User:Oznogon/Manual of style

The Manual of Style, often abbreviated MoS or MOS, is a style guide for PathfinderWiki articles. This guide contains basic principles and has been adapted from the extensive MoS on Wikipedia.

If the Manual of Style does not specify a preferred usage, discuss your issues on the talk page of this article.

General principles

Internal consistency

An overriding principle is that style and formatting should be consistent within a PathfinderWiki article, though not necessarily throughout PathfinderWiki as a whole.

One way of presenting information might be as good as another, but consistency within an article promotes clarity and cohesion. Therefore, even where the Manual of Style permits alternative usages, be consistent within an article.

Retaining existing styles

For retention of an article's established national variety of English (and potential reasons to change it), see #National varieties of English.

Sometimes the MoS provides more than one acceptable style or gives no specific guidance. When either of two styles is acceptable, it is generally considered inappropriate for an editor to change from one style to another unless there is some substantial reason for the change.

Edit warring over style, or enforcing optional style in a bot-like fashion without prior consensus, is never acceptable.

If you believe an alternative style would be more appropriate for a particular article, seek consensus by discussing this at the article's talk page or—if it raises an issue of more general application or with the MoS itself—at Project talk:Manual of style. If a discussion does not result in consensus for the change at the article, continue to use the already-established style there. If the established style is used inconsistently, consistently apply the most commonly used styles.

Follow the sources

Many points of usage, such as the treatment of proper names, can be decided by seeing what other writers do about the problem. Unless there is some clear reason to do otherwise, it is generally a good idea to follow the usage of reliable secondary sources in English on the subject; the sources for the article itself should be reliable. If the sources for the article are inconsistent, follow current English usage instead and raise the concern for discussion toward consensus, which should in turn be documented in the MoS.

Avoiding doubt

Avoid using phrases in articles that introduce doubt to the subject matter. Examples of such woolly statements include:

• "It is known that dragons lair in caves..."
• "These creatures are known to live in the Mindspin Mountains..."
• "Goblins have been known to carry dogslicers into battle..."

Including these phrases introduces doubt into the text—is it known but untrue? How widely known is it?—which is often not reflected in a source and not in line with PathfinderWiki's point of view (the emphasis is in the original policy):

“

While in theory these things are not known to anyone within the Pathfinder universe, PathfinderWiki's POV is all-knowing, just like a Game Master or reader of Pathfinder fiction.

”

In all of the above examples, the phrase can be removed without losing any context—those facts "are known" because an authoritative source definitively stated it. Even if there is an in-universe controversy about a fact, that controversy can be explained in more explicit terms than these.

Article titles, headings, and sections

This guidance applies to the titles and headings of PathfinderWiki articles, not to the titles of external articles that are cited. It also applies to Section headings, as well as to headings in infoboxes and navboxes.

Article titles

An article's title should be a recognizable name or description of the topic, balancing the criteria of being natural, sufficiently precise, concise, and consistent with those of related articles.

• Capitalize the initial letter of a title. Otherwise, conform to PathfinderWiki's naming conventions, including "Use lower case". Capitalize words only where they would be used in a normal sentence: Gnoll tribes of the Brazen Peaks and surroundings, not Gnoll Tribes of the Brazen Peaks and Surroundings.
• Do not use articles (a, an, the) as the first word (Acts of Iomedae, not The Acts of Iomedae), unless it is an inseparable part of a name (The Devourer) or of the title of a work (such as a real-world title: The The Mwangi Expanse for the sourcebook, but Mwangi Expanse for the region.
• Normally use nouns or noun phrases: (Languages of the Great Beyond, not About languages of the Great Beyond).
• Write short titles, preferably fewer than ten words.
• Use diacritics, such as accented characters (é, Ü), when relevant: Sankyōdai Province, Nicolás Espinoza.
• Use commas instead of colons or typographic dashes used to designate a work's subtitle: Andoran, Spirit of Liberty.
• Avoid other special characters such as typographic quotation marks and dashes (“, –, —), slashes (/, \), mathematical symbols (+), braces ({ , }), and square brackets ([ , ]). Use and instead of an ampersand unless it is part of a formal name: Dungeons & Dragons, but edicts and anathema, not edicts & anathema.

For articles about real-world subjects, such as product pages, with as complete a title as possible while maintaining the above guidelines as well as the following:

• Omit product lines from titles of articles about products unless required for disambiguation: World Guide, not Pathfinder Lost Omens World Guide.
• Omit story arcs from the titles of Pathfinder Society scenarios: Necessary Introductions, not Equal Exchanges, Necessary Introductions.

Use the full title, including any product line and story arc, only in the title of a product's infobox.

Section organization

See also: Help:Creating articles

An article's content should begin with an introductory lead section, a concise summary of the article. Never divide this lead section into subsections (see #Lead section). Infoboxes, images, and related content in the lead section must be right-aligned.

The remainder of the article is typically divided into sections, each with their own heading.

Certain standardized templates and wikicode that are not sections go at the very top of the article, before the content of the lead section, and in the following order:

• {{Badges}} that apply to the entire article.
• One or more {{Infobox}} templates, which usually also includes the article's first image.
• A {{DisplayMap}}, when an infobox is not used and the article is primarily about a location.
• Notice and maintenance templates, such as {{1E}}, {{2E}}, and {{Cleanup}}.
• An {{Interwiki}} link to StarfinderWiki, if it contains an article about the subject.
• An introductory image, when an infobox is not used or an additional image is desired for an especially long lead section.
• Disambiguations, such as {{Disambiguation link}}.
• Links to a main article or related subject using {{Main}} or {{See also}}.

In PathfinderWiki's current skin, the table of contents is separate from the article content.

If the article is a stub, the {{Stub}} template should follow the lead section.

If a section has relevant artwork, insert it immediately under the section heading. If the topic of a section is covered in more detail in a dedicated article, insert {{Main|Article name}} or {{See also|Article name}} immediately under the artwork, or the section heading if no art is present. If the section is a stub, insert the {{Sectstub}} template to the end of the section's content.

Several kinds of content, most of them optional, can be added after the main body of the article, in the following order:

• Internal links to related PathfinderWiki articles, with section heading "See also".
• References, with a section heading "References", followed by a description of major references and {{Refs}}, which adds a link to the article's Meta page if relevant and the list of references for inline citations.
• Relevant books, articles, or other publications that have not been used as sources, using the section heading "Further reading". Be highly selective, as PathfinderWiki is not a bibliographic directory.
• Relevant and appropriate websites that have not been used as sources and do not appear in the earlier appendices, using the heading "External links", which may be made a subsection of "Further reading".

The following final items never take section headings:

• Internal links organized into navigational boxes.
• Categories, which should be the very last content in the article's source code.

Section headings

Section headings should follow the guidance for article titles and use sentence case: Points of interest, not Points of Interest.

The heading must be on its own line, with one blank line immediately before it. A blank line immediately after is optional and ignored, but do not use two consecutive blank lines before or after, which will add unwanted visible space.

For technical reasons, section headings should:

• Be unique within a page, so that section links lead to the right place.
• Not contain links, especially where only part of a heading is linked.
• Not contain images or icons.
• Not contain mathematical markup.
• Not contain citations or footnotes.
• Not misuse description list markup (; Pseudo-heading) to create pseudo-headings.
• Not contain template transclusions.

These restrictions are necessary to avoid technical complications and are not subject to override by local consensus.

As a matter of consistent style, section headings should:

• Never use first-level heading markup (Example text). The article's title is automatically rendered as its first-level heading.
• Not redundantly refer back to the subject of the article: on Abadar, use Church, not Church of Abadar
• Not refer to a higher-level heading, unless doing so is shorter or clearer.
• Not be numbered or lettered as an outline.
• Not be phrased as a question: Languages, not What languages are spoken in Kyonin?.
• Not use color or unusual fonts that might cause accessibility problems.
• Not be wrapped in wiki markup or formatting, which can break their display and cause other accessibility issues.

Before changing a heading, consider whether you might break existing links or redirects to it. If there are many links to the old title, create an anchor using {{Anchor}} with that title to ensure that these still work. Similarly, when linking to a section, leave an invisible comment at the heading of the target section that names the linking articles, so that if the heading is later altered these can be fixed.

When referring to a section from an article's body without linking, italicize the section heading: the current section is called Section headings. (Italicize the actual section heading only if it otherwise requires italics, such as the title of a book.)

National varieties of English

National varieties of English (for example, American English or British English) differ in vocabulary (elevator vs. lift), spelling (center vs. centre), and occasionally grammar (see #Plurals). Wikipedia articles such as English plurals and Comparison of American and British English provide information about such differences.

PathfinderWiki does not prefer any major national variety over another, including Paizo's house style guidance or their usage in canon works. Editors should recognize that the differences between the varieties are superficial. Cultural clashes over spelling and grammar are avoided by using the following three guidelines. (The accepted style of punctuation is covered in the punctuation section.)

Consistency within articles

See also: #Internal consistency

The conventions of a particular variety of English should be followed consistently within a given article. Exceptions include:

• Quotations and titles of works, such as books, games, films, and music, which should be used as they appear in sources.
• Proper names use the subject's own spelling for real-world entities, and Paizo's spelling for in-universe entities: Armor of Skulls, not Armour of Skulls.
• Documentation of spelling discrepancies in canon works.
• Explicit comparisons of varieties of English.

Opportunities for commonality

PathfinderWiki tries to use words that are common to all varieties of English.

• Use universally accepted terms rather than those less widely distributed, especially in titles. For example, glasses is preferred to the national varieties spectacles (British English) and eyeglasses (American English); ten million is preferable to one crore (Indian English).
• If a variant spelling appears in a title, make a redirect to accommodate the others, as with artefact and artifact, so that all variants can be used in searches and linking.
• Use a commonly understood word or phrase in preference to one that has a different meaning because of national differences (rather than alternate, use alternative or alternating, as appropriate), except in technical contexts where such substitution would be inappropriate (alternate domains).
• When more than one variant spelling exists within a national variety of English, the most commonly used current variant should usually be preferred, except where the less common spelling has a specific usage in a specialized context.

Retaining the existing variety

When an English variety's consistent usage has been established in an article, maintain it in the absence of consensus to the contrary. With few exceptions (e.g., when the change reduces ambiguity), there is no valid reason for changing from one acceptable option to another.

