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{{Draft}}
{{for|the other style guides|Help:Wiki syntax and markup|Help:Wiki structure}}


I humbly think that the Fedora wiki deviates too often from common expectations, and it should be safely and carefully reorganized to adhere more with traditional practices. It should not deviate from [http://en.wikipedia.org the Wikipedia] unless it has good reason to do so. Things like unusual article names, unconventional article formats, and unexpected uses of features confuse users and discourage contributors. I have proposed some policy for this wiki that I believe will make the wiki much easier to understand and much more consistent.
This '''style guide''' is a collection of best practices for articles on the [[Fedora Project Wiki]] that encourage clarity and consistency. [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style Wikipedia's Manual of Style] serves as the guide for most style decisions, so this guide focuses greater on areas that are specific to Fedora.


== Article Naming Rules ==
== Titles ==
An article name should very briefly describe the content of the article. It should be a noun, and it should be singular unless the article is specifically discussing the plural form of something. The article name should not be a sentence, nor should it be an abbreviation. It should almost never include an article prefix. Separate words in the name should be separated by underscores. Only the first word should be capitalized unless the article is discussing a proper noun.
An article title should very briefly describe the content of its article. The title should be a noun, and it should be singular unless the article is explicitly discussing the plural form. The article name should not be a sentence, nor should it be an abbreviation. It should almost never include an [[Help:article prefix|article prefix]]. Only the first word of an article title should be capitalized unless the article is discussing a proper noun.


* Good: [[Fedora]], [[Proven tester]], [[Package maintainer]], [[comps.xml]]
When writing links to other articles, separate the words of both the article title and the piped content with spaces; underscores should never be used as, internally to the wiki, they are identical to spaces.
* Bad: [[How to use and edit comps.xml for package groups]], [[L10N]], [[PackageMaintainers/CVSAdminProcedure]]


If an article can never be directly linked - it must be piped to look presentable ( i.e., [[QA/Updates_Testing]]) - it's probably not a good article name.
=== Section titles ===
Section titles follow similar rules to article titles. Section titles should briefly describe their section's content, they should only have their first word capitalized (unless otherwise required), and they should usually not be in the form of a sentence or question. Section titles should not contain links.


== Referring to "Fedora" ==
Section titles should be omitted unless necessary. The first section of an article should never be named "Summary", "Overview", or "Introduction" as this is assumed - place such content at the top of the page before any section definitions. Sections should not be used sections unless there is a sufficient need to distinguish topics; for small variations in the subjects, paragraphs are more natural
Fedora should only be included in article names if the article is discussing a proper noun, or if disambiguation is necessary between Fedora and some other distro. Articles like [[Fedora release criteria]] do not need the "Fedora" in the name since the wiki is obviously Fedora-related.


If an article is referring to release criteria for a specific version of Fedora, then that version should be included in the name. The abbreviation FC4, F12, etc. should never be used in any article, unless it is explicitly required (such as when referring to a package built for "fc13"). Fedora Core versions should always be referred to as "Fedora Core 4", and not "Fedora 4".
== Editing ==


=== Fedora vs. Fedora Project ===
Abbreviations should only be used if the abbreviation is more common than the unabbreviated name. For example, ''[[QA]]'' is more recognizable in the community than ''Quality Assurance''. Abbreviations should also be used if the official name of a group or project is an abbreviation, such as [[L10N]]. If so, that should be the only way used to refer to that group.
Both "Fedora" and "Fedora Project" are used in this wiki. "Fedora" should refer to the distro as both an adjective and a noun. The "project" in "Fedora project" should not be capitalized, as there is no corresponding "Fedora Project." This website should be referred to as fedoraproject.org.


Projects and groups, like QA, releng, etc. should only include "Fedora" if that's part of their official name, or if they need to disambiguate (Fedora QA versus some other QA).
Tables should only be used for tabular content. Lists are usually less obtrusive ways to organize content.


