Help:Manual of Style

This is a guide to the policies and guidlines of editing articles. It is intended to help editors create articles that are properly formatted, clear, etc. and match the rest of this wiki.

General Standards
Please use English when writing on this wiki (unless specifically referring to something that is said in a different language, like a quote). This means that editors will need to spell things the English way (known as English (UK) in North America), if you're not 100% sure how to spell a word, just leave it and another user will fix it if they are correcting grammar mistakes. This is mainly done to avoid local dialects by having the original English spelling used. Also, because not everyone knows how Canadian, Australian and American English spellings work, but the British style is generally easy to figure out. Slang is generally unwanted as it can vary from region to region.

Fore example: words like organise, analyse, etc. are spelled with an 's' in English, while in North America they are commonly spelled with a 'z'. Defence and offence are also examples, as they are spelt with a 'c' rather than an 's' (which is only used in America).

Please use navigational templates, categories, etc. approprietly to make navigating this wiki easier.

When making articles, only put a heading if there are going to be two or more sections, plus the introduction at the top.

Tense and Prospective
When editing, refer to the events taking place from a third person prospective, and use the correct tense. When you are generally refering to something, use present or past tense like so:

The DMR is a rifle used by one of the main characters. The DMR came into service during the Insurectionist War.

When refering to events that took place, use past tense:

In 2524, the Covenant found the human colony of Harvest.

When writing out a transcript use present tense like so:

The fireteam slowly approaches the cliffside. The corporal spots a Covenant camp set up in the valley.

Corporal: "Frag out!"

The frag hits a wraith and detonates, not even leaving a scratch.

Transcripts
When writing a transcript, write out the diaglogue, and briefly describe the actions. For example, if two characters have a conversation then get attack by another, it shouldn't be written out like a novel, but rather have the dialogue written like out a script, with the actions being briefly described.

Speculation and Trivia
It is okay to put speculation and trivia, just try not to mix the speculation with facts, or get too specutalive. When writing trivia, make sure it is relevant, no something like this:

(example: A character is said to have been born in Britain)

Trivia: And speculation should be relevant also, and be backed up by something. For example, say a character mentions jumping feet first into hell, then it is okay to assume that they may have been an ODST, although if something is put like this: The character may have been an ODST. But the character only mentions having been in the UNSC, then it is over-speculation.
 * Britain is a country
 * Essex is west of London

Discussion
If you are not sure whether or not you should put something into an article, talk about it on the discussion page, for example: A character breifly mentions having a son, but nothing further is mentioned, and you're not sure if you should write that they may have a family in the article, ask about it on the discussion page.