When no English variety has been established and discussion does not resolve the issue, use the variety found in the first post-stub revision that introduced an identifiable variety. An article should not be edited or renamed simply to switch from one variety of English to another.

Capital letters

There are differences between the major varieties of English in the use of capitals (uppercase letters). Where this is an issue, the rules of the cultural and linguistic context apply. As for spelling, consistency is maintained within an article.

Emphasis

Do not use capitals for emphasis. Where wording cannot provide the emphasis, use italics.

• Incorrect: Contrary to popular belief, ankhravs are Not the same as giant monstrous ants.
• Incorrect: Contrary to popular belief, ankhravs are NOT the same as giant monstrous ants.
• Correct: Contrary to popular belief, ankhravs are not the same as giant monstrous ants.

Capitalization of "The"

Generally, do not capitalize the word the mid-sentence: researched the Whispering Tyrant, not researched The Whispering Tyrant. Conventional exceptions include certain proper names (he worshipped The Devourer) and most titles of creative works (No single author is credited with writing The Legends of Lucky Farouq, but beware that the might not be part of the title, e.g. Asmodeus's sacred text is the Asmodean Disciplines).

Titles of works

The English-language titles of compositions (books and other print works, songs and other audio works, films and other visual media works, paintings and other artworks, etc.) are given in title case, in which every word is given an initial capital except for articles, short coordinating conjunctions, and short prepositions. The first and last words in an English-language title are always capitalized.

• Correct: Godsrain in a Godless Land
• Correct: The Dacilane Academy's Show Must Go On

Titles of people

Many characters in the Pathfinder campaign setting have titles, ranging from regal to heraldic to slang. Their use and function in a sentence often determines their style.

• In generic use, use lower case for words such as emperor, queen, or president (Higashiyama Shigure was a Minkaian emperor; Ileosa Arabasti was a terrible queen; Silea Pentarian is the president of the Forester's Endowments bank).
• Directly before the person's name, such words begin with a capital letter (Queen Ileosa, not queen Ileosa). Standard or commonly used names of an office are treated as proper names (Eutropia Stavian is Grand Princess of Taldor; Higashiyama Shigure was Emperor of Minkai; Ileosa Arabasti was Queen of Korvosa). Royal styles take capitals (Her Majesty; His Highness); exceptions might apply for particular offices.

For details on using titles and honorifics in biographical articles, refer to Wikipedia's Manual of Style on honorific prefixes.

Religions, deities, philosophies, doctrines, and their adherents

• Religions, sects, and churches and their followers (in noun or adjective form) start with a capital letter. Generally, "the" is not capitalized before such names: the Desnans, not The Unitarians.
• Religious texts and scriptures are capitalized and italicized: Parables of Erastil, the Gorumskagat, the Skull of Mashag). Do not capitalize the definite article "the" unless it is canonically part of the work's title, such as The Acts of Iomedae; follow the source material in this regard.
• Honorifics for deities, including proper names and titles, start with a capital letter (Master of the First Vault, Old Deadeye, the Inheritor, the Savored Sting, Lady of Graves, the Rough Beast, the Dawnflower). Do not capitalize the definite article "the" unless it is formally a part of the deity's name (The Devourer). Common nouns for deities and religious figures are not capitalized (many gods; the goddess Desna; saints and prophets).
• Pronouns for figures of veneration or worship are not capitalized, even if capitalized in a religion's scriptures (Asmodeux and his will). However, leave them capitalized when directly quoting texts that capitalize them.
• Broad categories of extraplanar, mythical, or legendary creatures start with lower-case letters (aeon, angel, demon, devil). Names or titles of unique individual creatures are capitalized (the Lawgiver and the Tarrasque), as are organizations of creatures whose name and membership are fixed (the Dukes of Hell). As with terms for deities, generalized references are not capitalized: demonic, elemental.
• Spiritual or religious events are capitalized only when referring to specific incidents or periods (Taxfest and the Swallowtail Release for the annual events, but also annual tax collection for Abadar and a Desnan festival concerning swallowtails).
• Philosophies, theories, movements, and doctrines use lower case unless the name derives from a proper name (rule of law versus Laws of Mortality) or has become a proper name (democracy refers to rule by popular vote; Common Rule refers to the specific system of government in Andoran). Use lower case for doctrinal topics or canonical religious ideas (ascension, as opposed to specific events such as Ascension Day) unless they are capitalized as proper nouns in canon sources (Crucible).
• Platonic or transcendent ideals, including the canonical alignments of good, evil, chaos, law, and neutrality, are lowercase. Use capitals for personifications represented in art, such as a statue of the figure Justice.
• Eponyms are capitalized (dust of Eox, kiss of Barbatos, the {{Dvezda plague}}, Urgathoa's breath), except in idiomatic uses disconnected from the original context and usually lower-cased in sources (draconian workplace policies). An entire phrase in which an eponym is an adjective is not capitalized except when the phrase is itself a proper name (e.g., the title of a published work: The China Syndrome).

Calendar items

See also Absalom Reckoning and the Canon Policy on dates.

• Months, days of the week, and holidays start with a capital letter: Desnus, Oathday, the Fifth of Neth (when referring to the Galtan Independence Day, otherwise 5 Neth).
• Seasons are in lower case (this summer was very hot; the winter solstice occurs around 22 Kuthona; I have spring fever), except in personifications or proper names for periods or events (I think Spring is showing her colors; Old Man Winter; Summerborn Triaxians).

Animals, plants, and other organisms

Common (vernacular) names of flora and fauna should be written in lower case. For example, use oak or lion. Where the common name contains a proper noun, such as the name of a person or place, that proper noun should be capitalized: (Azlanti chariot beetles live near ancient tombs throughout the former Azlanti Empire.

When an alternate capitalization is used in an article title, create a redirect to the canonical capitalization.

Celestial bodies

The words sun, earth, moon, and solar system do not take capitals in general use (The sun was over the mountain top; farmers work the earth before planting). Golarion is the Pathfinder campaign setting's primary world, and its moon's proper name is Somal. However, capitalize them when mentioning astronomical bodies that take capitals: Golarion orbits the Sun, but the distant world Earth also orbits a sun-like star. Also capitalize them when the entity is personified (Luhar, the Setting Sun).

Lowercase solar system in all uses. Refer to the other planets around Golarion's sun as Golarion's solar system.

Names of planets, moons, asteroids, comets, stars, constellations, galaxies, and planes are proper names, and therefore capitalized: The planet Castrovel can be seen in the western sky in the late winter, Never vacation in the Void or the Plane of Fire. When a name has more than one word, treat it like other proper nouns, with each first letter capitalized except for articles, short coordinating conjunctions, and short prepositions: Dark Tapestry, not Dark tapestry; the Lantern Bearer, not the lantern bearer; Plane of Fire, not Plane Of Fire.

Compass points

Do not capitalize directions such as north or their related forms (We took the northern road) except when they are parts of proper names (the North Point district; West Sellen River).

Capitalize names of regions if they have attained proper-name status, including informal conventional names (Southern Hymbrian Forest, Western Ravage). Do not capitalize descriptive names for regions that have not attained the status of proper names, such as southern Varisia.

Composite directions may or may not be hyphenated, depending on the variety of English adopted in the article. (Southeast Avistan and northwest are more common in American English, but South-East Avistan and north-west in British English. In cases such as north–south dialogue and east–west orientation, use an en dash; see #Dashes.

Institutions

Capitalize names of institutions that are proper nouns (the Acadamae; Kitharodian Academy; Rhapsodic College) but not generic words for institutions (university, college, hospital, abbey). Do not capitalize the at the start of an institution's name, regardless of its preferred style.

Treat political or geographic units similarly: The city has a population of 55,000; The two towns merged to become the City of Smithville.

Ligatures

Avoid typographic ligatures in all usage, even when published canon sources use them (encyclopedia or encyclopaedia, not encyclopædia; butterfly knife, not butterfly knife).

Abbreviations

Abbreviations are shortened forms of words or phrases. In strict analysis, they are distinct from contractions, which use an apostrophe (e.g. won't; see #Contractions), and initialisms. An initialism is formed from some or all of the initial letters of words in a phrase. Below, references to abbreviations should be taken to include acronyms, and the term acronym to apply also to initialisms.

Follow point of view

In general, follow publication point of view unless a specific source uses an abbreviation in-world.

Write first occurrences in full

When using an abbreviation in an article, first introduce it using the full expression: The Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild (PFSACG) was founded ... Paizo regularly publishes new PFSACG scenarios.

If the full term is already in parentheses, use a comma (,) and or to indicate the abbreviation. For example: Each set of scenarios comes with a Chronicle Sheet (for the Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild, or PFSACG).

For terms that are not proper names, do not use capitals in the full version merely because capitals are used in the abbreviation: Lawful Good (LG) characters.

Common abbreviations in the context of PathfinderWiki, such as RPG, need not be expanded even on first use.

Avoid unwarranted use

Avoid abbreviations when they might confuse the reader, interrupt the flow, or appear informal. For example, do not use approx. for approximate or approximately except in an infobox or table, in which case use {{abbr|approx.|approximately}} at first occurrence: approx..

Plural forms

Pluralize acronyms by adding -s or -es: Three RPGs, two 3PPs. Do not use apostrophes to form plurals: Three RPG's, two 3PP's.

Punctuation and spacing

An abbreviation might or might not be terminated with a full point (also called a period or full stop). Maintain a consistent style within an article. Regardless of punctuation, words that are abbreviated to more than one letter are spaced (op. cit., not op.cit. or opcit).

PathfinderWiki uses no such punctuation inside acronyms and initialisms: PFS, not P.F.S.

Do not invent

Avoid devising new abbreviations, especially acronyms. For example, the initialism "EOotPE" is accurate for the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye, but neither in-universe nor objective canon sources use it. Use its original name, and shorten it only as published sources do ("Esoteric Order") and only if necessary.

If it is necessary to abbreviate in a tight space, such as a table or infobox, use only widely recognized abbreviations and use {{Abbr}} to describe them in an accessible manner. Do not invent initialisms.

Ampersand

In normal text and headings, use and instead of the ampersand (&): edicts and anathema, not edicts & anathema. Retain an ampersand when it is a legitimate part of the style of a proper noun, the title of a work, or a trademark, such as in Jexler & Young Salvage Company and Deep Sea Exploration and Retrieval, Gods & Magic, or Beadle & Grimm's.

