Difference between revisions of "OrthodoxWiki:Style Manual"
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− | This is the official OrthodoxWiki '''Style Manual'''. Refer to it when writing new articles or editing existing ones. It is officially in '''in effect''' but still under development. Articles and links should conform to the following standards. | + | {{policy}} |
+ | This is the official OrthodoxWiki '''Style Manual'''. Refer to it when writing new articles or editing existing ones. It is officially in '''in effect''' but still under development. Articles and links should conform to the following standards. The purpose of this '''Style Manual''' is to maintain consistency throughout '''OrthodoxWiki'''. | ||
− | Please don't be intimidated by these guidelines. Your contributions are welcome even if they do not perfectly conform to what's below. These guidelines are meant to channel—not impede—your efforts! | + | Please don't be intimidated by these guidelines. Your contributions are welcome even if they do not perfectly conform to what's below. These guidelines are meant to channel—not impede—your efforts! If what you contribute doesn't conform precisely to these guidelines, no doubt it will be honed by other members of the community. '''OrthodoxWiki''' is, after all, always a work in progress. |
==Introduction== | ==Introduction== | ||
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The Style Manual is "enforced" primarily by the users of the site but also by the administrators. Enforcement comes in the form of composing articles according to the manual the first time they're created and also by continual editing to conform to the Style Manual. That means that '''we rely on ''you'' to help us keep things in order by using the Style Manual.''' | The Style Manual is "enforced" primarily by the users of the site but also by the administrators. Enforcement comes in the form of composing articles according to the manual the first time they're created and also by continual editing to conform to the Style Manual. That means that '''we rely on ''you'' to help us keep things in order by using the Style Manual.''' | ||
− | '''Note:''' All the following rules about articles and their names also apply to internal links, because clicking on an as-yet-to-be-written article linked in an existing article will give the new article that name by default. Thus, when making links to articles, those links must conform to the naming practices defined here. | + | '''Note:''' All the following rules about articles and their names '''also apply to internal links''', because clicking on an as-yet-to-be-written article linked in an existing article will give the new article that name by default. Thus, when making links to articles, those links must conform to the naming practices defined here. |
− | == | + | ==Tone== |
− | + | Though there are certainly exceptions, the atmosphere being developed for most '''OrthodoxWiki''' articles is generally '''encyclopedic''', i.e., the style of writing one would expect from an encyclopedia. That doesn't mean that articles have to conform to academic writing characteristic of secular scholarship, but it does mean that a certain level of professionalism and consistency is desired. | |
− | + | At the same time, our approach is '''hagiographical'''—that is, attempting to write with reverence and humility regarding the awesome subjects which we're addressing. As such, try to develop your writing here in that manner. We're trying accurately and humbly to convey the truth of the Orthodox Christian faith in an easy-to-use, thorough and readable resource, an accessible compendium of Orthodox Christianity. Always keep that in mind when contributing. | |
− | + | ==Importing Articles from Wikipedia== | |
− | + | See: '''[[OrthodoxWiki:Style Manual (Importing)]]''' | |
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==Copyrighted Material== | ==Copyrighted Material== | ||
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Once you've done that, ask an [[Special:Listadmins|administrator]] to '''protect''' it for you so that it can't be edited. | Once you've done that, ask an [[Special:Listadmins|administrator]] to '''protect''' it for you so that it can't be edited. | ||
+ | By default, all newly submitted content on '''OrthodoxWiki''' is released under a dual GNU Free Documentation license and [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/ Creative Commons License]. | ||
− | + | ===Image Permissions=== | |