== Abbreviations ==
Admonitions should be used very sparingly for regular articles. They should either provide information about the article (at the top of the page), or they should provide critical information regarding some issue. Tutorials and other types of articles may use these more regularly.
Abbreviations should be used if the abbreviation is more common than the unabbreviated name. For example, [[QA]] is more recognizable than [[Quality Assurance]]. Abbreviations should also be used if the official name of a group or project is an abbreviation, such as [[L10N]]. If so, that should be the only way used to refer to that group.


If none of those rules apply, the full name should be used.
<!-- I don't like this. :) Rewritten below --ianweller Tue Jun 23 02:52 UTC
[[User:Dafrito/Article prefix|Article prefixes]], such as "Proposal/" in [[Proposal/No Frozen Rawhide]], should be used in cases where the nature of the content is different from regular wiki articles. Such instances are listed below. Most wiki articles should not use an article prefix.


== Section titles ==
-->If a page is different enough from the regular scope of the wiki, you should make it apparent in the page title, but don't step outside the guidelines to do it. Some suggestions:
Section titles should be relatively short, they should usually not be in the form of a sentence or question, and they should describe their section's content. Titles should not contain links.


Section titles should not be used if they are redundant. For example, "Summary" or "Overview" titles for the first section are redundant.
* Instead of ''Drafts/Wiki policy'', use ''Wiki policy (draft)''
* Instead of ''Proposal/No Frozen Rawhide'', just use ''No Frozen Rawhide'', and note that it's a proposal
* Instead of ''HowTos/LiveUSB'', use ''How to create and use Live USB''


== Tables ==
=== Referring to "Fedora" ===
The prefix "Fedora" should only be included for clarity or when discussing an official name. Articles like [[Fedora release criteria]] do not need the "Fedora" since that relationship is implied by the fact that it's on this wiki.


Tables should only be used for tabular content.
Specific versions of Fedora should be referred to by their full name, like "Fedora 13". Fedora Core versions should always be referred to as "Fedora Core 4", and never "Fedora 4". Abbreviating to "F13" and "FC4" is acceptable. (Remember that "Fedora Core" changed to "Fedora" between Fedora Core 6 and Fedora 7.)


== Info blurbs, alert blurbs ==
<!-- Groups should never use Fedora in wiki titles; their official names are "Fedora QA" and "Fedora Infrastructure" but those aren't included in wiki titles. Removed because this is covered by the above. --ianweller
Projects and groups, like QA, RelEng, etc. should only include "Fedora" if that's part of their official name, or if they need to disambiguate (Fedora QA versus some other QA).


This should be used very sparingly for regular articles. They should either provide meta-information on the article, or provide critical information regarding some issue.
-->"Fedora Project" is the proper way to refer to this community. This website should be referred to as fedoraproject.org.


Tutorials and other types of articles may use these more commonly.
Refer to [[Logo/UsageGuidelines]] for information on using the Fedora logo.


== Article prefixes ==
=== Organizing content ===
{{for|why article prefixes are harmful|User:Dafrito/Article prefix}}
Categories should be used to group members of a larger group, such as [[Ambassadors]]. Do not use article prefixes.


Article prefixes should be used in cases where the nature of the content is different from regular wiki articles. Such instances are listed below. Regular wiki articles should never use an article prefix.
Subtopics should be contained in either sections or separate articles. Their name should include the broader topic. For example, here's a layout for articles discussing releases :
 
== Categories ==
Categories should be used to group members of a larger group, such as ambassadors.
 
Article prefixes should never be used to group together categorically-related things.
 
== Subtopics ==
Articles that provide specialized insight into a broader topic should be contained in separate articles. Their name should include the broader topic. For example, here's a layout for articles discussing releases :


* Release
* Release
Line 60: Line 53:
** Release criteria
** Release criteria
** Release process
** Release process
Remember to think of a category structure like a tree: subcategories are branches, pages are leaves. If a branch has too many leaves, the branch gets too heavy, breaks off the tree, and falls to the ground. Subcategorize categories with too many pages.