Elsewhere, use ampersands with consistency and discretion only where space is extremely limited (e.g., tables and infoboxes). Another frequently permissible, but not required, use is in short bibliographic references to works by multiple authors.

Italics

Emphasis

Use italics sparingly to emphasize words in sentences. Generally, the more highlighting in an article, the less the effect of each instance. Do not use boldface for this purpose as its use is reserved to identify self-links, alternate article name and redirect references, and headings.

Titles of works

Italicize the titles of both real-world and in-universe works of literature and art, such as books, paintings, films (feature-length), television series, and musical albums. The titles of articles, chapters, songs, television episodes, short films, and other short works are enclosed in double quotation marks and not italicized.

Italicize in-world religious works as you would any other book. Do not italicize major revered real-world religious works, such as the Bible, the Qur'an, and the Talmud.

Named vehicles

Italicize the proper names of specific vehicles, such as named ships of sea, land, air, space or planar travel, such as the sea vessel Stargazer, the airship Zoetrope, the spaceship Lirgen's Glory, or the ether ship King Xeros.

Words as words

Italicize references to a word or letter, or a string of words up to a full sentence: The most commonly used letter in Taldane is e.

For a whole sentence, you can use quotation marks instead: The preposition in She sat on the chair is on, or The preposition in "She sat on the chair" is "on".

Mentioning—to discuss such features as grammar, wording, and punctuation—is different from quoting, in which something is usually expressed on behalf of a quoted source.

Foreign words

PathfinderWiki prefers italics for phrases in other languages and for isolated foreign words that are not commonly used in everyday English (or Common tongues, for articles written in the in-universe point of view.) For example, the native Shoanti called the river Mashkapikki.

Italics and quotations

For quotations, use only quotation marks for short quotations or block quoting for long ones. Do not manually apply italics; short quotations should not be italicized, and the Quote template automatically italicizes its contents. (See Quotations below.)

Italics within quotations

Use italics within quotations if they are already in the source material, or are added by a editor to emphasize to some words. If the latter, an editorial note [emphasis added] should appear at the end of the quotation:

"Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince: And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest" [emphasis added].

If the source uses italics for emphasis, and it is desirable to stress that PathfinderWiki has not added the italics, the editorial note [emphasis in original] should appear after the quote.

Effect on nearby punctuation

Restrict italicization to what should properly be affected by italics, and not the punctuation that is part of the surrounding sentence.

Incorrect:	What are we to make of that?
Correct:	What are we to make of that?
	Note the difference between ? and ?. The question mark applies to the whole sentence, not just to the emphasized that.
Correct:	Three of Ailson Kindler's most famous novels are Bleak Heart, Galdyce's Guest: Feast of the Nosferatu, and In the Council of Corpses.
	The commas, period, and and are not italicized.

Italicized links

You cannot place italics markup inside a link's markup or the link will not work. However, you can apply internal italicization in piped links.

• Incorrect: The novel [[''In the Council of Corpses'']] is her best.
• Correct: The novel ''[[In the Council of Corpses]]'' is her best.
• Correct: The [[Burnt Saffron|''Burnt Saffron'']] is a slave galley.

Alignment with Paizo italicization

Paizo italicizes certain elements as standard, such as spell and ritual names, specific types of magic items, and unique magic items. PathfinderWiki adopts the same standards, so anything italicized by Paizo should also be italicized on the wiki, and vice versa. If Paizo's usage is inconsistent in a specific instance, open a discussion to reach a consensus on how best to format it.

Non-breaking spaces

Use a non-breaking space (also known as a hard space) to prevent the end-of-line displacement of elements that could be awkward if moved to the beginning of a new line:

• In many compound expressions in which figures and abbreviations or symbols are separated by a space: (17 ft., 565 AR, 2:50 p.m.).
• In other places where displacement might be disruptive to the reader or within the titles of works, such as 11 billion gold, create water, or Ultimate Magic, or within elements in an infobox or content template.
  • You might see  -style nonbreaking spaces in list items and links within navboxes. These often predate the current version of MediaWiki, which no longer requires manually added nonbreaking spaces in navbox lists. It is safe to leave or remove these nonbreaking spaces, but you are not required to use them when adding new items to navbox lists.
• A hard space can be produced with the HTML code   instead of the space bar: 17 ft. yields a non-breaking 17 ft..
• Unlike normal spaces, multiple hard spaces are not compressed by browsers into a single space.

Do not include non-breaking spaces in semantic data unless they are strictly necessary.

Quotations

See also: Italics and quotations and Quotation marks

Minimal change

Wherever reasonable, preserve the quote's original style, spelling, and punctuation. Where there is a good reason not to do so, insert an editorial explanation of the changes, usually within square brackets (e.g., [for example]). If there is an error in the original statement, use [sic] to show that the error was not made in transcription.

Allowable changes

You can alter a few merely typographical elements of the quoted text to conform to PathfinderWiki conventions, and can do so without comment. Such a practice is universal in all publishing.

Allowable alterations include:

• Styling dashes: Use the style consistently applied to the rest of the article, whether unspaced em dash (—) or spaced en dash ( – ); see Dashes.
• Styling apostrophes and quotes: All apostrophes and quotation marks should be straight, not curly; see Quotation marks. Convert typographical elements such as guillemets (« » in quoted French, Portuguese, and other foreign-language material to their English-language equivalents (guillemets become standard straight quote marks, for example).
• Spaces before periods, colons, semicolons, and the like: Remove them, since they are merely typographical and unused in wikitext, or in English-language publishing in general.
• Some text styling: PathfinderWiki's software automatically applies default typefaces to all content, but you should preserve and convert bold, underlining, and italics per our standards. See Italics.
• Ellipses: Use ellipses whenever parts of a quotation are skipped, for instance to remove extraneous, irrelevant, or parenthetical words, or to skip over unintelligible or guttural speech such as umm, ahhs, and hmms, for example. Avoid using ellipses to remove context or selectively quote a source to change the quotation's meaning, as is sometimes seen in advertisements that selectively quote critical reviews to make them appear more favorable.

Quotations within quotations

When a quotation includes another quotation, start by using double quote marks in the outermost quotation, and alternate single quotation marks with double quotation marks while working inward.

The following example has three levels of quotation:

"She disputed his statement that 'Voltaire never said "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."'"

Attribution

Name the author in the article's main text, rather than in a footnote, when quoting a full sentence or more. However, attribution is unnecessary for quotations from the subject of the article or section. To attribute a quote in a {{Quote}} block quotation template, use the speaker parameter.

Block quotations

Format a long quote of more than four lines (or more than one paragraph, regardless of number of lines) as a block quotation using the {{Quote}} template. Do not enclose block quotations with quotation marks.

{{Quote
| quote = Their deception revealed and their plans waylaid, two deadly and [[Hell]]-touched siblings make a desperate final play for control of [[Westcrown]]. With the city in chaos and its leaders fled, few stand to defend the beleaguered people when the plots of fiends turn upon them. At the same time, the rulers of [[Cheliax]] launch their own ruthless plot to retake control. Can the PCs return order and shatter the [[Council of Thieves]]’ age-old stranglehold on Westcrown once and for all? Or will the former capital slide fully into the grip of a terrible new deviltry? It's up to the PCs to decide in the climax of the [[Council of Thieves (adventure path)|Council of Thieves Adventure Path]]!
| speaker = ''[[The Twice-Damned Prince]]'', rear cover
}}

“

Their deception revealed and their plans waylaid, two deadly and Hell-touched siblings make a desperate final play for control of Westcrown. With the city in chaos and its leaders fled, few stand to defend the beleaguered people when the plots of fiends turn upon them. At the same time, the rulers of Cheliax launch their own ruthless plot to retake control. Can the PCs return order and shatter the Council of Thieves’ age-old stranglehold on Westcrown once and for all? Or will the former capital slide fully into the grip of a terrible new deviltry? It's up to the PCs to decide in the climax of the Council of Thieves Adventure Path!

— The Twice-Damned Prince, rear cover

”

Punctuation

Apostrophes

• PathfinderWiki recommends consistently using straight (or typewriter) apostrophes ( ' ) instead of curly (or typographic) apostrophes ( ’ ). For details and reasons, see Quotation marks.
• For the possessive apostrophe, see the summary of usage issues at Possessives.

Quotation marks

See also: Quotations

The term quotation in this section includes other uses of quotation marks, such as those for titles of songs, chapters, and episodes; unattributable aphorisms; "scare-quoted" passages; and constructed examples.

Double or single

Quotations are enclosed within double quotes (e.g., Cayden said, "Valeros! You haven't drunk enough this morning.").

For formatting nested quotations, see Quotations within quotations.

Punctuation inside or outside

Use the logical quotation style in all articles, regardless of the variety of English in which they are written. Include terminal punctuation inside of the quotation marks only if it was present in the original material, and otherwise place it after the closing quotation mark. For the most part, this means treating periods and commas in the same way as question marks: keep them inside the quotation marks if they apply only to the quoted material and outside if they apply to the whole sentence.

Correct:	Ezren said, "Valeros is deplorable and unacceptable."
	The period is part of the quoted text.
Correct:	Ezren said Valeros was "deplorable".
	The period is not part of the quoted text.
Incorrect:	Did Merisiel say, "Get out?"
	It is incorrect to apply the question mark to the quotation if the mark was not part of the original quote.
Correct:	Merisiel asked, "Are you leaving?"
	The question mark belongs inside because the quoted text itself was a question.

If the quotation is a single word or a sentence fragment, place the terminal punctuation outside the closing quotation mark. When quoting a full sentence, the end of which coincides with the end of the sentence containing it, place terminal punctuation inside the closing quotation mark.

• Correct: Merisiel said, "Go away", and they did.

If the sequence of juxtaposed punctuation marks seems distracting or untidy, try to obviate it.

• Correct: Merisiel said, "Go away" (and they did).

Do not follow quoted words or fragments with commas inside the quotation marks, except where a longer quotation has been broken up and the comma is part of the full quotation.

• Correct: "Or die as livestock, willfully enchained", said the actor.
• Correct: "Or die as livestock," said the actor, "willfully enchained."
• Correct: "Or die", said the actor, "as livestock, willfully enchained."
• Incorrect: "Or die," said the actor, "as livestock, willfully enchained."

Internal links (wikilinks) accompanied by quotation marks should usually have the quotes outside the link. This applies to titles of works in quotation marks (songs, episodes, etc.)

