Toontown Wiki:Manual of Style

Toontown Wiki:Style of Editing shows how this wiki operates its editing system as well as some of the basic grammar and spelling that people should note when editing.

Style of Editing

 * When you need to use a quote, please use the  template.
 * Please try not to add your signature ( or ~ ) or the timestamp  into the articles.
 * If an article needs to be extended, please add or  (for biographies) at the very top of the article.
 * If a section of an article does not have enough information, please add the Stub template on that section.
 * Try not to add emotion to an article nor emoticons (Oh! The Mingler is so tough! :-) :-( :-D :D)
 * Emoticons can only be used in Talk Pages, Blogs, User Talks, and Chat (if enabled).
 * Please do not use the first-person point of view words on an article unless quoted (I, we, us and/or me)
 * If you found information on a website, please add a reference at the bottom of the page. We will not be accused of stealing information nor images. However, under no circumstances will you use Disney Online Worlds or non-affiliated Toontown wikis. They may not have reliable sources!
 * When linking, please do not include unnecessary words or punctuations.
 * Example: Cogs. (which will be Cogs. [notice the period is also in the link; hover over the highlighted word]) is a "no-no" as well as Toons and... (which will be Toons and...). Any words or letters that are next to the brackets "]" will be part of the link.
 * Please leave a caption on images
 * Please spell words out. Do not use "chat talk" (lol, rotfl, etc...) or abbreviations (such as MH for Mr. Hollywood).
 * The only exception to this is if it is a building name, Toon name, NPC, SOS or TNT.
 * When using steps (1. 2. 3. etc.), please use #'s.
 * Example:
 * 1) Step 1
 * 2) Step 2
 * 3) Step 3
 * Please also note that if each step is separated by a space, the order will be broken instead of the usual 1, 2, 3:
 * 1) Step 1


 * 1) Step 1


 * 1) Step 1
 * When bulleting, please make sure that the bullet points (*) are all together and not separated by a space:
 * Bullet 1
 * Bullet 2
 * Bullet 3
 * This...


 * is a...


 * no-no.
 * Try to get used to editing in Source Mode instead of Rich Text Editor. To disable Rich Text Editor, go to Special:Preferences under [Editing].

Language
The wiki uses American English as it is the language and dialect used in the game's main server and by its developers and the majority of the game's players. Other forms of English may be used in Blog Posts and Userpages. Adding non-American English to articles is not an offense, but it may be changed for consistency.

Formal vs. Informal
Although this is a wiki about Toontown, a place of fun and silliness, an encyclopedia should be written using formal language. Slang and non-offiical abbreviations should be avoided in articles. However, in user talk pages and blog posts, informal language may be used.

Point of View
Articles should be written from the third-person point of view. When reading an article, it should sound like a narrator is reading facts about the subject. The first or second person should never be used in articles. Please do not use words such as "I", "my", "I've", "you", "your", "you've".

Contractions
Contactions are a form of informal writing, however, they are permitted to be used in articles. When in doubt on how to spell a contraction, use a dictionary or split it into two words. If it looks like there are too many of them in one sentence, split some of them to make it sound better.

Automatic Editing
Automatic or Semi-automatic wiki tasks that affect more than 10 pages in a row, MUST be done using a bot account. Please contact a user with a bot to complete tasks like this. If this rule is not kept, it will flood the wiki activity with edits that might prevent administrators from finding vandalism.

If you are willing to use your own bot, please make sure your bot is flagged (Contact Wikia to have it flagged). A flagged bot is marked as Bot on the Users List.
 * This is also for your own safety. A bot will sometimes make a mistake on editing, in which if the bot continues to make bad edits, the bot will need to be blocked and fixed later on.
 * Never use bots when trying to earn edits or badges. This will be considered cheap editing. When you apply for administrative or rollback rights, the admins will check your contributions. If a series of edits have been made in one or more minutes, these will not count as edits (which the bot-edits will be counted by an admin and will be ignored as real edits).
 * If you flag the account you mainly use, your account will be removed from the achievements leaderboard. Bots do not earn badges and any earned badges will stay but will not be counted.
 * Bots are identified with their usernames colored gray.
 * If you wish to remove a bot flag, please use Special:Contact stating to Wikia to remove the flag.

'''If your bot is not flagged, please wait for the bot to be flagged. No exceptions.'''

Also, please make sure you use a separate account when auto-editing.


 * For a list of bots, see this list. (Note: This only list bots that have 5 or more edits)

Creating New Pages
New pages should use proper capitalization and should not contain image placeholders.

Please make sure that the title is properly named. If an article title is misspelled or just needs a new name, use the [Rename] option under the Edit menu.

Redirecting
A redirect will leave a page behind. When the redirect's name is typed (for instance Cog), the redirect will instead lead you to another page (instead of Cog, it will go to Cogs).