== Exceptional article types ==
== Exceptional article types ==
Some article types are acceptable in the Fedora wiki that would not be accepted in the Wikipedia. These types follow special rules to differentiate their content and ensure consistency.
* '''Meeting logs''' should either be linked to logs on [http://meetbot.fedoraproject.org/ meetbot.fedoraproject.org] or should be in the Meeting: namespace. The name should not change from meeting to meeting. The meeting should also be a member of a category, so all meetings can be viewed quickly. Meeting logs should not be edited or cleaned up. Relevant decisions and progress should be summarized and merged into existing articles.


Whatever type an article is, it should not be more than one: articles should be exclusively one type or another.
* '''Events''' should not fall under any prefix, unless they are FUDCons. If an event is a FUDCon, use the FUDCon: namespace. The FUDCon: namespace allows any person to edit whether they are logged in or not.


=== Meeting and IRC Logs ===
* '''Proposals''' may have "(draft)" at the end of their titles.
All meeting logs should be named <code>Logs/YYYYMMDD/QA_Meeting</code>. The timezone used should be consistent for the meeting, and the name should not change from meeting to meeting. The meeting should also be a member of a category, so all meetings can be viewed quickly.


=== Events ===
* '''Tutorials''', '''how-tos''', and '''guides''' should note what they are in the title, but should not use a specific prefix. They should be specific, linear, and instructional. They should describe their purpose, their results, and their side effects. They may use second-person, but they should not be personal. They should provide wiki links to areas of interest, as applicable; they should not provide information that would be better suited for an article.
Events should fall under a <code>Event/</code> prefix. Policy for event pages is similar to user pages, with an implied owner.


=== Proposals ===
* '''Feature pages''' combine a proposal and an article. They should use a <code>Features/</code> prefix. Features should eventually become regular articles: the proposal should be separated from the content, and the feature can eventually serve as the article for whatever feature is being discussed. (Features are a special exception to the prefix rule.)
Proposals should fall under a <code>Proposal/</code> prefix. Proposal discussion should occur within the talk page.


== Not exceptional article types ==
* '''Projects''' and '''group pages''' should either be portals or articles, but not both. If they're portals, then they should be much shorter and link to a large number of related articles; they should behave like websites for that group. If they are articles, they should describe the group. They should not use second-person. They can solicit new contributors but should leave the full join process to another page.
 
=== Features ===
Features should be treated as regular articles. They should not use a <code>Feature/</code> prefix.
 
The rationale here is that feature pages rarely distinguish themselves from regular articles, other than the fact that they're made hard to find (due to article prefixes)
 
=== Project or group pages ===
These should either be portals or articles. If they're portals, then they should be much shorter and link to a large number of related articles; they should behave like websites for that group. On the other hand, if they are articles, they should describe the group. They should not use second-person. They can solicit users, but they should not emphasize that role.


== FAQs ==
== FAQs ==
FAQs collect a large number of questions and can be more efficient than articles. I believe they have a definite purpose when organized properly.
FAQs collect a large number of questions and can be more efficient than articles.


=== Organization ===
=== Organization ===
Line 94: Line 78:


If your questions are highly related, have a linear flow, and do not cover a broad range of topics, you may be better served by converting it to an article instead.
If your questions are highly related, have a linear flow, and do not cover a broad range of topics, you may be better served by converting it to an article instead.
For a decent example, see Fedora's [[FAQ]]. For an example that doesn't fit this policy, see [[Shipping fonts in Fedora (FAQ)]].


=== Questions ===
=== Questions ===
Questions should be independent of one another. A question should make sense on its own, and not be dependent on the question or answer that came before it. The question should be as short as possible, but also easy to read. If a question is difficult to word, it likely should be an article or tutorial.
Questions should be independent of one another. A question should make sense on its own, and not be dependent on the question or answer that came before it. The question should be as short as possible, but also easy to read. If a question is difficult to word, it likely should be an article or tutorial.