• Correct: Play it, Lem. Play "The Lobster's Wife". (Using "[[ ]]".)
• Incorrect: Play it, Lem. Play "The Lobster's Wife". (Using [[" "]].)

Article openings

In the bolded text typically appearing at the opening of an article, any quotation marks that are part of the title should be in bold just like the rest of the title, and quotation marks not part of the article title should not be bolded.

• Correct: "Crisis of Faith" is a short story by Michael J. Martinez. (Quotation marks not part of the article title are not bolded.)

Block quotes

As noted in Quotations, use quotation marks or block quotes (not both) to distinguish long quotations from other text. Always use block quotes for multi-paragraph quotations. The quotations must be precisely as in the source, with only stylistic changes as noted in Quotations. Credit the speaker or source clearly and precisely to help readers identify the source that supports the quotation.

Quotation characters

• Use "straight" quotation marks, not “curly” marks. (For single-apostrophe quotes: 'straight', not ‘curly’.)
• Do not use accent marks, backticks (`text´), low-high („ “) or guillemet (« ») marks as quotation marks. The symbols ′ and ″ presented in edit window dropdowns are prime and double prime marks used to designate units of angular measurement; do not use them as apostrophes or quote marks.
• Change quotation marks and apostrophes in imported or quoted material if necessary to comply with the above.

Other matters

• Do not manually italicize quotations, regardless of length, simply because it is a quotation.
• If an entire sentence is quoted in such a way that it becomes a grammatical part of the larger sentence, the first letter loses its capitalization: It turned out to be true that "a copper saved is a copper earned".

Brackets and parentheses

These rules apply to both round brackets ( ( ) ), often called parentheses, and square brackets ( [ ] ).

If a sentence contains a bracketed phrase, place the sentence punctuation outside the brackets (as shown here). However, where one or more sentences are wholly inside brackets, place their punctuation inside the brackets (see Sentences and brackets). There should be no space next to a bracket's inner side. An opening bracket should be preceded by a space except when it is preceded by an opening quotation mark, another opening bracket, or a portion of a word:

• He rose to address the meeting: "(Ahem) ... Ladies and gentlemen, welcome!"
• Only the royal characters in the play ([Queen] Abrogail II and her family) habitually speak in blank verse.
• We journeyed on the Inter[continental].

Place a space after a closing bracket, except where a punctuation mark follows (though a spaced dash would still be spaced after a closing bracket) and in unusual cases similar to those listed for opening brackets.

If sets of brackets are nested, use different types for adjacent levels of nesting; for two levels, it is customary to have square brackets appear within round brackets. This is often a sign of excessively convoluted expression, and it is often better to recast, linking the thoughts with commas, semicolons, colons, or dashes.

Avoid adjacent sets of brackets. Either put the parenthetic phrases in one set separated by commas, or rewrite:

• Avoid: Zenobia (Zena) Zenderholm (Senior arbiter) (also known as the "Hanging Judge" of the Varisian city of Korvosa) is of House Zenderholm.
• Preferred: Senior arbiter Zenobia "Zena" Zenderholm, of House Zenderholm, is also known as the "Hanging Judge" of the Varisian city of Korvosa.
• Preferred: Senior arbiter Zenobia "Zena" Zenderholm, also known as the "Hanging Judge" of the Varisian city of Korvosa, is of House Zenderholm.

Use square brackets to indicate editorial replacements and insertions within quotations, but never alter the quotation's intended meaning in the process. These brackets serve three main purposes:

• To clarify: "She attended [secondary] school", where this was the intended meaning, but the type of school was unstated by the original speaker.
• To reduce the size of a quotation: "X contains Y, and under certain circumstances, X may contain Z as well" can be reduced to "X contains Y [and sometimes Z]". Do not bracket an ellipsis (...; see Ellipses) when used to indicate material removed from a direct quotation.
• To make the grammar work: She said that "[she] would not allow this", where her original statement was "I would not allow this". (You should generally prefer to begin the quotation after the problematic word: She said that she "would not allow this.")

If a sentence includes subsidiary material enclosed in square or round brackets, it must still carry terminal punctuation after those brackets, regardless of any punctuation within the brackets:

She refused all requests (except for basics such as food, medicine, etc.).

However, if the entire sentence is within brackets, the closing punctuation falls within the brackets.

(This sentence is an example.)

Ellipses

Use an ellipsis (plural ellipses) to indicate an omission of material in the course of a quotation, unless square brackets are used to gloss the quotation (see Brackets and parentheses and the following points).

• Use three unspaced dots (...); do not use the precomposed ellipsis character (…) or three dots separated by spaces (. . .).
• Use a non-breaking space before an ellipsis and a regular space after it, unless the ellipsis is immediately followed by a closing punctuation mark, such as . ? ! : ; , ) ] } or a closing quotation mark: "Arcadia, Avistan, ... Tian Xia", "Gest wrote: "These stories amaze me. The facts suffer so frightfully ..."
  • Place terminal punctuation after an ellipsis only if it is textually important, as is often the case with exclamation marks and question marks but rarely with periods.
• If the ellipsis immediately follows a quotation mark, do not place a space before the ellipsis, and instead place a non-breaking space after it: He followed Gest ("... to the ends of the world", he had sworn) until his own death.

Pause or suspension of speech

Three dots can represent a pause in or suspense of speech, in which case the punctuation is retained in its original form: Merisiel's startled reply was: "Could he ...? No, I cannot believe it!". Avoid this usage except in direct quotations.

With square brackets

Square brackets can be placed around an ellipsis that indicates omitted text to distinguish it from an ellipsis that is part of the quoted text: She retorted: "How do I feel? How do you think I ... This is too much! [...] Take me home!". In this example, the first ellipsis is part of the quoted text and the second ellipsis (in square brackets) indicates omitted text.

Commas

See also: #Semicolons

A pair of commas can bracket an appositive, relative clause, or parenthetical phrase (as can brackets or dashes, though with greater interruption of the sentence). Always use a pair of commas for this, unless another punctuation mark takes the place of the second comma.

• Correct: Prince Carrius I, son of Grand Prince Stavian II, died during an influenza epidemic in Taldor.
• Correct: Stavian II's son Carrius I died during an influenza epidemic in Taldor. (when Stavian II has multiple sons)
• Correct: Stavian II's son, Carrius I, died during an influenza epidemic in Taldor. (when Stavian II has only one son)
• Incorrect: Stavian II's son, Carrius I died.
• Correct: The epidemic killed Stavian II's son, Carrius I.
• Correct: The young man, Carrius I—son of Grand Prince Stavian II—died in the epidemic.

Do not let other punctuation distract you from the need for a comma, especially when the comma collides with a bracket or parenthesis:

• Incorrect: The Pathfinders, fed by local goblins (on fireworks, garbage, and fish) survived for a few hours.
• Correct: The Pathfinders, fed by local goblins (on fireworks, garbage, and fish), survived for a few hours.

Modern writing uses fewer commas; there are usually ways to simplify a sentence so that fewer are needed.

• Clear: Lubor's heroes included Valeros, Harsk, and Colsoen and Gaspar Dalsine.
• Awkward: Valeros was, along with the Dalsines, both Colson and Gaspar, and also Harsk, one of Lubor's heroes.

In geographical references that include multiple levels of subordinate divisions (e.g., city, province, country), a comma separates each element and follows the last element unless followed by terminal punctuation or a closing parenthesis. The last element is treated as parenthetical.

• Correct: He traveled through Ligos Prefecture before staying in Elsekulp, Lingian Prefecture, for the night.
• Incorrect: He traveled through Ligos Prefecture before staying in Elsekulp, Lingian Prefecture for the night.

Dates in month–day–year format require a comma after the day, as well as after the year, unless followed by other punctuation. The last element is treated as parenthetical.

• Correct: The most recent rollout of playtest materials was on November 5, 2018, though Paizo continued to accept feedback after that point.
• Incorrect: The most recent rollout of playtest materials was on November 5, 2018 though Paizo continued to accept feedback after that point.

Place quotation marks by following Punctuation inside or outside. This is known as "logical quotation".

• Correct: She said, "The weather changes too often", and made other complaints.
• Incorrect: She said, "The weather changes too often," and made other complaints.

You can include a comma before a quotation embedded within a sentence (see Quotation marks).

Serial commas

A serial comma (also known as an Oxford comma or Harvard comma) is a comma used immediately before a conjunction (and, or, nor) in a list of three or more items.

• ham, chips, and eggs contains a serial comma
• ham, chips and eggs omits it

Editors can use either convention so long as each article is internally consistent. Serial commas are more helpful when article text is complex, such as a list with multi-word items (especially if one contains its own "and") or a series of probably unfamiliar terms.

However, there are cases in which either omitting or including the serial comma results in ambiguity:

The author thanked her parents, Sister Bethany and Mayor Camden, which may list either four people (the two parents and the two people named) or two people (Bethany and Camden, who are the parents).

In such cases of ambiguity, clarify one of four ways:

• Add or remove the serial comma.
• Use separate sentences, bullet lists, or some other structural change to clarify.
• Recast the sentence (plural subject case):
  • To list four people: The author thanked Mayor Camden, Sister Bethany, and her parents.
  • To list two people (the commas here set off non-restrictive appositives): The author thanked her father, Mayor Camden, and her mother, Sister Bethany.
• Recast the sentence (singular subject case):
  • To list two people: The author thanked Mayor Camden and her mother, Sister Bethany.
  • To list three people: The author thanked her mother, Mayor Camden, and Sister Bethany

Note that the last example's being clear depends on the reader knowing that Mayor Camden is male and cannot be a mother. If we change the example slightly, we are back to an ambiguous statement: The author thanked her mother, Governor Mary Maldris, and Sister Bethany.

Recasting again:

• To list three people: The author thanked Governor Mary Maldris, Sister Bethany, and her mother.

Colons

A colon (:) introduces something that demonstrates, explains, or modifies what has come before, or is a list of items that has just been introduced. The items in such a list may be separated by commas, or if they are more complex and perhaps themselves contain commas, the items should be separated by semicolons or arranged in a bulleted list.

We toured several buildings around the town: the Glassworks, which was far hotter than I imagined; the theater; The Hagfish, where I tried a mug of Norah's tank water; and so many more.

A colon can also introduce direct speech enclosed within quotation marks. (See Quotation marks.)

