Star Wars Merchandise Wiki:Manual of Style

We here at SWMW like things to be uniform and everything, so this Manual of Style is here to set things straight.

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.

Layout guide
All articles should be structured as follows:
 * 1) Title/Infobox
 * 2) Introduction
 * 3) Stub
 * 4) Main article
 * 5) Gallery
 * 6) Notes and references
 * 7) See also
 * 8) External links
 * 9) Categories

Please note that not all articles use every section.

Stub
Place any stub templates immediately after the introduction. See Star Wars Merchandise Wiki:Template messages/Stub for a list of available templates.

Gallery
After the main article, it may be appropriate to add a picture gallery. This gallery could consist of alternate images of the product, such as a loose action figure or different varieties produced.

Categories
Categories are the last essential item on a page. For a full list of categories, see Special:Categories and Special:CategoryTree.

Naming articles
There are some rules regarding how articles on Wookieepedia should be named.
 * Article names should be in singular form, not plural.
 * The titles of articles about individual characters should be the name by which the character was most commonly known in the the Star Wars universe, with later names preferred to earlier names, and full names preferred to partial names or nicknames. Titles, such as military ranks or titles of nobility, should be omitted.
 * Darth is a special, agreed-on exception. The Darth title is not omitted from Sith Lord names.
 * Unless the name of the article contains (or is) a proper noun, none of the words should be capitalized.

For more details, see the naming conventions (in development; in case of contradictions, regulations of this Manual of Style apply).

Using the #
Do not use the # in a link unless you intend to direct to a section of that article with the title after the # as a section. When linking to articles, particular books and guides with numbers denoting their order, omit the # and simply put the number. Otherwise the software will look for that number as a section title on the page.

e.g. Star Wars Adventure Journal 4, not Star Wars Adventure Journal 

You can use piped links to account for this. For example,  would give you Star Wars Adventure Journal #4.

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. Characters, for example, are in-universe, but the actors who play them are out-of-universe. Another example is that the correspondent in-universe term for the English language is Galactic Basic, which is the common language in Star Wars. Pseudohistory is an integral part of in-universe treatment of canon material.

The only section where out-of-universe information is appropriate is the "Behind the scenes" section and its subsections of an in-universe article. See below for more details.

Out-of-universe
Out-of-Universe refers to the perspective in which an article is written; it is the opposite of in-universe. Something written from an out-of-universe (OOU) perspective is written from a real life point of view. It will refer, for example, to real life publications, actors, authors, events, and so on, acknowledging that its subject is fictional. 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, such as the listing of a character's published appearances or behind the scenes details, it should be tagged as such.

In contrast, articles about books, movies, games, or other real-life Star Wars material should obviously be written from an out-of-universe perspective, but should still be noted as such. Basically, in-universe articles should never refer to Star Wars by name, or any other real life things such as publications, actors, or the like.

Headings
Use the  (heading) markup for headings, not the   (bold) markup. Example:



which produces:


 * This is a heading 

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 readers and editors of Wookieepedia speak many varieties of English, we prefer standard American English spelling, grammar, punctuation, and word usage. This is the variety of English used in the first printings of most primary sources.

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.

If the title of an article differs in different varieties of English, the American title should be the article title, with alternate names being used as redirects (for example, Lightsabre redirects to Lightsaber).

If a source's title is in British English, it must not be converted into American English. The Travelling Jindas must always be referred to as such. Also, if a direct quotation from a British source has a word which is spelled differently in American English, the original British spelling must be preserved. However, a [Sic] sign must be put after the word.

Tense
"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..."

- Star Wars films

All in-universe articles should be in past tense, per the quote above.

The reasons for this are twofold. Firstly, the articles on Wookieepedia are presented as historical recordings that have been pieced together from scraps of information left over from the Star Wars era. As such, all details pertaining to this history have not yet been uncovered, and more information may be added at a later date. Keeping articles written in past tense provides consistency and flavor. Secondly, the Star Wars universe takes place a long, long time ago, in the past (at least compared to the time the narrative is set in). Writing in-universe articles in past tense properly relates the timeline of that universe with our own perspective.

Despite this, do not include phrases like "his ultimate fate is unknown" or "what happened to the ship after that is a mystery".

Sector versus system
When we name systems, and when we link to them, the word "system" should remain in lower case, while the word "Sector" when coupled with the name of a sector, should be capitalized.

Examples: Corellian Sector and Corellian system

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 Wookieepedia. 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...

Rebel and Imperial
If these adjectives refer to the Rebel Alliance or the Galactic Empire, they should always be capitalized. "Mon Calamari supported the Rebel cause" and "The Imperial base on Kejim was..."

However, note that if the referent of these forms are not either of these organizations, there is no reason to capitalize: "The Galaxy was in turmoil by a series of rebellions and civil wars."

Human and other sentient species
In all sections of in-universe articles, the words "Human" and "Near-Human" should be capitalized, just as the name of any other sentient species (Twi'lek, Rodian, Wookiee) in the Star Wars universe would be. The word "humanoid," however, should not be capitalized.

Please note that semi-sentient or nonsentient creature names must not be in capitals. Hence, writing "Rancor" instead of "rancor" is agrammatical. As much as we don't capitalize "Dog" or "Cat" in real-life, we shouldn't capitalize fictional creature names.

Ranks and titles
A rank's name is not to be capitalized if it refers to the rank, not a person. "Ackbar was a well-known admiral." or "As a captain, he had many responsibilities."

However, if the word refers to a person, it should be in capitals. "As an experienced leader, Admiral Ackbar..." or "He never liked telling jokes to the Admiral."

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.

Class and ship names
Names of specific spaceships should be:
 * Capitalized
 * Italicized
 * Used with the definite article
 * e.g.
 * "The Thunderflare operated in the Core region."
 * NOT "Thunderflare operated in the Core region."


 * Referred to by neutral pronouns (it, its)


 * e.g.
 * "The Chimaera was a fine ship. 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

Units of measurement
For consistency, all in-universe articles should use metric units of weight, mass, length, and other measurements. This follows the practice in most sources of official Star Wars canon.