A question should actually ask a question: things like "I can not comply, the tools my package uses force a specific font file installation!" require the user to guess as to the content contained within. Other questions such as "This is too much work!" verge on insulting to users, and should be removed entirely. Do no
A question should actually ask a question: things like "I can not comply, the tools my package uses force a specific font file installation!" require the user to guess as to the content contained within. Other questions such as "This is too much work!" verge on insulting to users, and should be removed entirely.


=== Answers ===
=== Answers ===
* Questions should have substantial answers. If an answer can only respond with a link to another article, then it probably should be expanded or the question reworded. However, if a 'Yes' or 'No' will do, then that's all the answer should have.
Responses should be sufficient. They should provide links for more information if applicable. They should not be exhaustive, and do not need to be long; long answers are generally worse than a simple 'Yes' or 'No'. Provide a general, but sufficient response to the question, and provide links so the user to explore the issue on his own.
* Questions should not be strive to be comprehensive. An answer should be sufficient for the question asked, but it should not be exhaustive. A response should provide enough information to answer the question, and link to other articles to provide more information.the answer can be short.
 
How-to style responses should generally be avoided, unless the answer is very short. Otherwise, the response should answer the question by briefly describing the process, and linking to a dedicated tutorial page.
If the answer describes a process, it should be very short. How-to or tutorial-like responses should be converted into articles. The answer should summarize the process and the reason for performing it, and link to the new tutorial page.

Latest revision as of 21:16, 19 July 2011

For the other style guides, see Help:Wiki syntax and markup.

This style guide is a collection of best practices for articles on the Fedora Project Wiki that encourage clarity and consistency. Wikipedia's Manual of Style serves as the guide for most style decisions, so this guide focuses greater on areas that are specific to Fedora.

Titles

An article title should very briefly describe the content of its article. The title should be a noun, and it should be singular unless the article is explicitly discussing the plural form. The article name should not be a sentence, nor should it be an abbreviation. It should almost never include an article prefix. Only the first word of an article title should be capitalized unless the article is discussing a proper noun.

When writing links to other articles, separate the words of both the article title and the piped content with spaces; underscores should never be used as, internally to the wiki, they are identical to spaces.

Section titles

Section titles follow similar rules to article titles. Section titles should briefly describe their section's content, they should only have their first word capitalized (unless otherwise required), and they should usually not be in the form of a sentence or question. Section titles should not contain links.

Section titles should be omitted unless necessary. The first section of an article should never be named "Summary", "Overview", or "Introduction" as this is assumed - place such content at the top of the page before any section definitions. Sections should not be used sections unless there is a sufficient need to distinguish topics; for small variations in the subjects, paragraphs are more natural

Editing

Abbreviations should only be used if the abbreviation is more common than the unabbreviated name. For example, QA is more recognizable in the community than Quality Assurance. Abbreviations should also be used if the official name of a group or project is an abbreviation, such as L10N. If so, that should be the only way used to refer to that group.

Tables should only be used for tabular content. Lists are usually less obtrusive ways to organize content.

Admonitions should be used very sparingly for regular articles. They should either provide information about the article (at the top of the page), or they should provide critical information regarding some issue. Tutorials and other types of articles may use these more regularly.

If a page is different enough from the regular scope of the wiki, you should make it apparent in the page title, but don't step outside the guidelines to do it. Some suggestions:

  • Instead of Drafts/Wiki policy, use Wiki policy (draft)
  • Instead of Proposal/No Frozen Rawhide, just use No Frozen Rawhide, and note that it's a proposal
  • Instead of HowTos/LiveUSB, use How to create and use Live USB

Referring to "Fedora"

The prefix "Fedora" should only be included for clarity or when discussing an official name. Articles like Fedora release criteria do not need the "Fedora" since that relationship is implied by the fact that it's on this wiki.