In most cases, a colon works best with a complete grammatical sentence before it. When what follows the colon is also a complete sentence, start it with a capital letter, but otherwise do not capitalize after a colon except where doing so is needed for another reason, such as for a proper name. When a colon is being used as a separator in an article title, section heading, or list item, editors may choose whether to capitalize what follows, taking into consideration the existing practice and consistency with related articles.

Except in technical usage (a 3:1 ratio), no sentence should contain multiple colons, no space should precede a colon, and a space (but never a hyphen or dash) should follow the colon.

• Correct: He attempted it in two years: 4681 AR and 4683 AR.
• Incorrect: The years he attempted it included: 4681 AR and 4683 AR.
• Correct (special case): Boggard, Shoanti, Chelaxian: these are but a few of the languages you might hear on your travels through Varisia.

Semicolons

A semicolon (;) is sometimes an alternative to a full stop (period), enabling related material to be kept in the same sentence; it marks a more decisive division in a sentence than a comma. If the semicolon separates clauses, normally each clause must be independent (meaning that it could stand on its own as a sentence). In many cases, only a comma or only a semicolon will be correct in a given sentence.

• Correct: Though he had been here before, I did not recognize him.
• Incorrect: Though he had been here before; I did not recognize him.

In the previous example, "though he had been here before" cannot stand on its own as a sentence, and therefore is not an independent clause.

• Correct: Ifrits are associated with elemental fire; jaathooms are associated with air.
• Incorrect: Ifrits are associated with elemental fire, jaathooms are associated with air.

The previous example's incorrect use of a comma between two independent clauses is known as a comma splice.

However, in rare cases a comma can be used where a semicolon would seem to be called for:

• Accepted: "Life is short, art is long." (two brief clauses in an aphorism)
• Accepted: "I have studied it, you have not." (reporting a brisk conversation)

A sentence can contain several semicolons, especially when the clauses are parallel in construction and meaning; multiple unrelated semicolons are often signs that the sentence should be divided into shorter sentences or otherwise refashioned.

• Unwieldy: Ifrits are associated with elemental fire; jaathooms are associated with air; jabalis are said to be of earth; these classifications are fundamental to their natures.
• Clearer: Ifrits are associated with elemental fire, jaathoms with air, and jabalis with earth; these classifications are fundamental to their natures.

Use semicolons in addition to commas to separate items in a listing, when commas alone would result in confusion.

• Confusing: The Pathfinder Society has lodges in many locations, including Oppara, Taldor, Absalom, the Mwangi Expanse, Anthusis, formerly called Eledir, and aboard multiple ships.
• Clearer: The Pathfinder Society has lodges in many locations, including Oppara, Taldor; Absalom; the Mwangi Expanse; Anthusis, formerly called Eledir; and aboard multiple ships.

Semicolon before "however"

The meaning of a sentence containing a trailing clause that starts with the word however depends on the punctuation preceding that word. A common error is to use the wrong punctuation, thereby changing the meaning to one not intended.

When the word however is an adverb meaning "nevertheless", it should be preceded by a semicolon and followed by a comma. For example:

It was obvious they could not breach the gate; however, they tried.

Meaning: It was obvious they could not breach the gate; nevertheless, they tried.

When the word however is a conjunction meaning "in whatever manner", or "regardless of how", it can be preceded by a comma but not by a semicolon, and should not be followed by punctuation. For example:

It was obvious they could not breach the gate, however they tried.

Meaning: It was obvious they could not breach the gate, regardless of how they tried.

In the first case, the clause that starts with "however" cannot be swapped with the first clause; in the second case this can be done without change of meaning. If the two clauses cannot be swapped, a semicolon is required.

A sentence or clause can also contain the word however in the middle, if it is an adverb meaning "although" that could have been placed at the beginning but does not start a new clause in mid-sentence. In this use, the word can be enclosed between commas. For example:

He did not know, however, that Eutropia had been resurrected at the last minute.

Meaning: However, he did not know that Eutropia had been resurrected at the last minute.

Hyphens

Hyphens (-) indicate conjunction. There are three main uses:

1. In hyphenated personal names (Stephen Radney-MacFarland).
2. To link prefixes with their main terms in certain constructions (non-linear, sub-section, super-achiever).

• You can use a hyphen to distinguish between homographs (re-dress means dress again, but redress means remedy or set right).
• There is a clear trend to join both elements in all varieties of English (subsection, nonlinear). Hyphenation clarifies when the letters brought into contact are the same (non-negotiable, sub-basement) or are vowels (pre-industrial), or where a word is uncommon (co-proposed, re-target) or might be misread (sub-era, not subera). Some words of these sorts are nevertheless common without the hyphen (e.g., cooperation is more frequently attested than co-operation in contemporary English).

1. To link related terms in compound modifiers:

• Hyphens can aid ease of reading (that is, they can be ease-of-reading aids) and are particularly useful in long noun phrases: gas-phase reaction dynamics. But never insert a hyphen into a proper name (New Thassilonian cuisine, not New-Thassilonian cuisine).
• A hyphen can help to disambiguate (some short-story writers are quite tall; a government-monitoring program is a program that monitors the government, whereas a government monitoring program is a government program that monitors).
• Many compound adjectives that are hyphenated when used attributively (before the noun they qualify—a light-blue handbag), are not hyphenated when used predicatively (after the noun—the handbag was light blue); this attributive hyphenation also occurs in proper names, such as Great Black-backed Gull. Where there would be a loss of clarity, the hyphen may be used in the predicative case too (hand-fed turkeys → the turkeys were hand-fed).
• Avoid using a hyphen after a standard adverb ending in -ly (a newly available home, a wholly owned subsidiary) unless it is part of a larger compound (a slowly-but-surely strategy). In rare cases, a hyphen can improve clarity if a rewritten alternative is awkward, but rewording is usually preferable: The idea was clearly stated enough can be disambiguated as The idea clearly was stated often enough or The idea was stated with enough clarity.
• A few words ending in -ly function as both adjectives and adverbs (a kindly-looking teacher; a kindly provided facility). Some such dual-purpose words (like early, only, northerly) are not standard -ly adverbs, because they are not formed by addition of -ly to an independent current-English adjective. These need careful treatment: Early flowering plants appeared around 130 million years ago, but Early-flowering plants risk damage from winter frosts; only child actors (no adult actors) but only-child actors (actors without siblings).
• A hyphen is normally used when the adverb well precedes a participle used attributively (a well-meaning gesture; but normally a very well managed shop, since well itself is modified); and even predicatively, if well is necessary to, or alters, the sense of the adjective rather than simply intensifying it (the gesture was well-meaning, the child was well-behaved, but the floor was well polished).
• Use a suspended hyphen (also called a hanging hyphen) when two compound modifiers are separated (two- and three-digit numbers, a ten-camel or -mule convoy; sloping right- or leftward, but sloping rightward or leftward is preferable).
• Values and units used as compound adjectives are hyphenated only where the unit is given as a whole word. Where hyphens are not used, always separate values and units with a non-breaking space ( ).

Incorrect: 9-in gap

Correct: 9 in gap (entered as 9 in gap)

Incorrect: 9 inch gap

Correct: 9-inch gap

Correct: 12-hour shift

Correct: 12 h shift (entered as 12 h shift)

Multi-hyphenated items: It is often possible to avoid multi-word hyphenated adjectives by rewording (a three-headed dog may be easier to read as a dog with three heads). This is particularly important where converted units are involved (the 6-hectare-limit (14.8-acre-limit) rule might be possible as the rule imposing a limit of 6 hectares (14.8 acres), and the ungainly 4.9-mile (7.9 km) -long tributary as simply 4.9-mile (7.9 km) tributary).

Spacing

A hyphen is never followed or preceded by a space, except when hanging (see above) or when used to display parts of words independently, such as the prefix sub- and the suffix -less.

Minus signs

Do not use a hyphen (-) as a minus sign (−), except in code (see below).

Image filenames and redirects

A hyphen is used only to mark conjunction, not disjunction (for which en dashes are used: see below). An exception is in image filenames, where the ability to type the URL becomes more important (see Dashes below). Article titles with dashes should have a corresponding redirect from the title with hyphens: for example, Michelson-Morley experiment redirects to Michelson–Morley experiment, as the latter title, while correct, is harder to search for.

Hyphenation involves many subtleties that cannot be covered here; the rules and examples presented above illustrate the broad principles that inform current usage.

Dashes

PathfinderWiki uses two kinds of dashes: en dashes (or en rules) and em dashes (or em rules).

Dashes should never be used in image and media filenames; use hyphens instead. If used in an article's title, there should be a redirect from the version with a hyphen.

PathfinderWiki prefers the use of HTML named character entities for en (–) and em (—) dashes. Avoid using any special character entry methods that allow directly entering these special dashes as typographic characters, including the wiki editor's Symbols or Special characters panels.

En dashes

En dashes (–, –) have distinct roles:

1. To indicate disjunction. In this role, there are two main applications.
   • To convey the sense of to or through, particularly in ranges (pp. 211–19, 64–75%, Desnus–Rova) and where movement is involved (Sandpoint–Magnimar route). The word to, rather than an en dash, is used when a number range involves a negative value or might be misconstrued as a subtraction (−3 to 1, not −3–1). This is also the case when the nearby wording demands it, e.g., he served from 4682 AR to 4685 AR and not he served from 4682–4685, in which from and to are complementary and should both be spelled out.
   • As a substitute for some uses of and, to, or versus for marking a relationship involving independent elements in certain compound expressions (Osirion–Katapesh border, the quillions mark the hilt-blade transition, 3–2 win in the jousting final, male–female ratio, 3–2 majority verdict)
     • Spacing: All disjunctive en dashes are unspaced, except when there is a space within either one or both of the items (the Mwangi Expanse – Osiron trade route; Desnus 3, 4682 – Rova 18, 4685, but Desnus–Rova 4682).

Minus signs

Do not use an en dash for negative signs and subtraction operators: use the correct Unicode character for the minus sign (−). Negative signs (−8 °F) are unspaced; subtraction operators (42 − 4 = 38) are spaced. Note that this is in opposition to Paizo style, which uses en dashes for minus signs.

Due to the large number of articles on years which begin with hyphens instead of minus signs, use hyphens when referring to years.

Em dashes

Em dashes (—, —) indicate interruption in a sentence. They should not be spaced.

