The staff of the DJBWiki like things to be uniform and everything, so this Manual of Style is here to work as a basic guide to general formatting and grammatical style. For information on the most basic writing techniques and styles, which are used here, see Wikipedia's Manual of Style. Below are some basic Star Wars formatting do's and don't's, and be aware that some of these may differ slightly from what is found on Wookieepedia.
Layout guide
Most every article on the DJBWiki should be structured with the various elements in the order presented here. Not all articles will have each element, but when present they should be presented with the following format.
- Title/Eras/Infobox
- Main article
- Stub
- Behind the scenes (notice the capitalization)
- Succession box
- Notes and references
- See also
- Category
For more details for the layout of character articles, please see the Character Page Template & Layout Guide.
Naming articles
The name of the article should be bolded in its first usage in an intro, as should any alternate names mentioned in the intro. These bolded titles should not have links within them.
Lowercase second and subsequent words
Do not capitalize second and subsequent words unless the title is a proper noun (such as a name) or is otherwise always capitalized (example: Han Solo, but Video game).
Due to the technical limitations inherent to the MediaWiki software, the first letter in an article title always needs to be a capital letter. Ordinarily, this isn't a problem, but it poses an issue when a proper noun's first letter is lowercase (example: di Plagia). The first letter of an internal wikilink need not be capitalized and will direct the reader to the same page (example: Equite or equite can be used interchangeably as needed). Also, the magic word {{DISPLAYTITLE:name}} can be used to display the article's name with the first letter in lowercase.
Disambiguation
Member character articles and major subjects (such as currently used planets or ships) shall be granted precedence over lesser-known subjects (example: Darth Pravus, Antei), and disambiguation pages may be created from there as necessary. Further articles with identical competing titles should typically be disambiguated via a parenthetical descriptor, and the central title should then become a disambiguation page. Article titles shall avoid the parenthetical descriptor unless there is another article subject with an identical competing title. The following order of precedence will be applied to disambiguation (with the highest level present not requiring a parenthetical descriptor):
- Clan or Brotherhood-wide planets
- Characters
- Clan and Brotherhood starships
- Personal Starships/Items/Other
- Inactive content (previous planets, starships, etc) in the order described above.
Starships
To disambiguate individual starships, add the ship class in parentheses to the vessel's name.
- The parenthetical descriptor need only specify the abbreviated ship class unless the abbreviated class name applies to multiple ship classes, in which case the full ship class name shall be specified.
- If a ship class does not include "-class" as part of its name, specify the full class name in parentheses (example: (GR-75 medium transport), (CR90 corvette).
Perspective
In-universe
If something is in-universe, or is described as such, it belongs to the Star Wars universe exclusively and not to the real world. DJB characters, for example, are in-universe, but the members who write them are real world. Another example is that the correspondent in-universe term for the English language is Galactic Basic, which is the common language in Star Wars. The only section where real world information is appropriate is the "Behind the scenes" section and its subsections of an in-universe article.
Real world
Real world refers to the perspective in which an article is written; it is the opposite of in-universe. Something written from a real world (or OOC) perspective is written from a real-life point of view. It will refer, for example, to real-life members, events, rules, and so on. In contrast, an in-universe perspective will strive for verisimilitude; that is, it will be written as though the author existed within the Star Wars universe. Articles about any in-universe things, such as characters, vehicles, terminology, or species, should always be written from an in-universe perspective. If a section in the article is not it should be tagged as such.
Headings
Use the == (heading) markup for headings, not the ''' (bold) markup. Example:
===This is a heading===
which produces:
If you mark headings this way, a table of contents is automatically generated from the headings in an article. Sections can be automatically numbered for users with that preference set and words within properly marked headings are given greater weight in searches. Headings also help readers by breaking up the text and outlining the article.
- Capitalize the first letter only of the first word and of any proper nouns in a heading, and leave all of the other letters in lower case.
- Avoid links within headings.
- Avoid overuse of sub-headings.
Usage and spelling
Though the members of the Brotherhood speak many varieties of English, we recommend standard American English spelling, grammar, punctuation, and word usage. This is the variety of English used in the first printings of most Star Wars sources as well as the mandated variety on Wookieepedia.
If a word has two acceptable variants in American English, the one that is considered "more American" is to be used. Such example is the spelling of judgement as judgment. The only exception of this rule is the spelling of words ending in -ogue: while dialog is an acceptable version of dialogue, the latter is preferred.
Tense
All in-universe articles should be in present tense save when describing things that have happened in the "past". Characters that are currently alive within the Brotherhood canon will always be referred to in the present tense, people currently holding ranks or positions will be referred to as holding them in the present tense. The reason for this (and why it differs from the Wookieepedia policy on tense) is the fact that the Brotherhood is not writing about events in our fictional timeline that happened in the past when viewed from our real world perspective. The Brotherhood has a "current time" that matches our present that is consistently moving forward along with the real world. Therefore, our perspective of those events is in the present tense, not past tense. Events that took place in your character's life previously are to be described in the past tense, and characters that have died or things that have been destroyed should also be referred to in the past tense.
