiguation pages.
 * 2) Notices detailing article quality and areas of improvement – if more than one is used, they should appear together on the same line, and should not be separated by spaces.
 * 3) Quote template containing a relevant quotation, in the color most closely associated with the subject of the article. The quoted text itself should not contain links. (See below for more information.)
 * 4) Infobox template, if a relevant one exists, split apart with a line for each template parameter. The closing curly bracket for the infobox template should be on a new line. The lead section should begin directly after this curly bracket, not on a new line.

Separate each of the items listed above with a blank line.

Other points

 * Quotes may be added to any article. Quote templates should only be used once at the top of an article and should feature a main quote.
 * Speculation may not be added to any articles whatsoever.


 * }
 * }