+ | Please be sure to use to appropriate [[OrthodoxWiki:Templates|template]] to credit images taken with permission from other websites. See [[Help:Image licenses]] for detals. Special notes apply to the following: | ||
+ | * [[Help:Image_licenses#OCA.org]] - an important note on using images from [http://OCA.org OCA.org] | ||
+ | * [[Help:Image_licenses#Holy_Transfiguration_Monastery]] - using icons from Holy Transfiguration Monastery (Boscobel, WI USA) | ||
==Types of Articles== | ==Types of Articles== | ||
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For examples, browse around existing articles, click on the links already within them, and if you have information on subjects already being linked to, feel free to contribute to existing articles or create new ones. And, as always, don't worry about breaking '''OrthodoxWiki''' or messing things up, because your work will become part of the community effort and thereby be honed and improved, ever bringing us closer to achieving our goal of being a nearly endless compendium of information access and exchange regarding Orthodox Christianity. | For examples, browse around existing articles, click on the links already within them, and if you have information on subjects already being linked to, feel free to contribute to existing articles or create new ones. And, as always, don't worry about breaking '''OrthodoxWiki''' or messing things up, because your work will become part of the community effort and thereby be honed and improved, ever bringing us closer to achieving our goal of being a nearly endless compendium of information access and exchange regarding Orthodox Christianity. | ||
− | == | + | ===Articles not appropriate for OrthodoxWiki=== |
− | '''OrthodoxWiki''' | + | Obviously, anything which has no direct connection to the Orthodox faith is not appropriate. Further, some things which are characteristic of Wikipedia articles but don't make sense on '''OrthodoxWiki''' also should be left out, including the following: year articles (e.g., '''1054'''), places whose significance goes far beyond its exclusively religious meaning (e.g., '''Constantinople'''), or major historical personages who had nothing directly to do with the Orthodox Church (e.g., '''Ronald Reagan'''). Certainly, all of these items may have something to do with the Orthodox Church, but their connections can be noted in articles about the events related in other articles which more directly bear on the Orthodox faith. |
− | + | ===Controversial Subjects and Original Research=== | |
+ | Articles on controversial topics are welcome on OrthodoxWiki as long as they cite reputable, third-party publications (e.g., historians, news articles, etc.). Original research and unsourced articles are generally permitted for non-controversial material. | ||
− | == | + | ==Neutrality and the OrthodoxWiki Bias== |
− | + | See: '''[[OrthodoxWiki:Style Manual (Point of View)]]''' | |
− | |||
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− | == | + | ==Technical Terminology== |
− | + | A number of technical and theological terms in Orthodoxy differ according to the languages of the cultures in which they're used. Thus, the preference for '''OrthodoxWiki''' will be to use Greek terms where no standard English word is predominant among Anglophonic Orthodox writers. The main issue is with article names, so use '''[[epigonation]]''' instead of '''palitsa''', or use '''[[exorasson]]''' instead of '''riassa''' or '''jibbee'''. Where appropriate, make note of other languages' terminology in the body of the article. The reason for preferring Greek terms is that Greek is the predominant "source language" for our Church's culture and terminology and is thus universal. | |
− | + | [[Western Rite]] articles will likewise probably prefer Latin, though given the longer history of the Western Rite in England, there is already a more developed native English vocabulary for Western Rite liturgical and theological terms. | |
− | + | ==Standard English Usage and Spelling== | |
+ | Use standard English spelling and usage for article names and in the bodies of articles. Thus, use ''icon'' instead of ''ikon''. What constitutes standard spelling will vary according to what variety of English (e.g., British, American, Canadian, Australian, etc.) a contributor uses, but try to make articles consistent throughout (e.g., every instance of ''center'' in an article should be spelled '''either''' ''centre'' or ''center'', not both). | ||
− | === | + | ===English names=== |
