View source for Animator vs. Animation Wiki:Manual of Style

Hello, reader! We assume you are here because you do not know the manual of style that we use for our wiki. Please use the proper format as instructed below always. Please remember that this is only recent that we are introducing a specific style of pages, so if a page does not meet the expectations below, tell an {{AVAW|Administrators|admin}} or don't hesitate to fix it. 

==What is a manual of style?==
A manual of style is a set of guidelines for writing and formatting that guarantee every page has a neat, consistent appearance. It covers a wide range of subjects, from general writing guidelines like syntax and punctuation to particular requirements for things like image placement, article titles, and how to handle particular kinds of content like video games or legal papers. Following the manual reduces disagreements between editors and facilitates users' navigation and use of the wiki.
[[File:OldInfobox.PNG|center|thumb|220x220px|An example of a manual of style.]]

==Infoboxes==
===Old style vs. new style===
The old style of infoboxes and page layout usually look something like this:
[[File:InfoboxOld.PNG|center|thumb|220x220px]]
[[File:OldInfobox.PNG|center|thumb|220x220px]]

New infoboxes are expected to look something like this:
{{Scroll box|height=500|noborder=1|
{{Character
|headercolor=000000
|headerfontcolor=00baed
|image1=<gallery>
A nobody.png|NO ONE
TheChosenOne2.png|The Chosen One
The Chosen One.png|Debut
The Chosen One Animation VERSUS Artwork Render.png|Animation VERSUS
</gallery>
|alias=*Symbol 1
*[[victim]] <small>(tentative)</small>
*killer <small>(tentative)</small>
*BEAST <small>(tentative)</small>
*Angel of Death<small>(victim)</small>
*TCO
*punk <small>(Clippy)</small>
|species=<b>[[Artificial Stick Figures|Artificial stick figure]]</b>
|gender={{Male}}
|alignment=*Good
*<s>Evil</s>
|status='''Active'''
|born=March 15th, 2007
|relations=*[[noogai3]] <small>(creator)</small>
*[[The Second Coming]] <small>(successor)</small>
*[[The Dark Lord]]
*[[Hangman]]
*[[victim|H4CK3R]] <small>(predecessor)</small>
|friends=*[[noogai3]]
*[[Stick Gang]]
**[[The Second Coming]]
**[[Fighting Stick Figures]]
***[[Blue]]
***[[Red]]
***[[Yellow]]
***[[Green]]
*[[Conductor]] <small>(presumably)</small>
*{{Minor|Citizen}}
*<s>[[The Dark Lord]]</s>
|enemies=*[[The Dark Lord]]
*[[Programs (characters)|Programs]]
**[[Google Chrome]]
**[[Adobe Photoshop]] †
**[[AOL Instant Messenger]]
**[[Original Mozilla Firefox]] †
**[[ITunes]]
**[[Orbit]] †
**[[Internet Explorer]]
**[[Yahoo! Messenger]] 
**[[My Computer]]
**[[ViraBot]]s
**[[Windows Movie Maker]]
**[[Avast! Antivirus]]
**[[VLC Media Player]]
**[[Clippit]]
**[[Skype]]
*[[Rocket Corp.]]
**[[victim|H4CK3R]] 
***[[victim's Clones]]
**The [[Mercenaries]]
***[[Agent]]
***[[Ballista]]
***[[Primal]]
***[[Hazard]]
**[[Rocket Corp. Workers]]
*<s>[[noogai3]]</s>
*[[Node]] <small>(presumably)</small>
*[[Stick Figures|All Newgrounds inhabitants]] <small>(victims/attempted victims)</small>
**[[Mitsi]] †
**[[Purple]]
**[[Navy]]
**[[Pink]] †
**[[Developers]]
***[[Zaffre]]
***[[Cerulean]]
***[[Dark Green]]
**[[Corn Dog Guy]]
**[[List of Minor Characters#Shepherd|Shepherd]]
**Meat Boy
**Nabi and Doki
**Blockhead
**Bitey
**Blueshirt
**Silly Steven
**Alien Hominid
*The Tankmen
*Pico
*[[Minecraft Mobs]] <small>(victims)</small>
|first_appearance=''[[Animator vs. Animation 2]]''
|last_appearance=[[Hacker - Animator vs. Animation 12]]
|likes=*Freedom
*<s>Destruction</s>
*[[The Second Coming]] being able to use his powers
|dislikes=*Being enslaved
*Desktop icons
*[[The Dark Lord]]
*[[victim|H4CK3R]]
*[[ViraBot]]s
*The [[Mercenaries]]
*Losing his powers
*<s>[[noogai3]]</s>
|full_name=<s>The Chosen One</s><br>{{Color|#00baed|'''NO ONE'''}}
|title1=NO ONE
}}

