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I thought SHOOP was gonna start this thread, but oh well.

The proposal here is that the wiki writes a "Manual of Style". The Manual of Style is a page that governs the layout and style of all our articles. It documents our "house" style - it provides a template for editors and helps us write new articles. It can also help newbies familiarize themselves with how our articles are laid out, and (in rare circumstances) can silence edit wars over the page layout. The MOS will encourage editors to use a specific language (i.e. American English), so we can prevent edit wars over the spelling of "color" (US) and "colour" (other). It can be used to improve the quality of articles, making them avoid the use of certain words such as "You" or "I" or "We". In short, the MOS will make the wiki clearer and more concise. It will benefit both readers and editors.

Wikipedia uses an extensive Manual of Style that, if printed out, covers 65 pages. For a wiki of that size, that's normal; for one like ours, that's too much. It would be instruction creep and would drive away newbies. So let's compose a simpler, shorter one. Doesn't need to be fancy. An example of a manageable MOS can be found here.

But, because this is a pretty big change, I'd like to gain community approval and consensus first. Thoughts? --k6ka (talk | contribs) 00:36, May 28, 2014 (UTC)

Hm. I'll think about that. We talk again.--Minecraftproman1266, the good o'l Bostonian. (talk) 00:32, May 29, 2014 (UTC)
I'm down for it.. —ShoopDerWoop 02:39, May 29, 2014 (UTC)

Alright, seeing that some people are liking the idea, I've gone ahead and written a small snippet of the MOS:

Article Layout


Weapon Pages

Weapon pages in The Last Stand, The Last Stand 2 and The Last Stand: Union City should roughly follow this format:

<GUNBOX TEMPLATE>
<WEAPON NAME> is a <WEAPON TYPE> featured in <GAME NAME>.

==Background==
<BACKGROUND>

==How to Obtain==
<INFO ON HOW TO OBTAIN THE WEAPON>

==Tactics==
<TACTICS>

===Pros===
<ANY PROS FOR THE WEAPON>

===Cons===
<ANY CONS FOR THE WEAPON>

==Gallery==
<GALLERY>

<NAVBOX TEMPLATE>

Weapon pages in The Last Stand: Dead Zone are similar but have a few differences. They should include "Recycling Products" and "Recommended Gear".

<GUNBOX TEMPLATE>
<WEAPON NAME> is a <WEAPON TYPE> featured in {{TLS:DZ}}.

==Background==
<BACKGROUND>

==How to Obtain==
<HOW TO OBTAIN>

==Recycling Products==
<RECYCLING PRODUCTS>

==Tactics==
<TACTICS>

===Recommended Gear===
<RECOMMENDED GEAR>

===Pros===
<PROS>

===Cons===
<CONS>

==Gallery==
<GALLERY>

<NAVBOX>

--k6ka (talk | contribs) 13:22, May 31, 2014 (UTC)

Cool, and remember how we need to include how the gunboxes are different for each game... —ShoopDerWoop 01:30, June 2, 2014 (UTC)
Started the page at TLS:MOS. You're welcome to contribute. --k6ka (talk | contribs) 16:10, June 2, 2014 (UTC)
Okay, here's a few things I might need community input on. I wrote on TLS:MOS that "Each word in the title and headers should be in lowercase unless it is the first word or of it is always capitalized (such as a proper noun)". If that's the case, then the "How to Obtain" section in weapon articles all need to be changed to "How to obtain" (note the last word begins with a lowercase letter). Should we go with it and manually change it all to "How to obtain" (if anyone knows how to program a bot that can do this, please step forward!), remove this from the MOS, or make an exception?
Also, should articles be in American English, British English, Canadian English, or Australian English? I'm assuming it'll be American English, right? --k6ka (talk | contribs) 23:45, June 2, 2014 (UTC)
Don't even know how to program bots, so no.. Also, American English please! —ShoopDerWoop 18:29, June 4, 2014 (UTC)
There's a page on it. --k6ka (talk | contribs) 19:37, June 4, 2014 (UTC)
Should the clothing articles for The Last Stand: Dead Zone items be modified so they're longer, or leave it as they are right now? --k6ka (talk | contribs) 17:08, June 6, 2014 (UTC)
Bump. --k6ka (talk | contribs) 19:23, June 8, 2014 (UTC)
Lol! I think we should leave em as it is. —ShoopDerWoop 20:10, June 8, 2014 (UTC)
What about the "How to Obtain" section? Should the "O" in "Obtain" be lowercase? --k6ka (talk | contribs) 23:38, June 11, 2014 (UTC)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── TBH i really think we should leave it... —ShoopDerWoop 01:38, June 12, 2014 (UTC)

I really want to hear more suggestions from the community. Currently only one person has really posted in this thread, and it's "leave em as it is". One person really isn't that much "consensus" as it is "community". --k6ka (talk | contribs) 02:18, June 19, 2014 (UTC)
C'mon Z Creator! Minecraftproman! OrangeSkittles! Ecthel!! —ShoopDerWoop 00:37, June 20, 2014 (UTC)
Okay, well, found this page about AutoWikiBrowser. We might be able to fix the "How to Obtain" section pretty quickly, as well as perform other bot tasks with this program. --k6ka (talk | contribs) 16:13, June 20, 2014 (UTC)
If there are no suggestions coming in, then I'll just write the MOS as the articles currently stand now, which includes the somewhat awkwardly empty TLS:DZ Clothing articles. --k6ka (talk | contribs) 16:57, June 22, 2014 (UTC)
DZ Clothing should be extremely brief info, cost in-game, then centered gallery image. —ShoopDerWoop 03:24, June 24, 2014 (UTC)
Hmm, now those articles are going to look pretty empty. --k6ka (talk | contribs) 13:05, June 24, 2014 (UTC)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── We could expand the DZ Clothing articles, AFTER we're done with the UC Clothing articles, assuming some are still stubs. While we're on the topic of expanding, the attachment and condition articles look short, should we have a background for them? Oh and you need me, I'm doing an FPS video game tourney so I won't be on this wiki much, if at all. OrangeSkittles (talk) 10:17, June 25, 2014 (UTC)

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