− | + | Use the form of the names of people and places most commonly used by English-speaking Orthodox Christians. So, instead of '''Vartholomaios I (Archontonis) of Constantinople''', use '''[[Bartholomew I (Archontonis) of Constantinople]]'''. Some ambiguity will of course exist here, especially with names that are not commonly used in English-speaking countries. Biblical names should conform to the varieties most common in English-language Bibles; for instance, use '''[[Elijah]]''' instead of '''Elias''' and '''[[Joshua]]''' for the prophet instead of '''Jesus'''. | |
− | + | Some places will be exceptional, such as '''[[Hagia Sophia (Constantinople)|Hagia Sophia]]''', which is the most common way of referring to that ancient church, rather than '''St. Sophia''' or '''Holy Wisdom'''. Thus, the rule is to use the form most commonly used in English, not necessarily an Anglicized or translated form. | |
− | + | ==Church Calendar== | |
+ | See: '''[[OrthodoxWiki:Style Manual (Church Calendar)]]''' | ||
== Churches == | == Churches == | ||
− | + | See: '''[[OrthodoxWiki:Style Manual (Churches)]]''' | |
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− | + | ==Monasteries, Parishes, and Theological Schools== | |
+ | Because there are so many communities with the same names, articles about monasteries, parishes, and theological schools should be named in the following fashion: '''Name of Community (Location)'''. For example, '''[[St. Tikhon's Orthodox Monastery (South Canaan, Pennsylvania)]]''', '''[[Hagia Sophia (Constantinople)]]''', '''[[Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (Brookline, Massachusetts)]]''', or '''[[St. Paul's Monastery (Athos)]]'''. In article titles for places, use '''St.''' (i.e., a capital ''S'', followed by a lower-case ''t'', followed by a period) rather than '''Saint''', '''St''', or '''S.'''. For plurals, use '''Ss.''' (i.e., a capital ''S'', followed by a lower-case ''s'', followed by a period). | ||
− | + | ==Books of the Bible== | |
+ | Articles and links to books of the Bible should conform to the '''links''' in the canonical lists found at [[Holy Scripture]]—note that the names shown there do not always match the '''links''' to which they lead! For instance, you might see '''[[Book of Nehemiah|Nehemiah]]''', which takes you to [[Book of Nehemiah]], not to [[Nehemiah]] (which is an article about the prophet by that name). | ||
− | + | Articles about Biblical books should be included in [[:Category:Scripture]] and [[:Category:Texts]]. | |
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− | Articles | ||
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==People== | ==People== | ||
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− | + | See: '''[[OrthodoxWiki:Style Manual (People)]]''' | |
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− | + | ==List articles== | |
+ | With the exception of [[:Category:Links|Links]] articles, articles that consist of a list of something (e.g., [[List of Patriarchs]], [[List of autocephalous and autonomous Churches]]) should be named '''List of [subject]'''. | ||
− | == | + | ==Western Rite== |
− | + | For most topics regarding the [[Western Rite]] where there are also Byzantine Rite equivalents, add a section to the single article for the Western Rite distinctives. For instance, instead of having a separate article on Western Rite vestments, to [[vestments]] one would add a section titled "Western Rite" or the like. | |
− | + | For topics extensive enough to require a separate article for the Western Rite which might otherwise have the same name as a Byzantine Rite article, put "Western Rite" in parentheses, e.g., '''[[Vespers (Western Rite)]]'''. | |
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− | == | + | ==Language Mechanics== |
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The following refer to the various mechanics of writing for '''OrthodoxWiki''' articles. | The following refer to the various mechanics of writing for '''OrthodoxWiki''' articles. | ||
===Capitalization=== | ===Capitalization=== | ||
− | The following items should be capitalized in OrthodoxWiki articles: | + | The following items should be capitalized in OrthodoxWiki articles (some may seem obvious, but usage on these actually does vary): |
* ''God'' and ''Trinity'' | * ''God'' and ''Trinity'' | ||
− | * ''Church'' | + | * ''Church'' when referencing the Church catholic or a proper name; not when used as a generic reference for a local church |
+ | **Capitalized examples: ''the Orthodox Church'', ''the Church of Bulgaria'', ''the Albanian Orthodox Church'', ''the Church of the Nativity'' | ||
+ | **Uncapitalized examples: ''the Russian church'', ''the Orthodox churches'', ''the church building'' | ||