When an article is misspelled, please uncheck the Leave redirect behind. This will not produce a redirect.

To create a redirect page, type in.

Disambiguation Pages
When two or more articles are associated with the same name but have different topics, a disambiguation page needs to be created. Rename the articles with  and uncheck the Leave a redirect behind. Afterwards, create an article for the articles and input  on the very top of the disambiguation.

Example:
 * 1) Rename Anvil to Anvil (Gag)
 * 2) If the racing Anvil, either named Anvil (Racing), already has, do not rename it.
 * 3) Create an article called Anvil and put the disambiguation template.
 * 4) *Remember to link the newly renamed articles on the disambiguation page!

When the articles are renamed and have a disambiguation page, all articles that link to Anvil will now lead to the disambiguation page. Also, please make sure that whenever you come across an article with the old link to one of the articles, please change the link to the correct topic. Otherwise, this will lead to the disambiguation page.

With the many possibilities for building and Toon names, if a Toon has slightly similar names to one of the articles, such as Anne Ville ↔ Anvil (Gag) or Bo Nanapeel ↔ Banana Peel (Gag), the articles do not need to be renamed (unless, for example, Anne Ville is also a building name and a Toon name). These articles can be linked to the disambiguation page also.

A disambiguation treats articles like an advanced search. Although, you can just see the dropdown menu for all things with the same name, sometimes users will make mistakes on searches or the dropdown isn't working properly. With disambiguation pages, you can go further down to other articles with the same name, but different topics. Disambiguation pages are only supposed to hold the most similar name. In most cases, if there are more than 3 articles with the same name, it's best to just use  rather than. The link to the disambiguation page would lead to the disambiguation page rather than to different articles. This would specify the user to go to the appropriate page.

An off-topic wiki example:
 * Sonic The Hedgehog
 * Sonic The Hedgehog (character)
 * Sonic The Hedgehog (game)
 * Sonic The Hedgehog (2006 game)

If one was not too specific about their search, and instead searched for (see example) Sonic The Hedgehog, they will be led to the disambiguation page and, therefore, they can go to the page they meant to go into.

Templates
Templates should be placed where they are needed and removed when they are no longer needed. This includes Template:Stub, Template:Needimage, and Template:Needsound.

Articles about toon buildings should have this template and article about NPC Toons should use this template (located at the very top of the article).

Listing templates (such as Template:Coglisting) should always be at the bottom of the article.

References and Citations
Most of the time, references and citations aren't needed as most of them are obvious or could be proven in the game. But if you think a fact might be questioned by most of the readers, it will probably need to have a reference/citation. This can be done by finding a picture, newsletter, announcement or something else that verifies the fact. Then replace the Template:CitationNeeded to your reference. The references should be in a numbered list at the bottom of the page under the heading "References". It must be titled and positioned correctly for consistency and the reference template.

To insert a reference use this at the end of the sentence containing the fact and replace the number "1" with whatever number your reference has at the bottom of the page.

To insert a request for a reference use this

Capitalization

 * The first letter for each word (if more than one word) of the article's title should always be capitalized. However, non-important words should be lowercased (such as "a", "an", "and" and "the").
 * Categories need to be capitalized. Due to categories not having the rename button, articles in these categories should be moved to the capitalized category. (Ex: Category:Medium cogs → Category:Medium Cogs)
 * Cogs, Gags, Toons, Toontasks, Bossbot(s), Lawbot(s), Cashbot(s), Sellbot(s), pronouns, and proper nouns should be capitalized.

Grammar and Spelling

 * If you are uncertain of how to spell a word, please use an online dictionary or another source to see the correct spelling. Common spelling errors are:
 * Receive (e comes before the i)
 * The rule for this is: I before E except after C. If the word is pronounced with an "ay" sound, it will also be E before I. The one exception to these rules is the word, "weird" because it's weird.
 * Excited (few people use exited)
 * Weird (not Wierd or Wired)
 * Separate (only one e, but two a's)
 * A lot (a and lot have a space in between)
 * This is slang too. Try not to use it in formal pages.
 * Some of the most common mistakes in grammar are possession and contractions:
 * Its and It's
 * Its indicates possession (Its hair is a mess.)
 * It's is a contraction of It is
 * Your and You're
 * Your is possessive
 * You're is a contraction of You are
 * There, Their and They're
 * There is used as a location (Look! Over there!)
 * Their is used as a possession (Their cat is running around the house.)
 * They're is a contraction of They are (They're [They are] still editing the Cogs page, so please wait patiently.)
 * Contractions are slang as with the phrase, "a lot." They are not recommended in formal pages.
 * Then and Than have two different meanings:
 * Then is used as time. (First, he.... Then, he....)
 * Than compares two or more things. (He is smarter than she is. She thinks she is smarter than he is.)
 * There are some quotation problems:
 * End punctuation should always come before the end quotation if the quote stretches to the end.
 * Example: "I will eat you." rather than "I will eat you".
 * Use commas when necessary.
 * Example: The website said, "Hello," and "Welcome," rather than The website said "Hello" and "Welcome."
 * If a quote is inside a quote (or Template:Toonquote), please use one quotation mark ('example text') on each end of the quote.
 * Incorrect: Flippy said, "I believe the cat said, "I don't know where The Brrrgh is.""
 * Correct: Flippy said, "I believe the cat said, 'I don't know where The Brrrgh is.'"
 * Parenthesis should not be attached to words on the outside.
 * Incorrect: Sentence(text)Sentence
 * Correct: Sentence (text) Sentence