Em dashes fill two roles:

1. Parenthetical (PathfinderWiki—one of the most popular Pathfinder fan web sites—has the information you need). A pair of em dashes for such interpolations is more arresting than a pair of commas, and less disruptive than parentheses (round brackets).
2. As a sharp break in the flow of a sentence—sharper than is provided by a colon or a semicolon.

In both roles, em dashes are useful where there are already several commas. Em dashes can clarify the structure, sometimes removing ambiguity.

Use em dashes sparingly. They are visually striking, so using no more than two in a paragraph is often a good limit. Avoid two "sharp break" em dashes in a sentence, since they are readily mistaken for a parenthetical pair. Do not use more than two em dashes in a single sentence: which two (if any) make a parenthetic pair?

Do not use an em dash for a minus sign. (See Minus signs.)

Other dashes

PathfinderWiki avoids using other types of dashes, especially two consecutive hyphens (--).

Slashes

Avoid joining two words by a slash, also known as a forward slash ( / ). It suggests that the two are related, but does not specify how. It is often also unclear how the construct would be read aloud. Replace the structure with clearer wording.

Incorrect:	The soldier/healer must be present at all times.
Correct:	The soldier and healer must be present at all times. (If two people.)
Correct:	The soldier-healer must be present at all times. (If one person.)
Correct:	The soldier who also tends their wounds must always be present. (If one person.)

In circumstances involving a distinction or disjunction, the en dash (see above) is usually preferable to the slash, e.g., the cleric–inquisitor distinction.

Never use the backslash character ( \ ) in place of a slash.

And/or

The term and/or is awkward. In general, where it is important to mark an inclusive or, use x or y, or both, rather than x and/or y. For an exclusive or, use either x or y, and optionally add but not both if it is necessary to stress the exclusivity.

Where more than two possibilities are presented, from which a combination is to be selected, it is even less desirable to use and/or. With two possibilities the intention is clear, but with more than two it may not be. Instead of x, y, and/or z, use an appropriate alternative, such as one or more of x, y, and z; some or all of x, y, and z.

Sometimes or is ambiguous in another way: Wild dogs, or dingoes, inhabit this stretch of land. Are wild dogs and dingoes the same or different? For one case write: wild dogs (dingoes) inhabit ... (meaning dingoes are wild dogs); for the other case write: either wild dogs or dingoes inhabit ....

Punctuation at the end of a sentence

Periods (referred to as full stops by most non-US English speakers), question marks, and exclamation marks are the three sentence-enders: the only punctuation marks used to end sentences. In some contexts, no sentence-ender should be used; in such cases, the sentence often does not start with a capital letter. See Quotations, Quotation marks and Sentences and brackets, above.

For the use of three periods in succession, see Ellipses, above.

Clusters of question marks, exclamation marks, or a combination of them (such as the interrobang) are highly informal, and inappropriate in PathfinderWiki articles.

Use exclamation marks with restraint. It is an expression of surprise or emotion that is generally unsuited to an encyclopedic register.

Question marks and exclamation marks can sometimes be used in the middle of a sentence:

• Why me? she wondered.
• The question is not Did Paizo write the errata? but How did the errata come into being?, as we have now come to realize.
• The door flew open with a BANG! that made them jump. [Not encyclopedic, but acceptable in transcription from audio, or of course in direct quotation.]

Along with commas, semicolons, and colons, sentence-enders are never preceded by a space in normal prose.

There is no guideline on whether to use one space or two after the end of a sentence, but the issue is not important because the difference is visible only in edit boxes; that is, it is ignored by browsers when displaying the article. For consistency, PathfinderWiki prefers one space after sentence-ending punctuation.

Punctuation and inline citations

Place inline citations after any punctuation, such as a comma or period, with no intervening space:

... are venomous.<ref>{{Cite book/Bestiary 4|123}}</ref>

This yields ... are venomous.^[1]

See Citing sources for general guidelines about referencing.

Geographical items

See also: PathfinderWiki:Naming conventions

Refer to places consistently using the same name as in the title of their article. In general, this should also be consistent with the source material.

Chronological items

Precise language

Avoid statements that age quickly, like recently, soon, and now, unless their meaning is fixed by the context. Avoid relative terms like currently (usually redundant), in modern times, is now considered, and is soon to be superseded. Instead, use either:

• more precise and absolute expressions (since the start of 2005; during the 4710s; is expected to be superseded by 2008); or
• an as of phrase (as of August 2007), which signals the time-dependence of the statement and alerts later editors to update the statement.; or
• simply use at instead: The population was over 21,000,000 (at December 2008).

Dates

PathfinderWiki does not use ordinal suffixes or articles. This applies to both publication and in-world points of view. For real-world dates, do not put a comma between the month and year.

Incorrect:	February 14th, the 14th of February
Correct:	February 14
Incorrect:	October, 1976; October of 1976
Correct:	October 1976
Incorrect:	14th Kuthona, the 14th of Kuthona
Correct:	14 Kuthona
Incorrect:	Kuthona 4715; Kuthona of 4715
Correct:	Kuthona, 4715

• Rarely, a night can be expressed in terms of the two contiguous dates using a slash (the night of December 13/14, 2005).

Real-world dates

Because Pathfinder is published by Paizo, which is based in the United States, PathfinderWiki maintains United States standards for date format. Thus, month should always precede real-world dates.

• Dates are not normally linked.
• Date ranges are preferably given with minimal repetition, using an unspaced en dash where the range involves numerals alone (January 5–7, 2002) or a spaced en dash where opening and/or closing dates have internal spaces (January 5 – February 18, 1979).
• Yearless dates (March 5) are inappropriate unless the year is obvious from the context, such as a repeating event.
• ISO 8601 dates (like 1976-05-13) are uncommon in English prose and are generally not used in PathfinderWiki. However, they may be useful in long lists and tables for conciseness and ease of comparison.

In-world dates

Absalom Reckoning and Imperial Calendar dates follow a different format than real-world dates: the day of the week followed by a comma, then the numeric date and month, a comma, and the year suffixed with AR or IC, respectively. For example:

Correct:	Moonday, Oathday, 3 Gozran, 4725 AR
Correct:	Oathday, 3 Gozran, 4725 AR
Correct:	Kuthona, 4715 AR

Longer periods

Write months as whole words (February, not 2). Use abbreviations such as Feb only where space is extremely limited, such as in tables and infoboxes. Do not insert of between a month and a year (April 2000, not April of 2000).

Because seasons differ on location and context, prefer neutral wording (in early 1990, in the second quarter of 2003, around September) over "seasonal" references (Summer 1918, Spring 1995). Even when the season reference is unambiguous in context, a date or month may be preferable to a season name unless there is a logical connection (the autumn harvest).

Season names are preferable, however, when they refer to a time of the year rather than as a substitute for a date or range of dates (migration to higher latitudes typically starts in mid spring). Lowercase season names in this context.

Years

Years are normally expressed in digits; a comma is not used in four-digit years (1988, not 1,988). Avoid inserting the words the year before the digits (1995, not the year 1995), unless the meaning would otherwise be unclear.

In-world years are always counted using Absalom Reckoning. Each year's article name will include AR in its title and should be wikilinked in this fashion. Include a visible AR in the wikilink of the first date per article. All subsequent articles can be piped such that only the year appears 4707 AR|4707

Absalom Reckoning should remain the only system in use unless an article's context makes it clear that a year is provided by a different reckoning, such as the Imperial Calendar.

Year ranges, like all ranges, are separated by an en dash: do not use a hyphen or slash (2005–08, not 2005-08 or 2005/08). A closing positive AR year (greater than 1 AR) is normally written with two digits (1881–86) unless it is in a different century from that of the opening year (1881–1986). The full closing year is acceptable, but abbreviating it to a single digit (1881–6) or three digits (1881–886) is not.

A closing negative AR year (a year before 1 AR) is given in full (-2590–2550 AR). While one era signifier at the end of a date range still requires an unspaced en dash (12–5 AR), a spaced en dash is required when a signifier is used after the opening and closing years (-5 AR – 29 AR).

To indicate around, approximately, or about, the abbreviations c. and ca. are preferred over circa, approximately or approx., and are spaced (c. 1291 AR) and italicized. If you are calculating an in-world date based on its source's publication date, note so in the reference (see the canon policy).

Use a question mark instead (1291?) only if the date is in fact questioned rather than approximate. (The question mark may mistakenly be understood as a sign that editors have simply not checked the date.

Decades contain no apostrophe (the 1980s, not the 1980's); the two-digit form is used only where the century is clear (the '80s or the 80s).

Centuries and millennia are written using ordinal numbers, without superscripts or Roman numerals: the second millennium, the 19th century, a 46th-century book (see also Numbers as figures or words below).

Classes

Some of Paizo's class names also have more straightforward uses. To avoid ambiguity, editors should try to use specific, unambiguous terms instead of class names when the terms potentially collide. Therefore, avoid generic use of a class name, such as the term "arcanist".

When a collision is unavoidable, editors should provide sufficient context to disambiguate the term's use. This might result in unnecessary content or less elegant writing (hypothetically, John is a hunter could be written as John hunts animals) but this avoids the ambiguous meaning and provides clarity.

Link to specific pages that disambiguate the subject when sufficient context cannot be added, such as in lists or tables. This might result in pages or redirects for otherwise unremarkable topics, like Hunter (profession), but it also uses tools native to the wiki to relieve some of the confusion by directing readers to a specific meaning.

Within the category structure, distinguish between the class and the more straightforward use. For instance, choose the appropriate category from Category:Hunters, Category:Hunters (profession), or use both if the person belongs to both categories. Add a category where one does not yet exist to provide this distinction between a class member and a generic practitioner.

Numbers

Numbers as figures or words

As a general rule, in the body of an article, single-digit whole numbers from zero to nine are spelled out in words; numbers greater than nine are commonly rendered in numerals, or may be rendered in words if they are expressed in one or two words (16 or sixteen, 84 or eighty‑four, 200 or two hundred, but 3.75, 544, 21 million). This applies to ordinal numbers as well as cardinal numbers. However there are frequent exceptions to these rules.

