Help:Guidelines

This page documents a YC Wiki Guideline. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should follow, though it should be treated with common sense and the occasional exception.

When writing the content of an article, there are a few guidelines that should be adhered to keep the article both organized and intuitive.

Naming your pages

• Do no capitalise every word in the title of your article. Instead of "Mezzo-Soprano", use "Mezzo-soprano".
• Do not use punctuation, such as "Mezzo-soprano." (with a period) or "Bach's many children!"
• Do not use unnecessary articles (the words "the", "a", "an", etc.). Instead of "The Oboe", use only "Oboe".

If you are creating a new category, the same rules apply. Capitalise the word "Category" and the title of the category. Instead of "Category:Classical Composers", use "Category:Classical composers". A title such as "Composers of the Classical Era" would be appropriate for an article, not a category.

Content

Any content written for the Wiki should be written in a formal and, if applicable, third-person style. This is to ensure that the quality of the articles remain high and to maintain the professional image of the site. Essentially, this means using conventional grammar and full English (no “1337’ speak”) and never using the pronouns “I”, “you” or any other words that refer to oneself or the reader.

• Bold the subject of the article near the beginning of the first paragraph and provide a clear and concise definition.
• Do not capitalise words to emphasise them. This is UNNECESSARY and distracts the reader. Instead use bold or italic.
• Use bullets or numbered lists instead of many line breaks.
• Use minimal HTML code if any.
• Double space bar after a full stop (period, end of sentence) is unnecessary on the internet. Don't do it.

Sections

Articles should be broken up into logical sections and sub-sections to make them easier to read and search. To define a new section, place two “=” signs on either side of the desired section title. This is similar to using the <h1> tag in HTML. To define a new sub-section, place three “=” signs on either side of the desired table. This is similar to the <h2> tag. Use sentence capitalisation in section headers; do not capitalise every word.

Example:

==Section==
This would be a new section.
Notice that the == part fits snugly around the header, as opposed to == Section ==

===Sub-section===
This would create a new sub-section.
Notice that the whole section heading isn't capitalised.

====Sub-sub-section====
This would create a new sub-section below the first sub-section

----
Four hyphens (or dashes) creates a horizontal rule, similar to HTML <hr> tag.
Never use a horizontal rule and section header at the same time; it looks very messy.

Also do not use undue spaces or line breaks between section headers and content.

• Good:

==Section==
This is section text. Paragraph.

Paragraph.

Paragraphy.

==Next section==
Text.

• Bad:

== Section ==

Section text.

Paragraph.

More paragraph.

----

== Next Section==

Text all the way down here.

Paragraph.

----

Links

External links

External links are permitted in articles but in moderation: they must be relevant and informative to the topic of your article and can, under no circumstances, be used for self-promotion. If a link is considered spam by the staff, if will be removed. The sites must also be of a high quality - that is, be well constructed and contain no inappropriate or illegal material.

• To place an external link in an article, follow this template, taking note of the space after the URL:

[http://www.your-URL-here.com Text that appears as a link here.]

Internal links

Internal links are permitted and encouraged as long as the links are relevant to the article’s content. An internal link is defined as a hyperlink that points to a resource stored in the Young Composers’ subdomain (i.e. wiki.youngcomposers.com). Reasons to use an internal link include pointing to related articles or providing links to articles on certain keywords used in your article. Internal links can also be used to cite sources if other Young Composers’ articles were used to aid in writing your own.

• To include an internal link, enter it as either of the following:

[[Exact page name]]
[[Exact page name#exact section name]]
[[Exact page name|text you want to appear as link]]
[[Exact page name#exact section name|text you want to appear as link]]

Spam regulations

Young Composers defines spam an article that is:

1. of little or no value to the subject of music composition;
2. very short and/or content-less (unless more can be later added);
3. made with the sole agenda of advertising a product, service, etc.

Any article meeting any of these conditions will be deleted without discussion or notification.

Consequences

These guidelines are expected to be followed during the composition of an article. If these guidelines are not met, the article will be subject to editing or deletion. Minor edits such as spelling and grammar errors will be corrected without notification but major violations may call for the author to be notified, and the author will have a set period of time to edit the article so that it is acceptable. Should the required changes not be made within the set amount of time, the article will be deleted. This may also apply to personal YC Profiles.

On the writing of YC Profiles

If you are writing a personal profile, go here for specific guidelines.