====Notes====
*In the character lists, daggers (<code>†</code>) can be used to indicate deceased characters.
*Strikethroughs can be used to indicate "formerly."
}}
===Style of Infoboxes for Series===
As you saw above, those infoboxes were for characters. Now we shall talk about how infoboxes should look for the [[Animator vs. Animation Series|series]]. 

A page for an episode of the series should always have an infobox layout like this: 
[[File:Episode Infobox.PNG|center|thumb|220x220px]]

==Languages==
This is an English wiki; only English is allowed. Not everyone will understand other languages. Since the ''Animator vs. Animation'' franchise is from the United States, it is better to use American English.
*'''{{Color|#33CCFF|Better:}}''' He became a dark gr'''a'''y color that has remained unchanged since.
*'''{{Color|#FFCC00|Allowed:}}''' He became a dark gr'''e'''y colo'''u'''r that has remained unchanged since.
Quotes, proper nouns, and names officially used are exceptions to this rule. If you do not know words or spellings in American English, you can use your British English and let someone change it to American English.

==Names==
Use official names, those from episodes or those used by Alan Becker and his team. Names used in Animator VS Games reaction videos are mostly jokes and should not be used; instead, they should be placed in the alias parameter. If there is no official name, use one of the fan names instead. Avoid frequently using names that are meant to be secret; they can be placed in the alias parameter.
*'''{{Color|#66CC00|Use:}}''' King Orange <small>(official)</small>, Agent <small>(preferred)</small>, Ballista <small>(official)</small>, Primal <small>(preferred)</small>, and Hazard <small>(preferred)</small>.
*'''{{Color|#CC0000|Avoid:}}''' Mango Tango <small>(fan name)</small>, G.U.I <small>(meant to be secret)</small>, Pixel <small>(fan name)</small>, Lasco <small>(meant to be secret)</small>, and Bathroom Sign Guy <small>(name by DJ Welch)</small>.

===Abbreviation===
Do not abbreviate characters' names like "The Second Coming," "The Chosen One," "The Dark Lord," and "Fighting Stick Figures" whenever possible. Abbreviations of the names are allowed on plot sections and biography pages. The name "King Orange" should not be abbreviated to "KO"; it should be shortened to "King."

Series' names like "''Animator vs. Animation''" or "''Animation vs. Minecraft Shorts''" can be abbreviated when they appear in a long paragraph.

==Capitalization==
Capitalize the first letter of the first word in a sentence, of proper nouns, and all letters of certain acronyms and initialisms. In addition, capitalize a word if it's grammatically necessary. If an official name contains a capitalization error, keep it as it is.
*'''v'''ictim (when referring to the character; "'''V'''ictim" when referring to the episode)
*"The Floor '''i'''s Lava" (even though it should be "The Floor '''I'''s Lava")
*"Flip '''T'''he Screen" (even though it should be "Flip '''t'''he Screen")
Species, ''Minecraft'' mob, item, and weapon names that are not proper nouns don't need to be capitalized (stick figure; ghast; enderman). When referring to specific major characters or groups to differentiate them from others that are minor, the names are capitalized (the Fighting Stick Figures; the Warden; the Witch).

==Italicization==
Please italicize the names of series (''Animator vs. Animation''; ''AVM''; ''Actual Shorts''), "''Animator vs. Animation X''" episodes, episodes starting with "''Animation vs.''", miscellaneous episodes, games (''Minecraft''; ''Animation VERSUS''), and other creative works, as well as emphasis. "Actual Short(s)" or "actual short(s)" is not italicized when referring to the episode(s) individually.

