Editing Help:Style guide

This page is a brief list of style notes to help keep the writing on Medapedia consistant. You should try to follow these! 

== Style guide ==

'''Terminology'''

* When possible, please use the Japanese names for all characters, Medarots, places, things, etc. (See [[Help:Japanese vs. English names]] for more info.)

* When talking about Medarots, please use their names as listed on one of the [[Lists of Medarots|Medarot lists]], since those pages have the most current name translations. If you think a name needs changing, it's preferred that you leave a message on the list's talk page before modifying the list.

'''Capitalization'''

* Article titles do not require capitalization unless they contain a proper noun. (This makes them easier to link to, since links are case-sensitive past the first letter.) Proper nouns include the word "Medarot", Medarot names, attack and action names, language names, game titles, manga titles, and person names. Some Medarot terms (such as "[[Medal]]" and "[[Medachange]]") are also treated as proper nouns.

* Likewise, page section titles, image captions, and text within tables and infoboxes do not require capitalization except on the first letter and proper nouns.

'''Romanization / Romaji'''

* We use our own romanization style, similar to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepburn_romanization Hepburn] but without the use of macrons to show long vowels. Long vowels should be written out, i.e. "ou" for おう and "oo" for おお or おー. If you don't know how to romanize a piece of Japanese text, please leave it as ??? and another editor will be able to fill it in.  

* If you are including Japanese text in an article, you can add the romanized reading as hover-over text using [[Template:R|this template]]. Note that this shouldn't be necessary on the Medarot's name in the text of an article, since it should already be listed in the Medarot's infobox.

'''Translations'''

* Generally speaking, Japanese words within Medarot or character names should NOT be translated, or "localized". Ideally, Medarot names should make the name origin clearer to English readers while still matching up with the Japanese pronunciation. This is very subjective though, so if you can think of a better spelling then by all means suggest it on a talk page. ''Please'' don't rename pages on your own without discussing it first.

* Part names, on the other hand, should be translated or "localized" to make the original meaning clear. This is ''extremely'' subjective though, so please discuss any changes beforehand when possible.

* Using Google Translate for Japanese text, while tempting, really does not help anyone. Not only is their Japanese translation questionable at best, but many part names and terms use non-standard spellings that make a machine translator useless. If you can't figure out the meaning of something, leave it untranslated and another editor will be able to help decipher it.

'''Other notes'''

* All articles should be written in American English (as opposed to British).

* When talking about a ''model'' of Medarot, please use gender-neutral pronouns like "its" and "they", even if it's known that the Medarot is for a male or female Tinpet. (This is to keep it from sounding too personal.) If you're talking about a specific ''character'' that is that Medarot, gender-specific pronouns (he and she) can be used.

* The writing style for all articles should be encyclopedia-like, but it doesn't need to be ''entirely'' formal. Try to avoid informal contractions and personal notes, and focus on being informative before anything else.

== Specific pages ==

* [[Medapedia:Sample Medarot]] - Explains the format to follow when writing Medarot pages.

== Notice about Medabots Wiki ==

Please do not copy content or files from Medabots Wiki. This wiki branched off from Medabots Wiki in late 2010, and any pages deemed useful to carry over have already been imported. Copying any pages now is not only unneccesary, but also violates the [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ license] it was published under by not preserving the entire history of the page.

''This page may be added to at any time. To discuss any changes, please use the associated [[Medapedia talk:Style guide|talk page]]. ''