• Numerals are used in tables and infoboxes, and in places where space is limited. Numbers within a table's explanatory text and comments should be consistent with the general rule.
• Comparable quantities should be all spelled out or all figures: we may write either 5 cats and 32 dogs or five cats and thirty‑two dogs, not five cats and 32 dogs.
• Adjacent quantities that are not comparable should usually be in different formats: thirty‑six 6.4‑inch rifled guns is more readable than 36 6.4‑inch rifled guns.
• Numbers that begin a sentence are spelled out, although it is often better to recast the sentence if simply changing format would produce other problems.
• The numerical elements of dates and times are not normally spelled out, except where customary in historical references such as First of Rova Massacre.
• Centuries are named in figures: (the 5th century AR; 19th‑century warship); when the adjective is hyphenated, consider nineteenth‑century warship, but not when contrasted with warships of the 20th century.
• Simple fractions are normally spelled out; use the fraction form if they occur in a percentage or with an abbreviated unit (⅛ mm or an eighth of a millimeter) or if they are mixed with whole numbers. Decimal fractions are not spelled out.
• The use of words rather than figures may be preferred when expressing approximate numbers.
• Proper names, idioms, and formal numerical designations comply with common usage (Chanel No. 5, 4 Main Street, 1‑Naphthylamine, Channel 6). This is the case even where it causes a numeral to open a sentence, although this is usually avoided by rewording.
• Most proper names containing numbers spell them out (e.g. Fourth Amendment, Seventeenth Judicial District, Seven Years' War); the proper names of military units do not.

Large numbers

• Commas are used to break the sequence every three places: 2,900,000.
• Large rounded numbers are generally assumed to be approximations; only where the approximation could be misleading is it necessary to qualify with about or a similar term.
• Where values in the millions occur a number of times through an article, upper-case M may be used for million, unspaced, after using the full word at the first occurrence.

Decimal points

• A decimal point is used between the integral and the fractional parts of a decimal; a comma is never used in this role (6.57, not 6,57).
• Numbers between minus one and plus one require a leading zero (0.02, not .02).

Percentages

• Percent is commonly used to indicate percentages in the body of an article. The symbol % may be more common in complex listings.
• The symbol is unspaced (71%, not 71 %).
• In tables and infoboxes, the symbol is used, not the word percent.
• Ranges are preferably formatted with one rather than two percentage signifiers (22–28%, not 22%–28%).

Units of measurement

The use of units of measurement is based on the following principles:

• Avoid ambiguity: Aim to write so you cannot be misunderstood.
• Familiarity: The less one has to look up definitions, the easier it is to be understood.
• Consistency: PathfinderWiki is not country-specific. However, it documents a campaign setting and its underlying game mechanics that consistently use specific units of measurement.

Which units to use

In general, prefer units provided in the source material. For this reason, unlike Wikipedia and other international wikis, imperial units such as feet, miles, and pounds are preferred over other units. Do not provide conversions between units in Pathfinder source material and other real-world units, as these conversions can introduce ambiguity in fractional units and can suggest a correlation to real-world distances that might not be relevant in mechanical usage in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

Currencies

Real world

Since Paizo Inc. and most other companies producing official support for the Pathfinder campaign setting are located in the United States, the American dollar $ should be the standard currency used on PathfinderWiki. If it is necessary to break from this convention for any reason, provide only published (non-converted) amounts in other currencies.

Include two decimal places in all currency listings $5.00 not $5.

In world

When in-world POV references to monetary values are required, the following rules should be used:

• When general units of currency are used, the unit, in singular, should follow space after the value, and should not contain periods.

Incorrect:	15 cps
Incorrect:	25sp
Incorrect:	35 g.p.
Correct:	45 pp

• When known, a specific currency name should be used (15 Korvosan Gold Sails instead of 15 gp). If the nationality of a currency is clear in the context it is used, the national adjective may be omitted (In Korvosa, a decent blade can be purchased for 15 Gold Sails).

Simple tabulation

Lines that start with blank spaces in the editing window are displayed boxed and in a fixed-width font, for simple tabulation. Lines that contain only a blank space insert a blank line into the table. For a complete guide to constructing tables, see Wikipedia:Meta:Help:Table.

Grammar

Possessives

For thorough treatment of the English possessive see Apostrophe. See also Apostrophes, above.

• It's is the short form of it is or it has (as in it's a nice day, it's been a nice day); the possessive its (as in the dog chased its tail) has no apostrophe, nor do hers, ours, yours, theirs, and whose.
• The possessive of a singular noun is formed by adding 's (as in my daughter's achievement, the boss's wife, Glass's books, Illinois's legislature). For a singular noun ending in one s, there are two widely accepted forms:

• Add 's: James's house, Euripides's plays, Moses's early life, Brahms's music. This style is more common for modern names and common nouns.
• Add just an apostrophe: James' house, Euripides' plays, Moses' early life, Brahms' music. This style is more common for biblical and classical names (Socrates' wife; Moses' ascent of Sinai; Jesus' last words).

Either of those forms may be acceptable in PathfinderWiki articles, as long as consistency is maintained within a given article. It should be noted, however, that Paizo adheres to the former of these rules in their in-house manual of style.

• The possessive of a plural noun ending in s is formed by adding just the apostrophe (my daughters' husbands). The possessive of a plural noun not ending in s is formed by adding 's (women's careers, children's toys).
• Official names (of companies, organizations, or places) should be made to conform to a specific style. For instance St Thomas's Hospital, being the official designation, should not be rendered as St Thomas' Hospital.

First-person pronouns

PathfinderWiki articles must not be based on one person's opinions or experiences; thus, the pronoun I is never used, except when it appears in a quotation. For similar reasons, avoid the pronoun we; a sentence such as We should note that some critics have argued in favor of the proposal sounds more personal than encyclopedic.

Second-person pronouns

Use of the second person (you), which is often ambiguous and contrary to the tone of an encyclopedia, is discouraged. Instead, refer to the subject of the sentence or use the passive voice—for example:

Use:	When a player moves past "Go", that player collects $200.
Use:	Players passing "Go" collect $200.
Use:	$200 is collected when passing "Go".
Do not use:	When you move past "Go", you collect $200.

This guideline does not apply to quoted text, which should be quoted exactly.

Contested vocabulary

Words and phrases like thusly, overly, whilst, amongst, as per, refute in the sense of dispute, along with several others, should be avoided because they are not widely accepted—at least in some of their applications. Some are regional, so unsuitable in an international encyclopedia (see National varieties of English below). Some give an impression of "straining for formality", and therefore of an insecure grasp of English. See List of English words with disputed usage, Words to avoid, and List of commonly misused English words; see also Identity and Gender-neutral language below.

Contractions

In general, the use of contractions—such as don't, can't, won't, they'd, should've, it's—is informal and should be avoided; however, contractions should be left unchanged when they occur in a quotation.

Instructional and presumptuous language

Avoid such phrases as remember that and note that, which address readers directly in an unencyclopedic tone. Similarly, phrases such as of course, naturally, obviously, clearly and actually make presumptions about readers' knowledge, and call into question the reason for including the related information in the first place. See Wikipedia:Words to avoid.

Subset terms

A subset term identifies a set of members of a larger class. Common subset terms are including, among, and et cetera (etc.). Do not use two subset terms ("Among the most well-known members of the fraternity include ...", "The elements in stars include hydrogen, helium and iron, etc."). Do not use including to introduce a complete list, where comprising, consisting of, or composed of would be correct.

Plurals

Use the appropriate plural; allow for cases like oblast, or octopus, when a foreign word has been assimilated into English and normally takes an s or es plural, not its original plural. A number of words, like army, company, crowd, fleet, government, majority, mess, number, pack, and party may refer either to a single entity or the members of the set that compose it. In British English, they are normally treated as singular or plural according to context; names of towns and countries take plural verbs when they refer to sports teams but singular verbs when they refer to the actual place (or to the club as a business enterprise): England are playing Germany tonight refers to a football team, but England is the most populous country of the United Kingdom refers to the country.

In North American English, these words (and the United States, for historical reasons) are invariably treated as singular.

Foreign terms

See also: Wikipedia:Interlanguage links

Foreign words should be used sparingly.

No common usage in English

Use italics for phrases in other languages and for isolated foreign words that are not current in English.

Common usage in English

Loanwords and borrowed phrases that have common usage in English—Gestapo, samurai, vice versa, esprit de corps—do not require italics. A rule of thumb is not to italicize words that appear unitalicized in major English-language dictionaries.

Spelling and transliteration

Gender-neutral language

Use gender-neutral language where this can be done with clarity and precision. This does not apply to direct quotations or the titles of works (The Ascent of Man), or where all referents are of one gender, such as in an all-female school (if any student broke that rule, she was severely punished).

Images

Further information: Wikipedia:Picture tutorial, Wikipedia:Accessibility, Wikipedia:Image use policy, and Wikipedia:Layout

• Start an article with a right-aligned lead image or infobox.
• Images should be inside the section they belong to (after the heading and after any links to other articles), and not above the heading.
• Avoid sandwiching text between two images, infoboxes, or other floating elements such as maps (see Interactive maps).
• Use captions to explain the relevance of the image to the article (see Captions).
• See this tutorial for how to group images and avoid "stack-ups". If an article is not long enough to accommodate images without excessively stacking images with other images, navboxes, maps, or other floating elements, consider instead linking to the image or a category containing additional images about the subject.
• Avoid placing left-aligned images, which can severely disrupt the flow of text in narrow viewports and on mobile devices. Unlike Wikipedia guidelines, you do not need to left-align images such that their subjects face into the text, and the Community Use Policy, which we are required to follow to use images from Paizo offered under that policy, prohibits modifying images to flip them. Prioritize the flow of article content over aesthetic concerns of image facing.
• Most pictures should be between 100 and 400 pixels wide. Use the thumbnail option ("thumb"), which is available in the image markup. This results in a default width of 250 pixels, or 190 pixels if the "upright" option is used for images that are square or taller than they are wide. Logged-in users can set a different default in their user preferences. As a rule, thumbnail images should not be set to a specific pixel size (that is, one that overrides the default).

Where it is appropriate to specify a size, images should generally be no more than 300 pixels wide so that they can be comfortably displayed on a variety of displays and viewports, including mobile devices, and width should be defined as a factor of the "upright" option, such as "upright=0.7" for a narrower image or "upright=1.2" for a wider image. This allows images to retain their relative scale while still respecting user preferences.

Examples where size-forcing may be appropriate include:

• Images with aspect ratios that are extreme or that otherwise distort or obscure the image
• Detailed non-interactive maps, diagrams, or charts

For images containing a lot of detail important to the article, or images in which a small region is relevant but cropping is either prohibited or infeasible, consider calling out in the caption that the reader can click the thumbnail to view a higher- or full-resolution version of the image for further examination.