Commas
Commas deserve their own section because they are frequently misplaced.

There are eight places to put commas. They are listed based on how common they are:

Rule #1: Compound Sentence
1. Always put a comma before the coordinating conjunctions inside a compound sentence.


 * Only put commas before COORDINATING conjunctions. There are seven coordinating conjunctions: AND, BUT, OR, SO, NOR, YET, and FOR
 * Example: I like to run because it makes me healthy, and it helps me stay awake. In this sentence, you would put a comma before "and" because it is a coordinating conjunction. You would not put a comma before "because" because it is a subordinating conjunction.
 * Never put commas before the coordinating conjunction if the sentence is NOT a compound sentence. You can tell if it is a compound sentence if the things that the conjunction joins together are both sentences.
 * Good Example: I like to run, and I like to sleep. This is a compound sentence because I like to run and I like to sleep are both full sentences.
 * Bad Example: I like to run and sleep. In this case, you would not put a comma before "and" because sleep is not a sentence.

Rule #2: Introductory Element
2. This rule is not broken very often, but should still be watched. Always put a comma after an introductory element. It does not matter whether the introductory element is a word, phrase, or clause.
 * Example of a Word Introductory Element: Yesterday, I ate food in my house.
 * Example of a Phrase Introductory Element: In my house, I ate food yesterday.
 * Example of a Clause Introductory Element: Since I ate food, I stayed at my house yesterday.

Rule #3: Series of Three or More
3. Whenever you have three or more words of the same part of speech in a row that are connected with a conjunction, you have to put a comma after each word except the last one.
 * Example of Nouns: I eat pie, pizza, and ice cream.
 * Example of Verbs: I eat, drink, and sleep.
 * Example of Combination: I eat food, drink water, and sleep on my bed.

Rule #4: Separating Descriptive Adjectives
4. If there are more than one descriptive adjective that are all describing one noun, there must be a comma between each of them. Not all adjectives are descriptive. Some adjectives are limiting. Here is a list of limiting adjectives that should not be considered descriptive adjectives:
 * Cardinal: One, Two, Three, Etc.
 * Ordinal: First, Second, Last, Etc.
 * Indefinite: Some, Few, Many, Etc.
 * Noun as Adjective: Dog House, Glue Stick, Etc.
 * Demonstrative: That, Those, These, Etc.
 * Interrogative: What, Which, Etc.
 * Possessive: My, Your, Our, Etc.
 * Proper: American, Chinese, African, Etc.
 * Article: A, An, The (Only three)
 * Indefinite, Demonstrative, Possessive, and Interrogative adjectives may be confused as pronouns. Any word that describes a noun is an adjective. Any word that can replace a noun is a pronoun. Replace the word with a noun to see if it will make sense. If it doesn't, then it is an adjective.
 * Example of a sentence with descriptive adjectives: The large, gray rock hit the wall.

Rule #5: Appositive Phrases
5. Always put a comma before AND after an appositive phrase unless if the appositive phrase ends a sentence. In that situation, the end comma should be replaced by some sort of end punctuation.
 * Example: The Toontown Wiki, the best wiki in the world, has several hundred pages.

Rule #6: Which and Who
6. A comma should always be put after the word, "which," and the word, "who," if it starts a clause.
 * Good Example: The table, which had four legs, was built from wood.
 * Bad Example: I do not know which table was built from wood. Do not put a comma before this which.

Rule #7: Dialogue
7. A comma should always be put before the quote if the quote does not start the sentence. It should also be put after the quote unless the quote ends the sentence or if the quote is ended with end punctuation other than a period.
 * Example: I said, "Hello," to the child.
 * Another Example: I yelled, "Hey!" to the child.

Rule #8: Typographical Reasons
8. Always put a comma in between a city and a state/country. Always put commas between the date and the year. Always put commas in long numbers.
 * Example of Address: San Francisco, California
 * Example of Date: May 17th, 2011
 * Example of Long Numbers: 1,452,563 or $17,393.65