Difference between revisions of "Help:Style guide"
From Tangowiki
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==Writing text for the wiki== | ==Writing text for the wiki== | ||
| − | In free text, stick to a clear, factual, neutral, non-personal and descriptive writing style. | + | In free text, stick to a clear and simple language. Enjoy your own text! There is no "wrong", only "could be improved". Like in an encyclopedia, the writing style shall be neutral, factual, objective, descriptive, non-personal. |
| + | |||
| + | *'''Write in neutral style.''' Neutral means, do not write opinonated. If there are opposing opinions to a subject, include all of them and investigate their plausibility. | ||
| + | *'''Use hard facts.''' If there exist hard facts, include them wherever possible. Hard facts are the basis of all texts. | ||
| + | *'''Quote your sources.''' Whether you quote a sentence from a source, rephrase a thought or an opinion or you became influenced in your writing by a certain source – always quote it. Include the | ||
| + | factual,, non-personal and descriptive writing style. | ||
| + | |||
| + | *'''Be objective, not subjective.''' Do not write "I" in texts. There is no first person. | ||
| + | *'''Use common words.''' Remember that your readers might be non-native speakers of the English language. If the translation into their language is not yet available, they might as well do with English. Here, rather opt for "simple" words than their "complicated" siblings.<ref>"[…] so prefer let to permit, people to persons, buy to purchase, colleague to peer, way out to exit, present to gift, rich to wealthy, show to demonstrate, break to violate. "The Economist: [http://www.economist.com/styleguide/introduction Introduction to the writing style guide]. </ref> | ||
| + | *'''Do not advertise.''' TangoWiki is no place for advertisement. Text parts like ''"the best festival in the world, get now 20 % discount if you book until Sunday"'' won't last long – they will either get re-written or deleted entirely. Platforms like personal websites are a better place for this. This has two exceptions: | ||
| + | **One might argue that it might still be of good influence for events and places to be present in the wiki. Factual, objective information is of high use for the reader. So to call it, "indirect advertisment". | ||
| + | **If you love advertising, please help out with [[TangoWiki:Spread the word|promoting TangoWiki]] to the world. | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
*[[Form guidelines]] for quick help in creating articles with forms | *[[Form guidelines]] for quick help in creating articles with forms | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==References== | ||
| + | <references /> | ||
Revision as of 13:02, 26 July 2015
This style guide tries to help with writing text for the wiki. It shall describe no rules, really – instead recommendations, guidelines and best practices.
Know the rules before you break them.
Writing text for the wiki
In free text, stick to a clear and simple language. Enjoy your own text! There is no "wrong", only "could be improved". Like in an encyclopedia, the writing style shall be neutral, factual, objective, descriptive, non-personal.
- Write in neutral style. Neutral means, do not write opinonated. If there are opposing opinions to a subject, include all of them and investigate their plausibility.
- Use hard facts. If there exist hard facts, include them wherever possible. Hard facts are the basis of all texts.
- Quote your sources. Whether you quote a sentence from a source, rephrase a thought or an opinion or you became influenced in your writing by a certain source – always quote it. Include the
factual,, non-personal and descriptive writing style.
- Be objective, not subjective. Do not write "I" in texts. There is no first person.
- Use common words. Remember that your readers might be non-native speakers of the English language. If the translation into their language is not yet available, they might as well do with English. Here, rather opt for "simple" words than their "complicated" siblings.[1]
- Do not advertise. TangoWiki is no place for advertisement. Text parts like "the best festival in the world, get now 20 % discount if you book until Sunday" won't last long – they will either get re-written or deleted entirely. Platforms like personal websites are a better place for this. This has two exceptions:
- One might argue that it might still be of good influence for events and places to be present in the wiki. Factual, objective information is of high use for the reader. So to call it, "indirect advertisment".
- If you love advertising, please help out with promoting TangoWiki to the world.
See also
- Form guidelines for quick help in creating articles with forms
References
- ↑ "[…] so prefer let to permit, people to persons, buy to purchase, colleague to peer, way out to exit, present to gift, rich to wealthy, show to demonstrate, break to violate. "The Economist: Introduction to the writing style guide.
