User:Argy/Manual of Style 2009

This is an instruction manual that addresses the conventions adopted by Bulbanews in writing, editing, formatting and linking. Please read it before you contribute to Bulbanews and refer to it when necessary.

Any questions or disputes regarding Bulbanews style should be directed to Argy, editor in chief.

Basic wikicode

Besides writing articles in the Bulbanews on factual, useful information backed up by reliable sources, contributors are expected to use decent spelling and grammar and a basic level of wikicode. Some of the most commonly used aspects of wikicode are listed below. Should you forget, above the text editors for articles are a row of buttons with many common wikicode attributes.

Text formatting: To make text bold, put three apostrophes on either side of it, such as '''Bulbanews'''. This will result in Bulbanews. However, bold text is mostly for any names or facts which need a very large amount of emphasis. For a normal emphasis (such as translations of Japanese text), it is common style to put text in italics, which is done with two apostrophes instead of three, such as ''Bulbanews''. This will result in Bulbanews.
Links: Whenever something is referenced in an article which has its own article on Bulbapedia, be sure to link to it. This is done by putting two brackets, a vertical pipe and the letters bp on either side of a word. For example, {{bp|Pokémon}} will result in Pokémon. However, sometimes there's no way to use the exact name of an article in a sentence without the sentence being awkwardly-worded. In these instances, to have different text display than the article's name, put a vertical pipe between bp:, the article's name and the text you would like to display. For example, [[bp:Pokémon|Pocket Monsters]] will result in Pocket Monsters, which you may notice links to the Pokémon article.
- Short links: There are several quick links which are not only useful, but common style. For example, when linking to a Pokémon article, typing {{p|Pikachu}} results in Pikachu, which you may notice links to the article Pikachu (Pokémon) on Bulbapedia. Another quick link is {{m|Splash}} for the move Splash, for example.
- External links: Other links can be done with using a single bracket. In this instance, a vertical line is not necessary to divide the name from the link. However, the full address is needed to link to a page. For example, to link to the Bulbagarden forums, typing [http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/index.php Bulbagarden Forums] would result in Bulbagarden Forums. External links are primarily used to cite sources and to link to any related Web sites.
Bulbasaur
Images: Images are added in a manner similar to links. To add in an image, link to the image's name, but add in Image: before the name. For example, [[File:001MS.png]] will add in the image . Formatting attributes can be added to an image as well, divided with vertical lines. For example, [[Image:001Bulbasaur.png|thumb|100px|Bulbasaur]] will add the image to the right. All images are uploaded to Bulbagarden Archives.
Headlines: These are not to be confused with traditional news article headlines. Wiki articles are divided by levels of headlines, much like a large outline. These are indicated by equals signs on either side of the headline text. There are six levels of headlines, with one equals sign being the first and highest level, which would look like =Headline text=, and six equals signs being the sixth and lowest level, which would look like ======Headline text======. First and second level headlines are underlined. Text size decreases with lower level headlines.

Naming conventions

Bulbanews ideally uses character names appropriate to their context. Articles about English-language releases should include English character names; articles about Japanese-language releases should include Japanese character names. Character names in other languages are rarely used on Bulbanews, but they should be accompanied by their respective characters' English names in parenthesis.

For example, translations of Japanese episode titles do not replace the Japanese names of characters, places or objects with their English names. This serves two purposes: It avoids confusion with titles of episodes dubbed in other languages, and it respects the creators' intent.

Linking to the Bulbapedia articles that correspond with Pokémon-related names is especially important when Japanese names are used. Readers who are unfamiliar with Japanese names may hover their cursors over Bulbapedia links to see a name's English equivalent in the link's URL, or they may click the link to obtain more information.

Names of people

All modern persons should have their name given in Western order. Since the definition of "modern" may vary from culture to culture, for the Japanese, all names from the Taishō period onwards should be given in Western order. Names from the Meiji restoration may be given in Western or Eastern order — use prevailing convention on a person-by-person basis. Names prior to the Meiji restoration should be given in Eastern order.

When a person has a specific preference for the way their name is rendered, or where convention differs, use that instead. For example, use Hiromoto SIN-Ichi, Ikue Ohtani and Rica Matsumoto instead of Shin'ichi Hiromoto, Ikue Ōtani and Rika Matsumoto.

Japanese

Romanization

Primarily, if a trademarked romanization is available, that is the proper romanization to use. For example, Fushigisou, Teppouo insetad of Fushigisō and Teppōo.