+ | * ''Tradition'' should be capitalized when referring to the mainstream beliefs and practices held by Orthodox churches to be binding on Orthodox Christians (i.e., "Big ''T''" tradition); it is not capitalized when referring to local traditions which are not binding in character (i.e., "little ''T''" tradition) | ||
+ | * ''Scripture'' should be capitalized when referring to the Bible, though not when referring to the scriptures of other religions | ||
+ | * ''Orthodox'' | ||
+ | * ''Christian'' | ||
+ | * ''East[ern]'' and ''West[ern]'' when referring to them as geo-cultural divisions (e.g., "the Church in East" or "Western theology"), but not as merely geographical references (e.g., "the western provinces" or "the apostles moved east") | ||
* Titles: ''Lord'', ''Lady'', ''Theotokos'', ''Christ''. | * Titles: ''Lord'', ''Lady'', ''Theotokos'', ''Christ''. | ||
* Titles with names: ''Saint'' John, ''Apostle'' Peter, ''Bishop'' Basil, etc., '''but not''' ''saint'', ''apostle'', ''bishop'', etc., as regular nouns | * Titles with names: ''Saint'' John, ''Apostle'' Peter, ''Bishop'' Basil, etc., '''but not''' ''saint'', ''apostle'', ''bishop'', etc., as regular nouns | ||
− | * Proper names: ''Father'', ''Son'', ''Holy Spirit'', ''Jesus'', ''James'', ''John'', ''St. | + | * Proper names: ''Father'', ''Son'', ''Holy Spirit'', ''Jesus'', ''James'', ''John'', ''St. Paul's Church'', ''Dormition Monastery'', ''Church of Romania'', etc. |
− | * Feast days: ''Pascha'', ''Annunciation'', ''Theophany'', ''Transfiguration'', etc. ('''Note''': Within texts for a particular feast, it is not the title which is being referenced, but the event, so capitalization is unnecessary: "Your birth..." or "Thy nativity...," not "Your Birth..." or "Thy Nativity...") | + | * Feast days: ''Pascha'', ''Annunciation'', ''Theophany'', ''Transfiguration'', etc. ('''Note''': Within texts for a particular feast, it is not the title which is being referenced, but the event, so capitalization is unnecessary: "Your birth..." or "Thy nativity...," '''not''' "Your Birth..." or "Thy Nativity...") |
* O (as in ''O Lord'', or ''O Lady Theotokos''), i.e., the vocative | * O (as in ''O Lord'', or ''O Lady Theotokos''), i.e., the vocative | ||
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:''This is italic.'' | :''This is italic.'' | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===Quotations=== | ||
+ | Quotations should be enclosed between quotation marks (e.g., "quotation"), or, if long enough, with indentation (produced by putting a colon (:) at the beginning of a line). | ||
+ | |||
+ | Quotations should not be italicized unless they conform to the rules below for titles and words as words. | ||
====Titles==== | ====Titles==== | ||
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*The letter ''E'' is the most common letter in English. | *The letter ''E'' is the most common letter in English. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===Dates=== | ||
+ | Links to dates within articles should include the full name of the month followed by the Arabic numeral of the day. Use '''[[January 1]]''' not '''Jan. 1''' or '''1 January'''. This standardization is to assure that the [[Church Calendar]] page works correctly. Years should be left unlinked, because at this point we aren't including articles dedicated to particular years. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==Wiki Mechanics== | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===Categories=== | ||
+ | Many articles may fit into multiple categories. Therefore, when listing the category entries at the bottom of the article, list the categories on separate lines. For instance, a category list for St. [[Raphael of Brooklyn]] might look like this: | ||
+ | |||
+ | :<b><nowiki>[[Category:American Saints]]</nowiki></b> | ||
+ | :<b><nowiki>[[Category:Bishops]]</nowiki></b> | ||
+ | :<b><nowiki>[[Category:Missionaries]]</nowiki></b> | ||
+ | :<b><nowiki>[[Category:Saints]]</nowiki></b> | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===Stubs=== | ||
+ | A '''stub''' is an article or section which needs additional material in order to be complete. If you create or see an article or section which needs more information in order to be complete, please include the <nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki> tag in the appropriate place in the body of the article. Also try to avoid creating empty articles that consist only of a stub notice unless you intend to expand them soon. | ||
+ | |||