Specific versions of Fedora should be referred to by their full name, like "Fedora 13". Fedora Core versions should always be referred to as "Fedora Core 4", and never "Fedora 4". Abbreviating to "F13" and "FC4" is acceptable. (Remember that "Fedora Core" changed to "Fedora" between Fedora Core 6 and Fedora 7.)

"Fedora Project" is the proper way to refer to this community. This website should be referred to as fedoraproject.org.

Refer to Logo/UsageGuidelines for information on using the Fedora logo.

Organizing content

Categories should be used to group members of a larger group, such as Ambassadors. Do not use article prefixes.

Subtopics should be contained in either sections or separate articles. Their name should include the broader topic. For example, here's a layout for articles discussing releases :

  • Release
    • Types of releases
      • Branched, or Branched Release
      • Rawhide, or Rawhide Release
    • Release criteria
    • Release process

Remember to think of a category structure like a tree: subcategories are branches, pages are leaves. If a branch has too many leaves, the branch gets too heavy, breaks off the tree, and falls to the ground. Subcategorize categories with too many pages.

Exceptional article types

  • Meeting logs should either be linked to logs on meetbot.fedoraproject.org or should be in the Meeting: namespace. The name should not change from meeting to meeting. The meeting should also be a member of a category, so all meetings can be viewed quickly. Meeting logs should not be edited or cleaned up. Relevant decisions and progress should be summarized and merged into existing articles.
  • Events should not fall under any prefix, unless they are FUDCons. If an event is a FUDCon, use the FUDCon: namespace. The FUDCon: namespace allows any person to edit whether they are logged in or not.
  • Proposals may have "(draft)" at the end of their titles.
  • Tutorials, how-tos, and guides should note what they are in the title, but should not use a specific prefix. They should be specific, linear, and instructional. They should describe their purpose, their results, and their side effects. They may use second-person, but they should not be personal. They should provide wiki links to areas of interest, as applicable; they should not provide information that would be better suited for an article.
  • Feature pages combine a proposal and an article. They should use a Features/ prefix. Features should eventually become regular articles: the proposal should be separated from the content, and the feature can eventually serve as the article for whatever feature is being discussed. (Features are a special exception to the prefix rule.)
  • Projects and group pages should either be portals or articles, but not both. If they're portals, then they should be much shorter and link to a large number of related articles; they should behave like websites for that group. If they are articles, they should describe the group. They should not use second-person. They can solicit new contributors but should leave the full join process to another page.

FAQs

FAQs collect a large number of questions and can be more efficient than articles.

Organization

FAQs should be arranged by questions. Each section should answer a single question, and that section's title should be the question. Longer FAQs should group questions by category. Each question group should have names that abide by the naming rules of a regular section. If the FAQ is still hard to skim, the FAQ should be broken into separate articles.

A FAQ should have a similar level of required expertise. FAQs should not bounce between basic and advanced questions, as this confuses readers. Sections should have a similar implied level of understanding. Advanced questions are usually best spent being rolled into another FAQ, article, or section.

If your questions are highly related, have a linear flow, and do not cover a broad range of topics, you may be better served by converting it to an article instead.

Questions

Questions should be independent of one another. A question should make sense on its own, and not be dependent on the question or answer that came before it. The question should be as short as possible, but also easy to read. If a question is difficult to word, it likely should be an article or tutorial.

A question should actually ask a question: things like "I can not comply, the tools my package uses force a specific font file installation!" require the user to guess as to the content contained within. Other questions such as "This is too much work!" verge on insulting to users, and should be removed entirely.

Answers

Responses should be sufficient. They should provide links for more information if applicable. They should not be exhaustive, and do not need to be long; long answers are generally worse than a simple 'Yes' or 'No'. Provide a general, but sufficient response to the question, and provide links so the user to explore the issue on his own.

If the answer describes a process, it should be very short. How-to or tutorial-like responses should be converted into articles. The answer should summarize the process and the reason for performing it, and link to the new tutorial page.