However, if a trademarked romanization is not available, please follow the Hepburn romanization scheme, and use Ā Ē Ī Ō Ū ā ē ī ō ū for long vowels. Please correct any incorrectly marked long vowels (circumflexes, tildes, doubling, ou and not marking long vowels at all are all not acceptable).

I-macron (Ī ī) and e-macron (Ē ē) are to be used when romanizing Japanese words of foreign origin, hence kōhī for コーヒー but Iizuka for いいづか. A hint to look out for is whether or not a bō (ー) is used to lengthen it.
O-macron (Ō ō) is to be used for both おう (as in しんいちろう Shin'ichirō) and おお (as in おおづか Ōzuka)
E-macron (Ē ē) is rarely used, except with the interjection ええ and some foreign loanwords.
- Please take note that verbs such as 思う omou and 呪う norou do not have long vowels.
  - However, subjunctive forms such as 思おう omoō and 呪おう noroō do have long vowels.
zu is to be used for both ず and づ; ji is to be used for both じ and ぢ.
With ん, there is some free choice whether to use n or m when followed by labial consonants p, b, f and m. Follow popular or established convention on a word-by-word basis, hence, Namba for ナンバ but Hanba for はんば.
To simplify matters, always romanize ポケモン as Pokémon. When ポケ is an abbreviated form of Pokémon, romanize it as Poké.

Romanizations and translations should be italicized.

Pokémon terminology and style

Nouns, capitalization and specific terminology

The word Pokémon is always capitalized, as well as the names of Pokémon species. So are nouns starting with "Poké", such as Pokéblock, PokéGear and Poké Flute. Note, however, that there is no one common trend for spelling of words beginning with "Poké" — they can be written as a compound word, with the second part of the word capitalized or uncapitalized, or as two words with the second word capitalized. Also note that this applies to many nouns starting with "Pokémon", such as with Pokémon Trainer.
Items and all words in them are always capitalized; they are considered proper nouns for the purposes of Bulbanews. "Leftovers", "Escape Rope" or "Water Stone" are all correct as written. Case should match that of the game text, such as the DeepSeaTooth.
Locations should also be capitalized in a manner consistent with English grammar. Ruins of Alph has the A in Alph always capitalized, while numbered routes, such as 101, 217 and so on, are proper nouns and must have the R capitalized.
Specific terminology is different. "Leveling up" has a lowercase L, as would "starter Pokémon" have a lowercase "s" (but, of course, a capital P in Pokémon.).
Specific element types are called "Water-type" and "Rock-type" when used as nouns. Squirtle is a "Water type" is not correct; Squirtle is a Water-type is.
Evolutionary levels should be designated as "unevolved," "first evolution" and "second evolution" for Pokémon that have undergone zero, one and two evolutions respectively during their development. TCG terminology of "basic Pokémon," "stage 1 Pokémon" and "stage 2 Pokémon" should not spill over into other media, as Pikachu and several other Pokémon are considered basic in the TCG sense yet are Pokémon that have undergone one evolution in their lifetimes, making them first-evolution Pokémon, more akin to Charmeleon than unevolved Pokémon, which their pre-evolutions are.

Episode numbering

The Bulbanews rules of episode article titling dictate that the order in which the episode aired in Japan is its title.

Episodes of the Diamond & Pearl are titled DP001, DP002 and so on.

Episodes of the Advanced Generation are titled AG001, AG002 and so on. Note that AG101 is Vanity Affair — the skipped episode is AG101 (unaired). Both clip shows in the anime's history are also counted as episodes.

Episodes of the original series are titled EP001, EP002 and so on, with the numbering system being that of, again, Japanese-aired episodes. Note that Holiday Hi-Jynx and Snow Way Out! are not considered episodes in the series timeline.

Side story episodes are H001, H002 and so on in the order they were aired in Japan on the Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station, a.k.a. Shūkan Pokémon Hōsōkyoku.

Image preferences

For further details, please see the Archives manual of style.

Images are often a helpful visual addition to the content of articles. However, in some cases, it is questionable what images are best used for articles.

If there is official artwork, such as the Ken Sugimori stock artwork or video game sprites, this is always the preferred image.
If there is no official artwork, such as screenshots from episodes or manga, ones created by the contributing user are preferred over images taken from other sources. There will inevitably be disputes about which user-created image is best, as there is no exact policy on such; however, the image should generally be the highest quality and most informative image.
Animated images should be avoided proportionately with how large and distracting the animation is. Small uses, such as a blinking dot on a world map to indicate location, are non-obtrusive and acceptable.
Overwriting existing images is acceptable, since Bulbanews favors the image with the higher quality, not the greater seniority. However, please avoid disputes by discussing the change with the user who uploaded the former image before uploading the new image.