+ | When you include the <nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki> tag, this message will be seen in the article: | ||
+ | {{stub}} | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==Miscellaneous style considerations== | ||
+ | Generally speaking, the best way to learn '''OrthodoxWiki''''s style is to look at existing, well-developed articles. Here follows a list of various conventions that are in place: | ||
+ | |||
+ | *Begin articles with the '''subject in bold print''' as part of an introductory paragraph about the subject. The introductory paragraph should give a brief summary of the content of the article. | ||
+ | *When creating '''wiki-links''' within an article, it's only necessary to link a given term once in the introductory section or when the term is first introduced in the article. In longer articles, it is acceptable to link a given term again at the beginning of later major sections. | ||
+ | *When using a title of a person for the first time, spell it out completely (e.g., '''Metropolitan'''), but abbreviate it afterward (e.g., '''Metr.'''). | ||
+ | *Try to vary the manner in which persons are referred to—it is not necessary to include '''St.''' in front of a saint's name in each instance nor the title and surname of a bishop each time you name him. | ||
+ | *List '''See also''' (for internal links on related articles) and '''External link[s]''' sections as the last items in an article. | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
− | * [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style]] includes many useful bits regarding style for encyclopedia writing for a wiki. | + | *'''[[Help:How to write a great article|How to write a great article]]''' |
+ | *'''[[Help:Editing]]''' | ||
+ | *'''[[Help:Contents]]''' | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==External links== | ||
+ | * [[w:Wikipedia:Manual of Style|Wikipedia:Manual of Style]] includes many useful bits regarding style for encyclopedia writing for a wiki. | ||
+ | * [http://www.bartleby.com/141/ The Elements of Style], by William Strunk, Jr., is the classic manual on English usage. | ||
+ | |||
[[Category:OrthodoxWiki]] | [[Category:OrthodoxWiki]] | ||
+ | [[Category:Style Manual]] | ||
+ | [[Category:Help]] | ||
+ | |||
+ | [[bg:Дверия:Ръководство за стила на писане]] | ||
+ | [[fr:OrthodoxWiki:Manuel de style]] | ||
+ | [[ro:OrthodoxWiki:Manual de stil]] |
Latest revision as of 18:04, March 7, 2009
This page is an official policy on OrthodoxWiki. It has wide acceptance among editors and is considered a standard that all users should follow. If you are part of the administration, please feel free to update this page as needed, but make sure that changes you make to this policy really do reflect OrthodoxWiki's perspective before you make them. |
This is the official OrthodoxWiki Style Manual. Refer to it when writing new articles or editing existing ones. It is officially in in effect but still under development. Articles and links should conform to the following standards. The purpose of this Style Manual is to maintain consistency throughout OrthodoxWiki.
Please don't be intimidated by these guidelines. Your contributions are welcome even if they do not perfectly conform to what's below. These guidelines are meant to channel—not impede—your efforts! If what you contribute doesn't conform precisely to these guidelines, no doubt it will be honed by other members of the community. OrthodoxWiki is, after all, always a work in progress.
Introduction
This Style Manual constitutes the official style protocols for OrthodoxWiki. When editing articles or creating new ones, this document should be used as a reference point and guidelines for all content. It is strongly recommended that you add it to your watchlist so that you can track whenever it's updated and incorporate the changes into your editing, helping to keep the whole site in conformity.
The Style Manual is "enforced" primarily by the users of the site but also by the administrators. Enforcement comes in the form of composing articles according to the manual the first time they're created and also by continual editing to conform to the Style Manual. That means that we rely on you to help us keep things in order by using the Style Manual.
Note: All the following rules about articles and their names also apply to internal links, because clicking on an as-yet-to-be-written article linked in an existing article will give the new article that name by default. Thus, when making links to articles, those links must conform to the naming practices defined here.