Capital letters
Galaxy, sector and system
When the galaxy is linked to, it is not to be capitalized. Similarly, when we name systems and sectors, and when we link to them, the words "system" and "sector" should remain in lower case, unless canon dictates otherwise (e.g. Corporate Sector).
Jedi and Sith
The words "Jedi" and "Sith" must always be capitalized. "Jedi" and "Sith" are metonymies that refer to "a member of the Jedi Order" and "a member of the Sith Order," respectively.
The Force
While "the Force" is a proper noun and therefore must be capitalized, the light and dark sides of the Force are not capitalized in the vast majority of official sources. Therefore, they must not be capitalized on the DJBWiki. For example: "Anakin Skywalker fell to the dark side," not "...to the Dark Side." Please note that this does not apply if force refers to any other meanings of the word: A strike force of stormtroopers entered the system, not A strike Force...
Ranks and titles
Ranks and titles are to be capitalized when they immediately precede an individual's name. Do not capitalize ranks or titles when used as a substitute for the name. "As an experienced leader, Admiral Ackbar served the Rebel Alliance. The admiral later served the New Republic."
There are some ranks the name of which should always be capitalized, no matter the semantics. Such titles are Padawan, Vice Admiral, Flight Leader, and so on.
Italics and miscellaneous grammar
Class and ship names
Names of specific spaceships should be:
- Capitalized
- Italicized in appropriate instances
- Referred to by neutral pronouns (it, its)
- e.g.
- "The Chimaera was a Star Destroyer. Its commanding officer was Captain Pellaeon."
Class names are italicized only when a spaceship in the class bears the same name. The definite article may be used, but it is not required.
- When a ship's class is a modifier, use a hyphen:
- "Quasar Fire-class bulk cruiser"
- When it is a noun, do not use a hyphen:
- "Ships of the Victory class were often overlooked"
- e.g.
- An Executor-class Star Dreadnought
Do not italicize a class name when:
- Using the class name and type, but without "-class"
- "Venator Star Destroyer"
- It is being used alone as a noun
- "Most models of the Broadside were lightly armored and ran with a small crew."
Starfighter, missile, and other craft types where a specific spaceship does not bear the class name should be
- Capitalized
- Un-italicized
- Preceded by the full technical designation in the first instance, and may be referred to solely by type name or common name in all succeeding instances.
- Referred to with neuter pronouns (it)
- e.g.
- The T-65 X-wing, or X-wing in all further instances
Apostrophes and possessives ending in "s"
While plural nouns ending in "s" should be made possessive by adding only an apostrophe, singular nouns ending in "s" can be made possessive by adding either an apostrophe followed by another "s" or simply an apostrophe, providing each article is consistent throughout. Users are encouraged, but not required, to use only an s' for possessive nouns ending in a Z-sound. For example, while discussing the armor of multiple Mandalorians, one would write "Mandalorians' armor"; but while discussing the armor of Darth Nihilus, one could write "Nihilus's armor" or "Nihilus' armor."
Droids and gender
If a droid has gender-specific programming refer to them as "he" or "she" rather than "it".
Quotations
Quotations should follow this general format:
- If the quote is less than a paragraph long, simply including it in the article's body with "quotation marks" will suffice.
- If the quote is at least a paragraph in length, or a dialogue, insert as a block quote:
- "Block quotes are indented with a colon at the beginning of each new paragraph. Each paragraph needs only one colon, not a new colon for each line (word wrap will accomplish this automatically).
- New paragraphs, however, do require their own colon."
Please be sure to provide the characters speaking along with the quotation. Per standards of American English, double quotation marks (" ") should be used and the period (full stop), comma, question and exclamation marks should be within the quotation. Single quotation marks (' ') should only be used when there is a quotation inside a quotation: "I never liked 'May the Force be with you.'"
Allowable quotes
A quote used in a DJBWiki article should only include:
- Text that is presented within actual quotation marks, or otherwise clearly marked as spoken dialogue.
- Text that is clearly presented within the confines of someone's memoirs, journal, or diary.
- A quote is NOT:
- Narrative prose that is not actual spoken dialogue or a character's personal memoirs, journal, or diary. This means that thoughts are not considered quotable material.
Linking
A subject should be linked once upon its first mention in the article's infobox, once upon its first mention in the article's intro, and once upon its first mention in the article's main body.
Units of measurement
Most all official Star Wars sources use the metric system of measurement, so in-universe articles should use the metric system
Sourcing material from other wikis
Any article that includes content taken directly from Wikipedia or Wookieepedia must properly reflect the inclusion in keeping with the GNU Free Documentation License and Creative Commons license. As a result, these pages must include either Template:Wikipedia or Template:Wookieepedia on their article's talk pages.