Episode names other than those mentioned above must not be italicized. Instead, they should be placed within quotation marks ("Wanted"; "The King"). The same applies to song titles ("Pigstep"). Quotation marks for episode names are not needed in infoboxes, tables, lists, headers, and page names.

Messages or notes for readers like "to be added" and "to be continued" are italicized; the initialisms like "TBA," which are used in infoboxes and tables, are optional.

==Numbers==
It is better to use English words for numbers zero to ten. For numbers 11 and above, or when using numbers in tables or infoboxes, you can use figures or words (12 or twelve; 40 or forty; 10,000, 10 thousand, or ten thousand).
*For "Episode/Season X," when "Episode/Season" is capitalized in sentence case, please use figures (Season 1, Episode 1).
*For the plot section of the series pages, use words (Episode Thirty - The King).
*For a long series of numbers, use figures (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, …).
*When focusing on digits or as symbols by themselves, use figures (two 2s; a 4).
*Numbers in abbreviations are written as figures (1v1; 4v4).
*Decimals must be written as figures (3.14; 2.78).
*Numbers followed by units of measurement are written as figures when using symbols of the units (1&nbsp;m; one meter).
**Each number and unit symbol are separated by a non-breaking space (NBSP) by putting <code>&amp;nbsp;</code>.
*Whether as figures or words, numbers in written quotes, proper nouns, or official names must be written as they were originally written.

==Punctuation==
*The use of serial commas is usually optional, unless omitting them would cause confusion.
*To comply with the American English style, commas and periods should be placed inside quotation marks, even if they're not present in the original material, unless there are certain cases where another punctuation is already within the quotation marks.
**'''{{Color|#66CC00|Correct:}}''' In fact, his file description in ''Animator vs. Animation 4'' is "The Chosen One's Return'''."'''
**'''{{Color|#CC0000|Incorrect:}}''' In fact, his file description in ''Animator vs. Animation 4'' is "The Chosen One's Return'''".'''
**Like quotation marks, references should go after a comma or period.
*Instead of using hyphens (<code>-</code>), use en dashes (<code>–</code> or by <code>&amp;ndash;</code>) to represent a span or range of numbers or time (1–4).
*Use em dashes (<code>—</code> or by <code>&amp;mdash;</code>) instead of double hyphens when replacing commas, parentheses, or colons.
**'''{{Color|#66CC00|Correct:}}''' Everyone gives Red another look'''—'''Red no doubt feeling extremely remorseful'''—'''before racing over to deal with the Orb.
**'''{{Color|#CC0000|Incorrect:}}''' Everyone gives Red another look'''--'''Red no doubt feeling extremely remorseful'''--'''before racing over to deal with the Orb.

==Quotes==
Oral quotes should be written grammatically, without elongation or unnecessary use of all caps. Punctuations should be put when grammatically necessary.
*'''{{Color|#66CC00|Correct:}}''' No!
*'''{{Color|#CC0000|Incorrect:}}''' NOOOOO!!!!
Written quotes should be copied entirely, even if they contain errors (e.g., misspellings). The final punctuation of a line can be added or changed if needed.
*'''{{Color|#66CC00|Correct:}}''' oh hey i gtg the laundry, i'll ttyl
*'''{{Color|#FFCC00|Allowed:}}''' oh hey i gtg the laundry, i'll ttyl.
*'''{{Color|#CC0000|Incorrect:}}''' Oh, hey, I GTG the laundry. I'll TTYL.
Whenever necessary, when a written quote contains an error, put the template <code>{{T|sic}}</code> (results in "{{sic}}") after the error. If there is more than one error, the template is put at the end of the quote.
*'''Example:''' Can red {{sic}} prank the unprankable?

==Failing to meet expectations==
It's all right if there's a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. But if it goes on for too long and the admins need to keep warning you, we will take it as vandalism and you will be blocked. Continuation of vandalism and the result will be a permanent block.
[[Category:Site maintenance]]