Tone
Though there are certainly exceptions, the atmosphere being developed for most OrthodoxWiki articles is generally encyclopedic, i.e., the style of writing one would expect from an encyclopedia. That doesn't mean that articles have to conform to academic writing characteristic of secular scholarship, but it does mean that a certain level of professionalism and consistency is desired.
At the same time, our approach is hagiographical—that is, attempting to write with reverence and humility regarding the awesome subjects which we're addressing. As such, try to develop your writing here in that manner. We're trying accurately and humbly to convey the truth of the Orthodox Christian faith in an easy-to-use, thorough and readable resource, an accessible compendium of Orthodox Christianity. Always keep that in mind when contributing.
Importing Articles from Wikipedia
Copyrighted Material
Copyrighted material may be incorporated into OrthodoxWiki only if you have the copyright holder's permission. Remember that just because you found something on the web doesn't mean that it isn't copyrighted. In fact, most things are copyrighted by default.
If the copyright holder is willing to release his material under one of the open licenses common to Wikis (such as the Gnu Free Documentation Licence or the Creative Commons License), then including it as a regular, editable article is no problem. If, however, the creator doesn't want his creation edited mercilessly (as is the norm for OrthodoxWiki), then a copyright note should be included at the bottom of the material, looking something like this:
Copyright © 2005 by John Johnson. All Rights Reserved.
Once you've done that, ask an administrator to protect it for you so that it can't be edited.
By default, all newly submitted content on OrthodoxWiki is released under a dual GNU Free Documentation license and Creative Commons License.
Image Permissions
Please be sure to use to appropriate template to credit images taken with permission from other websites. See Help:Image licenses for detals. Special notes apply to the following:
- Help:Image_licenses#OCA.org - an important note on using images from OCA.org
- Help:Image_licenses#Holy_Transfiguration_Monastery - using icons from Holy Transfiguration Monastery (Boscobel, WI USA)
Types of Articles
What kind of articles is OrthodoxWiki looking for? Ostensibly, anything directly to do with the Orthodox Christian faith and life is appropriate. In addition, however, articles especially on historical subjects and persons related to Church life are also appropriate. So, while there are articles on saints and bishops, there are also articles on emperors and heretics. Therefore, while creating articles and making links within them, consider what might be generally appropriate for OrthodoxWiki.
For examples, browse around existing articles, click on the links already within them, and if you have information on subjects already being linked to, feel free to contribute to existing articles or create new ones. And, as always, don't worry about breaking OrthodoxWiki or messing things up, because your work will become part of the community effort and thereby be honed and improved, ever bringing us closer to achieving our goal of being a nearly endless compendium of information access and exchange regarding Orthodox Christianity.
Articles not appropriate for OrthodoxWiki
Obviously, anything which has no direct connection to the Orthodox faith is not appropriate. Further, some things which are characteristic of Wikipedia articles but don't make sense on OrthodoxWiki also should be left out, including the following: year articles (e.g., 1054), places whose significance goes far beyond its exclusively religious meaning (e.g., Constantinople), or major historical personages who had nothing directly to do with the Orthodox Church (e.g., Ronald Reagan). Certainly, all of these items may have something to do with the Orthodox Church, but their connections can be noted in articles about the events related in other articles which more directly bear on the Orthodox faith.
Controversial Subjects and Original Research
Articles on controversial topics are welcome on OrthodoxWiki as long as they cite reputable, third-party publications (e.g., historians, news articles, etc.). Original research and unsourced articles are generally permitted for non-controversial material.
Neutrality and the OrthodoxWiki Bias
Technical Terminology
A number of technical and theological terms in Orthodoxy differ according to the languages of the cultures in which they're used. Thus, the preference for OrthodoxWiki will be to use Greek terms where no standard English word is predominant among Anglophonic Orthodox writers. The main issue is with article names, so use epigonation instead of palitsa, or use exorasson instead of riassa or jibbee. Where appropriate, make note of other languages' terminology in the body of the article. The reason for preferring Greek terms is that Greek is the predominant "source language" for our Church's culture and terminology and is thus universal.