• Images with extremely wide aspect ratios may be used as banner images. Instead of the "thumb" parameter, use the "center" parameter and immediately follow the image with a rule, designated by four dashes (----) on their own line. Only one such banner image should be used in an article, only at the top of the article, and only when their aspect ratio is at least 2.5:1 in width and preferably 3:1 or greater. See Dis for an example.
• The use of galleries should be in keeping with PathfinderWiki's image use policy.
• Editors are encouraged to add alt text to all images for which it seems reasonable. Alternative text describes the image for readers who cannot see the image, such as visually impaired readers or those using web-browsers that do not download images.
  • Instructions on adding alt text to images can be found on Wikipedia.
  • Alt text is not the same as captions. Alt text describes the image for those who cannot see it, whereas captions are intended to explain or supplement an image that is visible. Therefore, alt text should not be redundant with the caption or the main text of the article. The guideline on this subject notes that purely decorative images need not have alt text; editors should ask themselves how much sighted readers would lose if the picture were blanked, and how far that is describable in words. By default, no alt text is defined in images, provided that the thumb or frame parameter is included.

Avoid entering textual information as images

Textual information should be entered as text rather than as an image. Text in images is not searchable, and can be slow to download; the image is unlikely to be read as text by devices for the visually impaired. Text may be colored and decorated with CSS tags and templates. Even if the problems can be worked around, as by including a caption or internal information, editors should still consider whether fancy text really adds anything useful.

Interactive maps

An example map of Absalom.

Further information: Map

The PathfinderWiki mapping project provides an interactive map of Golarion that can be embedded in related PathfinderWiki articles. You can use the {{DisplayMap}} template with the "align=right" and "caption" options to render an excerpt of the map using a similar markup and presentation as thumbnail images. Some infoboxes, such as {{City}} and {{Nation}}, also have built-in faculties to display a mapping project excerpt.

Add a map to an article about a subject only when understanding the geographic context of a location is required; do not add maps for every location mentioned in an article. Avoid adding maps to the body of an article without the "align=right" value as they disrupt the flow of text and are interactive elements that can also intercept reader attempts to navigate an article.

Use the location's coordinates, viewable by right-clicking a map and selecting "Copy Lat/Long" or positioning the location at the center of the view on the interactive map, as the map's "latlong" value. If the subject is a region rather than a point, use the coordinates of the region's center. Set the "zoom" option's value to display the location with enough context to help a reader understand the location's relative position; you can preview the page, adjust the value, and preview the page again to tune the map's extents.

You can adjust a map thumbnail's height with the DisplayMap "height" parameter, but not its width. Certain features such as rivers running east to west benefit from the improved focus of specifying a narrower height, while other features like rivers running north to south benefit from a taller height that exposes more detail. For an example, see Sellen River.

Some articles describe a route or distance between two points. You can tune the map extents to show both or all relevant locations in order to help readers understand the scale of that distance. For an example, see Primogen Crown.

For details on usage of {{DisplayMap}}, see its documentation. The example at the top of this section uses this markup:

{{DisplayMap |latlong=30.8886260,-0.2343082 |zoom=10 |align=right |caption=An example map of [[Absalom]].}}

Captions

Further information: Wikipedia:Captions

Usage

Photographs and other graphics should always have captions, unless they are "self-captioning" (such as reproductions of book covers) or when they are unambiguous depictions of the subject of the article. For example, in a biography article, a caption is not mandatory for a portrait of the subject pictured alone, but might contain the name of the subject and additional information relevant to the image, such as the year or the subject's age. Images included in infobox templates should never include captions.

Maps should have captions if the location's labels are not visible or included on the map itself.

Formatting

• Captions normally start with a capital letter.
• Most captions are not complete sentences, but merely sentence fragments that should not end with a period. If a complete sentence occurs in a caption, that sentence and any sentence fragments in that caption should end with a period.
• Captions should not be italicized, except for words that are conventionally italicized.
• Captions should be succinct; more information about the image can be included on its description page, or in the main text.

Bulleted and numbered lists

See also: Help:Creating and using lists

Do not use lists if a passage reads easily using plain paragraphs. In canon content articles, consider creating a navbox template that can also be used for navigation instead of a long list that contains only links without context.

• Do not leave blank lines between items in a bulleted or numbered list unless there is a reason to do so, since this causes the Wiki software to interpret each list item as an individual list.
• Use numbers rather than bullets only if:
  • there is a need to refer to the elements by number;
  • the sequence of the items is critical; or
  • the numbering has value of its own, for example in a chapter listing.
• Use the same grammatical form for all elements in a list where possible, and do not mix the use of sentences and sentence fragments as elements.
  • When the elements are complete sentences, they are formatted using sentence case and a final period.
  • When the elements are sentence fragments, they are typically introduced by a lead fragment ending with a colon. When these elements are titles of works, they retain the original capitalization of the title. Other elements are formatted consistently in either sentence or lower case. Final punctuation for these elements can be omitted entirely, or should otherwise be a period for the terminating element with each of its preceding elements having a final semicolon.
• Alphabetize unordered bulleted lists unless a more logical organization is possible.

Categories

Categories are used on the PathfinderWiki to collate similar information: they act as a classification of entries and a simple way of locating information. Every article should be in one or more categories, and there is no limit to the number of categories that a single article can be in. There is significant help about adding categories and setting up category pages in the help pages, which should also be used to solve most questions about style associated with categories: Help:Categories & Help:Creating category pages. The box to the right of these help pages has links to further help pages providing guidance for adding categories to various types of common articles.

One point of style should be noted here: Within the Category:Races category tree, all races and ethnicities are used in their singular form. For instance, we use Category:Red dragon and Category:Red dragon/Inhabitants, rather than Category:Red dragons and Category:Red dragons/Inhabitants.

Links

Wikilinks

Make links only where they are relevant to the context: It is not useful and can be very distracting to mark all possible words as hyperlinks. Links should add to the user's experience; they should not detract from it by making the article harder to read. A high density of links can draw attention away from the high-value links that you would like your readers to follow up.

Eliminate redundancies: Redundant links clutter the page and make future maintenance harder. Link only once to any secondary article within the body of an article. Links within templates (such as infoboxes or navigation bars) and in Main article and See also redirects are the only links which should be duplicated within a single article.

Clarify ambiguous terms: Links should be used to clarify ambiguous terms, for instance, a class name like "arcanist" as opposed to its use as a generic term. See the Classes section above for more information.

Check links: After linking, ensure that the destination is the intended one; many words lead to disambiguation pages and not to complete articles on a concept, or to real-world articles that share the same name as an in-world object or person. An anchor into a targeted page—the label after a pound/hash sign (#) in a URL—will get readers to the relevant area within that page.

Initial capitalization: PathfinderWiki's MediaWiki software does not require that wikilinks begin with an upper-case character. Only capitalize the first letter where this is naturally called for, or when specifically referring to the linked article by its name: Vermin are often venomous, but magical beasts only rarely (see Poison).

External links

Articles can include an external links section at the end to list links to websites outside PathfinderWiki that contain further information, as opposed to citing sources. The standard format is a primary heading named == External links == followed by a bulleted list of links. External links should identify the link and briefly indicate its relevance to the article subject. For example:

* {{W|Isis}} (real-world deity) on Wikipedia

* [https://paizo.com/store/byCompany/w/worldworksGames WorldWorks Games Store at Paizo.com]

These will appear as:

* Isis (real-world deity) on Wikipedia

* WorldWorks Games Store at Paizo.com

Avoid listing an excessive number of external links; PathfinderWiki is not a link repository.

Miscellaneous

Keep markup simple

Use the simplest markup to display information in a useful and comprehensible way. Markup may appear differently in different browsers. Use HTML and CSS markup sparingly and only with good reason. Minimizing markup in entries allows easier editing.

In particular, do not use the CSS float or line-height properties because they break rendering on some browsers when large fonts are used.

Formatting issues

Formatting issues such as font size, blank space and color are issues for the wiki's site-wide style sheet and should not be specified in articles except in special cases. If you absolutely must specify a font size, use a relative size like font-size: 80%, not an absolute size like font-size: 8pt. It is also almost never a good idea to use other style changes, such as font family or color.

Typically, the use of custom font styles will:

• reduce consistency—the text will no longer look uniform;
• reduce usability—it will likely be impossible for people with custom stylesheets (for accessibility reasons, for example) to override it, and it might clash with a different skin as well as bother people with color blindness; and
• increase arguments—other wiki users may disagree aesthetically with the choice of style.

Meaningful formatting

Provide a legend when using meaningful formatting, such as when italicized or bolded text reflects something specific. For example, several articles related to Earth use italicized text to reflect known facts about Earth that are not in any canon source but are relevant context to canon statements about Earth.

Reference footnotes and superscript symbols, such as daggers (†), can be more appropriate for grouping or contextualizing full statements or list items. Unlike meaningful formatting, footnotes and symbols can also be linked to a note or legend that describes their meaning.

Avoid adding legends for meaningful formatting in headlines, table headings, infoboxes, navbox titles or group headings, which can result in poor formatting on variously sized devices even if they do not cause problems for you.

Color coding

Using color alone to convey information (color coding) should not be done. It is certainly desirable to use color as an aid for those who can see it, but the information should still be accessible without it.

Scrolling lists

Scrolling lists and boxes that toggle text display between hide and show are acceptable in infoboxes and navigation boxes, but should never be used in the article prose or references, because of issues with readability, accessibility, and printing.

Invisible comments

Editors use invisible comments to communicate with each other in the body of the text of an article. These comments are visible only in the wiki source (that is, in edit mode), not in read mode.

Invisible comments are useful for flagging an issue or leaving instructions about part of the text, where this is more convenient than raising the matter on the talk page. They should be used judiciously, because they can clutter the wiki source for other editors. Check that your invisible comment does not change the formatting, such as introducing unwanted white space in read mode.

To leave an invisible comment, enclose the text you intend to be read only by editors within <!-- and -->. For example: <!--If you change this section title, please also change the links to it on the pages ...-->

Pronunciation

Pronunciation in PathfinderWiki is indicated using English pronunciation respelling. In general, if an official pronunciation has not been published or a source can not be provided for a pronunciation, do not include it in the article. You can find a pronunciation respelling key on Wikipedia.