StyleGuide, #7

Things to keep in mind as you help grow this wiki...

Table of Contents

General recommendations
Article modes
Thread mode example
Tricks

General recommendations

Article titles should be PascalCase.
Use MarkUp (eg, MarkDown) appropriately
Use the GikoBooru or imgur as image hosts -- google image search thumbnails and "social media" links will expire, which is bad form.

Article modes

Wiki articles don't always have to be composed like articles you'd see on Wikipedia or Wikia wikis. There are several conventions that can inform the way an article is written:

First is "document mode", which we're all already familiar with; articles are generally written in the third person and are freely revised to improve format. They are considered to be owned by the community (generally, AnonyMous authors).
There is also "thread mode," as featured on WikiWiki; this is similar to talk pages like on Wikipedia. Write some text as if you're making a post on a forum, then "sign" the post. The next person to respond draws a line under your post, writes their post, then similarly signs it. Unlike in document mode, it is better to avoid editing others' posts as best as you can help it.
There is "dialectic mode", which is a dialog between two anonymous authors, one in plaintext, the other italicized. This is similar to thread mode but only two points of view are represented -- with any number of writers behind them; dialectic mode may even feature the two sides written by the same author, for RhetoricalPurposes
Finally, there is "everything2" mode which is a bit like a mix of document and thread modes. For a given topic, multiple articles authored by individuals co-exist. Instead of rewriting another author's article when you disagree with its tone, direction, or content, write a new article yourself under the existing page and sign it.

Thread mode example

ArchDuke: I think WikiWiki is a way better kind of wiki than MediaWiki style wikis.
KillSushi: You're full of shit, Archy. And I mean that in the best way possible. Minimalism isn't always the best approach to things. Who would have fond memories of Encyclopedia Dramatica or TanasinnWiki if they weren't Wikipedia parodies?
ArchDuke: You're putting the cart before the horse. There are plenty of wikis that have had a significant impact on the world of Wikis besides ED/Tanasinn; what about h2g2 or TvTropes?
KillSushi: Those may be interesting wikis in their own right, but the power MediaWiki grants to motivated autists really delivers a powerful user experience. Any meta-humor ED and Tanasinn delivered is of a higher caliber than the kind WikiWiki, TvTropes, or other off-brand wikis deliver.
AnonyMous: both of you guys seriously need to get laid

Tricks

Use a zero-width space () to break up article titles. For instance, if you want to refer to the article TripCode, but have an 's' at the end, write it as TripCode(zwsp)s, which will look like TripCodes.

Go on, try starting a thread here with your perspectives on the style guide... no need to make a thread on GikoBbs...

AnonyMous:

Things to keep in mind as you help grow this wiki...

.. toc::

## General recommendations
1. Article titles should be PascalCase.
2. Use MarkUp (eg, MarkDown) appropriately
3. Use the GikoBooru or imgur as image hosts -- google image search thumbnails and "social media" links will expire, which is bad form.

## Article modes
Wiki articles don't always have to be composed like articles you'd see on Wikipedia or Wikia wikis. There are several conventions that can inform the way an article is written:

1. First is "document mode", which we're all already familiar with; articles are generally written in the third person and are freely revised to improve format. They are considered to be owned by the community (generally, AnonyMous authors). 
2. There is also "thread mode," as featured on WikiWiki; this is similar to talk pages like on Wikipedia. Write some text as if you're making a post on a forum, then "sign" the post. The next person to respond draws a line under your post, writes their post, then similarly signs it. Unlike in document mode, it is better to avoid editing others' posts as best as you can help it.
3. There is "dialectic mode", which is a dialog between two anonymous authors, one in plaintext, the other italicized. This is similar to thread mode but only two points of view are represented -- with any number of writers behind them; dialectic mode may even feature the two sides written by the same author, for RhetoricalPurposes
4. Finally, there is "everything2" mode which is a bit like a mix of document and thread modes. For a given topic, multiple articles authored by individuals co-exist. Instead of rewriting another author's article when you disagree with its tone, direction, or content, write a new article yourself under the existing page and sign it.

## Thread mode example 
* ArchDuke: I think WikiWiki is a way better kind of wiki than MediaWiki style wikis.  
* KillSushi: You're full of shit, Archy. And I mean that in the best way possible. Minimalism isn't always the best approach to things. Who would have fond memories of Encyclopedia Dramatica or TanasinnWiki if they weren't Wikipedia parodies?
* ArchDuke: You're putting the cart before the horse. There are plenty of wikis that have had a significant impact on the world of [[Wiki]]s besides ED/Tanasinn; what about [[h2g2]] or TvTropes? 
* KillSushi: Those may be interesting wikis in their own right, but the power MediaWiki grants to motivated autists really delivers a powerful user experience. Any meta-humor ED and Tanasinn delivered is of a higher caliber than the kind WikiWiki, TvTropes, or other off-brand wikis deliver.
* AnonyMous: both of you guys seriously need to get laid

## Tricks
1. Use a zero-width space () to break up article titles. For instance, if you want to refer to the article TripCode, but have an 's' at the end, write it as TripCode(zwsp)s, which will look like TripCodes.

----
Go on, try starting a thread here with your perspectives on the style guide... no need to make a thread on GikoBbs...

* AnonyMous:

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