Western Rite articles will likewise probably prefer Latin, though given the longer history of the Western Rite in England, there is already a more developed native English vocabulary for Western Rite liturgical and theological terms.
Standard English Usage and Spelling
Use standard English spelling and usage for article names and in the bodies of articles. Thus, use icon instead of ikon. What constitutes standard spelling will vary according to what variety of English (e.g., British, American, Canadian, Australian, etc.) a contributor uses, but try to make articles consistent throughout (e.g., every instance of center in an article should be spelled either centre or center, not both).
English names
Use the form of the names of people and places most commonly used by English-speaking Orthodox Christians. So, instead of Vartholomaios I (Archontonis) of Constantinople, use Bartholomew I (Archontonis) of Constantinople. Some ambiguity will of course exist here, especially with names that are not commonly used in English-speaking countries. Biblical names should conform to the varieties most common in English-language Bibles; for instance, use Elijah instead of Elias and Joshua for the prophet instead of Jesus.
Some places will be exceptional, such as Hagia Sophia, which is the most common way of referring to that ancient church, rather than St. Sophia or Holy Wisdom. Thus, the rule is to use the form most commonly used in English, not necessarily an Anglicized or translated form.
Church Calendar
Churches
Monasteries, Parishes, and Theological Schools
Because there are so many communities with the same names, articles about monasteries, parishes, and theological schools should be named in the following fashion: Name of Community (Location). For example, St. Tikhon's Orthodox Monastery (South Canaan, Pennsylvania), Hagia Sophia (Constantinople), Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (Brookline, Massachusetts), or St. Paul's Monastery (Athos). In article titles for places, use St. (i.e., a capital S, followed by a lower-case t, followed by a period) rather than Saint, St, or S.. For plurals, use Ss. (i.e., a capital S, followed by a lower-case s, followed by a period).
Books of the Bible
Articles and links to books of the Bible should conform to the links in the canonical lists found at Holy Scripture—note that the names shown there do not always match the links to which they lead! For instance, you might see Nehemiah, which takes you to Book of Nehemiah, not to Nehemiah (which is an article about the prophet by that name).
Articles about Biblical books should be included in Category:Scripture and Category:Texts.
People
List articles
With the exception of Links articles, articles that consist of a list of something (e.g., List of Patriarchs, List of autocephalous and autonomous Churches) should be named List of [subject].
Western Rite
For most topics regarding the Western Rite where there are also Byzantine Rite equivalents, add a section to the single article for the Western Rite distinctives. For instance, instead of having a separate article on Western Rite vestments, to vestments one would add a section titled "Western Rite" or the like.
For topics extensive enough to require a separate article for the Western Rite which might otherwise have the same name as a Byzantine Rite article, put "Western Rite" in parentheses, e.g., Vespers (Western Rite).
Language Mechanics
The following refer to the various mechanics of writing for OrthodoxWiki articles.
Capitalization
The following items should be capitalized in OrthodoxWiki articles (some may seem obvious, but usage on these actually does vary):
- God and Trinity
- Church when referencing the Church catholic or a proper name; not when used as a generic reference for a local church
- Capitalized examples: the Orthodox Church, the Church of Bulgaria, the Albanian Orthodox Church, the Church of the Nativity
- Uncapitalized examples: the Russian church, the Orthodox churches, the church building
- Tradition should be capitalized when referring to the mainstream beliefs and practices held by Orthodox churches to be binding on Orthodox Christians (i.e., "Big T" tradition); it is not capitalized when referring to local traditions which are not binding in character (i.e., "little T" tradition)
- Scripture should be capitalized when referring to the Bible, though not when referring to the scriptures of other religions
- Orthodox
- Christian
- East[ern] and West[ern] when referring to them as geo-cultural divisions (e.g., "the Church in East" or "Western theology"), but not as merely geographical references (e.g., "the western provinces" or "the apostles moved east")
- Titles: Lord, Lady, Theotokos, Christ.
