KHWiki talk:Manual of Style

Important Discussion!
I'm opening this discussion to all editors!! THe Manual of Style needs your input, good sirs and madams.

A question by NeloAngelo: Should we separate enemy pages or should the battle strategy be put in the same page. I've answered this questions before but he still asks so I'm opening this discussion. The MoS needs more input anyway.

Suggestions? Blue. 10:38, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

Like I said on his talkpage yes. A page for strategies (I hope I spelled that right) would look really clutterd since there are many ways in defeating a boss. -Azul 10:42, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

Should the enemies’ journal entries be italicized? —Shidou 02:54, 13 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, to symbolize it being an in-game description. Blue. 02:58, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

Because journal entries for characters change over the course of the game, is there a specification for which point in the game the entries should come from? —Shidou 16:45, 13 January 2008 (UTC)
 * All of them (if possible). --Hecko X 17:16, 13 January 2008 (UTC)
 * How should one distinguish between the multiple journal entries? Sora’s article has a numerical pattern, but would it be confusing after each entry update from the entire game is written down? —Shidou 18:19, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

Should the subject of enemy articles be singular or plural? If singular, should they start with a definite or indefinite article? —Shidou 18:19, 13 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Hard to say without trying out a layout, since I have absolutely no idea of how much information it would be. So I suggest making a sandbox, experiment, and when you/we find a setup that works, go with it. As for your second question, I'm sad to say I don't quite follow your train of thought. Could you possibly use an example to clarify? --Hecko X 18:52, 13 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Stick to singular. And omit the "the" or "a/an". I already said something about that in the style page? Blue. 19:16, 13 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, but you specified it for article titles, not the body. Example of plural, indefinite articles and definite articles. —Shidou 19:25, 13 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Use the definite article for the intro sentence. e.g "The Neo Shadow is a Heartless". The rest then is up to the writer, use as according to the sentence structure and the message to convey. Blue. 19:42, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

Should second-person pronouns generally be avoided (with quotes being one of the exceptions)? If so, what should be used in its place (e.g. the player, Sora)? —Shidou 21:34, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Good question. Second person should be avoided. Use, the player for gameplay articles, and third person or character name for character and storyline pages. Blue. 21:39, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Strategies are also exceptions to the rule. --Hecko X 21:41, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Overlinking
Rather than limiting a wikilink to its first occurrence in the article, how about a maximum of one per section? Pages can link to a particular section and clicking on the table contents may skip sections, so the extra links could still be the first that the reader comes across. —Shidou 03:40, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
 * We could adopt the Wikipedia approach to internal linking, and say as long as it doesn't occur too many times. I know that is vague, but I think as long as common sense can accept then it's fine. Blue. 08:35, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

Videos
I recommend placing videos in tables. Makes the pages more organized. Blue. 18:28, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

Tense
What is the KH Wiki policy on tense? I often want to use past tense when describing events, but many articles are in present tense. Ex. "Sora received the Keyblade in Destiny Islands" Vs. "Sora receives the Keyblade in Desitny Islands." Both are plausible, but it would be confusing if we dont stay the same throughout. Also, Axel's page for example begins with "Axel IS the 8th member of the orginaztion" despite the fact that hes dead. So are we talking about characters as if the events of KH2 have happened and are over? or are we talking about them as if we are currently playing through the game and the action is "happening" in front of you? Thanks.--Zephyrus11 23:58, 1 April 2008 (UTC)


 * The Last one. As if the game is happening in front of you. Although, if you are talking about something in KHII and reference something from KH of KH:CoM then that wouls be past tense. The Axel thing, "Axel IS the 8th member of the organization" is right-Azul 03:00, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Ok, Thank you. --Zephyrus11 03:47, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

Review of the Manual of Style
{{TNE|attntext=My additions and edits to the Manual of Style (as suggested by several present users) :

General
(At present I've been using American English despite the fact that I speak in British English, just to make it standard for all articles.)
 * The language of the wiki is English; spelling and grammar must be concise and clear. We have no definite preference on spelling between British English or American English, but if a word is spelled one way, e.g. "color", leave it as it is. The editor who writes the entry decides the spelling.

For Characters

 * General sections:
 * Journal - according to Jiminy's Journal entry. This should be the first section. All entries should be italicized. (Now, there's a dispute on whether to use Template:Journal or not. Thus far, the majority of users have gone with the current preset text.)
 * (For Disney characters and Final Fantasy characters, priority should go towards their appearance in Kingdom Hearts rather than in their respective original games/films.


 * (Trivia : Do not insert redundant information, particularly if it is already contained within the article. A trivia section should have, at the most, seven points. If merging to the main article body is possible, do so.)

For Worlds/Locations

 * Each location gets an article, as long as it is under the sphere of the Kingdom Hearts series. (There is a lot of controversy surrounding this rule. The best solution should be this : important locations [particularly those where key events take place] get articles, whilst the rest are bolded and placed within the articles of the respective worlds.)

For Items & Equipment

 * Each item and equipment gets an article. Seriously, even a potion. Why? Items & Equipments must be documented of its appearance in all games and how (and possibly WHERE) to retrieve them.

For Abilities

 * All abilities should get an article, with one main ability article. (This is controversial too. Not all abilities can be fully explained, and some will only remain as stubs. Key abilities and recurring abilities should get their articles, no doubt, but the rest fall under the description of Sora/Abilities.)
 * At least one image for identification. (I think we will need to start getting screenshots ! This will be particularly difficult for very dynamic abilities such as Sonic Blade and Judgement, as these will require several screenshots put into a timeline.)
 * Place navigational template as relevant. (Do we even need one ?)}}