Xeno Series Wiki talk:Manual of Style

Date format
I propose to change the current date format (mainly used for release dates of games) from the American-style "Month DD, YYYY" to a more robust "YYYY/MM/DDDD" or "YYYY-MM-DDDD". This has the advantage of actually making sense and being easier to read. Alternatively, I'd also be happy if we switched to "DD Month YYYY", just anything but the American system. Would like to hear other opinions before I change the articles (and possibly put this in the Manual of Style to guarantee it stays uniform). Reggimato (talk) 19:39, 18 April 2022 (EDT)
 * Edit (more like an append): I found out that "~" uses "DD Month YYYY" regardless of user preference, therefore I'd propose we stick with that so it stays uniform. Reggimato (talk) 19:42, 18 April 2022 (EDT)
 * I support 'DD Month YYYY' — it's unambiguous, widely used, arguably easier to read at a glance than YYYY-MM-DD, and makes sense. Rtg142857 (talk) 05:31, 19 April 2022 (EDT)
 * Yeah, "DD Month YYYY" is probably the best choice. I made a template Date that handles the formatting (and also the flags). Could be useful if we change our mind later. Reggimato (talk) 06:30, 19 April 2022 (EDT)
 * Since I've heard no objections, I'll edit this into the MOS later. Reggimato (talk) 06:27, 4 May 2022 (EDT)

I agree that we ought to pick a date format and enshrine it in the MoS as what we use everywhere, though I myself am indifferent as to what gets selected. I will also note that 1. I can change the wiki's automatic date display format (which would affect things like talkpage signatures) (edit: maybe not, I can't find it now but I thought I saw it somewhere previously) and 2. I don't think it should necessarily be required for talkpage signatures to follow this (only content pages). STM (t) 19:53, 18 April 2022 (EDT)

Translation quality
I'd like to add this passage somewhere. Maybe under "writing style", or maybe in its own "translations" section.
 * When translating text from other languages:
 * Do not simply paste in a machine translation (e.g. Google Translate), especially for Japanese.
 * Avoid translating only part of something. Save your work somewhere if you don't have the time to finish it, but "all-or-nothing" is the preferred method for pages. Among other reasons, partial translations make it hard for things like templates to detect whether a page should be marked as "needs translation" or not.
 * Try to avoid copying a translation from elsewhere. We'd rather not depend on the accuracy of other sources. In a perfect world, all of the wiki's translations would be made "in-house".

Discuss. STM (t) 18:45, 4 May 2022 (EDT)
 * Looks good to me, although maybe something should be added for prioritising official translations if and when they exist. Common sense, but still probably worth a mention. Rtg142857 (talk) 08:07, 5 May 2022 (EDT)
 * Don't have anything more to say, looks all good to me. Reggimato (talk) 07:57, 9 May 2022 (EDT)
 * I think we've had more than enough time to discuss now. Reggimato (talk) 06:26, 27 May 2022 (EDT)
 * Yeah okay I'm adding it. STM (t) 09:14, 27 May 2022 (EDT)

Info on guiding page splits/merges
There's been some consternation recently about whether certain pages should be split or not, so I'm suggesting this addition to provide guidance on the topic.


 * Sometimes it can be debated whether two subjects should share a page, or whether they should have individual pages. Keeping them on separate pages is the default action because this makes it easy to comply with our spoiler policy, but sometimes it makes more sense to merge the two into one page. If all three of these are true, then merging should be considered:
 * One page redirecting to the other (in either direction) is not a spoiler in and of itself.
 * The game makes little or no attempt to hide that the two subjects are the same.
 * The subjects are not of equal importance when compared to each other.
 * Of course, every case is unique, and the less clear-cut situations will need discussion to judge consensus.

Yup. STM (t) 11:45, 13 November 2022 (EST)
 * Can't think of any major issues with this, support. Rtg142857 (talk) 18:09, 2 April 2023 (EDT)
 * I support --Dragon146 (talk) 18:10, 2 April 2023 (EDT)

Section headers on story-oriented pages
There seems to be some inconsistency with how section headers are labelled on story-oriented pages (compare the current Citan revision with the current Shulk revision). I propose that this be standardised to an extent.

Looking at the Shulk page as an example, it seems some pages use the following header scheme: To me, this seems like a good way to organise pages. The exact scheme can be tweaked (or reworked) — other opinions here are welcome — but I think suggesting in the MoS that some consistent header scheme be used where applicable would be beneficial. Rtg142857 (talk) 10:33, 16 April 2023 (EDT)
 * Story arc: The events in the games' main story that are centred around the subject of the page, in the order that they are presented in-game.
 * This section may be forgone in some non-character cases where the story events aren't as centred around the page's subject and presenting in a chronologically-ordered 'Lore' section results in a more sensical organisation (e.g. the current organisation of the Gear page) — decided on a case-by-case basis.
 * Lore: Additional canon details about the subject of the page which are not covered in the game's main story. This may include things covered in side content (like what's on the Shulk page wrt H2Hs) or canon extra material (such as what's currently mostly covered in the 'History' subsection of the Story arc section of the Citan page).
 * Given that there may be a lot of this (e.g. in Citan's case), organising chronologically in-universe where possible feels like a reasonable suggestion.
 * Trivia: Meta information, such as discussion of the Uzuki/Van-man character archetypes, and non-canon matters such as Noah using Shulk's outfit.
 * Having a general "what headers to include in which order" would indeed be good. Here's my suggestion:
 * Appearance and personality (maybe named something different for non-characters)
 * Story arc (in game order by default; in lore order if necessary)
 * True appearance and personality (if applicable)
 * Lore (additional canon details found in side content/non-game material)
 * As a [gameplay feature] (in the order: main party member, side party member, NPC, enemy, boss, other mechanic)
 * In [other media] (if there's only one, maybe using its name directly)
 * Gallery
 * Trivia (interesting stuff that doesn't belong in the lore section)
 * In other languages
 * There would be a general note that this is a preferred framework, but there are many cases where a page might be better with something different. It would also not apply to any mostly data-based page (like enemies or collectables). STM (t) 11:42, 16 April 2023 (EDT)
 * Mostly works for me, but is there a justification behind Gallery -> Trivia -> Languages as opposed to what appears to be the more common Trivia -> Languages -> Gallery? (Not that 'we should do this because we've always done it' is a good justification, but the latter would mean fewer pages have to be reorganised.) Rtg142857 (talk) 12:14, 16 April 2023 (EDT)
 * For the Gallery part, we should divide them in sub-sections depending on the subject, E.G. Screenshots, Artwork, and so forth so the images don't become unorganized.
 * I dunno, it just feels wrong for the gallery to be cutting off the trivia and languages from the bottom of the page. Taking a look around, most other NIWA wikis do either GLT or GTL - there must be a reason for it. STM (t) 12:57, 16 April 2023 (EDT)

Galleries
I added a section for galleries. We've informally discussed it in the Discord channel already, but if there are any concerns or additional proposals, feel free to submit here. Reggimato (talk) 16:24, 3 May 2023 (EDT)