- Titles with names: Saint John, Apostle Peter, Bishop Basil, etc., but not saint, apostle, bishop, etc., as regular nouns
- Proper names: Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Jesus, James, John, St. Paul's Church, Dormition Monastery, Church of Romania, etc.
- Feast days: Pascha, Annunciation, Theophany, Transfiguration, etc. (Note: Within texts for a particular feast, it is not the title which is being referenced, but the event, so capitalization is unnecessary: "Your birth..." or "Thy nativity...," not "Your Birth..." or "Thy Nativity...")
- O (as in O Lord, or O Lady Theotokos), i.e., the vocative
Other terms (including personal pronouns for God) leave uncapitalized, so use him in the middle of a sentence referring to God, not Him.
Italics
Use the ''
(italic) markup. Example:
''This is italic.''
which produces
- This is italic.
Quotations
Quotations should be enclosed between quotation marks (e.g., "quotation"), or, if long enough, with indentation (produced by putting a colon (:) at the beginning of a line).
Quotations should not be italicized unless they conform to the rules below for titles and words as words.
Titles
Italics should be used for titles of the following:
- books
- films
- long poems
- musical albums
- newspapers
- periodicals (journals and magazines)
- plays
- TV series
- works of visual art
Italics are generally used for titles of longer works. Titles of shorter works, such as the following, should be enclosed in quotation marks (""):
- articles, essays, or papers
- chapters of a longer work
- episodes of a television series
- short poems
- short stories
- songs
There are a few cases in which the title should be neither italicized nor placed in quotation marks:
- the Bible
- legal documents (examples: the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence)
Words as Words
Use italics when writing about words as words or when referring to letters. For example:
- The term panning is derived from panorama, a word originally coined in 1787.
- The letter E is the most common letter in English.
Dates
Links to dates within articles should include the full name of the month followed by the Arabic numeral of the day. Use January 1 not Jan. 1 or 1 January. This standardization is to assure that the Church Calendar page works correctly. Years should be left unlinked, because at this point we aren't including articles dedicated to particular years.
Wiki Mechanics
Categories
Many articles may fit into multiple categories. Therefore, when listing the category entries at the bottom of the article, list the categories on separate lines. For instance, a category list for St. Raphael of Brooklyn might look like this:
- [[Category:American Saints]]
- [[Category:Bishops]]
- [[Category:Missionaries]]
- [[Category:Saints]]
Stubs
A stub is an article or section which needs additional material in order to be complete. If you create or see an article or section which needs more information in order to be complete, please include the {{stub}} tag in the appropriate place in the body of the article. Also try to avoid creating empty articles that consist only of a stub notice unless you intend to expand them soon.
When you include the {{stub}} tag, this message will be seen in the article:
Miscellaneous style considerations
Generally speaking, the best way to learn OrthodoxWiki's style is to look at existing, well-developed articles. Here follows a list of various conventions that are in place:
- Begin articles with the subject in bold print as part of an introductory paragraph about the subject. The introductory paragraph should give a brief summary of the content of the article.
- When creating wiki-links within an article, it's only necessary to link a given term once in the introductory section or when the term is first introduced in the article. In longer articles, it is acceptable to link a given term again at the beginning of later major sections.
- When using a title of a person for the first time, spell it out completely (e.g., Metropolitan), but abbreviate it afterward (e.g., Metr.).
- Try to vary the manner in which persons are referred to—it is not necessary to include St. in front of a saint's name in each instance nor the title and surname of a bishop each time you name him.
- List See also (for internal links on related articles) and External link[s] sections as the last items in an article.
See also
External links
- Wikipedia:Manual of Style includes many useful bits regarding style for encyclopedia writing for a wiki.
- The Elements of Style, by William Strunk, Jr., is the classic manual on English usage.