Classic WoW Wiki talk:Manual of Style

Proposed guideline
I think it would be good to develop in one place a standard article format. At the moment, this issue keeps cropping up in various different places, and I think a single page which can be referred to would help improve the overall look of the wiki and settle any disputes. Obviously what is posted now is just my opinions on what makes an article look good, and any adopted guideline will need to be the result of lengthy community discussion.--Aeleas 15:21, 4 January 2007 (EST)


 * I like it so far. It's beautiful. Brings me to tears. Pretty much exactly what I envisioned. =) -- Hobinheim  ( talk ·  contr ) 15:59, 4 January 2007 (EST)


 * Yeah, i've already been trying to work on this, yet all i get is "too much work" or "i don't like the styling" comments, when that's changable and beside the point. Whole idea is it's less work, better structured, and familiar for users. You don't need to understand the boilerplates/templates used, just fill in the info. You can see the sort of thing i aim to propose and been working on in my pages listed here. -- Zeal ( talk  -  contr  - web) 16:03, 4 January 2007 (EST)

I love this page and I think it will be immensely helpful. Might I suggest adding a "Category" recommendation, e.g., "Categorize pages so they can easily be found from similar pages. You may find the Special:Categories list helpful." I would add this myself except if this becomes a formal proposal I don't want to mess with the page content during a voting or some similar action. Also, you may be construing "style" more narrowly than I am. Luci 15:04, 5 January 2007 (EST)


 * Added a Sidebar link to here under the "development" box. Excellent idea! Everyone, help fill it out a bit more and it shall become an official guideline :) -- 15:16, 5 January 2007 (EST)


 * I think a category recommendation in the Manual of Style would definitely be helpful. It seems to fall more under Policy/Category and Categories, and I don't see any established guidelines for how many categories an article should have.  Perhaps it could be decided within the context of those pages, then referenced in the Guide.--Aeleas 15:50, 5 January 2007 (EST)

Images
One area of the Guide as it is now that I think could use some additional refinement is the Image section. Right now it suggests no left-aligned images, but I think that might be a little too restrictive. Where left-aligned images really make an article look awkward to me is: Where I like left-aligned images, though, is within a section 3 or more paragraphs long, to break it up and provide balance to the article.--Aeleas 15:50, 5 January 2007 (EST)
 * where there are both left- and right-aligned images or infoboxes on either side of the same section of text, like Knight,
 * where the left-aligned image is at the start of a section, displacing the text from the title above it, and
 * where the left-aligned image displaces the title of a section itself, which to me makes the organization of the article less clear.


 * *gumblegrumble* Left floated images should not be used next to lists either. Limitation of lists and floats. -- Zeal ( talk  -  contr  - web) 19:51, 5 January 2007 (EST)


 * I just realized that on my last example, when viewed at my normal 1400x900 resolution, spills over into the next category, knocking that title out of place. I'm back to thinking all images and infoboxes should be right-aligned.--Aeleas 20:07, 5 January 2007 (EST)


 * Well i hope people realize there is a difference between positioning and floating. A float is going to move about and impact the content at random, and look differently based on it's surrounding and screen size. They're not what you use when you want to restrict the layout of the page. The float behavour is desirable, even on the left. You should be adding clearing elements where you want to enforce something to not be effected by the floats. -- Zeal  ( talk  -  contr  - web) 20:20, 5 January 2007 (EST)

article titles
It's recommended to bolden titles and their alternatives. Well,  does this automatically and is shorter. How about recommending that instead? alternative titles sohuld be redirects anyways. -- Zeal ( talk  -  contr  - web) 19:51, 5 January 2007 (EST)


 * It breaks if a page is moved. -- 19:52, 5 January 2007 (EST)


 * It also doesn't work for redirects. In Blood elf, putting brackets around blood elves and sin'dorei in the introductory sentence would cause both to show up as links.--Aeleas 20:03, 5 January 2007 (EST)


 * Probably came across wrong, i meant to imply i didn't see the point in alternative/redirct titles being boldened. Also, welcome back to the issue of why using lowercase race names in articles isn't pratical. Anyways, you can do blood elf and sin'dorei easy enough. I really don't see the point of purposely ignoring wiki functionality for the sake of something that isn't really needed, better off using the wiki functionality and working around it (sigh for being unnecessarily anal). Moving is irrelevant, as if it's being moved, the title in the text, under most circumstances, would need to be changed too. If it doesn't need chaning, it's not worth it being boldened. -- Zeal ( talk  -  contr  - web) 20:13, 5 January 2007 (EST)


 * That ( blood elf and sin'dorei ) would still break if the page was moved. -- 20:52, 5 January 2007 (EST)


 * As i said, moving is irrelevant, and alt titles shouldn't be used (accept in the case of race names). Also questioning the usefulness and point of it period. -- Zeal ( talk  -  contr  - web) 21:05, 5 January 2007 (EST)


 * I should read more closely, sorry :P I think it looks nice, and quickly shows the focus of an article in the text (rather than in the title alone). -- 21:08, 5 January 2007 (EST)


 * I'm not quite sure I follow your initial suggestion, Zeal. Are you saying that " The blood elves are... " is preferable to " The blood elves are... "?
 * As for alternative titles, I think it's helpful to see the term you were looking for prominently displayed, to make it clear why you have arrived at Deathwing when you are looking for Neltharion. Of course, we could use "Sin'dorei redirects here" as a banner at the top, but having the name prominent and bold in the lead section seems a more elegant solution to me.--Aeleas 21:22, 5 January 2007 (EST)

Level 1 Headers
Section headings: [...] Do not use a single =.

The guideline makes no attempt at explaining this, and no explanation is apparent. If someone simply despises the look of H1, what should be changed is the CSS, not a wiki-spanning policy. If there is another reason, it should probably be evident from the guideline. -- Starlightblunder 08:58, 6 January 2007 (EST)


 * A single = creates an header, which is bad coding. The primary header is the article title - here it is WoWWiki talk:Manual of Style. I hope that makes sense? -- 10:08, 6 January 2007 (EST)


 * A php-level solution that would automatically transform =text= into a level 2 header would've perhaps been better, but the reason you've provided is certainly valid. --Starlightblunder 10:31, 6 January 2007 (EST)